Ice cold, air cooled lights

[Asbestos4u]

Ok guys, here is my problem. I am running a sealed room with 1000 watt lights that have 8 inch flanges. I’m pulling cold air in from outside then exhausting it out the other side of the room. The air coming in from outside is so cold that its making the first light build up condensation on the outside of the hood and glass lense. It’s so bad that it literally drips water off of the hood and onto my plants.

The only think that I can come up with that’s possible to do is. Put the exhaust fans on a cycle timer and run them for a few minutes on and a few minutes off, so that the light hood has a chance to build up some heat.

Can anybody come up with a better idea?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Green81]

Yo might need a lung room to pull the cold air from, which then get pulled into your lights. This should reduce the problem or your idea sounds like it should work too.

G81

 

[ttystikk]

Yes, I have a better idea; stop drawing air in from outside! NOW! First, you've already discovered that outside air is uncontrollable and has extreme temperature swings. Second, what's wrong with bringing air from your house through the room and exhausting back into the house? You'll be benefitting from the warmth from the lights and thereby reducing your heating bill, all while providing a MUCH more consistent temp for the lights, which directly affects your plants. How?

Here's how; HID bulbs need to run in a specific temperature range to emit light in their designed spectrum. They're designed that way for a lot of reasons, but the main point is that if you're cooling HID bulbs with very cold air then you're overchilling them which causes their emitted light spectrum to shift in ways that are undesireable for your plants and costly on your electric bill. Do NOT cool HID lights with air much below 55-60 degrees F, especially if that air is being moved rapidly past the bulbs.

Redesign your airflow path to bring air from inside your house. It's a nice temperature stable place providing air at the proper temperature. PULL it through your hoods as it's more efficient that way, then exhaust that air back into your house to gain the benefits of that warmth in your living space.

Get a speed controller for around $18, and run the fan sucking air through your hoods only fast enough to keep the last hood in line just warm to the touch. Faster airflow is not better.

 

[Asbestos4u]

Good info, the outside air thats comming in to the lights at its lowest is 45 to 50 degrees, not freazing or below. I will kick the idea of pulling the air from somewhere elce and see what I can come up with.
thanks

 

[GreenThumbBill]

Same thing just happened to me. Was pulling from the crawl space and it caused a bunch of condensation on the flexible ducting that was dripping on the plants and floor. I have no way of pulling from anywhere else so I had to put a carbon filter at the beginning of the line and pull from inside the room, through the lights and then out into the attic. This of course means no injected co2. But the plants seem to be doing great with just the constant exchange of air. I'm hoping the air from the crawl space will be warmer this spring/summer and I'll be able to use it without getting condensation.