Please Help With Venting/cooling Dilemma- Not Sure Best Option

[NoThc4me]

If someone can help me out, I'd really appreciate it! I'm not sure what the best move is. I've numbered my options at the bottom to make it easier. If I'm missing any, please jump in.

I'm in the flowering stage of my first grow and here are the details:

*3 x 3 ft. tent inside a 12' x 9' room with a window a/c unit

* 3 x 250w CFLs in hoods which actually give off a lot of heat. One clip-on fan on each hood aimed directly at the bulbs and blowing the air straight through them. This keeps the hoods cool to the touch, where otherwise they would be hot.

* 240 CFM 6 inch inline fan at top of tent, with duct running to a split that can either go up into the attic or back into the room. Right now it's venting back into the room because of a/c.

*Separate cloning area in room. Cabinet and plans to put racks in. Need to veg and flower in same room.

Problem:

3 250 cfls give off quite a bit of heat. Even with fans on them, and a/c set at 67 degrees, the tent canopy level temp stays around 81 degrees. I have door cracked to the room about 2 inches for fresh co2 to get in. Central air vent in room might be allowing small amount of warm air in too. A/C runs 12 hours straight because door is open.

My concern is the cost of running the window a/c full blast for 12 hours a day, and the cracked door not being enough new air entering. Also, the a/c being at 67 degrees is too cold for plants outside the tent which I intend to grow some mothers and clones.

When I was venting straight to the attic, it just wasn't enough to keep the tent cool enough with the 3 cfls and hoods. Thats why I installed the window a/c.

My options as far as I can tell:

1) Use 2 cfls instead of 3 and be low on light with less yield. Vent back into the attic again and not need the a/c.

2) Buy a vent cooled HPS 400 or 600 watt (which one?), and hope that it gives off less heat with the air being directly vented, than the current setup. This one I don't know, since I have no experience with any lights but these 250 cfls. I would have to eat the cost of the 3 cfls ($45 each). I can still use the hoods for veg and mother plants though. Just be out the 2700k bulbs for flower.

3) Continue the way I have it now with the door cracked and the a/c on 12 hours a day, as well as the 240cfm fan, and 3 small fans in the tent. Lots of electricity!

I'm looking to cut costs, and I think the HPS is the best option, but I'd hate to buy one and have the same or more heat. Please let me know if you need any more info. Thanks!

 

[420circuit]

My suggestion would be to get a 600hps with enclosed hood, drawing in room air, not tent air and exhausting to another room. The fan for the light can be connected to the light timer. The carbon filter in the tent is connected to a fan that runs constantly and exhausts to the attic. If your 600 ballast is adjustable you can dial it back when the plants are small. I got a 400 for 3 foot square area and found it just little weak. I went with iPower lights, they were cheapest, and have no complaints.

 

[NoThc4me]

Thanks, that's the way I was leaning. Right now I have the 6" inline at the top of the tent drawing air through the charcoal filter and out (see pic), and the 3 cfls with hoods hanging down below over a scrog.

I'm not sure if/how I can fit the hps in the way it is now. The air filter is huge!

Are the openings on the hoods 4"? Is there a specific fan you would recommend.

I only have the attic to exhaust to. I'm going up through an existing hole for canned light. Can't I exhaust both fans into the attic with a split duct?

If I still need to run the window ac, should I just exhaust the light to the attic and leave the tent blowinng back into room? I still face the fresh air problem, only maybe I do a sealed grow and put some co2 in the tent with the fan turned way down? Its really the air conditioning venting/co2 thing that has me hung up. Thanks!

 

[DGL]

Honestly man throw the filter flush against the back wall of the tent and use less ducting thats the way i used to fit my filter / light combo, also you might have to hang your light right under your filter and not right next to it,

2 for the fresh air aspect of this grow i honestly used to run my central a/c with 6 inch ducting directly from the wall into my 1000 watt hps air cooled hood then had a centrifugal fan on the other end sucking the air through i grew in a closet inside my apartment along time ago i honestly never had any type of fresh air circulating in besides what my central a/c brought into the tent / room and i never had a problem with smell or potency, if you are scared that not sufficient co2 will be brought into the room grab a c02 ppm meter and see where the ppm's lie i understand you are trying to cut costs and buying new equipment is not going down that route but in this case i think the question is how far does my c02 drop with the door being closed vs open?

