What size Equipment

[mk_michael]

Help sizing some equipment please.

Building a 10x10x8 room with 3 4x4 tables on casters in a well sealed and insulated room using 3 Blockbuster 6" Air cooled hoods. Room is a room within a room. 2 hoods will be ducted in line and third will be ducted by itself. What size cfm fan do I need to run the 2 blockbusters with 12' strait ducting, what size cfm for third reflector and 12' ducting run? Thinking of going with sunleave windtunnels. Sealed room with CO2. How many cfm for scrubbing, same as for filtering with vents or less? If different, how many cfm? Is a 70 pt dehumidifier big enough? Trying to get a properly sized Mini Split for the room, Ballasts will be outside room. is 18,000 btus to much? is 12,000 to little? 4200 btu for size of room + 3500 for A/C reflectors. Using insulated hood covers and ducting. Guessing the Dehumidifier will be roughly 1.1 kwh. Between Fans and Dehumidifier + lights guessing calls for 20,000 btu cooling- seems excessive though. 8inch Max Fan + 12''x39'' phresh filter also seems excessive for a small room (scrubbing not venting). Tempted to go with iponic 600 controller very nice only cost a little more after one figures in co2 fuzzy logic plus timers instead of iponic 600 (found 1 for 900+some change). On Co2- How many bottles to get through 1month veg 2month flower on average? Should 3 #20 bottles enough? (well sealed room with a fuzzy logic type co2 controller)

Any insight on mini splits to stay away from?

Thank you.

 

[Old_SSSC_Guy]

Not sure why the different vent runs for the 3rd light or what size lights, or what light cycle. I run 3 1k lights in series with one exhaust fan. Ducted with 6" pipe it takes about a 500-600 cfm - but I only run fans at 50% to lessen the noise and expense.

Unless you are already running Co2 in a dialed-in room I would shy away from it until you get everything balanced and happy in the room. Just my opinion, but Co2 really only does its magic when a plant is already growing at peak capacity. Its like putting nitro in an engine; if the engine is not already running at peak capacity all you will do is burn stuff up. IMHO you would need much more than 60# of Co2 to cover a 10x10x8 room. I know that others may disagree but I have seen Co2 fail more times than 'work'. But once you get a room really balanced and you are running a consistent and reliable (predictable) strain - it can be like a flare up a donkey's butt. If you are working with strains you have not grown before you will have little idea whether the extra work and money was worth it, eh? Since you say 1 month veg, I assume are you working with cuttings.

The 18k AC -should- be enough, a 24k offers more duty cycle. The dehumidifier may not use as much power as you think, they often are not actually running 24/7 no more than an air conditioner does.

I would not buy a used dog carcass from Sunleaves brand.

 

[mk_michael]

what are some good fan brands for venting lights?

 

[Old_SSSC_Guy]

Maybe check into Vortex or Can-Fan.

 

[mk_michael]

Got to love Black Friday!!! Scored on 3 A/C Gavita LEP's Today!!! I have been looking at equipment for months now and this is my first real purchase. I had talked on the phone with the shop and got total off website before going to get my money orders. When I got home the total had jumped almost 500 dollars.
I got the original price but I am guessing that they where selling them lower than they where suppose to. So I got that price + 15% off for Black Friday. Also got a 8x39 Phresh Filter for 177.

 

[mk_michael]

The 18k AC -should- be enough, a 24k offers more duty cycle.

Thank you for the honesty and the good advice. Its to cold where I live and I cant figure out how to get good air flow and keep the air warm/humid enough for co2 replenishment.

I understand the problem with running high co2 and not knowing the needs of the plant ie canopy management, enough heat and more importantly proper feeding.

I just dont know how to deal with temperatures 0-20 degrees with little humidity for a co2 intake.

I am planning on running the co2 at lower levels first runs.

As far as Duty Cycle Can you please explain to me this. If Im not mistaken best duty cycle = matching your btu heat to your lower range on your mini split correct?

I only have knowledge of outdoor gardening and internet research forum reading. Thank you guys for your help. I have been all over the place in my head of which way to go.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I would not recommend CO2 enhancement either. There are a lot of ways to make sure your space does not get too cold even if you are bringing in frigid outside air for air exchange. Dealing with cold incoming air will be easier than setting up a CO2 system (and probably substantially cheaper).

 

[mk_michael]

Im asking because I dont know not to be an ***. I know you guys are genuinely trying to be helpfull but can you guys elaborate why even running small amounts of co2 has so many people telling me I shouldnt? Also what would you do to keep a nice grow room in enough co2 that I can exchange air 1time every 3 minutes if the outside air is 10-40 degrees outside?? If I new I could keep my RH and Temp in tight control (dependable) I would be thrilled not to spend the 700 bucks or so on the co2 system and another 1100 bucks on the A/C. The temperature is quite cold enough outside would be a shame to have to spend money on an A/C (allthough would be nice come summer time).

What do you guys think about using a water reservoir outside running water cooled exhaust system from room into a radiator for the intake and back into the water reservoir. Im sure that is not a working proposal but anyone have any ideas about this or something similar? I am at almost 4000 feet on the snow side of the sierra mountains. That is close to 2000 dollars I would spend on AC and CO2 so open to lots of ideas.

So far I have 3 gavita plasma leps air cooled and I am going to likely get some gavita 600's to go with em, If not I will borrow some hoods and ballasts till the 600 DE come out. Anyone know when they will hit the shelves?

 

[Hushpuppy]

This is just my personal opinion, but I would look at getting a one of the co2 generators that is basically a small gas heater that runs on propane. I would use that in combination with fresh air intake. I would have it set on a thermostat to run only as the temps need it to run so that you aren't totally filling the space with co2. Then I would use the heated air of maybe 1 or 2 of the exhausts from the lights to recirculate with the incoming air while 1(or2) of the other light exhausts exits the room in order to create the negative pressure to passively pull in outside air. By having the fresh air blending with the recirculated heated air, you can bring up the cold outside air to a more reasonable temp and allow the flame heater to bring it the rest of the way to where you want to be.

This setup will take some figuring to get right but shouldn't be difficult or expensive to do.

 

[mk_michael]

Are you talking about a co2 generator or just a propane heater? Im sure a propane heater will add co2 just as a co2 generator would correct?

 

[Hushpuppy]

Sorry to not get back to you on this. Yes I was thinking about one of the small co2 generators. The propane heaters are hard to find that are small enough to use in a small space. Gas heat really goes a long way as every BTU generated by the flame is released into the space. I know there are some mini-generators that produce a small flame to produce the co2 needed.

On the other thread, I talked about a mixing room to combine the cold outside air with the heated air from the lights. I'm not an engineer so I would have to do some experimenting to figure the right blends of the light-heated air and cold outside air. Depending on the cold temps and the level of heat generated by the lights, you may not need to add the co2 generator to effectively maintain the proper temps.

 

[ArtVandolay]

Edit: Bad taste, you're right Sorry.

 

[Growdude]

Are we comparing equipment sizes now?

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