I want cooler temps.

[Ganjier]

I have my 3x3 running in flower at a max of 83 degrees, lights off, 72 degrees. My light is at 90%, and I have a 6" passive intake, 6" ac infinity exhaust pulling hot air out of a carbon filter. My Exhaust and light ballast are both outside of my tent. I have 4-6" fans moving air around. I also tapped into my homes central ac and ran a 4" duct from there into the bottom of my tent, but it only cools when the ac is running to cool the rest of the house. I keep my house around 72-73 degrees, but I cannot get my dang tent temps in the 70's. I am hoping to get it to at least 78 or lower while lights are on in flower. I am pondering getting a used portable ac unit, maybe a 8000 btu unit to cool my tent. I would have to run the exhaust into the attic since I have no window in my closet I have my tent in. I looked at making a portable cooler ac, but I don't want to have to add ice all the time.
Maybe you guys/gals can help me get my temps down 5 or so degrees? Thank you.

 

[Lesso]

Where is the hot air from your tent exhaust going?

 

[Ganjier]

Where is the hot air from your tent exhaust going?

In my vented attic.

 

[Ganjier]

I am waiting to hear back from a person online about this used ac unit. He may barter with me. Im pretty sure it will cool down my 3x3 tent.
Fingers crossed he bites. Gatta preserve those terps baby!!!

 

[Papa Indica]

Hmm, I thought 83 was a pretty decent temp... I'd be happy with that. I'm usually somewhere around that or lower with lights on in flower. Even a couple degrees more wouldn't bother me.

 

[SubmarineGirl]

I have run your high temps every grow. I am able to adjust the heat in the tent by turning up my inline vent system. My lights are LED and don’t cause much heat. My weed so far different strains have managed to adapt and make beautiful buds. I managed to bring down the temps this winter into the 70s by leaving my window cracked in my hot furnace room so i get the chance to see if 10 degrees will make any difference. So far I haven’t seen a difference but maybe still will. I will be updating the SubGirl garden page periodically. I am starting week 5 of flower now and have so far been super happy with the grow as by this time, I’ve alway run into some kind of problem of one kind or another. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that things won’t take a wrong turn in a different direction. Good luck with your temperature issues but I don’t think you will have a problem as long as you don’t have any humidity issues with that heat.
where are you venting to?

 

[oldfogey8]

This might be a stupid thought but what if you tried giving the tent another passive intake vent? That may allow more fresh air in(which should be 72-73 degrees if that is your house temp). If the tent sides suck in when closed, the intake is restricting the output. I also lay my dryer vent hoses on the floor which should be cooler than the air so I(maybe insanely) think I get cooler air thru the hoses.

 

[Ganjier]

I have run your high temps every grow. I am able to adjust the heat in the tent by turning up my inline vent system. My lights are LED and don’t cause much heat. My weed so far different strains have managed to adapt and make beautiful buds. I managed to bring down the temps this winter into the 70s by leaving my window cracked in my hot furnace room so i get the chance to see if 10 degrees will make any difference. So far I haven’t seen a difference but maybe still will. I will be updating the SubGirl garden page periodically. I am starting week 5 of flower now and have so far been super happy with the grow as by this time, I’ve alway run into some kind of problem of one kind or another. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that things won’t take a wrong turn in a different direction. Good luck with your temperature issues but I don’t think you will have a problem as long as you don’t have any humidity issues with that heat.
where are you venting to?

I am venting into my vented attic.

 

[Ganjier]

This might be a stupid thought but what if you tried giving the tent another passive intake vent? That may allow more fresh air in(which should be 72-73 degrees if that is your house temp). If the tent sides suck in when closed, the intake is restricting the output. I also lay my dryer vent hoses on the floor which should be cooler than the air so I(maybe insanely) think I get cooler air thru the hoses.

I worry about light leaks. My closet has an open "roof" and my lights out are during the day. I could open a flap at the bottom, but I am thinking some light may get in. Right now my intake is a long 6" duct, which I am pretty sure light can't travel through.
Either way, I need to just grab this ac unit. Not only for lowering flowering temps to preserve terps, but to also preserve terps during my dry time. I will be able to hit that 60/60 mark with this unit which in turn should leave me with the best final product possible.
I may be getting a bit OCD at this point, but I work soooo hard to make everything perfect. The only thing I can really improve on at this point is my temps.
I did speak to the gentleman with the ac unit for sale. He is willing to barter for a sign, so that's cool.
I guess time will tell. I am starting week 4 in flower today, so I should have the ac installed and temps dropped for the second half of flower and drying. I guess I'll know if it made an improvement after this round. I am going to aim to keep my flowering lights on temp at 75, and my drying temp as close to 60 as possible.