 

[DGL]

also you said maybe i do a sealed room with c02, im currently running a 10 feet wide x 13 feet deep grow room, first and foremost with sealed rooms you need c02 tanks regulators etc depending on the way you want to elevate c02 or even gas burners to create c02 as a biproduct, also your A/C is not FOR SEALED ROOMS!!! you need a new one, third with sealed rooms you need a dehumidifier well i do lol, also you have to remember how are you going to kill bacteria, viruses and mold that start building within your rooms air alot of people use hepa filters with centrifugal fans but honestly ive had mold with this setup im currently going down the DNA sterilization / PHOTO oxidation route with uv and 03 to scrub my air. honestly if you want to cut costs on electrical sealed rooms arent for you! AND no offense but at your level as a grower dont invest into a hefty project if you have no idea how it will turn out figure your shit out first then move on up.

 

[DGL]

and yeah 420 circuit is correct roll with a 600 watt, honestly i wont even get into hps vs mh for flower too much fucking media hype boosting the wrong bulbs to #1 any grower who disagrees obviously isn't talking from first hand experience more theory's in books peace.

 

[NoThc4me]

Thanks for the suggestion on the co2 meter, I hadn't thought about that. You're right about cutting costs. Just trying to figure out the best way- eliminating the need for ac (possibly) by switching to a hps cooled (about $150) and not using the 3 cfls ($150). So total cost $300 to save on air conditioning long term. I just dont know how the heat compares between say a 600watt vented hps and 3 250 watt cfls. My gut says the hps would be cooler. I have fans on the cfls now and they are cool to touch, but their heat is still being blown into the the tent as opposed to a conatained hps vented straight out.

For fresh air, thats good to know your situation was similar, although my ac is window so it isnt fresh air. The only air exchange (in and out) is coming from the 2 inch crack in the door. I will take a picture to show the room size. Its messy as hell right now because I've been working in there. The tent again is 9 square feet, and the room is approx 108, so I dont know how often the air would need replacing given those factors.

Thanks again for help. I keep swinging back and forth between leaving the cfls and switching to hps.

 

[NoThc4me]

Also keep in mind that I will bd growing more plants and clones in this room eventually.

 

[DGL]

well 750 watts should be hotter in theory even though they are cfl's vs 600 watts in a gas burning bulb lol, say the hps is hotter then all 3 cfl's
the main problem here in my opinion isnt that the cfls are too hot it is that the heat from the cfls is being trapped within your grow room's space with a air cooled vented hood alot of the heat produced from the hps will be vented out thus not trapped within the grow space.

 

[DGL]

so if you can vent the air from the cfls out of the grow room your cfls would and should work
so this isnt a what bulbs will produce more heat then the other type of question
this is a
with what type of lighting setup can i vent the hot air produced from the bulbs out of the grow space?
air cooled hoods with a hps / mh combo
if you can find air cooled hoods for cfls this would probably be a cheaper way to cool your space.

 

[DGL]

DITCH THE CFLS IF YOU CANNOT VENT THE HEAT OUT AKA AIR COOLED HOODS OR SOMETHING SIMILAR
since you will have more plants in the room on shelfs etc if you dont ditch the cfls you will have to DROP THE TEMP in the air even LOWER!!! and the other plants you have will plainly not do good.

 

[COGrower8]

I say ditch the CFLs and go with either one 600 hps or even a 1000 hps get an aircooled one and a decent can fan and you should be gucci

 

[DGL]

The tent again is 9 square feet, and the room is approx 108, so I dont know how often the air would need replacing given those factors.

Thanks again for help. I keep swinging back and forth between leaving the cfls and switching to hps. View attachment 522086 View attachment 522087

okay let me give you a different perspective on fresh air,
in my opinion
why do you need fresh air?
because the plants use up all the c02 in the room?
your room will get super humid without it?
your heat will build up?
bacteria viruses and mold will build up in the air if i dont evacuate it out?

i run sealed rooms and i dont need fresh air because i control my c02
control my humidity
my heat
my viruses and mold

so say over time you
control the temp of the room with air cooled hoods
you buy a hepa filter / centrifugal fan to scrub bad things out of the air
your air conditioner actually kills all of the excess humidity in the room and controls the temp of the actual room not just the tent(if your not in a super humid area etc dont let it get over 60% my input is 55% rh at max but again in my opinion)
the only other thing you have to watch out for is the c02 dropping a little bit too far? aka again a c02 meter would fix this question,
or grab a 8inch centrifugal fan to push fresh air into your room or a blower to blow it in?

 

[DGL]

I say ditch the CFLs and go with either one 600 hps or even a 1000 hps get an aircooled one and a decent can fan and you should be gucci

a 1000 watt for a 9 square foot room? no bro its a 400 watt or a 600 watts game here depending on strains equilateral sativas need 60 watts per square foot for potent nugs aka the 600 watt and yes watts per square foot does increase potency not just weight, some indicas can do great with 40 per square foot aka the 400 but id atleast keep this number at 50w per square foot.... imo for budget costs figure out what type of lighting your plants will benefit from? or say fk the budget and roll with a 600 watt but temps are a player in this problem so you might want to grow some danky indicas that do great with low watts per square foot?

 

[COGrower8]

my bad didn't realize it was a 3x3, DGL is correct go with a 600 then.....why not scrap the tent and just use that beautiful room as a flower and your tent as a veg??

 

[NoThc4me]

Ok cool, I will switch out the cfls for the hps but let me address your specific questions because they are important.

Reason for fresh air with ac is co2. Without ac is heat.

Humidity is good. Right now with ac on is about 50 and 55 off.

FWIW I was able to just get by heat-wise with 2 cfls in veg at 6400k but flower bulbs are hotter 2700k. Although Kelvin is a temp unit so I'm not sure why lower k is warmer. Different discussion though.

Potentcy is an interesting point. I am growing high cbd strains mostly. Right now this strain has less than 1% thc (hence my name).

I was going to use the cfls for clones/mothers in same room. Since the tent is where I flower and I need to keep light out, I have all vents closed except the two 6 inch you see at bottom. This boosts temp in tent. So its helpful to look at the tent as a separate room. If I grow the mothers and clones in the open room, the 67degrees ac needed to keep the tent currently at 81 degrees will be too cold for them. Ideally I'd have separate rooms for veg and flower bug I dont.

Thanks again guys.. Getting closer. Goinv to get co2 meter and switch to hps. Question now is the rest of the setup. I have many 6400k 250s so I cant just toss them. I have to use them for veg.

 

[NoThc4me]

my bad didn't realize it was a 3x3, DGL is correct go with a 600 then.....why not scrap the tent and just use that beautiful room as a flower and your tent as a veg??

Yep 600 is what I'd get. The reason is that I am not a heavy user so buds will last me a long time. I intend to sell clones for supplemental income and flowering is secondary.

 

[DGL]

Thanks again guys.. Getting closer. Goinv to get co2 meter and switch to hps. Question now is the rest of the setup. I have many 6400k 250s so I cant just toss them. I have to use them for veg.

well what is the question here? if you are using them for veg? im confused lol

my bad didn't realize it was a 3x3, DGL is correct go with a 600 then.....why not scrap the tent and just use that beautiful room as a flower and your tent as a veg??

also man i dont really know why but my only thing would be he wants to sell clones? so he needs more space? for them? because if he did use the open room for the flower room he WOULDNT have to crank the ac so low since you have more square footage to move that heat around honestly i think he needs more space for clones and mothers then he does for his flower room.

 

[Rootbound]

You need to also look at the 315 watt lec light made by sunlight supply. I just switched from my air cooled 600 hps to the 315lec which is not air cooled and my temps dropped 4 degrees. I am guessing my first harvest(this week) with the 315 will be about 25% more.

 

[NoThc4me]

well what is the question here? if you are using them for veg? im confused lol


also man i dont really know why but my only thing would be he wants to sell clones? so he needs more space? for them? because if he did use the open room for the flower room he WOULDNT have to crank the ac so low since you have more square footage to move that heat around honestly i think he needs more space for clones and mothers then he does for his flower room.

You guys cleared up the siutuation in the tent. Going to switch to hps. Now I just need to figure out the best setup for some mothers and clones outside the tent. What I'm hoping is with the hps in the tent being vented out, the temp in the tent will be less than 85 degrees. This was doable with two 250 cfls. So now I have the 3 cfl hoods and veg bulbs for mothers and clones. I realize the lights will still be giving off heat, but not directly in the tent. So I dont think they will heat the room enough to use the ac. The goal is to not use the ac because of the cost of having the door open for ventillation. I only run the ac now for the 12 hours the tent lights are on.

So my questions are...

Do I vent only the hps into attic and keep the 6 inch 240 blowing back into the room from the tent? Or do I vent them both to the attic?

I'm assuming that it would be best to grow the mothers and clones in the room and not need another tent? The fan and charcoal being in the tent will still work or would ut be better to bring it outside the tent and just have the hps inside?

Summary of goal:

75-85 degrees in and outside tent. Humidity 50-60. Flower in tent. Mothers outside under 1-3 250 cfls. Clones under one 250 cfl or other fluorescent of some kind.

Lastly the issue of electricity. This room is on the same circuit as master bedroom and the circuit breaker has tripped a few times already when window ac was on as well as lights, tv in bedroom. I can save the electricity the ac uses and use it for the additional light now, but it's limited. If you don't think this plan can work, the option exists to move the tent to another room but I would prefer not to.