Grow diary mission impossible (low to medium budget lol)

[Oldchucky]

Yo bear! You probably already know this but if you have a PG&E smart meter, you can create an account and watch your energy usage hour by hour in a graph type set up. I don’t know if it works on A Phone but I used to have a PC and used it all the time! Just may be something you might be interested in!

 

[BearWater]

Made the switch this morning. Lights stayed off last night and temps cruised along at 74 all night. The ac is already on as usual this morning but not running anymore than usual.

 

[BearWater]

Yo bear! You probably already know this but if you have a PG&E smart meter, you can create an account and watch your energy usage hour by hour in a graph type set up. I don’t know if it works on A Phone but I used to have a PC and used it all the time! Just may be something you might be interested in!

I had no clue you could do this! My statement would show if I have a smart meter or not right? Ill get with tech support this evening thanks chucky!!!

 

[Oldchucky]

Don’t thank me yet! You may not want to see it! L O L! Just another tool! It will say right on it! If a reader doesn’t come by anymore, You probably do!

 

[cpurola]

Don’t thank me yet! You may not want to see it! L O L! Just another tool! It will say right on it! If a reader doesn’t come by anymore, You probably do!View attachment 2191767

We have one similar. We had to get it when hubby connected our solar collectors to DTE. LOVED watching the arrow pointing out instead of in.
We used to get parity, and had $5 electric bills in the summer, if we didn't turn our air conditioner on.
Now they're giving us alot less and our bill never goes that low anymore.

 

[Putthataway]

Made the switch this morning. Lights stayed off last night and temps cruised along at 74 all night. The ac is already on as usual this morning but not running anymore than usual.

My provider installed these all on their own. It saves them money. Keep in mind folks who had smart thermostats when high energy use was use was occurring in places such as Texas and California residents arrived home to their thermostat settings changed .

 

[BearWater]

My provider installed these all on their own. It saves them money. Keep in mind folks who had smart thermostats when high energy use was use was occurring in places such as Texas and California residents arrived home to their thermostat settings changed .

I have heard this mentioned! My wife is laughing at me right now because she says my weed plants have AC and our house does not! Hahaha! We’re trying to cut the house AC usage waaaay back anyways so it’s all good. Still dont like the idea of the power company fucking with my stuff. Those are grounds for a “talkin to” hahaha! Thanks man

 

[BearWater]

I'm no expert but show me best you can in a pic layout and describe what your settings are for your vent system. I've built a couple systems over the years and this just doesn't add up

Hey Jadins! Here are some pics of my room and I’ll do the best to describe the actions and settings of everything. Keep in mind where the wood frame is was a wall so my area has doubled in size to how I set it up with everything. I’m thinking about making the inlet fan blow directly into the shed from outside and not use any ducting and for the exhaust I was going to do the same thing, remove all the ducting and charcoal filter and get the fan closer to the wall it exits out of. My dehumidifier is ducted into the dead space that is behind that wall.

My intake is the 6” aci inline fan with the slow medium and fast setting with in betweens (thats set on between medium and fast) the exhaust is usually set on 6 as thats the most quiet, I do bump it up to 8 sometimes.

Do you think If I ducted everything near the light I would get better results? Here’s some pics, let me know if you need me to explain thing or you have questions as to why I did something I can explain it (might not be right but itll be why I did what I did LOL).

SIDE NOTE: I added the fixes I was thinking about doing on top of the pics of the current set up. I think youll be able to make sense out of it. Again if you need to ask me why or how please do! : ) Thanks again!!! Last pic of the plants bottom right if you look closely you can see the inlet fan : ) probably not the best location for it

 

[Oldchucky]

If they did it, arbitrarily, they would be in court so fast it would make their head spin! But you can sign up for it and get a discount!

 

[jadins_journey]

Hey Jadins! Here are some pics of my room and I’ll do the best to describe the actions and settings of everything. Keep in mind where the wood frame is was a wall so my area has doubled in size to how I set it up with everything. I’m thinking about making the inlet fan blow directly into the shed from outside and not use any ducting and for the exhaust I was going to do the same thing, remove all the ducting and charcoal filter and get the fan closer to the wall it exits out of. My dehumidifier is ducted into the dead space that is behind that wall.

