Need Help - Questions about my Grow Closet

I have a closet that I will be creating a grow room from for my first grow(personal use)... Here are the details:

The room is 5ft(deep) x 4.5ft(wide) x 9ft(tall).

I have purchased strong reflective sheeting from my local hydro shop and will be covering the entire closet in this material. It is very strong and will withstand walking on it and other light stress.

I have a 400 HPS from HTG for $120. Came with a reflector hood. I am going to run a 2x4 across the top of the room and hang the light by a strong cable so it can be adjustable height.

I will be growing two strains - Joey Weed AK47 F2 and Blueberry F2.

I have Foxfarm Ocean Forest Soil and perlite that will be mixed into it. I also have Foxfarm Grow Big, Tiger Bloom, and Big Bloom.

I will be attaching an outdoor digital temp/humidity sensor inside the room(I only saw outdoor ones at Lowes, but the guy in garden center said if I hook it up indoors it will show the readings for indoors - is that right?)

This is my first grow, so I am not going to make two chambers(one for flowering and one for veg)... I plan to do this for my second grow, but for the first time, I am starting simple.

I will be starting the seedlings off in Solo cups with 3 CFL 26W lights with reflective material around it(probably will do this in a small grow box of its own) I will then be transplanting to the larger pots when the time comes...

I have a shop power strip that has a circuit breaker fuse for overloads.(Is this the safest I can get... I really dont want any fires)

I have a oscillating table fan that will be inside the room for air circulation and to promote good stem strength.

I have a box fan that I am attaching a furnace filter with a layer of active carbon on the back of the box fan to help with odor control. This fan will be in the bedroom that the closet is in.

From earlier posts I have been told I need some kind of intake and exhaust for the room to help with temperature control. I own the house so I can do minor cutting through drywall, etc. I have thought of putting a 50-70 cfm bathroom fan/vent in the ceiling of the room. There is a flourescent light attached in the ceiling of the closet now. If i installed a bathroom fan/vent, I should be able to use the wires that are up there for the light, right? Then the switch that is used for the light now would operate the vent fan...? I am not real great at electrical work, but I would image I could handle that... thoughts? I would much much rather use something I can plug into an outlet instead of having to do any wiring to exhaust through out the room. Either way, I will be cutting a hole in the ceiling of the room to attach dryer vent duct that will run to the attic.

My other questions are:

- Ideas on my exhaust problem..?
- Ideas for intake for cool air to go into room. Again, anything that can just be plugged into an outlet is much better than if I have to do any wiring.
- Can the dryer duct that is running out of closet into attic just be plainly exhausting into attic or do I need to filter that air?
- How many plants should I plan to be able to put in the room?
- Do I need to worry about helicopters and IR(FLIR) with a grow this small?

Sorry for writing such a long post, but I want to make sure I have thought of everything since I have put so much money into it so far and I dont want to mess everything up because I overlooked something. Anything I havent thought of or anything I have listed that you do not think will work? Any ideas/thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

- Green

Use this to exhaust the heat or push it out




Suncourt 8" Inline Duct Fan Rated at 500 cfm (cubic feet per minute)Tried and true tools for the heating and cooling trade, wisely adapted for cooling grow light reflectors. An Inline Duct Fan is a reliable and cost effective way to keep temperature in the indoor garden under control. Use one fan per light or to increase the efficiency of an exhaust system. These economically priced fans have a lesser cfm (cubic feet per minute air exchange) than the high output CAN-FANS also available on this site. Perfect for air cooling a single lighting reflector or ventilating a small closet sized grow room.
8" Inline Fan

You can pick that up for $45 at HTG and that baby will move some air.

mogie said:

You can pick that up for $45 at HTG and that baby will move some air.

Click to expand...

Mogie,

Thanks for the fast reply... It looks like that plugs right into the wall, so no wiring needed.... Should I use something similar for bringing cool air in too? Or would just an intake duct without a fan work?

- Green

You could use it's smaller cousin to bring the fresh air in. You always want the exhaust to be the most powerful. That way it creates a sort of air flow. Here is the little cousin:

Products > Ventilation Fans etc. > Inline Fans


Suncourt 4" Inline Duct Fan Rated at 80 CFM (cubic feet per minute)Tried and true tools for the heating and cooling trade, wisely adapted for cooling grow light reflectors. An Inline Duct Fan is a reliable and cost effective way to keep temperature in the indoor garden under control. Use one fan per light or to increase the efficiency of an exhaust system. These economically priced fans have a lesser cfm (cubic feet per minute air exchange) than the high output CAN-FANS also available on this site. Perfect for air cooling a single lighting reflector or ventilating a small closet sized grow room.
4" Inline Fan

That one you have to wire. Just go to walmart, buy a cheap extension cord, cut off the plug and use that. Should cost less then $2.

The bad thing in all this is that I actually have a degree in Electrical Engineering Technology. I can figure out how to wire small fans and things like that to cell phone wall chargers or other transformers, but is all that safe? I am very concerned about fires/ etc.

- Green

Does anyone know how safe it is to wire your own fans using a cell phone charger and connecting the wires?

not to safe ain't designed for that long run times get a transformer for PCs, really small one with 125-150W for 10 bucks and you can run 10-15 PC fans in your grow with it

Awesome... Would a pc fan be enough to vent out my room... or should I stick to the inline fan from HTG?