Insulate grow room?

[Legallyflying]

Hey gang,
I just started framing out my 7.5 x 7.5 grow room. it's in the basement and two of the four walls are concrete. My basement stays around 65-70 degrees

I've got two air cooled hoods (intake and exhaust to outside) I'm planning on running 600 watt bulbs. I have the option to keep the ballasts inside the room or outside. I'll be running co2

so before I drywall the ceiling and new wall I am wondering if I should insulate or not? Not insulating would allow some heat to escape but at this point I'm almost worried about having to heat at night.

I was planning on controlling high temps with an exhaust fan to the basement and a passive intake.

Any thoughts? Will the dual 600's put out allot of heat if they are efficiently air cooled?
Thanks guys!!

 

[Taedon83]

Absolutely insulate bro!

Adding R value to your walls will give you more control and stability of your room environment.

If you have the option of removing heat(ballasts) do so.

For concrete walls use an adhesive caulk and insulfoam. You can also just frame/insulate/drywall if you dont mind loosing half a foot.
-Use the pink insulation,1/2 drywall,primer,mylar for cheap setup.
-Use Roxul's Safe'n Sound insulation,vapor barrier,5/8 greenboard drywall,primer,reflectix for deluxe setup.

You probably have 6 inch hoods? Those heat up your room even with 2 - 6" inline fans and insulated duct work. I'd ditch the fans and hoods for ac if possible.

It sounds like you have the option of running a sealed room which would be ideal. Caulk/seal the concrete and woodwalls. Have a exhaust/passiveintake as a backup method. For main cooling a 10k btu portable ac would do you nicely and not cause negative pressure if you get a dual tube ac. If money isn't an issue then a split ac or better is ideal.

-Taedon

 

[Legallyflying]

Thanks for the thorough repply!!

Insulate it is then. Probably just go the pink styrofoam board insulation route on the concrete. Simply, cheap, fairly effective. I'll start to look for a reasonable air con as well. Although I think I'll still run the ac hoods just so I can get the lights closer to the plants. I'm a medical card holder (well, I hopefully will be in another month) so I'm limited to 6 plants which I am going to scrog for higher yield.
I'm excited to get things started for sure but man oh man, this is an expensive hobby to do right. Just plunked down $900 on lights/hoods/bulbs. And another $650 on cap xgc1 and co2 valve.

I don't even have seeds....lol

:)

 

[Legallyflying]

Thanks for the thorough repply!!! I'll probably go the 2" Owens corning pink board route just because it easier for the concrete walls. A big roll of
Mylar arrived yesterday. Ac and the vented hood sounds like the way to go for sure. Guesss I'll allocate some funds for that as well. Expensive hobby for sure. It's my first "real" grow but I have invested allot of funds in really good gear. Digi dimmable ballasts, CAP xgc1 controller, co2, demudifier, fans,etc, etc, etc

any recomendations on a decent yet not too costy EC meter?

Sorry about the dual post saying the same thing ...i just realized that my posts have to be reviewed by a mod first. I thought I didn't hit post or something

 

[Taedon83]

Nice sounds like your rockin man. I think split ac is the way to go. You only need a small one


Because your ducted and have a lot of space. With the suggested AC you could actually add 2 more 600s vertically and run MPB buckets.

Being medical u have the option to go to a reliable club and get 3-5 clones and bush them out in your MPB system while you deal with bean hunting.

Most cost effective, highest yielding, scenario I can envision for your medical space.

-Taedon

 

[Jalisco Kid]

Sell the mylar. It is in my opinion not worth the effort even if it was free. JK

 

[Legallyflying]

Just saw the mbp method. Very attractive yields. I think I need to get a cycle or two under my belt before going that route. Mostly cause I can generate some cash to expand my operation but also get a better feel my plants needs in order to more effectively manage a dwc system.

So insulation will really stabalize things? Seems to make sense but just thought those concrete walls would really help keep temps down. I am also
toying with making a temperature regulating "wall of water". This would just be an entire wall covered with 2-liter bottles filled with water. Because water had such a good heat capacity, the bottles would absorb heat during the grow cycle and when the lights are off, they would give off heat, thus moderating temps.

What do you think?

 

[Taedon83]

Hey LF,

I see a wall of water being most applicable in an outdoor setting with cooler temperatures. Indoor I wouldn't recommend it as it is invitation for mold/bacteria and potential leaks. It also will take up space and look
awkward. Insulation is the best way to go. And yes the concrete walls will already help with temperature regulation + insulation you wont have many problems with 2 vented lights. The water would raise your night time temperatures which in most cases might not be desirable. Get a radioshack RH/temp meter, they record highs and lows. one of the best 20 dollar starter tools.

It's definately a good idea to get a few under your belt before attempting a RDWC system. not only will you gain knowledge of water/light/nutrient management but more importantly to select your strain to master. I love soil for this intial stage and its ability to accomadate different ages/sizes/strains.

-Taedon

 

[Legallyflying]

Thanks again for the advice. I went full tilt this weekend and framed out the room, punched inlet and outlet holes in my 90yo foundation, insulated, hung drywall and ran all the electrical connections.

I was going to post pictures of my progress but I'll just put a couple up of the completed room. If for nothing else than to let people know I'm not full of BS and I'm actually going through with this :)

Cheers,
Brian

 

[Legallyflying]

as promised, here is some pictures of the grow room. Organized but cut corners on the drywalling, etc. cause, it doesn't matter.

http://i1226.invalid.com/albums/ee414/monkeygrow/IMG_3543.jpg

http://i1226.invalid.com/albums/ee414/monkeygrow/IMG_3547.jpg

http://i1226.invalid.com/albums/ee414/monkeygrow/IMG_3550.jpg

soo fairly basic, table and flower portion, clone and veg on the right. ballasts in the next room. Cords pass through 21/2" pvc glued in the wall. CAP XGC1 controller.

 

[fluffygrrrl]

I've got a similar setup, a little bigger 11.5 x 7.5. I vote for insulation & mini split. It will get hot in there. I insulated 2 walls w/pink stuff & drywall, and then left the 2 concrete walls just covered w/prodex insulation. (r value 7 on walls) Comes in a roll and staple and tape up. Iinsulation4less dot com) On past grow I had only 2 1000w 8"air cooled hoods and had a problem with cooling with a 10,000 btu double hose portable a/c during summer months. It was brand new, but my utility bills were astronomical that month(they don't even post a seer rating, so you know they are not energy efficient). Don't waste your money on one. Get an 18 seer mini split, you will save hundreds in utility bills, plus you will get a 30% tax credit. They work MUCH better at cooling too, they work when it is 0 degrees outside.

 

[dollardos]

wow im just getting started also those pics look great i stumped on electrical i know im overthinking it but ill post some pics tonight after i work in the room tell me what you think

 

[Legallyflying]

Thanks Fluffy, I'll have to look into that for sure. At this rate I might just have to pull air in from the basement to cool things down and save some cash for a minisplit.