My intake is the 6” aci inline fan with the slow medium and fast setting with in betweens (thats set on between medium and fast) the exhaust is usually set on 6 as thats the most quiet, I do bump it up to 8 sometimes.

Do you think If I ducted everything near the light I would get better results? Here’s some pics, let me know if you need me to explain thing or you have questions as to why I did something I can explain it (might not be right but itll be why I did what I did LOL).

SIDE NOTE: I added the fixes I was thinking about doing on top of the pics of the current set up. I think youll be able to make sense out of it. Again if you need to ask me why or how please do! : ) Thanks again!!! Last pic of the plants bottom right if you look closely you can see the inlet fan : ) probably not the best location for itView attachment 2192395View attachment 2192396View attachment 2192397View attachment 2192398View attachment 2192399View attachment 2192400View attachment 2192401

Your AC unit, got a pic?

 

[jadins_journey]

Hey Jadins! Here are some pics of my room and I’ll do the best to describe the actions and settings of everything. Keep in mind where the wood frame is was a wall so my area has doubled in size to how I set it up with everything. I’m thinking about making the inlet fan blow directly into the shed from outside and not use any ducting and for the exhaust I was going to do the same thing, remove all the ducting and charcoal filter and get the fan closer to the wall it exits out of. My dehumidifier is ducted into the dead space that is behind that wall.

My intake is the 6” aci inline fan with the slow medium and fast setting with in betweens (thats set on between medium and fast) the exhaust is usually set on 6 as thats the most quiet, I do bump it up to 8 sometimes.

Do you think If I ducted everything near the light I would get better results? Here’s some pics, let me know if you need me to explain thing or you have questions as to why I did something I can explain it (might not be right but itll be why I did what I did LOL).

SIDE NOTE: I added the fixes I was thinking about doing on top of the pics of the current set up. I think youll be able to make sense out of it. Again if you need to ask me why or how please do! : ) Thanks again!!! Last pic of the plants bottom right if you look closely you can see the inlet fan : ) probably not the best location for itView attachment 2192395View attachment 2192396View attachment 2192397View attachment 2192398View attachment 2192399View attachment 2192400View attachment 2192401

Draw a sketch on piece of paper looking down. Pretty sure we can get this train back on track without too much trouble, just want to make sure I have the layout clear in my foggy old head.

 

[BearWater]

Draw a sketch on piece of paper looking down. Pretty sure we can get this train back on track without too much trouble, just want to make sure I have the layout clear in my foggy old head.

If you need anything else let me know : )

 

[BearWater]

We have one similar. We had to get it when hubby connected our solar collectors to DTE. LOVED watching the arrow pointing out instead of in.
We used to get parity, and had $5 electric bills in the summer, if we didn't turn our air conditioner on.
Now they're giving us alot less and our bill never goes that low anymore.

When we bought our house it was supposed to be a few year plan. Well, you know how those plans “ALWAYS WORK OUT PERFECTLY” hahaha! So at this point doing the ole solar thing wouldn’t be worth it, as were trying are hardest to get out of the direct area we are in now. I’ve toyed around with the idea of doing a smaller DIY setup with batteries just to learn and test things : ) our next place will have it for sure! Along with a nice shade tree my kids are instructed to burry me under

 

[jadins_journey]

If you need anything else let me know : )View attachment 2192471View attachment 2192473View attachment 2192474

Let's get the apologies out of the way, if I offend it's only because I want you to succeed.

Our grows are very similar, both outside of the house, both 8 x 14 (+/-) yard barns as we call here in the midwest. Cooled by window unit's that are both 6000BTU units. Lots and lots of similarities, even looks like the beginnings of a lung room for you veg plants. Nice, Very Nice!

Now, like I mentioned we both grow in yard barns, outside of that nice air-conditioned home where all the other farmers get to grow. We grow outside where temps and humidity vary greatly. Your ventilation design is based off of an indoor set-up, not a yard barn. 2 completely different ways of venting a grow room.

