Stealth Fridge Grow

Stealth is my No.1
So I Made this Fridge set up (retro fitted discrete lock)
Has been a working progress for awhile and is currently producing its first buds
setup is:

Ebb & Flow system 10L pot filled with clay balls, 22L res with float fitted to 20L fresh water
200L water chiller to keep those water temps low
Home made evap cooler intake 4" fan
Carbon filter and 5" exhaust fan
CFL 230w 3500k, I tried HID got too hot (40-50C)
Using Blue lab combo meter to monitor res

Theres not alot of info on these kind of setups I ran into a number of road blocks along the way.
The main constraint with this setup is the size. I simply couldn't fit all the gear inside the fridge.
This isn't a pound producing grow room but with abit of luck it will be easy and reliable.
If your going to attempt something like this feel free to ask questions. Also if you have done something like this and have some suggestions please share.

Other than that Im pretty excited to get some smoke

I was going to attempt something like this. Minus water culture and massive cfl.
I'm more likely to just run dirt and LEDs.

Any advice on setting up for those that have never repurposed a fridge before?


Btw- looks really good.

haha that is awesome

Nugachino said:

I was going to attempt something like this. Minus water culture and massive cfl.
I'm more likely to just run dirt and LEDs.

Any advice on setting up for those that have never repurposed a fridge before?


Btw- looks really good.

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The reason I went CFL over HPS was heat. I actually installed 250 HPS and it got way to hot. The reason I went CFL over LED was because 1. my local shop had CFL and 2. because I have heard that LEDs need to be 1-2Foot off the canopy. Im not sure how true this is but if it is then it would leave very little room to grow.

The hardest part about repurposing was fitting the lock. Which isn't really required. No one goes near the thing anyway. Im pretty sure someone would clue on once they see the evap cooler and water chiller next to it. The main point of the fridge is so anyone that might see from a distance doesn't think twice, as apposed to a grow tent which is like WTF is that?

Fridge selection is pretty important.
1. Cheap or Free not working fridge.
2. Size it should be as big as possible.
3. Single door. Lots of fridges have a fridge freezer setup which would be alot harder to repurpose into one area and if you use them as separate areas you are limited by the space you have in each.

I really just pulled most of the guts out of the fridge ie compressor ect. I removed the door storage compartment for space but now the door bends. I will say that the more intact you leave the fridge the more structurally sound it will stay.

Try to keep the fridge looking like it hasnt been repurposed which means you need to think through ea Mod before hand. If you fuck up you will likely have a fridge that doesn't like one or have to start again.

Ah ok. Cool. Cheers for that. Yes LEDs do have that issue where plants can't get too close. That's a two part issue. A) their light is mono directional. And B) the angle of the lenses makes them more intense too. Though if you've got a good one. Typically you can tune them to out put less light of the plants get too close.


Here's my dodgy setup. This one works only if you can train the plants to 45cm height. That's running the light at 75% output. The entire thing is only 80cm tall. By about 40cm square. It works. But, I really need to get some proper extraction parts into it. As it gets 8°c warmer than whatever room temperature is while operating. I imagine that'll be a problem when summer really hits.

Nugachino said:

Ah ok. Cool. Cheers for that. Yes LEDs do have that issue where plants can't get too close. That's a two part issue. A) their light is mono directional. And B) the angle of the lenses makes them more intense too. Though if you've got a good one. Typically you can tune them to out put less light of the plants get too close.


Here's my dodgy setup. This one works only if you can train the plants to 45cm height. That's running the light at 75% output. The entire thing is only 80cm tall. By about 40cm square. It works. But, I really need to get some proper extraction parts into it. As it gets 8°c warmer than whatever room temperature is while operating. I imagine that'll be a problem when summer really hits.

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Yeah and is there a real point of having a light you have to turn down?
As you can see in my pick the CFL is about 2inch of the tops
Man that is a small plant flowering!
Ventilation is very important, especially in a fridge as it is insulated so holds heat.
Your setup is very similar to mine but SMALLER so i guess you are fully aware of size constrains.
You can make something like this to lower temps

Yeah. I know it's tiny. But, I pretty much made every fuckin mistake you could think of as a noob. I over and under watered and fed. I transplanted too many times. Was dicking around with the pH too much. And generally stressed the shit out of it by over doing all the things.

Yet it still flowered. This will be my first successful run.

I'm most definitely looking for a larger cabinet though. Still not sure whether I'll use a fridge or a taller version of what I have.

Great stuff! this will also be my first successful grow.
I think a fridge can be more discrete as they are expected to make noise. A cupboard? not so much.

I know exactly what you mean. Mine sounds like it's got a computer inside it.

This is awesome. You should check out the vertical growing section. With that light I bet you could go vertical and probably get higher yields I would think. Awesome setup.

Shugglet said:

This is awesome. You should check out the vertical growing section. With that light I bet you could go vertical and probably get higher yields I would think. Awesome setup.

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Do a tandem stack and get even more still.

Awesome Job hoss , Looks great

I've been thinking about doing that for years... Nice!

Nugachino said:

Do a tandem stack and get even more still.

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Yes and ironically I am doing the same thing right now. But mine is completely sealed with a bunch of stuff in the freezer portion to control it. Humidity is my biggest enemy right now.

giantsfan24 said:

I've been thinking about doing that for years... Nice!

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Do it!

Shugglet said:

Yes and ironically I am doing the same thing right now. But mine is completely sealed with a bunch of stuff in the freezer portion to control it. Humidity is my biggest enemy right now.

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Sounds crazy challenging what are you doing for co2?

Buds4Fun said:

Do it!

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I think at this point it would be more work than I need to commit to lol! I've got a 2x2x4 box all planned that will be sweet! Can't wait actually

giantsfan24 said:

I think at this point it would be more work than I need to commit to lol! I've got a 2x2x4 box all planned that will be sweet! Can't wait actually

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Sounds good. As long as stealth isn't a concern. I built a box years ago it stuck out like dog balls, never grew anything in it was to sus for me.

Buds4Fun said:

Sounds crazy challenging what are you doing for co2?

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A major challenge yes lol. Right now I rigged a fluval aquarium co2 thing up to it but I think I will need to upgrade. Especially considering I dropped 200 on a monitor lol


Now that it seems to actually be working I might makw a thread for it. Well see

Nicely done!.

I have a fridge to but not as well done as yours (see sig)

For noise control i just parked a Beer fridge next to it. People think the noise is all coming from that and dont look twice.