New Grow Area.....Need advice

[New_2_Chronic]

Im going to build a flower area in my attic.

measurements... 44 High - 48 Long - 36 deep

sealed box. intake will be through a 5Kbtu a/c window unit inside the box. Exaust will be a 150cfm bathroom exaust fan.

Plan on using a 400 HPS for lighting. mylar lined inside...

questions are:

what is the best material to build it out of,,,,keep in mind this is going in my attic.

 

[papabeach1]

2x4, and plywoods, and clean coat of white sheets be sure your setup is air tight from the insulations from in the attic plants dont like these insulations coming in the setup room other than that, very good also be sure to have fresh air going though the duct from outside to in the setup, then other duct with fan to remove what comes inside to the attic space that will avoid any noticable smell or take it to the old vent to outside that way it go up to the air

 

[bigbudsbruddah]

You would'nt even need to use a window unit, just pull fresh air from your house and exhaust it thru the roof. Your house a/c will take care of it.

AS far as what to use to build with. I would go with 1/2" or 3/4" Plywood. You should already have the wood truses up there to attach them to.

Hope that help. Good Luck.

 

[New_2_Chronic]

I want the box to be a self sustaining environement because sometimes in the summer my attic can get to 120+. I will use the window unit so that its seperate from the house air. can take air directly from outside, cool it, and exaust it outside the house. The attic ventilation shutters on the outside of the house are in a very inconspicous place.

This will allow me during power outages to hook the growing system up to a generator to keep it goin.

Just regular plywood would work? anything on sound proofing? i dont want everyone in th house to be able to hear it...

 

[New_2_Chronic]

What do you think of this design?

 

[papabeach1]

be sure you have duct filter or air filter like one for a/c duct filter, use that one if you are pulling air from a/c cuz of dusts inside the house a/c ducts you do not want dusts go in your setup.. our setup get fresh air in open place from a/c window box less dusts that way

 

[papabeach1]

what if people see you have a/c out of the attic? they can see and wonder what going on there? what about that?

I want the box to be a self sustaining environement because sometimes in the summer my attic can get to 120+. I will use the window unit so that its seperate from the house air. can take air directly from outside, cool it, and exaust it outside the house. The attic ventilation shutters on the outside of the house are in a very inconspicous place.

This will allow me during power outages to hook the growing system up to a generator to keep it goin.

Just regular plywood would work? anything on sound proofing? i dont want everyone in th house to be able to hear it...

 

[New_2_Chronic]

they wont be able to see it. There is no neighbors on that side of the house....only woods. Thats why I was going to use that particular place. the attic vent is actually under the roof line so i thought that might provide it more cover.

I may not have the window unit sticking out of the house and just let it pull from inside the attic.... but then i would need a outdoor intake to get fresh air into the cab....

 

[clanchattan]

use a big tub under yer a.c. unit. those things drip water and you dont want anyone inside thinking you got a leak in the roof cause the cieling is waterstained. nice 3-d rendering. looks like it'll work cuz

 

[New_2_Chronic]

So I bought a 600 watt MH/HPS instead. Should be here next week. I also ordered the seeds,

Nirvana Bubblelicious and Northern Flame

I plan on building this box next week. I plan on using the 600 for the rest of veg and flower on my current grow.. My veg area will keep plants until they are 1 foot, then the flower area will allow them to get to maybe 3 ft.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I don't understand the purpose of the fans located in the wall between the vegging and the flowering room...

Also, it is not a good idea to have the A/C pull air from the attic. It is far, far harder to cool 120+ degree air than it is the 80-90 degrees it probably is outside.

 

[New_2_Chronic]

the in and out in the veg area go to the flower area. I want it to get its air through the flower area, not from outside.

The AC unit is a 5K BTU A/c, it can hadle keeping this small of a space cool IMO. I dont want it sticking out of the house but maybe there is another way.

If i put ducting up between the AC intake and the Attic Vent I could still get the outdoor air, and still kept it hidden..

what ya think?

 

[New_2_Chronic]

Update:

So the attic didnt work from the word go, so i had to scrap the plan and redesign.

I created a new grow area....4ftX4ftX5FT. This is a "room within a room design. It is in an outbuilding (shed).

So Ive got the room totally built out. I built the room with OSB board and 2X4s/ The counts are as follows:

5 sheets of 4X8 OSB board 1/2 inch.
8 10Ft 2X4's

I lined the inside with the stryofoam house insulation boards, all but the bottom is lined. Then I drywalled and taped using the mold resistent "Greenboard" sheetrock. Painted 2 coats of Flat White interior paint. The next list of materials are:

2 sheets 4X12 1/2 inch geenboard
3 sheets styrofoam insulation
1 bucket drywall mud
1 roll drywall tape
1 1/2 inch drywall screws
1 can flat white interior paint

That completed the actual buildout of the room.

Ventilation and cooling:
I used 6 inch ducting for the exaust system. The ventilation system is powered by a inline duct fan. The fan is 8 inches and 380CFM. I had to get this fan becuase noone local had a 6 inch inline fan. I purchased the inline duct fan at a local A/c supply company that dealt with the public. The 6 inch ducting was neede due to my air cooled hood having 6 inch outlets. This made me have to purchase to reducers, 8 inch to 6 inch. The ducting joints wer all joined using Duct Tape. There is a 6500BTU window air conditioning unit inside the box, put through a hole cut in the side of the box at around light level (not protruding from outside the building). The supplies needed were:

1 8 inch inline duct fan
1 25FT length of 6 inch flexible ducting
1 roll duct tape
1 6 inch colloar
2 8 inch to 6 inch reducers
1 roll ducting strapping
1 6500 BTU window air conditioning unit (smallest one I could find)

Lighting:
Im using a Lumetek 600 watt MH/HPS with electric Ballast. The light has an air cooled hood and lens. The light is suspended by chains, rigged so the light can be easily raised and lowered. The Air cooled hood is cooled by the air being pulled into the inline duct fan through the light, and out the box.

Did a test run tonight and other than a few issues the box works awesome. The total amount spent with lights and vent system included was about 750.00The issues remaining to fix are:

seal the doors better, light leaks can be seen,

the major issue i am having now is that although the box is very very cool, got it down to 72, the AC unit is creating a huge amount of heat inside the shed. I guess I am going to have to cut a vent in the side of the shed in the back where the AC is, to let the heat out. The problem there will probably ot will then be noticable, and suspecious (an outbuilding with heat coming out of it) and can be seen by FLIR:holysheep: ...Didnt see this issue coming....

any help would be appreciated..... I will post pics onece all issues are worked out and the girl is in there...

 

[someguy]

i dont know about your ac unit, but my window unit didnt bring in outside air, it recycled the air already in the room, just a thought... and yes the backs get pretty hot

 

[New_2_Chronic]

mine recycles as well but the air that blows out the back is HOT and it make the room hot....the room outside the grow area that is...