cool temps

[TylerDurden119]

i recently moved my setup and its now in a basement. I've been down when the lights are off and its definetly too cool, prolly in the mid teen area(celsius). I grow in pro mix beds SOG style. Im looking for advice on keeping the room a steady temperature. I don't have a direct intake so the exhaust is pulling the cool air in from the walls and whatnot.

I was thinking of two remedy's. The first is buying a radiant floor heating kit and installing it under the beds with some plywood over top. The second is using a res with an aquarium heater and a sub pump with a 1" hose running in a "s" pattern at the bottom of the beds(exposed to the soil).

Any ideas or advice would b greatly appreciated. THANX!!!

 

[motta-tokka]

I would suggest a sealed section of the basement or a tent for a controlled environment. I am able to dial in temps perfectly with sealed hoods and a dial for the fan to them. Night time temps will rise with a dehumidifier which you should have anyhow to prevent bud rot. I run super high humidity and never rot on any strains and I thank the dehuey for this. The dehumidifier in the lights off will expel warm air and should raise temps a few degrees depending on variables involved. Mine raises the grow tent to 60f when its 45 in the ambient space. Granted that there is humidity in the air of course.

Just a idea for you.. Good luck and happy growing :)

 

[Seamaiden]

i recently moved my setup and its now in a basement. I've been down when the lights are off and its definetly too cool, prolly in the mid teen area(celsius). I grow in pro mix beds SOG style. Im looking for advice on keeping the room a steady temperature. I don't have a direct intake so the exhaust is pulling the cool air in from the walls and whatnot.

Not even a passive intake? Is the area insulated? That's the first thing I'd concern myself with (besides trying to quickly mentally figure out what the teens Celsius is in Fahrenheit) (aaannd, now that that's done...) I can tell you, though, that mid-50s Fahrenheit, while not necessarily ideal for CANOPY temps, is ok. They like their feet a bit warmer than that, as you obviously know.

I was thinking of two remedy's. The first is buying a radiant floor heating kit and installing it under the beds with some plywood over top. The second is using a res with an aquarium heater and a sub pump with a 1" hose running in a "s" pattern at the bottom of the beds(exposed to the soil).

Any ideas or advice would b greatly appreciated. THANX!!!

There's no way an aquarium heater will be able to do what you have planned. If you can afford to heat entirely with electricity without it going towards light, then do it. I can't (living in PG&Evil territory sans alternatives), so in one area I have the bottom of the box (raised table that's enclosed) lined with an electric blanket, aka Electric Blanket Sandwich. But you could certainly do the floor heater and then cover it with pond liner, or put your girls in trays.

What I've landed on for growing in my basement is the following:
* Well insulated room (and I do mean WELL insulated--I use the styrofoam rigid sheets)
* Plants raised off floor
* Good control of passive intake and active exhaust--in winter the exhaust isn't run at all and I activate the intake when needed. Today it's 20.6F, and I need every molecule of warm air in my room, so no exhausting and no intake, just circulation, lots and lots of circulation.
* HID lighting helps greatly with adding heat and keeping it there, and so I don't worry myself about lights-off temps.

But, if I could put a radiant floor under the flower room and the veg-table, I would do it in a heartbeat.

 

[TylerDurden119]

sweet, seamaiden thats exactly what i was looking to hear. I thought that would be the best route but gettin advice from someone who has gone that route(similar enuf) is what i needed.

I also thought of a similar setup using clone heating pads but quickly backed away with all the extra cords.

I'm gona get the kit and install it for the next one, maybe with a temp switch or on a timer.

I do have the bed off the floor with some 1" foam boad and a couple sheets of plywood. Nothing on the walls tho. The room is enclosed tho using strapping and 6mm blk/wht and insulated ceiling using pink itchy. I'm in an old house so with all the leaks n cracks I use that as my intake. I can feel air being pulled in at the bottom of the walls near the foundation.

I tried running my exhaust on a 15 on 15 off sched but found the cool air was coming back thru the exhaust. my friend said they got a one way valve for the exahust ducting, which i haven't found yet.

I'll grab a breaker and run it on a dedicated line, unless i can find a 240 kit :D

First i want to find that ducting valve and try it as it'll b alot easier n cheaper than installing a floor kit.

Thanx fellas!!!!

 

[devious d]

Yes had the snow on my roof last few weeks 58-62 type of night time not ideal but brought out the colours

 

[devious d]

Long term you can get heating screeded straight into the floor,running waterpipe screeded over easy undrrfloor heating

 

[convex]

Perhaps a couple of oil filled portable radiant heaters on line voltage thermostats?

 

[Seamaiden]

Tyler, there are dampers that you can set up to be thermostatically controlled, and I believe there are thermostatically-controlled dampers already on the market. I did the same as you, tried 15ON/15OFF and it got too cold.

I'd still consider the rigid insulation, at the very least it's quite white, highly reflective (forgot to mention that now they make it with a foiled side) and easily cleaned/wiped off. I assume your ladies are at least a foot off the floor, yes? Mine are up on shelving units (old back injury limits me), about 18" or so up, and that's a subfloor that's a few feet from the actual earth. Kind of hard to explain, but we're on a slope, so the portion that allowed us to build the floor without digging is where we went, that goes from about 1' above the earth to over 10' (steep slope).