Ventilation question

I need to know what to use to keep the heat down before i buy the hardware for my growsetup.

As i just realised all/most? carbon filter are one way hook-ups right ? meaning lets say an outlet for ducting/fan sucking air out and all the air is sucked in through around the filter drum if u get my point. Just realised this thing, so i feel kind of stupid for allmost buying one i might not need. Before i thought it went straight through it like a "cat" filters car exhaust.

Grow room dimensions 145cm(4,75 feet)x220cm(7,3 feet) and 200cm(6,5 feet) to the roof + some roof angle cuz i live at the attic lvl.

I plan having a 10cm RUCK extraction fan sucking air out leaving the apartment at the rate of 225m3/h(132cfm?.

The new air is supplyed by self suction through the closet door (air taken from living room @ 20 celcius/68 Fahrenheit). I will only grow in autumn/winter/spring so i can control the the air temp going into the growroom by cooling down my living room down to a unpleasent chill , specially in flowering since ill be sleeping in my bedroom or working with my crop (the lights will be on at night/noon in 12/12) but ofc if i can grow without freezing my ass off thats a big plus ^^

Just a heads up, the crop will be grown with probably hydro inside a tent either 120cm(3,94 feet)x120cm(3,94 feet) and 200cm(6,5 feet) tall/high or 140cm/4,6 feet x 140cm/4,6 feet x 200cm/6,5 feet
The lamp will be a 400w mh/hps and take in mind the closet itself is a litle bit cooler then the living room (20celcius/68 Fahrenheit) since its not having any heaters and is less insulated


Now to the big point: the dilemma i got is that i dont know what i need, do i need to buy?...
A: Cooltube reflector or similar instead of Carbon filter (since i figured out i probably cant have both with one fan and one outlet)


B: Normal reflector, just go for the best suited for reflecting on a small area such as a tent and rely on only the carbon filter in the tent with the 225m3/h(132cfm?) fan to make it leave the building


C: Cooltube and 2 extraction fans, one blowing out air from the tent into the closet another one outside the tent hooked up to the out-ventilation with a carbon filter before the last fan (kind of expensive but if needed i guess thats it)

If u didnt get "C:", this is pretty much how heat and smell would travel out of the tent:
(cooltube >> 225m3/h(132cfm?) fan >> free in the closet air >> carbon filter >> 225m3/h(132cfm?) fan >> OUT)


This is my 3rd attempt on getting some help on this, this time i translated most metrics so u yankies & britts can understand what im babbling about

Feel free to come with any ideas how to make this work in theory, i rly dont want major heat problems. I can maybe step up to a 12,5 cm(4,921 inches), a stronger fan if u think its needed but the house vent-outlet is FIXED 10cm(3,937 inches) so im afraid it will sound too much pushing too big amount of air through a tight ducting. I want 28 celcius(82,4f) PEAK in the tent but ofc i want the optimal lower temps if possible, ill might have an aditional fan blowing at the plants allso, not decided or thought of yet but probably if i can squeeze it into the tent.

You need the carbon filter for smell. Put it inside the tent, and SUCK air into it. That gets ducted to your light hood, then to the fan, then pushed out into the attic.

I would recommend at least 250 cfm for this job.

Fresh air can come from the house. This isn't optimum, but it will work well enough. The 400 watt bulb shouldn't be too much of a problem, I would go with 600 if you can. Digital Ballasts are much cooler than magnetic.

You need BOTH a carbon filter (Can66) and an air-cooled hood (Cool Sun). Run them both through 1 large inline fan. If you have to cool the room, use a window AC or get a 55gal barrel and a small chiller to run an Ice Box. The Ice Box will be cheaper on the power bill than the AC.

If you add Co2, you could split the light/exhaust lines into two and run a closed loop system. This adds a good 1k to the setup cost, but 30% bigger buds.

smokingrubber said:

You need the carbon filter for smell. Put it inside the tent, and SUCK air into it. That gets ducted to your light hood, then to the fan, then pushed out into the attic.

I would recommend at least 250 cfm for this job.

Fresh air can come from the house. This isn't optimum, but it will work well enough. The 400 watt bulb shouldn't be too much of a problem, I would go with 600 if you can. Digital Ballasts are much cooler than magnetic.

