Successfully Cooling With Outside Air?

[Kaskadian]

Hey all,

Have any of you successfully used outside air to cool a grow room? I was thinking about the possibility of venting in outside air, but I imagine the humidity would get out of control fast if you live in a humid/wet environment like I do (PNW). I wouldn't want that humid air condensing into little puddles of water in the bottom of my grow rooms.

Is there a way to control that humidity without having a some kind of staging room for the outside air to go into before being sucked into the grow rooms?

This is all just a thought. I haven't had the need yet, but I am considering adding additional grow lights and come summer that room already jumps up to 82-85 on hot days.

 

[King Julien]

In the winter I use outdoor air to cool my tents but it is dry and can easily be remedied with a humidifier. I also use the carbon filtered air that passes over the lights to cool them to heat the rest of the house. I don't bother with it for 90% of the fall or spring though and forget the summer. Fall and spring has way too much variance in temp and humidity around here. Summer is just too damn hot and humid.

 

[Kaskadian]

In the winter I use outdoor air to cool my tents but it is dry and can easily be remedied with a humidifier. I also use the carbon filtered air that passes over the lights to cool them to heat the rest of the house. I don't bother with it for 90% of the fall or spring though and forget the summer. Fall and spring has way too much variance in temp and humidity around here. Summer is just too damn hot and humid.

Thanks for sharing your experience! My biggest concern out here is we have basically non stop rain for 5-6 months so that air is going to be super humid. I don't know if there is any easy way to bring that air in and naturally dehumidify it without there being a ton of issues.

The rains/clouds have already started here and I imagine they will continue until early July...

Cheers all,

Kas

 

[DemonTrich]

Be cautious bringing in cold air into a humid environment. It's a recipe for mold and other nasty shit. I had to scrub my entire grow building walls 3x, then paint with mold/ mildew resistant paint in the middle of winter and in the middle of growing.

Use a hepa filter on any incoming outside air.

 

[oldskol4evr]

im using forced air at the moment 400 cfm exhaust and intake,temp stay bettween 84 and 87,wide open on the fans ,lot of air moving in here

 

[Kaskadian]

Be cautious bringing in cold air into a humid environment. It's a recipe for mold and other nasty shit. I had to scrub my entire grow building walls 3x, then paint with mold/ mildew resistant paint in the middle of winter and in the middle of growing.

Use a hepa filter on any incoming outside air.

Yeah this was one of my main concerns. Thanks for the feedback! I guess I'll have to just suck it up and buy a hepa filter or AC unit for the room next summer.

 

[jumpincactus]

Be cautious bringing in cold air into a humid environment. It's a recipe for mold and other nasty shit. I had to scrub my entire grow building walls 3x, then paint with mold/ mildew resistant paint in the middle of winter and in the middle of growing.

Use a hepa filter on any incoming outside air.

Yeppers always filter any outside air coming in for pests and other crap you dont want in your groom. HEPA is best.

 

[jumpincactus]

Yeah this was one of my main concerns. Thanks for the feedback! I guess I'll have to just suck it up and buy a hepa filter or AC unit for the room next summer.

Ya you are looking at a whole lot of time and money to set yourself up using outside air in the PNW lived there a long time and it is a challenge. But if you have the time money and DIY skillz you can do it.

A HEPA will be a must in the pnw as you will be drawing in mold and mildew spores as they abound up there.

 

[King Julien]

I've never had a problem with molds or pests from it but I'd say it's cause I only do it in the winter when most everything is dead and use an insulated duct so it doesn't sweat and breed mold where it gets warmer.

I tend to only get pests in the warmer months when they can't help but try to find their way into everything in my house. The country is awesome but it has it's drawbacks.

But what they said. You should use hepa filtration.