Trying to Grow in a Hot, Non Insulated Garage.. HELP!

[motta-tokka]

Alright I have a tent in a semi insulated garage. The top part is not and the garage door is not. Basically 93-97f in the day time right now. If you look at my thread you can see what was there :(

Basically a 8x10x4 tent with a rdwc setup.. A 6500btu a/v cut into the side of the tent, sealed up. co2 so its a closed air system and 1600 watts cooled with a 424 cfm fan that I can adjust for speed.

I really dont want to bring this thing in the house since we are renting and it annoys my parents who come over the house. Help me out here people ;) Throw me that rope I am looking for. Not a noose either :angry

 

[squarepusher]

open a window/door?

 

[motta-tokka]

Think the 6500 BTU A/C will be able to keep up during the day with everything on? THe window can be opened but only at certain parts of the day. 9-3PM it needs to be closed though. The a/c heating up the garage in this time frame is also my concern

Should I try to insulate the tent somehow? I am renting the house so investing in it is not really a option as far as insulating the garage.

 

[Camdawg]

can you exhaust the garage through the roof hook up a carbon filter and fan to take the air out of the garage? if you cool the garage the tent would have easier time maintaining temp

 

[CannabisJohn]

Alright I have a tent in a semi insulated garage. The top part is not and the garage door is not. Basically 93-97f in the day time right now. If you look at my thread you can see what was there :(

Basically a 8x10x4 tent with a rdwc setup.. A 6500btu a/v cut into the side of the tent, sealed up. co2 so its a closed air system and 1600 watts cooled with a 424 cfm fan that I can adjust for speed.

I really dont want to bring this thing in the house since we are renting and it annoys my parents who come over the house. Help me out here people ;) Throw me that rope I am looking for. Not a noose either :angry

You have to exhaust the garage and some type of fresh air intake also. You to keep garage near outside air temps as much as possible. Your a/c is borderline already but with CO2 your tent can be in mid to upper 70s. The biggest problem is your a/c exhausting into the garage.

 

[farmerjohn]

Move the garage to a cooler climate? Wait until daytime temps are not the same as they are in the Mohave Desert, to do the grow? Oh, you said not to have a noose on the end of the rope we are throwin' ya! Sorry.

Here's my one & only idea & it ain't much. Considering the A/C is in place & theoretically can handle the tent, your problem is the air temp in the garage. Reduce it by venting it wide open & use fans to force air through the structure. This will conceivably reduce temps as much as 10 to 15 degrees in the building. That would probably solve your predicament right there.

 

[squarepusher]

your a/c is weak sauce though. i got a 15000 usedr window one for $140

get an odor control inside the tent, and vent imo is the best option.

 

[CannabisJohn]

No matter what size a/c you get you will have to vent the garage somehow. The bigger the unit the more air you will have to vent in and out imo.

 

[gudkarma]

to vent or not to vent

since temps in the grow room are critical, i agree with others : you need to vent

i grow in a hot a$$ detached garage & have (had) similar issues.

one thing i did was to install a cheap tornado style fan in the rafters directly above a window which i leave open (top part not bottom) & let it run all day.

another thing i did was to cut a 4 1/8th hole, toward the peak of the roof, at the back of my garage for a dryer vent. i connected a vortec fan & vent that way as well.

think about it like this : with everything (doors, windows) closed in a hot garage ...& fans & air con running inside this closed/sealed environment... you are basically creating a convection oven by moving hot air around the space ...making your situation more difficult.

 

[motta-tokka]

Awesome replies thank you all! I will post up what I made in a few days since I am still waiting to purchase a new inline fan for this. Basically its a vent box from the ac and the lights vented to a y connector, that will then be connected to a 6 inch inline that will exit that hot air outside.

 

[ugmjfarmer]

I grow in a 8x8x8 room sectioned off and insulated in my garage. Need about 800cfm of intake and exhaust to do the air.. and about that much to cool the 2000w of lights i hooked up. I also have to run my lights at night when the temperatures are cooler so my room stays around mid 80's tops. I'm sure if I had a 6000btu A/C I could get rid of the vents for the room and run co2.

The main deal would be like gudkarma said, if you just move hot air around the garage you are basically creating a convection oven for plants. That A/C needs the back to be separate from the garage entirely.

 

[thetreegrowerrr]

just hook up a inline to your attic entrance wala all the hot air is sucked out and released through your roofing sofit (spelling) good for your attic as well. just keep your tent sealed so it doesn't suck dank smell with it!

 

[Bobby Smith]

I've been dealing with this issue for the better part of a year, and think I might've found the answer by getting cool air from my crawlspace to use as intake air for a dual hose portable AC.

I'm also building an insulated room in the garage - I've had tents, and IMO, they've got zero shot of being able to utilize an AC well - the insulation of them is almost non-existent.

If you want a shot in hell, you're gonna need some serious insulation.

Or you could AC the entire garage.

Or use Ice Boxes with a chiller.

Or intake/exhaust if you can get cool air from somewhere.

Or a mini split.

PM me for a link to my grow journal on another site and you can read several month's worth of debate and thought about this issue.

 

[motta-tokka]

6500 btu A/C in the tent works ;)



Screw the icebox.. Selling that puppy asap.

 

[Green Mopho]

Where are you exhausting the hot air from the exchange on the AC unit? Where are you exhausting your fan that cools the lights in the tent? Are you exhausting those into the garage? Do you have a window in the garage that you could build a fresh air intake out of? You need to evacuate all hot air sources in the garage. The fan pulling through your lights should pull from outside outside your tent, inside the garage, and up and out of the garage. This will cool your lights and exhaust your garage in one step.

I'm all for tearing shit up at a rental property, as long as you have some basic contractor skills and you can make it like it was again...LOL!

 

[motta-tokka]

We are renting from a friend actually and the garage so far has 0 damage from us :) As a matter a fact, the entire house is much better since we moved in. I am a clean freak so constantly picking the place up. Done a few repairs and overall taken great care of it!

The garage already has two lower venting slots. About 4x10 inches about 10 feet from each other where I exhaust the a/c and lights on 1 slot. The other slot I open and close to vent more or less. The other side of the garage has a window I also open and close as needed.

You also hit it on the head with your post. Wish someone would of just pmed me that when I was switching to grow to the garage and saved me alot of time and money.