You need BOTH a carbon filter (Can66) and an air-cooled hood (Cool Sun). Run them both through 1 large inline fan. If you have to cool the room, use a window AC or get a 55gal barrel and a small chiller to run an Ice Box. The Ice Box will be cheaper on the power bill than the AC.

If you add Co2, you could split the light/exhaust lines into two and run a closed loop system. This adds a good 1k to the setup cost, but 30% bigger buds.

Click to expand...

So if i get this right this is what i will do according to you:

Cooltube >> FAN >> tent outlet >> Carbon filter (like a chimney on the tent or ducted top right as far as i can get in the room where the T-vent opens to the house ventilation.

Then buy a second fan to mount on the T-vent opening to suck it all out of the house.

Sounds good to me if thats your idea.

my plan was to keep it cheap and only the essentials included. So preferably ill stick with the 400w idea to avoid any unpleasant suprices. Last time i grew we went in a much smaller room without any good ventilation and 600w hps..ended up with peaking 36 celcius/96,8f at first, had to rent a car and go pick up a 300$ used AC unit which at best kept heat somewhat around 27-30 at bud lvl .

I am not risking it again and i rather play it safe and learn to be a better grower then i was before and increase yield by that...oh wait i was a learning noob so it wont be too hard. Then i used soil without proper nutes, had heat problems so i'm pretty sure doing it better with proper nutes, hydro, premium heat conditions and fresher air will be a huge step forward even though i got 200w less...and that crop was done with a sonlight AGRO (mix) bulb. This i will do with with MH and HPS.

OFC i will use digital ballasts, the stuff i have to buy i won't go über budget on.

I dont have anything of the old stuff left left bcuz i payed the 2000w power bill by giving my grow partner my share of the ownership of all the stuff so im starting from scratch. was lamp, humidifier, 1000w ac, table fan, pc power supply, 2x120mm fans.

i know i didnt plan it out like u said, but if i have carbon filtering in the tent just rotating air and at the same time sucking it out through a second system, won't it filter it less than if i have the only outlet on the tent filtered before blowing it out into the room and then sucking it out of the room ? or dou think your 50/50 idea will filter it enough while just circulating it and blow all the concentrated hot tent air right into the outdoor ducting like u said. I'm pretty sure im not sharing the duct with anyone else since i live alone top floor but it might blow back a litle into my shower ventilation but that not a problem as long as its filtered from smell more or less i can just open the bathroom door after taking a shower ^^

Both ideas sounds neat to me and i have to buy the same stuff using either venting design, i guess the decision come down to smell vs. heat and if my idea can handle the heat and if yours can handle the smell.

Hopefully both would work but i'd like to make sure instead of doing allot of setup work in vein and being forced to redo it stressed as hell while growing.

420 swede said:

So if i get this right this is what i will do according to you:

Cooltube >> FAN >> tent outlet >> Carbon filter (like a chimney on the tent or ducted top right as far as i can get in the room where the T-vent opens to the house ventilation.

Then buy a second fan to mount on the T-vent opening to suck it all out of the house.

Click to expand...

NO

Carbon Filter --> Cool Hood (not tube cuz they suk) ---> tent outlet ---> fan ---> Attic or outside the house.

Basically, you'll have 1 fan sucking air from inside the tent, through the filter and the hood, and exhausting it outside of the house.

If you don't exhaust to fresh air then the used air will get pulled straight back to the tent. Unless you're suppling extra Co2 that would be all bad. Exhausting it outside forces fresh air to be drawn in, naturally replenishing your Co2 for you.

smokingrubber said:

NO

Carbon Filter --> Cool Hood (not tube cuz they suk) ---> tent outlet ---> fan ---> Attic or outside the house.

Basically, you'll have 1 fan sucking air from inside the tent, through the filter and the hood, and exhausting it outside of the house.

If you don't exhaust to fresh air then the used air will get pulled straight back to the tent. Unless you're suppling extra Co2 that would be all bad. Exhausting it outside forces fresh air to be drawn in, naturally replenishing your Co2 for you.

Click to expand...

