Indoor+growing+fans

[Tony Clifton]

Hey. New to the message board. Hello to all. Quick Question;
I'm setting up a simple closet hydro set-up for four plants. Gonna use 250w light. How neccessary is a cooling/extractor fan? My plan was to open the doors of the closet at intervals during the day and allow a standard household oscillating fan blow in on the plants. Totalling about 3 hours a day (I work from home, hence I'll be near the plants all the time).

Will this work as I want to avoid the expense, noise and construction of a fan within the cupboard. I need to keep it looking like a normal cupboard as best I can.

Any feedback appreciated.

Tony Clifton Reviewed by Tony Clifton on 03-15-2005. Indoor+growing+fans Hey. New to the message board. Hello to all. Quick Question; I'm setting up a simple closet hydro set-up for four plants. Gonna use 250w light. How neccessary is a cooling/extractor fan? My plan was to open the doors of the closet at intervals during the day and allow a standard household oscillating fan blow in on the plants. Totalling about 3 hours a day (I work from home, hence I'll be near the plants all the time). Will this work as I want to avoid the expense, noise and construction Rating: 5

[newgroweroldsmoker]

you need a fan blowing on the plants all the time, especially if you grow in a closet......
the fan will:
a)help you to control the height of the plants
b)keep temp down
c)circulate air

it is therefore wiser to have a fan blowing on a 24/7 basis on the plants.....since you plan to do it in a closet thing with doors closed, it is going to get HOT in there no matter how far you put the lamp from the top of the plants.....especially in the case that there is no continuous airflow/exchange of air between outside and inside the closet/growroom.....don't worry about the power that a fan consumes...it is very low comparing to that a HID lamp consumes.....for my setup i use 4 computer fans that consume 3 watts each.....normal 3 speed oscilating fans consume up to 50 watts max on top speed......you do not need to use max speed though....just a wind like a breeze on your plants.... hope that helped

[newgroweroldsmoker]

PS...you will need and a thermometer in there

[Tony Clifton]

Cheers dude...that does indeed help. Trying to keep it very covert. any ideas on covert operations???

[Tony Clifton]

Do I install the fan to take air out or just to keep it cool inside? I assume that if it's just a fan on the go inside it will just be blowing around hot air!!

[phillykid420]

You'll most likely need a fan to exhaust but with small lights you can let your intake be passive. If using a cabinet you're gonna need to put in light traps at the exhaust and intake. Put the exhaust near the top and the passive intake at the bottom. You'll need to exchange the inner air with the outer air cause the plants will deplete the CO2 levels which need to be replaced. For light traps you can use pvc tubing bent at a right angle.

[smokinlowrider4u]

never used a fan just leave the door open but all arent like me

[Lurker]

@tony cliffton what kind of lights are you using?