Light/Heat issues.

My setup:

4x4 Secret Jardin tent.

Window unit AC with cold air ducted into the tent as the intake w/ 6" booster to keep up air flow.

Stanley blower for exhaust through Can 33 filter. 6" ducting.

10" circulating fan in tent.

1000w cooltube. 6" ducting. Intaking from outside (60-70 degree air currently) and exhausting into the attic.

6" Vortex style inline running the cool tube with a fan controller.

The room is fed 69 degree air from the house air conditioner. The room AC is set to 70 degrees.


My issue is that with the light all the way up and the thermometer under the light at the tops of my planters it is showing 82 degrees. I assume as my plants get taller they will be closer to the light and thus the temperature will likely raise a few degrees. I can put my hand on the cool tube and it is warm but not uncomfortable. I ran a 600w in this previously (except I had a 2nd stanley blower instead of a vortex fan). As I write this it occurs to me that my dwc lids are black and could be collecting infrared heat. Do most of you take the temps in your grows at the top of the canopy or at the exhaust or just anywhere in the tent?

This is my first 1000w, I have a bunch of 400w and 600w grows under my belt. I just bought this 1000w and I would really like to use it. Is there anything I am overlooking? I am going to try to cover one of the lids with tape and put the thermometer there to see if the temps are lower due to that since the canopy wont collect as much heat as the black lids I would assume. If anyone has any comments or inputs, please let me know.

Thanks,
Carthoris

exhaust from the top of the tent(above light or at light level) insulate your ducting, shorten you ducting to as few feet as possible, exhaust into a cooler space. attic may be building up heat if that is not possible put a exhaust fan in attic. also if you cant set your hand on the glass close that lies closest to the bulb forever so to speak your fan is not powerful enough. i vent directly out of my tent into a concrete wall i run 2 400, 6in inline fan, and about 3 ft of ducting heat. is dissipated over the surface of the concrete wall which stays an ambient temp of about 55 degrees

are you venting all your air into the attic or just the fresh air running into the cooltube?
As for the plants getting to hot,hold your hand just over the canopy, palm down for a minute.if it gets uncomfortable, your to colse to the light. a thermometer in the light will read high. if you need peace of mind, take your reading w/ it in the shade of your top fanleaves.

Alpha: The intake is 60-70 degrees and cool to the touch. The out is warm to the touch. An insulated duct might be a good idea on the hot side, but I don't think it would be putting that much heat into the area. My intake comes from the soffit. My roof has a ridge vent. This means that theoretically the heat should rise and leave out of the roof vs the cooler air outside sort of like a hot air balloon would. That being said, the amount of heat in my attic doesn't have anything to do with the temperatures of my tent since the intake air comes from outside and the attic is just a convenient place to duct the hot air I am getting rid of. I appreciate the suggestion about insulated duct work. I will definitely get some for the hot air out line.
Actually, even when I was playing with and the thermometer read 95 degrees briefly it didn't feel uncomfortable to put my hand right on the cool tube and hold it there. The plants didn't seem to be drooping or anything due to the temperatures. Putting it on the foam plate covered in tape actually raised the temp 2 degrees.

mrmadcow: Even with my hand 6 inches from the 1000w light I can barely feel any heat. At plant level, I can't even tell the light is there. I have it 3-4 foot above the canopy at the moment. Honestly, I can't say there is even a temperature change in my opinion between the room the tent is in and the tent itself. The room registers in the low 70s. The canopy isn't very much given that the clones are maybe 4 inches tall and there is essentially no shade in the tent at this time due to the power of the 1000w on the highly reflective walls of the tent. I put the foam metal covered plate over the temp gauge this time. I have my vortex fan on high and it stays below 85(82-84), but the sound of it makes it sound like a jet is flying over my house. The AC is right below the intake and unfortunately the room is about 10 feet from my front door. It isn't an issue with the AC running since it drowns out the sound of the intake. I may have to run the intake to the top of the roof and make it look like a vent. Hopefully as the temperature drops I can tone down the speed of the intake fan over the next week or two. I am considering using a hood I have instead of the cool tube. Though I can't imagine the hood cooling the 1000w any better than the new cool tube I have since it is a straight shot and the hood has nooks and crannies.

mrmadcow said:

are you venting all your air into the attic or just the fresh air running into the cooltube?
As for the plants getting to hot,hold your hand just over the canopy, palm down for a minute.if it gets uncomfortable, your to colse to the light. a thermometer in the light will read high. if you need peace of mind, take your reading w/ it in the shade of your top fanleaves.

Click to expand...

I am venting the tent into the room. The cool tube is the only thing I am venting to the attic.

With a plate over my thermometer it registers between 75 and 77 degrees.