Aaaah lol, thats fucking brilliant i got so cought up in my own thinking i became retarded ^^...thats the way to go man =)..thank god there is other ppl with a working brain or i'd be fucked

Thanks allot mate.


Any idea about how much air u can push through a tight duct such as 10cm (4 inches) before making too much noice? i'd have no problem going 12,5cm(4,92 inches) on the entire system and then convert it to 10cm at the T-duct outlet as long as it doesnt end up in some messy whistling contest in the ventilation system.

edit: are these (http://hydroponics.eu/cat.asp?category=79-Extractor+Fans) fans overpriced crap or is it pretty much what u where thinking of, its the only good site i know that i made purcheses from before.

420 swede said:

Aaaah lol, thats fucking brilliant i got so cought up in my own thinking i became retarded ^^...thats the way to go man =)..thank god there is other ppl with a working brain or i'd be fucked

Thanks allot mate.


Any idea about how much air u can push through a tight duct such as 10cm (4 inches) before making too much noice? i'd have no problem going 12,5cm(4,92 inches) on the entire system and then convert it to 10cm at the T-duct outlet as long as it doesnt end up in some messy whistling contest in the ventilation system.

edit: are these (http://hydroponics.eu/cat.asp?category=79-Extractor+Fans) fans overpriced crap or is it pretty much what u where thinking of, its the only good site i know that i made purcheses from before.

Click to expand...

4" vent hose kinda sucks because it colapses a bit and 4" ID is really 3" ID. You gotta do what you gotta do, but it would be better if you could exhaust UP into the attic.

smokingrubber said:

4" vent hose kinda sucks because it colapses a bit and 4" ID is really 3" ID. You gotta do what you gotta do, but it would be better if you could exhaust UP into the attic.

Click to expand...

I know but the 4ID allrdy is built into the house right now, would save me from allot of trouble + im renting 2 hand from my dad right now so i'd rather not have a gigantic duct right up into the middle of nowhere, allso i have no idea how the roof is up there, i live in a apartment as stated earlier, at worst i'd end up into a sea of insulation, cut some kind of cables and cause ireversable damage to property of a family member of mine, at best i'll have bought in 50/50 into this rather expensive apartment when i have bought my stuff and started growing. maybe ill do it when i come up with the rest of the money ..like another 25000-30000$ in swedish currancy ^_^

Anyway, thanks for setting my mind straight about what order to do the ventilation in, hopefully it will turn out acceptable in the end with the stuff i got to work with.

Anyone here know a good sealed reflector for around max 100€ which has somewhat between 10-15cm air in and outlet.
Been looking at the cooltube and i see only a sure opening from one side and i guess its just slotted on the side the E40 socket sits on. Need a goodie that i can travel air straight through and not one that just makes the air blow free after cooling the lamp.

This is what I use: http://www.hydroponics.net/i/380761 - 15 cm air ports

i wonder is some one could help me im new to this and im dum and i dont even knoe hoe to post a thread im goig to grow a 2 plants under a 150w hps light in my closet im thinking of using a small fan inside the closted and get a big fan fron outside my closet with a tube connected to it blowing in air ? what do you guys think? i could also keep the door open a little bit so some of the air can come out? im closet is a quite reasonable size

RIBENA said:

i wonder is some one could help me im new to this and im dum and i dont even knoe hoe to post a thread im goig to grow a 2 plants under a 150w hps light in my closet im thinking of using a small fan inside the closted and get a big fan fron outside my closet with a tube connected to it blowing in air ? what do you guys think? i could also keep the door open a little bit so some of the air can come out? im closet is a quite reasonable size

Click to expand...

Try make your own thread next time.
It should work fine, just remember to get some nutes allso. What kind of fan are u using to blow air into the closet?

I don't see how anything can rly backfire with that setup except for maybe having too strong air flow for the gaps in your door to let air leave the closet so u might end up having the door a bit open all the time.

Good luck.

Just found out i can just go with a nextgen 400/600w switchable ballast and buy 2 set of bubls and try out both, if turns out i can use a 600w with a light ventilation setup its just a great bonus and if it turns out its too hot ill have a stronger spare bulb i can use for a couple of days until i get a new 400w in case the one i use would break and vice versa.

