Grow Room in progress

Hey all :thumbsup:
I'm in the process of creating a new grow room in my basement and would like to get the thoughts of my fellow growers on a few things so I can hopefully get it right the first time LOL!! :D
1st question will be lighting. the room itself will be 12' by 7' and 6 1/2' ceiling.
Hydro unit will start as a 9 site ebb and grow system ( 9 seperate buckets with 1 central res) and I will be expanding up to 18 sites tops. Originally I had thought of using 2 1000w lights but have heard that maybe 3 600w lights would be better in 2 parts. less electric draw and more lumens. I really want to know what you peeps think about this so I would really like to see more than 2 or 3 replies and ty in advance!! :jointsmile:

its all personal preference,personally i would use 4 600's if your going to run 18 buckets eventualy and stager them.i would do 2 rows of 2.but not have them side by side.lets say ,starting on the left row u would have your lamp.3 1/2 feet down the ducting is your second lamp.on the second row i would start were your first row lamps ducting started then you would do the same with your fourth lamp. basically you wouldnt have your lights right next 2 each other in there rows. use y splitters at both ends of your lamps and use one large fan to pull the air from all four lights,damn i wish i had time to draw u a pic but work is calling my name.

I follow your discription .... basically llok like a zig zag line from above. ty for your input and plz stay tuned as more questions will be otw but want to see more feedback on lighting first

I would start with 2 lights on the nine and then expand 2 more lights like disrupt86 said. I would also get all 1000 watt ballast and run 600 bulbs. That way I could always bumb it up to full steam if I needed to.

any clue if there would be any savings on the electric bill running 4 600w compared to 2 1000w or would it be more costly? sorry for all the questions but I know a "room" is alot different than a 3x4x7 cab or a 4x4x7 tent so I am trying to do this the right way and not have to be buying things twice :(

It's 2400 watts for 4- 600's and 2000 watts for 2- 1000's so just a bit more. watts are watts.

Electronic ballast may help a bit. You can spread the 600's out a little better for coverage.

and lastly about lights .... in my cab and tent I raise and lower lights as needed, do you do the same type of operation in a room setting? I also read that a 1000w light can handle a 5x5 area but nothing ever states at what height the light is to accomplish this??
I am starting to like the 600w route instead of 1000w. I am very thankfull for the replies and input so far but would really like to hear from more ....... almost like peeps are to dam tight these days to share even their thoughts /sigh
oh well time to feel better :jointsmile::rasta::rastasmoke::smokin::stoned:

yes raise and lower your lights like any other operation although i have been seeing people leave ther lights alone and raise there growing container to keep to bugs away"seems like to much work 2 me".may i suggest if u do use 4 lamps buying wooden closet rods from the home depot.you attach the rods to the roof with chains, then notch out a little line about a half inch were your lamps hangers are,basically instead of using chains were your 2 hangers would be 2 raise and lower each lamp there are now 2 lamps resting one pole,the pole is notched so they dont slide around when u need to move them.the lights are attached to lets say an 8 foot pole.when u need to adjust your lights you simply raise one end of the pole and secure it"chains,rope,what have u"and then u would raise the the other end.its just easier than adjusting 4 lengths of chain raither than 2.if i remeber right a 600 watt uses 630 watts and a 1000 watt uses 1,300 auctual watts. i could be wrong but i think those are the correct figures for a magnetic ballast.any who:thumbsup:

well I guess I'm not going to get any more thoughts on lights so time to move on to cooling of said lights. Would a 6" velocity fan be strong enough to cool 4 600w lamps? Air from the lamps will be vented directly outside to keep temps in room under control.

lights dont need a real big cfm number to move the air out of the room,prolly a 400 cfm would be perfect.just as long as the intake is not from the inside of the grow room and the exhaust is out side or a different room all together.

room is being built inside basement so intake air would be basement air

thas fine,thats how mine is.but u dont want your lights exhaust being recirculating back into the light system,

during warm weather it will be exhausted right to the great outdoors but fall/winter it will go to other side of basement (basement is basically split in half by a wall and doorway and room being built in 1 half) and assist with winter heating costs :thumbsup: I also see that a 6" vortex type fan ( can fan type) moves right around 400 cfm's so that is now on the list along with 2 600w lamps to start.

ok for exchanging air in the room itself I was planning on atleast 1 4" passive intake hole in each wall except the wall that will have an exhaust blower mounted up by ceiling. he intakes will be made out of pvc plastic elbows to keep light from going in and will be putting pantyhose over the pvc opening to deter bugs from trying to enter. cfm size I am still debating, room around 12 x 7 x 6 1/2.

700 cfm and up,its better to have to much exhaust than not enough.espescially with a passive system,that way u dont get stuck with a fan that doesnt work and the fan u could have bought in the first place for a little extra.

cool :thumbsup:
makes sense thats why I asking all this crap before hand lol

no worries my friend,im using a vortex 8 inch 747cfm fan,got it a a couple months back,with out the filter attached, this thing pulls suction so hard. i had to cover and re tape all my old duct holes because the suction pulled off all of the old stuff,im not sure if noise is a issue but one thing to consider is the bigger the cfm the louder the fan is going to be,if your going to a hydro store have the guy plug it in and test em out.your room is bigger than mine. i would ask to see a 10 inch or maybe even a 12.

well the sound test might be an issue as the closest hydro shop is about 80 miles away but wth I guess i'll have to plan a trip down. Noise isnt a huge issue but I really dont want it to sound like a friggin jet trying to take off lol

Better to have a large diameter/volume fan and slow it down ( makes it much quieter) than one matched to max out at needed cfm...

