Confused on venting - pulling good air out?

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Mudslinger

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I have a grow room about 7x5 feet. It’s winter here in Ohio so it’s cold and dry. I can’t help think if I am running my carbon scrubber fan which exhausts outside of my grow room that I am running a losing battle - like worse than leaving the door open…..right?

I am trying to create a perfect environment BUT pulling the heated and RH’ed air OUT of the room at a pretty decent flow seems super counter-productive. Am I missing something? Do people exhaust the scrubbed air back into the tent/ room so the perfect temp and RH air is scrubbed and returned to the room?

Any thoughts?
 
GrilledCheeze

GrilledCheeze

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What you're doing is the most simple setup. I run my 4x4 tent in a similar way but I keep the conditions regulated with controllers that I set the high/lows at a tight tolerance so the impact of running the exhaust on humidity is minimal. I have a properly sized humidifier that can get me back to the desired %RH within a minute or two. You have to remember the perfect conditions are within a range and as long as you stay pretty close you'll be good to go.

If you're equipment is running for long periods of time you may not have the right components for your setup or maybe you do and are using it incorrectly?

This is something I have spent a lot of time thinking about in my own setup and it's going to vary from room to room. I make a lot of different adjustments as needed. For example, I sometimes intake air from outside or from the room the tent is in depending on the environmental conditions and what I'm trying to achieve.
 
MIGrampaUSA

MIGrampaUSA

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I have a grow room about 7x5 feet. It’s winter here in Ohio so it’s cold and dry. I can’t help think if I am running my carbon scrubber fan which exhausts outside of my grow room that I am running a losing battle - like worse than leaving the door open…..right?

I am trying to create a perfect environment BUT pulling the heated and RH’ed air OUT of the room at a pretty decent flow seems super counter-productive. Am I missing something? Do people exhaust the scrubbed air back into the tent/ room so the perfect temp and RH air is scrubbed and returned to the room?

Any thoughts?

Mid Michigan here. Similar climate. My grow area is in a large room in my heated basement. Night time temps are in the upper 60's in the grow room. I have 2 large tents and a cloning/seedling cabinet inside the grow area. I use temperature and humidity sensors to control my ventilation. I vent into the grow room and not outdoors or into another room. This allows me better control of my temperatures and helps me keep my humidity low. I run with a tent rH around 50%.
 
Z

Zill

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Mudslinger,

That’s a great question. And you pretty much solved it.

Ever notice how you have to pull hard on a restaurant door to open it? Those kitchen exhaust fans pull huge amounts of cubic feet quickly. They spend bucks heating the seating area. Just like the tent. Conditioning air then doing a 100% exhaust is wasteful. In industries that require HEPA filtered conditioned air a certain percent, like you suggest, is returned not exhausted. Why are you running a one way carbon filter continuously. Can that air post carbon filter be returned?

Zill.
 
Zen_Seeker

Zen_Seeker

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Canada here...

I’m also setup in a heated basement. Temp is between 16* - 22* but is usually 18* - 20*.

Grow room is also a hallway so I can’t isolate more than 50% of the time. Laundry is done 1 or 2 a week and we exhaust the dryer air into the basement to save heat in the winter. (Filtered)

So I use a tent with an intake & outtake fans. Usually in a small grow, say up to 4x4, you can just use a main inline fan to pull or push air out of the tent top when to hot or to humid. Harder on the fan but cheaper and easier if it works for you. No matter if you push, pull, or both it’s up to you to maintain the proper RH & Temp without a controller.

Now if you add a controller to your main fan and set the top temp to say 28*c & max humidity to 75% the fan will only vent when things get too hight. At lights out I get as low as 18*c but still 70% and as high as 28*c & 75% RH at lights on.
I vent into the room and pull from the room. Only filters are shear stockings on each vent to protect fans and stop pests.

Main fan is on roof of tent to lower heat inside and give more space for light to go higher.

Intake fan is on bottom. It’s 6” so when off it still allows plenty of air flow for main fan to pull when desired.

On the rare occasion humidity is to low I leave a container of water in the tent or place another plant like lettuce in there with it that gives off lots of humidity. I also spray water or foliar when needed.

Smell isn’t an issue for us so no carbon filter or extra crap. Only bad just before harvest. Less stress on fans and saves $100’s.

If you don’t have to vent outside, or need to, why bother?

Just an idea and thoughts from another new grower. No two setup are the same. You do whatever works for you and tweak as needed or you learn a better way. Just be safe and smart.

Best of luck!
 
BigBlonde

BigBlonde

1,379
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In for answers as I've been debating about doing a closed loop between 2 tents. The humidity fluctuates outside so much that it's been a constant battle.
I wonder if your idea is similar to one of my own. I have been thinking of adding an equipment tent that would serve the same purpose as a lung room. Call it a lung tent, perhaps. My thinking is for the heater, humidifier, dehumidifier, etc. to be in a separate tent and the two tents would be connected by an air circuit. That, I think, would solve several problems, with optimization of grow space being one of them.
 
BigBlonde

BigBlonde

1,379
263
I have a grow room about 7x5 feet. It’s winter here in Ohio so it’s cold and dry. I can’t help think if I am running my carbon scrubber fan which exhausts outside of my grow room that I am running a losing battle - like worse than leaving the door open…..right?

I am trying to create a perfect environment BUT pulling the heated and RH’ed air OUT of the room at a pretty decent flow seems super counter-productive. Am I missing something? Do people exhaust the scrubbed air back into the tent/ room so the perfect temp and RH air is scrubbed and returned to the room?

Any thoughts?
Many people have a "lung room" for their tent(s). Basically, as I understand it, it's like a spare bedroom that is dedicated to growing. Air is circulated between the tent and the room in which it resides.

I have learned during my few grows that changes in the weather can create difficult for us. I have decided not to grow during the summer because cooling a room heated by plant lights can be hard on the electricity bill. It is more economical to use the heat from the lights to heat the house or apartment during the fall, winter and spring.
 
Blastfact

Blastfact

756
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I set my exhaust fans up to push air into the filter and exhaust in the same room the tents are in winter or summer with the fans setup to a max speed of #5 and temp of 78F. I set them up to blow in the filter so the blower is always loaded and efficient. If I need more heat in the winter I raise the lights in my tents and stomp on the dimmers a bit more. If I need less heat in the summer I lower the lights and back off the dimmers. Being well over powered on my lighting it's easy. Exhausting outside is never a option for me.
 
Timbo0716

Timbo0716

538
143
I have an upstairs spare bedroom 20x20 with a 4x4, 4x8 and a closet 5x4 to grow in. I keep the room temperature, humidity with a/c and dehumidifier to keep everything just right to grow all seasons.
 
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