Let's start with the dehumidifier:

The window AC unit and your dehumidifier are basically the same thing with 2 small differences. DeHumidifier only has one fan and it has a bucket. How they work is by compressing a gas (let's say freon, but it isn't) that compressed gas gets cold on one side and very hot on the other side of the compressor. Room air from an ac only passes through the evaporator coils (cold) and returns to the room colder and drier. Room air from a dehu passes through both coils, 1st coil removes moisture which then passes over the heated coils to cool them before returning to the room warmer and drier. There's only 2 vents on the dehu, all the air your running through the unit is being blown out the wall. The only, and I mean only, thing your dehu is doing is adding heat to a moist room. Unplug it and store it away until next fall. The window unit will handle all the excess moisture in the room. All the air that unit was blowing out the wall had to be replaced by outside air being drawn in. Hot, moist air constantly being pulled in.

Your intake fan, unplug it as well. There is no need and besides the AC needs time to cool the air. The exhaust fan, yea you guessed it, unplug that bad boy as well. No need.

Now a little math to back up those last couple of unplugs. Yard barns let's say 8 feet wide, 12 feet long, 8 feet tall. That's 768 cubic ft. A 4" fan is going to be rated real damn close to 200cfm (cubic feet per minute), 6" is 325cfm. So a 4" fan can empty the room in about 4 minutes, 6" in a little over 2 minutes. Now add in the DeHu being vented outside (200cfm guessing) and the air inside the grow room is being exchanged every 3 minutes give or take and there is no AC that can possibly keep up with that (that we can afford).

So about all that's left plugged in are the lights and AC, use the fan filter combo to scrub/circulate the air but not discharge it outside. It's cool clean air now. Take your intake fan and vent it to the exhaust port in the wall. Put a thermostat on it (mine's @ 84) and it's now your back-up exhaust incase the ac craps out. Your thinking about CO2 probably, remember your in a yard barn with plenty of fresh air.

Growing in a yard barn takes a whole different set of rules to be successful. I have 3 ventilation configurations, winter summer and inbetween. I realize everything I just typed is contrary to what folks do, but most folks don't grow in a barn

jj

 

[BearWater]

Let's get the apologies out of the way, if I offend it's only because I want you to succeed.

Our grows are very similar, both outside of the house, both 8 x 14 (+/-) yard barns as we call here in the midwest. Cooled by window unit's that are both 6000BTU units. Lots and lots of similarities, even looks like the beginnings of a lung room for you veg plants. Nice, Very Nice!

Now, like I mentioned we both grow in yard barns, outside of that nice air-conditioned home where all the other farmers get to grow. We grow outside where temps and humidity vary greatly. Your ventilation design is based off of an indoor set-up, not a yard barn. 2 completely different ways of venting a grow room.

Let's start with the dehumidifier:
View attachment 2192925
View attachment 2192926

The window AC unit and your dehumidifier are basically the same thing with 2 small differences. DeHumidifier only has one fan and it has a bucket. How they work is by compressing a gas (let's say freon, but it isn't) that compressed gas gets cold on one side and very hot on the other side of the compressor. Room air from an ac only passes through the evaporator coils (cold) and returns to the room colder and drier. Room air from a dehu passes through both coils, 1st coil removes moisture which then passes over the heated coils to cool them before returning to the room warmer and drier. There's only 2 vents on the dehu, all the air your running through the unit is being blown out the wall. The only, and I mean only, thing your dehu is doing is adding heat to a moist room. Unplug it and store it away until next fall. The window unit will handle all the excess moisture in the room. All the air that unit was blowing out the wall had to be replaced by outside air being drawn in. Hot, moist air constantly being pulled in.

Your intake fan, unplug it as well. There is no need and besides the AC needs time to cool the air. The exhaust fan, yea you guessed it, unplug that bad boy as well. No need.

Now a little math to back up those last couple of unplugs. Yard barns let's say 8 feet wide, 12 feet long, 8 feet tall. That's 768 cubic ft. A 4" fan is going to be rated real damn close to 200cfm (cubic feet per minute), 6" is 325cfm. So a 4" fan can empty the room in about 4 minutes, 6" in a little over 2 minutes. Now add in the DeHu being vented outside (200cfm guessing) and the air inside the grow room is being exchanged every 3 minutes give or take and there is no AC that can possibly keep up with that (that we can afford).

So about all that's left plugged in are the lights and AC, use the fan filter combo to scrub/circulate the air but not discharge it outside. It's cool clean air now. Take your intake fan and vent it to the exhaust port in the wall. Put a thermostat on it (mine's @ 84) and it's now your back-up exhaust incase the ac craps out. Your thinking about CO2 probably, remember your in a yard barn with plenty of fresh air.

Growing in a yard barn takes a whole different set of rules to be successful. I have 3 ventilation configurations, winter summer and inbetween. I realize everything I just typed is contrary to what folks do, but most folks don't grow in a barn

jj

Hey jadins this is an amazing amount of information! Thank you very much for taking the time to explain this zero offense taken! Im going to roll with your suggestions and experience, I was missing something I just couldnt grasp it haha. The one thing Im not understanding per your instructions regarding “Take your intake fan and vent it to the exhaust port in the wall”? Can you explain it to me like im 5? im not sure if you’re saying to leave it where it is in the false wall with dead space? Or just have it vented to the exhaust in the event of AC failure. (Mounted at ceiling exhausting out?) thanks again

“ I have 3 ventilation configurations, winter summer and inbetween.” I was starting to come to that conclusion, it just would have taken me a couple more seasons to piece it all together : ) so thanks for that!

 

[jadins_journey]

Hey jadins this is an amazing amount of information! Thank you very much for taking the time to explain this zero offense taken! Im going to roll with your suggestions and experience, I was missing something I just couldnt grasp it haha. The one thing Im not understanding per your instructions regarding “Take your intake fan and vent it to the exhaust port in the wall”? Can you explain it to me like im 5? im not sure if you’re saying to leave it where it is in the false wall with dead space? Or just have it vented to the exhaust in the event of AC failure. (Mounted at ceiling exhausting out?) thanks again

“ I have 3 ventilation configurations, winter summer and inbetween.” I was starting to come to that conclusion, it just would have taken me a couple more seasons to piece it all together : ) so thanks for that!

The exhaust fan (what was your intake), yeah up and out of the way but on a thermostat. This fan will be your primary fan during the spring and fall so you'll be needing another filter for it. My scrubber never shuts down.

Hope this helps

jj

 

[BearWater]

The exhaust fan (what was your intake), yeah up and out of the way but on a thermostat. This fan will be your primary fan during the spring and fall so you'll be needing another filter for it. My scrubber never shuts down.

Hope this helps

jj

Got it! So im making two fans with a filter on it one scrubs inside air and the other will exhaust per pre set temp along with having a filter just in case it does start exhausting.

Thanks again! Im going to get out there today and mess around. The plants are going to need a water/feeding :)

 

[BearWater]

Making adjustments to the room, coop, barn, shed, hahaha!!! Need to plug everything from the great duct undoing! We needed to take a snack time break. Still need to finish watering the outdoor two (7gal fabric pots are less than ideal for outdoor imo) if I do get a “real” outdoor run going, it will be with my 25 gals, the hour grows dark for that endeavor though (not literally ) i mean kind of i guess lol! Im an idiot haha. @Zab eat your heart out! got a “bomb went off pic” for you hahahaha! Thanks again @jadins_journey

 

[Putthataway]

Making adjustments to the room, coop, barn, shed, hahaha!!! Need to plug everything from the great duct undoing! We needed to take a snack time break. Still need to finish watering the outdoor two (7gal fabric pots are less than ideal for outdoor imo) if I do get a “real” outdoor run going, it will be with my 25 gals, the hour grows dark for that endeavor though (not literally ) i mean kind of i guess lol! Im an idiot haha. @Zab eat your heart out! got a “bomb went off pic” for you hahahaha! Thanks again @jadins_journey View attachment 2194076View attachment 2194077View attachment 2194078

You are going all out. Amazing work bro.

 

[BearWater]

Thanks P!!! Im trying : ) I have been having epiphanies left and right the last few weeks over this damn shed lol! Things I probably could have really thought out, but sometimes I have a hard time seeing things in motion if they aren’t in front of me in motion lol. Im hoping ill being able to dial in as a “seasonal program” and make the set of adjustments accordingly and efficiently per the season (we’ll see) this is all coming to me after getting some insider “barn grow info” from JJ : ) were working it out together thanks for the encouraging words!