Building new rooms. What wall covering ??

Green Giant · May 1, 2013

Building out new veg and flowering rooms to accommodate the new upcoming UC system.
In my old rooms I have drywall painted in flat white paint.
I was wondering if there is anything that I should use that is better??

fishwhistle · May 1, 2013

http://www.orcagrowfilm.com/
This is what im putting in now,its super reflective and diffuse(no hotspots)you can wash it,its super tough too.
Next choice would be reflectix but honestly white paint worked just as good for me,not really sure how the orca will stack up but i have high hopes.

Capulator · May 1, 2013

White paint is fine IMHO. I believe white is 90+% reflective.

bonkia · May 1, 2013

I hate Sheetrock black mold everywhere! Not to mention it retains the moisture so your ph is higher! I prefer plywood with white paint. It's easy to handle and it will last longer.

Green Giant · May 1, 2013

Capulator said:
White paint is fine IMHO. I believe white is 90+% reflective.

I went with the flat white because it is more reflective than a gloss white.

fishwhistle said:
http://www.orcagrowfilm.com/
This is what im putting in now,its super reflective and diffuse(no hotspots)you can wash it,its super tough too.
Next choice would be reflectix but honestly white paint worked just as good for me,not really sure how the orca will stack up but i have high hopes.

I didn't use it last time because I was unsure of how it would hold up to washings.

sicinsane · May 2, 2013

i use the white side of panda film. after each run i tear it down and throw it away. my local store has em for $50 for the 100ft roll

paulycali · May 2, 2013

Yep go with the panda film or black/white plastic from the hydro shop. Also flat paint works great

KennyPowers · May 2, 2013

highly recommended

fishwhistle · May 2, 2013

My rooms are OSB primered w/2 coats kilz then flat white paint,behr premium ultra white, 2 coats,i have tried reflectix with no noticable difference really,i also have tried the Drylock paint but it does not go far and no noticable difference.Im redoing rooms again right now and 1 will have orcafilm and 1 flat white so we will see,Ill be using gavitas this go around and orca is highly recommended so what the hell ill try it.I have the orca now and im impressed with its toughness and washability without screwing up reflectivity,wash anything shiny and see what happens to reflectivity.We will see what happens,if the orca doesnt help ill stick with flat white,lol.Worth a try though and i know from experience that the others dont seem to offer any advantage lightwise, reflectix has some R-value but not much and my spots Well insulated already and has radiant barrier built in.

Seamaiden · May 2, 2013

We built my room out of 2x's and those Styrofoam insulation sheets, inside and out. I like the plain white sheets for the room, though they can make it BRIGHT because we also used white on the floor & ceiling. However, they don't block a lot of light from penetrating if you get the thinner sheets, so I did have to back the areas where exterior light could be seen. The Mylar-backed stuff does block light. The Styro sheets aren't exactly terribly durable, but if you chip they stay white, they wash up great, are very inexpensive, add insulation (yay!) and only require a KNIFE to cut and tape or staples to stick up. Years later, what was only temporary is still there working great.

ATAK.1 · May 2, 2013

^^^ I agree with Seamaiden- I used 4x8 foil backed insulation sheets for my walls. Like $6-7 a sheet, way easier than painting (which I did to my drywall before hanging insulation), additional insulation and sound deadening properties. Plus it looks trick. Check my thread for a pic.

woodsmaneh · May 4, 2013

Material reflection test

Sun

on a bright day, hottest 1-3 is 100,000 lux. On a cloudy day, but bright, not dark 3,000-10,000 lux.
The following materials were only used as a backdrop part of the hood, not the side panels, which also increase lux more. So use side panels.

Human Skin

Before I used my hand as the back hood, LUX 10,260. After hand as a reflector, with hand touching the bulb because you get higher LUX output if the reflector touches the cfl bulb, 11,010. That is about 750 more lux, which is a lot considering the low lux of this bulb.

Sheet Metal

The results amazed me. Skin is better.
10,260 before 10,730 after. 470 lux increase.

Now 470 doesn’t seem like much, but when used on a 64w (300w equal) it jumped from 16,300 to 19,300. That is with just back piece, no side panels. So about 3,000 more lux. The more powerful the bulb, the more lux you get from it with a good hood.

NOTE: To get the most out of CFLs, build a good hood with white material on the inside. Be sure it has the back, side panels, and front and back panels. All panels should be at about a 45 degree angle. If you can, make the cfl touch the back of the hood, or get as close as possible.

Flat white paint on sheet metal
Before 10,260—after 12,600. 2,340 lux increase.

That is huge for this small bulb. That is with only a back, no panels. With panels, the lux increases even more. That is from one standard 23w cfl at 2 inches away from censor, about where you want to be with such a bulb. Put 4 of these together under the same hood, and you get a huge increase in lux, than if they were not in a white hood.

White beats everything I tested. Here are more materials tested.

Mylar, like inside a grow tent
Before 10,170—after 11,030, 860 lux increase. That's only an 8.4% increase. BOOO! Mylar sucks.