M.P.

if you are pulling room air thru the lights to outside you will have smell to deal with. Unless you pull air from outside the room ducted thru the lights and back out, and use a different fan for room exhaust with a filter on it for smell.

planned on running 2 seperate fans, exhaust will have an Odorsok installed on it and lights will just be basement air pulled through and exhausted outside. Have same setup in my cab and my tent and no smell issues at all but thank you very much for bringing that point up Mc :thumbsup:

18 plants? dont use and odor sock i really think its not going to be able to cover the smell of 18 flowering ladies

what would you suggest Dis??

not to off track this thread but with the ebb and grow buckets, you should consider converting it to a drip system. now i know why divestoned converted his. when your system irrigates the water has to pass through hoses all the way up to your buckets. well after it irrigates the old water stays in the hose which makes it bad when you have a bucket far from the controller. so every time it floods the furthest bucket doesnt get the nutes it should. well thats what i noticed in my ebb/gro grow.

a can fan filter or the sock u want to use with a smaller ozone generator placed in the room were your exhaust.

ty for the input Cig but I already shelled out the almost $500 for the ebb & gro system so I have to atleast try it hehe :jointsmile:

ty again dis for your input, I might have to name my room after you, I will check into the ozone generator you mentioned :thumbsup:

:D look up c.a.p style of ozone g's.there some of the cheapest ones and mine is awesome.

cheap is right .... 5500 sq ft coverage for $140. That should do it :jointsmile:

guess time to bring this thread back to life since it's tax time and it seems I'm even going to get something back this year so we are going to finally finish this project. Buying will start prob next week or so ...... so now is time to fine tune this puppy. Still plan on starting with 2 600w lights and yes Loc I'm looking at 1000w ballasts :thumbsup:
Only thing that really has my mind working overtime is cooling on the lights. I know we already bounced this around but came up with a thought or 2. Question is 1 big mofo fan to cool all lights? Keep in mind that this will finally be running a total of 4 lights when complete.
or 1 fan at each light but on lights using same duct work? would also like input on cfm size for whichever route being suggeted. Thank you in advance for your input :jointsmile:

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Originally Posted by tinytoon

planned on running 2 seperate fans, exhaust will have an Odorsok installed on it and lights will just be basement air pulled through and exhausted outside. Have same setup in my cab and my tent and no smell issues at all but thank you very much for bringing that point up Mc :thumbsup:

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Hey sounds like you're building a nice room. Just thought I'd say that you might like a real carbon filter in a basement location. I used the Odorsok things many times and was happy with them but when I used them in my cellar they would only work good for about 2 months before having to refresh them. The dryer refreshing wouldn't last long either, maybe 2 weeks. My basement was about 50% humidity, my home made carbon filter works way better down there. If your basement is dryer they may work fine but I just wanted to mention it. :jointsmile:

I have had a lot of luck with these, and they are very inexpensive...

fresh2 compact fluorescent light bulbs remove odor while emitting energy efficient light

just dont use them during flowering.
600 watt light is most efficient watts to lumens

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tinytoon

guess time to bring this thread back to life since it's tax time and it seems I'm even going to get something back this year so we are going to finally finish this project. Buying will start prob next week or so ...... so now is time to fine tune this puppy. Still plan on starting with 2 600w lights and yes Loc I'm looking at 1000w ballasts :thumbsup:
Only thing that really has my mind working overtime is cooling on the lights. I know we already bounced this around but came up with a thought or 2. Question is 1 big mofo fan to cool all lights? Keep in mind that this will finally be running a total of 4 lights when complete.
or 1 fan at each light but on lights using same duct work? would also like input on cfm size for whichever route being suggeted. Thank you in advance for your input :jointsmile:

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tiny
I run 4 600w lights on one fan, however the venting is 8", fan runs at 700cfm, no problems at all.

I guess my main worry was if running 1 fan to cool all lights and that fan craps out on me then I am baking whatever is under the lights!!

SN you say 700cfm on an 8" duct, are you running a vortex type fan or?? also I found a cfm calculator on 1 of the hydro sites and says for my size room I need to have aprox 380 cfm for an exhaust fan (which will be sep from the light fan) this sound about right?? Sorry if some of these questions are redundant I just dont want to buy things more than once hehe :thumbsup:

taxes are back and first purchase has been made. 2 Nextgen 600w ballasts and 2 Yieldmaster II reflectors are otw!! :thumbsup:

went and got the 3/4" plywood for floor taoday and got that put down. now to start on the walls

ordered the fans today, 2 6" vortex type, but held off on filters as I am a lil confused atm. Wtf is the difference between a carbon filter and a carbon scrubber?? 1 fan will be mounted outside of room and blowing into the light ductwork and other fan will be inside room exhausting air out of room.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tinytoon

ordered the fans today, 2 6" vortex type, but held off on filters as I am a lil confused atm. Wtf is the difference between a carbon filter and a carbon scrubber?? 1 fan will be mounted outside of room and blowing into the light ductwork and other fan will be inside room exhausting air out of room.

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;)hi tinytoon,i'm not 100%,but i think its just the spelling,if i'm wrong,i'm sure this will prompt someone to correct me,then we'll both know!:thumbsup::jointsmile:

A carbon filter goes on the outside vent to stop the smell venting outside.

A carbon scrubber stays inside and just keeps recirculating the air inside the room to reduce odor.

ok it's built and getting ready to place pots for the ebb and gro system, what is the average amount of space a plant should have?? I thought I read somewhere 1.5 sq ft but cant remember :wtf: