Grow Shed Ventilation/cooling

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Desertvw94

Desertvw94

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First time grower here, and looking for advice on the design of my ventilation/cooling system. I'm fixing up a wooden shed into a grow room. It's 8.5 x 5.5 x 6 ft, and I'll be using a 1000 watt hps (cool tube) with the electronic ballast in the same room. It will be insulated, dry walled, painted, and the door is pretty close to air tight. I was planing on ventilating it by bringing in air from the outside (filtered) and exhausting through a scrubber and the light fixture.
From what I understand, you want to exchange the air about once every minute. It's been over 90 degrees the past few days and that got me thinking, "how the heck am I going to cool this room with 90-100 degree air?" Utilizing an air conditioner while also replacing the air every minute doesn't seem efficient or even feasible.

So my question is this: What's the best way to cool my shed while also bringing in outside air to replenish c02, maintain proper humidity, etc? Or will I be better off with a sealed room using an A/C, thus requiring c02 supplementation? I would rather not mess with c02 right now as I'm a beginner and don't want to make this any more complex than it already is. Regardless of how I ventilate the room, the hot air off of the light will exit immediately, and might be used to heat it during the winter if needed.

I'm in Southern California, so its only this hot a few months out of the year. Nonetheless, I want to design this system to operate year round. Any and all advice welcome, please let me know what you guys think would be the best ventilation/ cooling setup for my shed. Thanks !
 
G gnome

G gnome

20,448
638
First time grower here, and looking for advice on the design of my ventilation/cooling system. I'm fixing up a wooden shed into a grow room. It's 8.5 x 5.5 x 6 ft, and I'll be using a 1000 watt hps (cool tube) with the electronic ballast in the same room. It will be insulated, dry walled, painted, and the door is pretty close to air tight. I was planing on ventilating it by bringing in air from the outside (filtered) and exhausting through a scrubber and the light fixture.
From what I understand, you want to exchange the air about once every minute. It's been over 90 degrees the past few days and that got me thinking, "how the heck am I going to cool this room with 90-100 degree air?" Utilizing an air conditioner while also replacing the air every minute doesn't seem efficient or even feasible.

So my question is this: What's the best way to cool my shed while also bringing in outside air to replenish c02, maintain proper humidity, etc? Or will I be better off with a sealed room using an A/C, thus requiring c02 supplementation? I would rather not mess with c02 right now as I'm a beginner and don't want to make this any more complex than it already is. Regardless of how I ventilate the room, the hot air off of the light will exit immediately, and might be used to heat it during the winter if needed.

I'm in Southern California, so its only this hot a few months out of the year. Nonetheless, I want to design this system to operate year round. Any and all advice welcome, please let me know what you guys think would be the best ventilation/ cooling setup for my shed. Thanks !
See ing as how u have a relatively small space and ur air cooling the lights u shudnt have too hard a time keeping ur rm cool. I'd def use air conditioning to keep the rm optimal and set up a 6in exaust fan on a timer to exchange the air a few times a day during the light cycle.
 
Farmer P

Farmer P

2,407
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maybe some 2 in thick foam insulation? I'm thinking also maybe one small fan to just cool the light (outside air) and another for air exchange with carbon filter. I've never ran a 1000 so not sure if 100 degree air can cool a 1000 watt light even if constantly blowing. My guess is it could.
 
Desertvw94

Desertvw94

11
3
See ing as how u have a relatively small space and ur air cooling the lights u shudnt have too hard a time keeping ur rm cool. I'd def use air conditioning to keep the rm optimal and set up a 6in exaust fan on a timer to exchange the air a few times a day during the light cycle.
Thanks for the response. I was under the impression that I had to replace the air constantly, all day. If I'm able to replace the air only a few times a day, that would definitely work.
 
Desertvw94

Desertvw94

11
3
maybe some 2 in thick foam insulation? I'm thinking also maybe one small fan to just cool the light (outside air) and another for air exchange with carbon filter. I've never ran a 1000 so not sure if 100 degree air can cool a 1000 watt light even if constantly blowing. My guess is it could.
The walls and ceiling will be insulated, so I'm not really worried about heat radiating through the walls, more worried about the hot air coming into the grow to ventilate it. The light will be on its own fan and use outside air. Could I do what G gnome suggested and only ventilate it a few times a day or even every couple hours? That would give my ac a chance to actually cool the room without sucking in hot air at the same time. Thanks for the response!
 
Farmer P

Farmer P

2,407
263
The walls and ceiling will be insulated, so I'm not really worried about heat radiating through the walls, more worried about the hot air coming into the grow to ventilate it. The light will be on its own fan and use outside air. Could I do what G gnome suggested and only ventilate it a few times a day or even every couple hours? That would give my ac a chance to actually cool the room without sucking in hot air at the same time. Thanks for the response!
Sounds like a good plan to me. I'm sure G Gnome has much more experience than me. I'm pretty much a novice just throwing ideas out there. Keep us posted, and some pics of the build when its ready.
 
hiboy

hiboy

2,347
113
I would put an in-line fan then suck air from the outside go through the cool tube and push it right back out the other end to the exterior of the shed
You're definitely going to need air conditioning because that will get hot so Jut depends what you want to do for air-conditioning
 
Desertvw94

Desertvw94

11
3
Yeah , u can get away w every cpl hrs man but the next step up for u is co2
For sure, I'm sure I'll end up using c02 eventually but for now I just want to see if I can actually avoid pests and successfully manage the environment without having to worry about that. Like I said, first time here and don't want to add any more layers of complexity. I'll post pics with details once it's up and running.
 
Desertvw94

Desertvw94

11
3
Sounds like a good plan to me. I'm sure G Gnome has much more experience than me. I'm pretty much a novice just throwing ideas out there. Keep us posted, and some pics of the build when its ready.
For sure, I will post pics and details once it's up and running
 
Desertvw94

Desertvw94

11
3
Run your lights at night...
The lights will be run at night, and it will be cooled on its own intake and exhaust, so I wasn't really worried about the hot air from the light. My concern was bringing in fresh air (hot) from the outside to ventilate the room at the same time the ac is trying to cool the room. I think I'll vent it only a few times a day to allow the ac to catch up.
 
Desertvw94

Desertvw94

11
3
I would put an in-line fan then suck air from the outside go through the cool tube and push it right back out the other end to the exterior of the shed
You're definitely going to need air conditioning because that will get hot so Jut depends what you want to do for air-conditioning
That's exactly what I plan on doing with the light. Probably gonna go with a portable ac because I can't put a wall unit unfortunately. And ventilate it a few times a day, possibly through a cooler with ice.
 
Bearfamfarm

Bearfamfarm

167
63
I assume your on a budget (arnt we all). To me it sounds like you are on the right track and thank goodness you have done research already. You have the lights venting correct. Your are going to add ac. Why not just throw one or 2 of those co2 bags In there during lights on. It will get you by until you can get a generator. And may be cheaper than adding another fan. More ducting. And cutting an extra hole that you will have to fill in later when you go 100% sealed. Just keep an eye on your humidity. Keep it up and keep us posted. Good luck mate.
 
Desertvw94

Desertvw94

11
3
I assume your on a budget (arnt we all). To me it sounds like you are on the right track and thank goodness you have done research already. You have the lights venting correct. Your are going to add ac. Why not just throw one or 2 of those co2 bags In there during lights on. It will get you by until you can get a generator. And may be cheaper than adding another fan. More ducting. And cutting an extra hole that you will have to fill in later when you go 100% sealed. Just keep an eye on your humidity. Keep it up and keep us posted. Good luck mate.
Thanks for the words of encouragement, will post more once it's up and running. I was thinking about those c02 bags, might throw a few of those in there for the hell of it. As far as the light cooling fan, what cfm should I be going for? 6" cool tube, 1k HID, outside air temp varies from 100 down to probably 50 in the winter. I assume I'll need a speed controller do turn it up in the summer, but what's the general cfm range I should be going for ?
Thanks again
 

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