Anyone know a european store that is selling nextgen ballasts or a good US store which can ship it all the way across the atlantic and end up in my litle Sweden =) would be great if they sell a good ventilated reflector aswell that is sealed so i can have closed ventilation, the duct openings should be between 15-20cm(6-8inches) since most of them gets tighter then the actual diamater where the bulb/e40 socket is attached, dont want any noicy bottlenecks in my ducting.

just made my shoppinglist final, its gonna be somewhere between 1400-1500€ with the nextgen ballast, 15 cm cooltube or better if i find any cooled "real" reflector for around 100 bucks and seeds on top of that which i go2 order from other places.

Will probably have to buy some extra circulation fan later, th place i will be ordering from was currently out of stock on the cheapest honeywell 30cm (80&#8364 :S...quality sucks to pay for.

think its the 4th time i go through making this list and now i dont think im missing ANYTHING or had any ideas that will make a fail setup unless u think 11 litre(2,9 gallon) square pots are too small for 1-1,5 month veg after rly sprouting solid + flowering. The plan is to start with for example 16 white widow feminized and grow them LST and some prob go herm so it will be a bit less crumped or ill just have to live with a tight forest and make the best out of it.
120x120cm tent, giving each plant 30 cm of space in each direction during veg then and in case of hermo more space while blooming so 4x4 rows = 16 =)

OR should i perhaps let them grow straight up without any LST/SCROG/FIMMING and max 1 month if u think space is an issue or step down to veg like 10 plants to make it more spacious and organised ?

Any thought about that ?

Anyway, enjoy atachment ^^

would anyone be able to help me out i've just set up a grow tent 2m by 2m by 2.5m high i'm goin to have 3 x 600 w sunmaster dual spectrum lights in my room was just seein what sort of inlet and out let systerm i would need to keep the humidity down in my room?

ianlfc1 said:

would anyone be able to help me out i've just set up a grow tent 2m by 2m by 2.5m high i'm goin to have 3 x 600 w sunmaster dual spectrum lights in my room was just seein what sort of inlet and out let systerm i would need to keep the humidity down in my room?

Click to expand...

I used dualspectrum before and now after doing it i just regret i didnt go MH/HPS instead. watching the graphs makes it kind of clear.

u might as well use a 400w low/medium budget mh/hps bulbs instead of a 600w dualspectrum. i wouldnt rly worry about the humidity, my main concern would be the heat 1800w generates in 2x2m.

My first "serious" grow started in a 130cmx80cm 2,5m high closet using 600w in wing reflector. The closet was poor ventilated (only two 120mm computer fans taking air out) and it became up to 40 celcius in there with only ingoing selfdrag from the closed door with a 10cm diamater hole and the top door gap, door open was still 30+celcius in there. I learned from my noob mistakes of owerpowering space and venting. Installed a 1000w AC unit and it struggled keeping it 27-30 at the top buds even though we had the thermostat set between 18-20celcius blowing chilled air. Now i rather play it safe and go with less watts and focus on being a better grower and use better nutes instead of just mashing on light power.

Allso it would actually get crumped with 3 lamps in that space. u would do more then very good going with 2x600w MH and Hps (switch when u go flowering, buy digital ballasts that can handle both MH/hps, most can nowdays) in sealed reflectors, go with 8inch/20cm ducting all the way, chain the reflector ventilation starting like this (in this order):

Carbon filter: for example(Carbon Filter 25cm (1500m3/h) mounted high up in the tent
>>
Fan: for example (Inline air extractor RUCK RK INDOOR UFO 20cm - 1125m3/h)
>>
Ducting
>>
Sealed reflector
>>
Ducting
>>
Sealed reflector
>>
Ducting
>>
Big muffler(if u want)/OUT

From what i know i would go with that setup any day if i had space and cash

If u use hydro the water evaporating from that will increase humidity and if u need more just buy a cheap humidifiying device for like 30$, they are quite common, even most supermarkets have them all over the world i guess.

as i have no idea what kind of ingoing fresh air u have avalible i guess u just make the best u can out of it.

Edit: I'm even sugesting going down to 2x600w instead of 3 without taking the electric bill into account, hope that says something to you about how much waste it would be going with 3