# Best light option for fridge grow chamber???



## old blue (Jan 10, 2009)

Hi all, i just picked up a free fridge off of craigslist that i'm going to use as a vegging chamber in my garage to keep things a lil stealthy. I'll be using the top freezer section for my cloner, and i'm gonna use the bottom to veg 2 plants at a time, to keep my flowering chamber full at all times.  So here's my question, i'm wondering what type of light would be best to use for veg, in my fridge? Keep in mind i live in the desert, so temps get pretty high towards summer months. I was thinking HTG's 2' 2 bulb T5 setup, which puts out 10,000 lumens. I'll be cutting vent holes in the back or bottom and will be having an exhaust fan/carbon scrubber at the top for ventilation. I was thinking i can also have the fridge plugged into a thermo controller, for hotter months, so the fridge will kick on when temps get too high.   Any input would be appreciated. I know there are others that have done this before.


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## umbra (Jan 10, 2009)

this is a home built cabinet not a frig. it is not mine. it is from a pro. he's using a 600w cool tube for flower with a 465 cfm fan. cloning, veg section is using a 250w. But you can get the idea from the pics. I built my box as well, and looking closely at other commercial boxes was how I came up with mine. good luck. I use T5 for veg in my cabinet, but whatever works


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## The Hemp Goddess (Jan 10, 2009)

I think the T5 would be a good choice for vegging.  If you could get 4 tubes in there, it would be better.  You might want to double check the lumens--I don't think the 2' tubes put out 5000 lumens.  IMO, 3000 lumens per sq ft does a good job of vegging.  

I had always wondered if you could use the fridge itself to help cool the space.  Let me know if you do it.


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## pcduck (Jan 10, 2009)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> I had always wondered if you could use the fridge itself to help cool the space. Let me know if you do it.




These are just my $0.02 of thought, but with the fridge running would this not lower the humidity to unacceptable levels? I have no scientific proof of this,but when I put leftovers in mine I have to seal them real good or they dry out real bad. Just my $0.02 of thought.


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## old blue (Jan 10, 2009)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> I think the T5 would be a good choice for vegging.  If you could get 4 tubes in there, it would be better.  You might want to double check the lumens--I don't think the 2' tubes put out 5000 lumens.  IMO, 3000 lumens per sq ft does a good job of vegging.
> 
> I had always wondered if you could use the fridge itself to help cool the space.  Let me know if you do it.



Yeah, htg's brand of t5s are 5000 l per bulb. That's why i want to use this light.  The other, better brands cost much more and are alot less lumens. Not sure if the quality is up to par tho. :/

And for the cooling of the fridge, my thinking is, if u only have it set to come on for short periods of time, when it gets too hot, the humidity wont fluctuate too much.  I'll give it a shot and post the results. ;-)


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## The Hemp Goddess (Jan 10, 2009)

old blue said:
			
		

> Yeah, htg's brand of t5s are 5000 l per bulb. That's why i want to use this light.  The other, better brands cost much more and are alot less lumens. Not sure if the quality is up to par tho. :/
> 
> And for the cooling of the fridge, my thinking is, if u only have it set to come on for short periods of time, when it gets too hot, the humidity wont fluctuate too much.  I'll give it a shot and post the results. ;-)



Could you provide a link?  When I checked their site, I couldn't find any 2' that were 5000 lumens--all the 5000 lumens were 4' tubes.


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## old blue (Jan 10, 2009)

pcduck said:
			
		

> These are just my $0.02 of thought, but with the fridge running would this not lower the humidity to unacceptable levels? I have no scientific proof of this,but when I put leftovers in mine I have to seal them real good or they dry out real bad. Just my $0.02 of thought.



The bottom of the fridge is sloped, so i'll be making a makeshift platform to even it out. So there will be about 5" of dead space at the very bottom. Maybe to combat the lack of humidity, i can incorporate a tupperware water dish to sit in that space. Think that would help? Or do u have any other remedies for the humidity problem?


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## old blue (Jan 10, 2009)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> Could you provide a link?  When I checked their site, I couldn't find any 2' that were 5000 lumens--all the 5000 lumens were 4' tubes.



http://htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=51907


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## pcduck (Jan 10, 2009)

old blue said:
			
		

> The bottom of the fridge is sloped, so i'll be making a makeshift platform to even it out. So there will be about 5" of dead space at the very bottom. Maybe to combat the lack of humidity, i can incorporate a tupperware water dish to sit in that space. Think that would help? Or do u have any other remedies for the humidity problem?




My $0.02 thinking was by the time you put your lights,your carbon filter?,your fans and your intake and exhaust and +100 degrees outdoors it gonna be warm and the fridge will be running a lot. I guess you could try the tupperware thing.

I have never tried this and this is just my $0.02 thoughts


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## 84VW (Jan 10, 2009)

i dont remember the persons name but there is someone else on here that has built a fridge/growbox

might be able to search it??


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## pimpdaddycoolz (Jan 10, 2009)

Im not a 100% possitive but i took a class last semester and im pretty sure.

Refridgerators work by sucking the air out of the space to keep it cool. Of course there are other means of making it cold as well, i just dont know how well the fridge would work if it was constantly trying to suck the air out of a space that has an opening for ventilation.

I could be wrong, but im pretty sure. and im not saying it wouldnt work either...


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## Tater (Jan 11, 2009)

What are you talking about.  Fridges work on a phase change system to cool your soda pops.  There is 0 air exchange inside a fridge.  If you started exchanging the air in a fridge it would never get cold.  So the short answer to your question on whether or not you could use the fridge help cool your grow is no.  The reason for this is because the fridge creates heat as it removes heat energy from the fridge.  Touch the back of your fridge (don't actually) and it could burn your hand depending on the condition of the fridge.  The rest of the idea is solid though, just abandon any thought of trying to use the fridge to cool your grow.


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## Tater (Jan 11, 2009)

Holy crap the word fridge is used a lot in that post lol.


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## raoulduke2.0 (Jan 11, 2009)

I read it once, to no effect. Then I read Tater's response. Then I read it again. My mind was blown.


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## old blue (Jan 11, 2009)

Tater said:
			
		

> What are you talking about.  Fridges work on a phase change system to cool your soda pops.  There is 0 air exchange inside a fridge.  If you started exchanging the air in a fridge it would never get cold.  So the short answer to your question on whether or not you could use the fridge help cool your grow is no.  The reason for this is because the fridge creates heat as it removes heat energy from the fridge.  Touch the back of your fridge (don't actually) and it could burn your hand depending on the condition of the fridge.  The rest of the idea is solid though, just abandon any thought of trying to use the fridge to cool your grow.



Thanks Tater. Consider it abandoned. ;-)  I'll just use it as a stealth cab. I removed the freezer fan and will be cutting a hole behind it to exhaust the cab, but i was wondering where would the best place to cut inlet holes be in a fridge??? I dont know what is underneath or behind the actual fridge section. I dont want to drill right into a compressor or something. lol


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