need advice on intake air tempt control

[littlemountain]

I am building an 8x10 grow room- that will be the floor deminsions- ceiling height 8' at lowest- I plan on making an 18" flat area atop sides with an a-frame dome at the 18" area angled up 2" to a 12" flat surface- I am building inside a barn loft and have extra height- to use as hood to collect and remove outake air- i can have intake air either coming into side or thru the flooring? this palce gets hot in summer and cold in winter- I plan on first grow being winter-How do I control the temperature of the intake air? venting in extrememly cold air into a 640 sq foot are would be difficult to maintain ambient temperature- right? I feel the room is most important at first- It will cost me a couple of grand to build room the way I want- insulation and stealth foremost- after built I will see what budget I have for lighting- I will probably start with 1 -1000 watt and later go to 4 -600 watt lights=good advice on intake and outake venting air:hippy: temp control will be appreciated!!! grown outdoors for decades ready for some control

littlemountain Reviewed by littlemountain on 08-17-2010. need advice on intake air tempt control I am building an 8x10 grow room- that will be the floor deminsions- ceiling height 8' at lowest- I plan on making an 18" flat area atop sides with an a-frame dome at the 18" area angled up 2" to a 12" flat surface- I am building inside a barn loft and have extra height- to use as hood to collect and remove outake air- i can have intake air either coming into side or thru the flooring? this palce gets hot in summer and cold in winter- I plan on first grow being winter-How do I control the Rating: 5

[Prodaytrader]

temp is a very hard thing to control, most people find in the end. There are many options, not a single one size fits all. For my temp issues, I ended up running an ac duct to my room. I got lucky in that the room doesn't bleed any more energy then what my house already does. It's fairly balanced.

For larger spaces, you might want a dedicated ac unit in the room. Maybe a window mounted unit or perhaps a stand alone unit that simply plugs into a 110 outlet. You can do the same again for your res with a water chiller if you find that temps are getting too hot and heating up your res water. Keeping the room cool though, will keep the water cool too. If you are unable to keep the air temps down low enough, then a water chiller could finish the job for you, only with a slightly higher ambient temp in the room.

Dont worry about sucking cold air through the lights, that's even better for them, hot air would not be, so summer time will suck there. In that case, suck the air in from your room, assuming you are able to cool the room. Same thing with ventilation. The only reason to ventilate anyway, is if your not going to use co2. Lots of people who build seriously expensive grow rooms, also plan on using co2 so you wouldn't vent those gases away from the plants. The room becomes sealed and the lights are the only thing cooled with outside air. Using non HPS lighting would allow you to keep away from heat and not need exhausting, if you can figure a way to do that. Given your space, I don't know if you want something other then an HPS in there, for large spaces they tend to work well. In smaller spaces, floros tend to work better because of the heat.

[littlemountain]

Thanks for the info. If I was to put in a co2 system for an 8x10 area , got any idea what that would cost and any idea how much gas would be used over a grow period? having a sealed room sounds like the way to go.I am currently having major health issues and am not able to spend great amount of times sitting up to use computer. info on a gas system would be greatly appreciated.

[weeddaddy50]

you should be able to get the 20lb bottle and regulator for about $300 total, use the web and do a search...tons of places. it will cost you about $30 every two weeks for the C02 based on useage, simple tables will tell formulas to use.

My grow room is 19 x 15 and I have intake air and a carbon filter for exhaust air + C02.....exhause every 15 minutes, for 10 minutes, then add C02 for 15 minutes in between on a timer.

Should work excellent.

Check out my grow log....it has a list of items I am using.

[Rusty Trichome]

I grow in an 8 x 12 x 8 foot tall shed, outdoors, in the southwest desert.
Summertime temps are topping 110 right now, winter temps sink to...below freezing.

No way I could do this without a wall-mount A/C for the summer (11,000 BTU from Walmart - $250.00) and a floor heater in the winter. I use an oil-heating radiator (DeLonghi) so the heating element doesn't come on (glow) all night, stressing the ladies. Also, in the winter, I set a fan directly above the grow, and aim the airflow down. This blows any heat back down on the plants.

Other than the A/C in the summer, I don't use an intake fan. (unnecessary)

Are you going soil or hydro? If going hydro, make damn sure you can control res temps 24/7/365. (I grow in soil)

Heat is easier to deal with than the cold. Check the "Dealing With Heat Issues" thread. The link is in my signature.