About as effect as human skin. Not impressed. The white plastic is just as easy to clean, so why not make tent with that?

Semi Glossy White kitchen wall, so bumpy texture

Before 10,500--after 12,970, Lux increase 2,400.

This outperformed the painted sheet metal, which is surprising to me because the wall is bumpy. I would have thought also that semi gloss would be less effective. The difference isn’t much and could be that whole plus minus thing for tests. It seems anything white works equally well, even white plastic, which I tested, but not in this video.

Aluminum hood. Standard material in most hoods. That lump stuff.

Before 10,500—after 12,170, Lux increase 1,670.

Not bad. White would be better, so I am going to paint mine. I will then test the lux difference at a foot away and see if it helps.

Mirror

Before 10,400—after 11,280, lux increase 880.

About as effective as mylar and human skin. Not so good.

Brown Towel
Before 10,400—after 11,460, lux increase 1,060.

That blew my mind. A rough, brown towel out preforms, mylar, mirror, sheet metal, and human skin. Amazing. WTF?

Darker, pink-maroon wall.

Before 10,400—after 10,900, lux increase 500. Boo.

White, bathroom door, semi-gloss paint, flat surface

Before 10,300—after 12,800, lux increase 2,500. That is a 24.2% increase. Amazing.

Grey-blue wall. Sort of a light color.
Before 10,400—after 11,780, lux increase 1,380. Not bad.

[/SIZE]CFL test 64w 300w equal. This is a huge bulb. At 4 inches away.

Sheet Metal
Before 16,300—after 19,300, lux increase 3,000.

Flat white paint on sheet metal
Before 16,300—after 22,100, lux increase 5,800. That is a 35% increase!!! So, yes, more cfls or a larger cfl produces even more like under a white hood than less cfls or a smaller cfl. We went from 24% increase with the 23w cfl to 35% increase with the 64w cfl. 11% increase.

As you can see white rocks. That is just with a back reflector. Put on side panels, and bam. At 4-6 inches away with my cfl hood, bulbs sideways inside it, bulbs not touching the back reflector like they should, with side panels, all white inside, I get 30,000 lux. That is pretty awesome. When I mention the bulbs inside, I will mention their equal to incandescent bulbs.

1x 300w, 2x 150, 1x 100, plus a small 60w red bulb.

Seamaiden · May 5, 2013

That's awesome, and I had to laugh out loud when you posted 'Brown towel' and then proceeded to discuss how a brown towel is more reflective than Mylar. I love it!

montanamike1 · May 9, 2013

woodsmaneh said:
Brown Towel
Before 10,400—after 11,460, lux increase 1,060.

That blew my mind. A rough, brown towel out preforms, mylar, mirror, sheet metal, and human skin. Amazing. WTF?

Excellent work woodsmaneh, and very intriguing results! Have you tried any other brown objects or other darkly-colored towels?

I'm sure there's someone on here that can drop some knowledge bombs as to why brown towels are kick-ass reflectors...

woodsmaneh · May 9, 2013

We have a lot of customers come in asking about what to use and I wanted something to show them to help them make up their minds. Nothing has changed in years so no new additions to the list.

Hypnos · May 27, 2013

Green Giant said:
I went with the flat white because it is more reflective than a gloss white.

I didn't use it last time because I was unsure of how it would hold up to washings.

I use this, http://www.insulationstop.com/infra...il-insulation-double-bubble-square-edge-48x25. They have foil on both sides or a foil/white version if you want a white interior. Faster and cheaper than painting!

Underground · Jun 7, 2013

If you're concerned about moisture with drywall use MR (moisture resistant) it's usually purple. FRP can completely seal off and allow walls to be washed down if desired, if properly installed.

growbigtrees · Jun 10, 2013

The brown towel results blew my mind, hah. I rock panda and it never has let me down in any situation, plus its cheap it enough to rip down and replace if need be.

El Cerebro · Jun 10, 2013

Woods, i think if you repeat this test with a quantum device the brown towel and other nonreflective surfaces won't fare so well..

Building new rooms. What wall covering ??

Building new rooms. What wall covering ??

Green Giant

fishwhistle

Capulator

likes to smell trees.

bonkia

Green Giant

sicinsane

paulycali

KennyPowers

fishwhistle

Seamaiden

Living dead girl

ATAK.1

woodsmaneh

Seamaiden

Living dead girl

montanamike1

woodsmaneh

Hypnos

Underground

growbigtrees

El Cerebro

Building new rooms. What wall covering ??

Building new rooms. What wall covering ??

Green Giant

fishwhistle

Capulator

likes to smell trees.

bonkia

Green Giant

sicinsane

paulycali

KennyPowers

fishwhistle

Seamaiden

Living dead girl

ATAK.1

woodsmaneh

Seamaiden

Living dead girl

montanamike1

woodsmaneh

Hypnos

Underground

growbigtrees

El Cerebro

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