Ventilation and A/C questions for all you Tent Growers

[Indica~tor]

Hey all. I've been struggling with this one for a few months now and for some reason I still cant figure out whats the easiest way to cool a tent without any of the smelly air leaking through the A/C if that A/C unit was infact housed in the Same room as the tent.

Now I have been talking to a few others here about this and so far the best and most logical answer that I have heard would be to punch a couple holes in the wall (one up high and one down low) for intake and exhaust and Create a Lung room on the opposite side of the wall where the holes would be punched through. Now this could be done, but before I go and do something like this, I was wondering what are some other options I have here???.

So, I would like to hear from all you Tent Growers out there and hear what some of you've been doing these days as the summer Temps are steadily rising!

Any and all help is appreciated!
Peace, Indi

 

[true grit]

Are you in a house that you can screw with? If not, this is a simple solution from a cost standpoint (most dudes use 2 fans at least, but I'm poor so I learned how to make do with trial and error).
cut a low intake hole in tent/box if theres not one- with fan and/or ducting to cool air source (depends on whether you want to run passive). Get a vented sealed hood. If you want passive intake then make sure your fan moves enough CFM, throw a scrubber on one side of hood intake and run the other out of the top of the box and exhaust it somewhere outside your grow area. The scrubber should kill smell, and if the fan is strong enough you won't leak out of the passive intake. OR- Get one strong fan and a y-pipe. Run one end of Y-pipe through the hood and a hole in the tent side for air to pass straight through, and run the other end of the y-pipe ducting to a scrubber and get a lil fan for intake.

For example- old box ran a 800cfm can fan with a scrubber and exhaust out the ceiling. In a 2.5x3 with passive intake temps wouldnt go over 80 with a 600w. (run lights at night for cooler ambient air)...
Hope that made sense, but should be simple if you can find a good place to exhaust your filtered/hot air...

 

[greenplanetguru]

Cool Tube?

Hi,

Are you using an air cooled light setup? I just bought a 'cool tube' style reflector for this grow a couple months ago and it is much easier to control temps than the same fan/gear with my older conventional air cooled reflector.

I'm not in a tent but a 2' x 4' x 8' closet. As long as I keep temps in that bedroom around 72 my fan pulls enough cool air through a passive intake and cracks in the door to keep temps in the mid 70's while running a 1K HPS and a 6 tube, 4 ft. T5 fixture that I have mounted on the back wall for side fill lighting. I even have my Quantum Dig 1K ballast in the closet.

I use an Eclipse/Ostberg 630cfm fan. For my ventilation chain I have a 40 lb carbon filter hung high in my closet first connected to one side of my cool tube reflector and then from my cool tube I route my duct up through the ceiling of my closet and the fan is hung on rubber straps from roof joists to separate any vibrations and reduce noise. I just let the fan blow it all into my attic. There is NO smell... Nada... I have checked a couple of times each week and there's not even a hint of the odor up there.

Carbon filters are so awesome. As long as you keep pulling air through your filter the air never gets a chance to build up odors. It's stagnate air and untreated air that will invade your home... You can also setup a carbon filter with it's own fan inside the room and just let it continuously cycle. If you do it this way a much less powerful (200cfm) and less expensive fan will do the job fine. The key is to never allow the air in your garden to build up the odors and that won't happen if you keep scrubbing constantly...

There's SO much *peace of mind* when you have the odors in check... I've slept MUCH better since buying the filter... It's probably the best investment I've ever made in my grow!

Peace!:character0103:

 

[greenplanetguru]

another useful post...

Hi again...

There's a post in another section about this topic with good info:

 

[Bisquick]

thanks gpg!

 

[Indica~tor]

Hey there GPG .... thanks for the thorough reply bro. I am currently using a can66 with a 454 cfm vortex fan attached. This smelly air is being pushed throught 2x 6" aircooled lights before being dumped outside. The odor isnt the problem. I have virtually no smell coming from my room at all. Its just getting Hot and Im trying to find out how others are setting up their rooms and cooling it efficiently.
Tonight Im going to re-hang my scrubber so that there are less bends in the ducting so I can basically try and make it so its all one straight line. I think this will help with air flow but I dont think it will help the temps.

I appreciate all your thoughts and advice here. Thanks again so very much. Peace, Indi

 

[Indica~tor]

Hi again...

There's a post in another section about this topic with good info:

Just read the thread GPG. Thanks! :rauch08:

I do have a secon tent that isnt being used for anything atm. Its only a 3x3x7ft tent tho... is this gonna be big enough you think to use as a lung room for a 8x4x7ft tent with 2x 600's?
Let me know your thoughts.
Peace, Indi

 

[crazycanuckster]

great posts!

Very informative, thanks to all!

 

[purpleberry]

If you want to run AC in a tent I would use a portable ac with dual hose, and seal the tent with Co2. I plan on doing this with a 10x10. They have meatal rings that allow u to cut a hole anywhere in the tent and use a hose clamp to attatch 6" air hose. Put 2 for the ac with short hose. one sucks fresh air the other id put a helper fan and duct it with hot air from your lights, Put your air filter and fan outside the tent and run threw the lights and out the other side, sealing the cool air in the tent. You have to set it up right for the humity that will get hi with lights out, and co2 control, ect. I just dont think its worth running ac and sucking the air out of the tent, your ac will run the whole time.

 

[portableac7]

If you want to run AC in a tent I would use a portable ac with dual hose, and seal the tent with Co2. I plan on doing this with a 10x10. They have meatal rings that allow u to cut a hole anywhere in the tent and use a hose clamp to attatch 6" air hose. Put 2 for the ac with short hose. one sucks fresh air the other id put a helper fan and duct it with hot air from your lights, Put your air filter and fan outside the tent and run threw the lights and out the other side, sealing the cool air in the tent. You have to set it up right for the humity that will get hi with lights out, and co2 control, ect. I just dont think its worth running ac and sucking the air out of the tent, your ac will run the whole time.

Personally I prefer to use single hose, it has simpler installation.... :smiley_joint:

 

[growgrow]

Yo,
I had the same problem as you.. I run a 10x10 and a 5x5.. my ac is in the tent but i cut a hole in the tent and ducted out the hot air and on the end of it I put a six inch hepa/carbon filter with a small booster fanthat cost like 40 bucks. shit worx flawlessly.... you def need that booster fan or your ac will shut off (learned this the hard way) my ac unit is on 24/7 but the compressor probly only turns on for like 2-3 hrs daily (the fan and dehuey run all day).... temps w/ lights on run @ 74-76F and lights out like 70... i keep AC setting @ 72..... let me know if you ahve any further questions abou the airflow situation... mine now runs perfect....

GROW!

 

[burnalot420]

i need some help with the whole tent ac thing..i have a 5x5 and want to cut a hole in side and run a portable ac..looking for the best suggestions any of you farmers have..Burn