I personally don't mess with the CO2. Have never had a solid reason to use it since I don't grow for quantity, I grow for quality. And haven't you heard...CO2 emissions are killing our planet...? (LMAO)

[littlemountain]

Rusty T. what lighting setup do you use for your space. Intake of cold air has been on my mind - I will put in a co2 system and maybe use it only on days of extreme cold or heat. if i do use co2 won't the plants convert it to oxygen? if not I have not been able to drive a car due to my health in 8 months. my contribuation to being green. i'll offset with my grow room I suppose

[Rusty Trichome]

Indoors during the summer I use CFL's. (growth stage)
Indoors during the winter I use a 400w HPS. (full spectrum)

Outdoors in the flowering shed I use a 1000w HPS year round, and suppliment with a 400w HPS during the winter.

Don't kill yourself with the gas. (suffocation) It's not worth it. And since plants grow just fine without the supplimental CO2, it is unnecessary except for a few specific cases. And if growing for your own meds, why add to your costs unnecessarily?

Extreme cold is fatal regardless of the CO2 levels. Get a heater for the winter nights and really cold days. An oil-filled one is good, because it doesn't radiate light every time the element comes on.

Unless your grow closet is air-tight...if you vent the heat out, fresh air will be sucked-in through the cracks and openings. There should be no need for an intake fan if you've got a working exhaust fan. You'll still need a circulation fan though. My exhaust vents are near the top of my closets, because that's where the heat goes. In the winter, I close the vents a tad to retain SOME heat, but still allows some air exchange. (fresh CO2)

[littlemountain]

Indoors during the summer I use CFL's. (growth stage)
Indoors during the winter I use a 400w HPS. (full spectrum)

Outdoors in the flowering shed I use a 1000w HPS year round, and suppliment with a 400w HPS during the winter.

Don't kill yourself with the gas. (suffocation) It's not worth it. And since plants grow just fine without the supplimental CO2, it is unnecessary except for a few specific cases. And if growing for your own meds, why add to your costs unnecessarily?

Extreme cold is fatal regardless of the CO2 levels. Get a heater for the winter nights and really cold days. An oil-filled one is good, because it doesn't radiate light every time the element comes on.

Unless your grow closet is air-tight...if you vent the heat out, fresh air will be sucked-in through the cracks and openings. There should be no need for an intake fan if you've got a working exhaust fan. You'll still need a circulation fan though. My exhaust vents are near the top of my closets, because that's where the heat goes. In the winter, I close the vents a tad to retain SOME heat, but still allows some air exchange. (fresh CO2)

Rusty I plan on making room airtight- so an intake will be needed- i have already bought an oil radiant heater- same brand as yours- my concern about outside air tempt is because I am very sick {terminal the docs say} so this could be my last hoorah- it is important to me to be successfull at this build and grow- I normally grow outdoors but because of my health I was not able to tend to my crop this season and the drought and excessive heat did my girls in- I need this grow for personal meds and to focus my mind on- chronic pain and strees relief- Mr Trichrome-what are the lowest tempts you have to deal with- I hope to have my grow started by October 1st- possible harvest date on an indoor would be?

[johard59]

The temperature for 68 to 78 degree Fahrenheit, the air is not problem for indoor , its growth can be tolerated in the room atmosphere,so the light source and temperature should be maintained.

[Rusty Trichome]

One month or more in veg, 8-12 weeks for flower, depending on the strain.
Early to mid January for a indica dominate, early to mid february for a sativa dom. (best case scenarios, full plant maturity)

Lowest temps without visible sign of stress is around 60 degrees. Below that and they seem to hibernate, so to speak. I've heard of CO2 in hot climates or enviornments, but not for cold. From what I understand, it's something about pore dialation and gas/air exchange in the stoma. (leaf pores that uptake air and emit O2 - Stoma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

If keeping it simple scares you, imagine losing a crop or two to jumping head-first into an advanced technique.

But, If you feel the need to spend the extra $ on an airtight/light tight enclosure plus the CO2 and monitoring equipment, and are familiar enough with indoor growing, it culd well be a benefit. But conversely, it can go bad just as quickly. The thread titled 3lbs in an enclosed growroom (or something like that) was dialed-in by an experienced indoor gardener, and his results are not typical to the novice. He is accostomed to his plants, his nutrients, his medium and techniques. He also is adept at troubleshooting, as the experience doesn't come overnight. I know you mentioned being experienced in outdoor growing, but you'll encounter a different set of problems.

Not necessarily trying to disuade you from the technique in general, but fantastic things can happen when you keep it simple. Less expense, less to go wrong, more peace of mind.

If having to build the enclosure just for the cold weather, there's no need for additional CO2 if you can vent-in some warm air or vent in fresh air, and heat the enclosure. Personally, I close my shed up at night and crank-up the heater. (away from the plants) No fresh air till I come in and open the vents in the morning, and the circulation fan(s) move the heat around. And there's no need for the heater during the day, as my 1000w HPS heats it just fine. Keep roots from getting too cold. (up off the floor)

Hope this helps, and I hope you'll have many sucesses to come. :thumbsup: