The right way to to build a water cooled indoor garden
Most gardeners are not familiar with a water cooled indoor garden, and that makes perfect sense . You ask why would you consider water cooling your garden? Or why change conventional way air cooling or even the need for cooling ? We all know that heat can be a problem with indoor gardens and high energy bills can add up and noise from fans and other air cooled methods, so with that in mind, water cooling can be the solution. The whole basic concept behind water cooling is used in are everyday life and you did not even realize it , from transportation such as your car, motorcycle, rv, boat, pwc or nuclear power plant for electricity . If you have energy most likely you will
have heat exhausted from the energy, and this is just part of using energy. The energy you use cost money, unless you have big solar system or a wind turbine with a great deal of battery storage and the start up cost can be a little overwhelming for the average gardener , so save energy and save money.
Water cooled technology has been been around for a least twenty years and is not a new break through , but improved methods of water cooling and more reliable systems are improve everyday and that is where we need to share are knowledge with you the beginner or the professional gardener. Think of the water as a passage way for energy in this case it will be heat energy , you will transfer this heat energy from the your h.i.d. bulb into the water by surrounding the bulb in water with out making contact between the two. The water will absorb the energy and will transfer the heat energy to reservoir via the water, if you do not have a large reservoir your water will heat up and the water cooling will be less effective. The key part here is to remove the heat energy from the water before returning it to your reservoir , you can do this with a heat exchanger, all a heat exchanger is a radiator with a fan blowing air through it, removing heat energy from the water . This heat exchanger or heat-x-tractor will work long as the air you are passing through it is cooler than water you are trying to cool , if it isn't cooler it can actually heat the water up, so keep that in mind when considering a heat exchanger . With the ideal conditions you can operate your water cooled grow lights on a minimal size reservoir like a five gallon bucket. Key part of this is to remove heat energy from water before returning it to reservoir. You can add more cooling such as a chiller or use the ground (Geo Thermal), cool air at night blowing through a heat exchanger or heat-x-tractor, central air system passing through a heat exchanger to remove heat energy if needed. A water cooled grow light will average a 3-4 degree increase in operating temperature , more than the water you are using too cool the fixture. For example you are using 70 degree fahrenheit water to cool your light the operating temp will average 73- 74 degree warmer, these test done with a 1000 hps. The ideal water temp for a hot summer day would be 60-70 degree , but you will have to consider the due point, because going lower than the due point will make your water cooled fixture sweat . You can lower your due point with a dehumidifier and achieve cooled temps if needed. Your water cooled system will only run as cool as the water you are passing though the system, so keep this in mind as you design your own water cooled system.
A water cooled system will work good and be dependable , but there are key factors that come in to play such as how much volume of water flow , the type hose you use to plumb you system , placement of reservoir , light cycle , ambient temperature for garden and ph level of reservoir . We will address all these issues ,so you will have a better understanding how to set up a smooth dependable water cooled garden .
To circulate water through the system you will need some sort of a pump, the pump makes all the difference in a water cooled system . You can use a low budget pump
and could run your water cooled fine , but you are trying to save money in the wrong area , it's like buying a high end sport car and putting on cheap tire's . We recommend
purchasing a larger pump than necessary, quality pump, quiet, low energy consumption are good things to look for. A submersible pump will work great and we recommend
those for a small systems , for a larger system such as four lights and above we strongly encourage you to look into a inline pump, like koi pond pump or a small jacuzzi pump. A inline pump will stay dry, because it is not submerge in water and they usually last for years. When installing your pump make sure to plumb the pump at the bottom of the water supply . Plumbing the pump at the low point of the water supply will allow the weight of the water from your reservoir to assist your pump and give you better flow. Removing all the air from your plumping is very critical , because your pump will not work correctly. Air in your system can cause air lock preventing any flow at all or slow down the flow and make you pump work harder. You can actually use a garden hose with city water pressure to remove a majority air from your system , by hooking up the garden hose with some sort of hose adapter, most likely 5/8" to 1/2" . Making sure all hose clamps are tighten on system, do not try to cut corners this can get messy , now slowly turn on city water allowing air to escape from return line back to the reservoir. Be patient with opening up city water to full flow can take up to few minutes, when you removed the majority of the air, it is now time to open up all the way and let water run for a few minutes or more. This a great way to fill up reservoir , make sure not overfill or forget this will cause a nice flood. This a great time to look for leaks or weak connections because with this amount of pressure if your system is going to fail , it would most likely happen now. High volume low pressure is how it works , 15 pounds of water pressure is maximum for this system to run on a everyday circumstances , when bleeding your system it is auk to apply more pressure just be cautious. The purpose of high volume is it will remove more heat and it will keep the water cooled fixtures cleaner from algae growth and particle build up.
Then when I have time I will setup a new small experiment in another room.
There is no eight.... I just cant shut the fuck up right now. HAAaaa!!!