 

[oldfogey8]

I worry about light leaks. My closet has an open "roof" and my lights out are during the day. I could open a flap at the bottom, but I am thinking some light may get in. Right now my intake is a long 6" duct, which I am pretty sure light can't travel through.
Either way, I need to just grab this ac unit. Not only for lowering flowering temps to preserve terps, but to also preserve terps during my dry time. I will be able to hit that 60/60 mark with this unit which in turn should leave me with the best final product possible.
I may be getting a bit OCD at this point, but I work soooo hard to make everything perfect. The only thing I can really improve on at this point is my temps.
I did speak to the gentleman with the ac unit for sale. He is willing to barter for a sign, so that's cool.
I guess time will tell. I am starting week 4 in flower today, so I should have the ac installed and temps dropped for the second half of flower and drying. I guess I'll know if it made an improvement after this round. I am going to aim to keep my flowering lights on temp at 75, and my drying temp as close to 60 as possible.

Sounds good. It is always better to have latitude to go up or down with temperature so your solution sounds like a winner.

 

[Ganjier]

Its more work, more crap to clean, but allows me to control exactly what I want to do. We shall see if I get better results. Ill have to send you a doobie to try!

 

[pute]

Hmm, I thought 83 was a pretty decent temp... I'd be happy with that. I'm usually somewhere around that or lower with lights on in flower. Even a couple degrees more wouldn't bother me.

I get my best results running my lights in the upper 70's. 78 is the sweet spot for me. Best yield and no heat stress if I keep it under 80f. My plants start to canoe on me from heat stress if the temp is over 80 for any length of time.

As cold as it's been here lately I am having trouble getting above 75°.

 

[SubmarineGirl]

Its more work, more crap to clean, but allows me to control exactly what I want to do. We shall see if I get better results. Ill have to send you a doobie to try!

I want on the doobie list. Keep posting so we can see how it’s coming along

 

[Ganjier]

I want on the doobie list. Keep posting so we can see how it’s coming along

 

[Ganjier]

Now, the question is.... do i run the ac to cool off the 5x5 closet that my 3x3 tent is in? Like as a lung chamber?
Reason I ask is, this unit will cool my 3x3 down so fast, but I have an exhaust....so, how to keep a stable temp?
If I cool down the larger lung room, the ac may not have to run as often.
The catch is also, my 5x5 closet has an open top. Yes, hot air rises, but will that effect anything?

 

[oldfogey8]

With the A/C outside the tent but in the 5x5 closet, it should reach an equilibrium as measured inside the tent over some period of time that can only be determined by trial and error. The tricky part will be the change from lights on to lights off and visa versa. I would preferentially favor keeping the tent below 80 during lights on to start with and just see how cool it gets with lights out. Colors are supposed to show the best with a 10-15 deg F swing between the two. Looking forward to seeing how this works out. I think TDub has a controller on his fan to optimize temperature based on fan speed. There sure are a lot of toys available in this hobby…

 

[Ganjier]

With the A/C outside the tent but in the 5x5 closet, it should reach an equilibrium as measured inside the tent over some period of time that can only be determined by trial and error. The tricky part will be the change from lights on to lights off and visa versa. I would preferentially favor keeping the tent below 80 during lights on to start with and just see how cool it gets with lights out. Colors are supposed to show the best with a 10-15 deg F swing between the two. Looking forward to seeing how this works out. I think TDub has a controller on his fan to optimize temperature based on fan speed. There sure are a lot of toys available in this hobby…

I have my lights on at 6pm to 6 am, so I can run the ac on and off when I want or put it on a timer.... but I understand what you mean with the 10-degree change in temps from lights on and off....
If I have the ac on during lights on and say it's 75 degrees, when the lights go out, and I turn the ac off my tent will only go to 72 degrees, (the house temp). Not much of a change from day to night temps. Then again, I am not sure how the power consumption will be either, say I run the ac with lights on and off. I really don't want to run the ac 24/7 if the the electric bill is going to be crazy.
Damn, usually I know what I am getting into before I do things....here I do not, LOL.
What do you think?

 

[SubmarineGirl]

Just read the average cost to run a portable AC unit is .19 per hour

 

[Ganjier]

Just read the average cost to run a portable AC unit is .19 per hour

So about $70 a month.

 

[Ganjier]

So about $70 a month.

If I only run 12 hours a day!, LOL.