Oscillating temp controlled heater in tent ok?

slow_grow

slow_grow

Well-Known Member
Hey guys, so I'm on my second grow and noticed that last night temps inside the tent dropped to 65°. I'm running photos and have already tweaked my lighting schedule so that the lights are on during the coldest part of the night. I do have an extra oscillating space heater that I can throw in there. I was thinking of setting it to kick on at 70°. My tent is roughly 2'5" x 4'5". I'm pretty sure the heater could heat it up in less than a minute but I figured I'd touch base and see if there are any glaring potential issues that I'm not considering.

The heating elements aren't exposed and right now the plants are seedlings. I'll have to figure out something better down the line because it will be too cumbersome when the plants are grown but for now, what do you guys think?
 
slow_grow

slow_grow

Well-Known Member
Here is a pic online of a very similar model, basically the same form factor and brand but different colors:
 
HydroRed

HydroRed

Well-Known Member
slow_grow said:
Hey guys, so I'm on my second grow and noticed that last night temps inside the tent dropped to 65°. I'm running photos and have already tweaked my lighting schedule so that the lights are on during the coldest part of the night. I do have an extra oscillating space heater that I can throw in there. I was thinking of setting it to kick on at 70°. My tent is roughly 2'5" x 4'5". I'm pretty sure the heater could heat it up in less than a minute but I figured I'd touch base and see if there are any glaring potential issues that I'm not considering.

The heating elements aren't exposed and right now the plants are seedlings. I'll have to figure out something better down the line because it will be too cumbersome when the plants are grown but for now, what do you guys think?
Click to expand...

Seems like major overkill for the size room it will be in. I have one I bought from Walmart for about $14 on sale that was super small and helped maintain temps (70*F) in my 8'x10' flower room when lights were off. This was in an insulated area exposed to harsh Midwest subfreezing temps. It has a built in thermostat and had 3 settings Fan only,low heat (900W), & high heat (1500W). It is about 9"X6"x6". It only ran for about 90 seconds or so at a time in my room so you can imagine how well it will do in a 2'x4' room.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Retro-Radio-Heat-Fan/37948247
I wouldn't recommend running any heater on a timer vs a thermostat since the timer will have the heater run regardless if the room needs it or not, and/or not running when the room needs it.
 
slow_grow

slow_grow

Well-Known Member
HydroRed said:
Seems like major overkill for the size room it will be in. I have one I bought from Walmart for about $14 on sale that was super small and helped maintain temps (70*F) in my 8'x10' flower room when lights were off. This was in an insulated area exposed to harsh Midwest subfreezing temps. It has a built in thermostat and had 3 settings Fan only,low heat (900W), & high heat (1500W). It is about 9"X6"x6". It only ran for about 90 seconds or so at a time in my room so you can imagine how well it will do in a 2'x4' room.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Retro-Radio-Heat-Fan/37948247
I wouldn't recommend running any heater on a timer vs a thermostat since the timer will have the heater run regardless if the room needs it or not, and/or not running when the room needs it.
Click to expand...
Hey man, yeah if I had nothing I would have purchased something super cheap for sure but this is an extra one we had that we only use when someone is in our guest bedroom which is ultra rare. It itself has the thermostat and isn't setup on a timer at all. Basically I have it set right now to run in low mode and kick on only when temps dip below 70° at which point it fires up and oscillates. I've reset both digital thermostats in my tent (they show 24 hour high/low) so hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to see if things are more consistent. As it stands, my temp swing is from 65° to 84° hah.
 
HydroRed

HydroRed

Well-Known Member
slow_grow said:
Hey man, yeah if I had nothing I would have purchased something super cheap for sure but this is an extra one we had that we only use when someone is in our guest bedroom which is ultra rare. It itself has the thermostat and isn't setup on a timer at all. Basically I have it set right now to run in low mode and kick on only when temps dip below 70° at which point it fires up and oscillates. I've reset both digital thermostats in my tent (they show 24 hour high/low) so hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to see if things are more consistent. As it stands, my temp swing is from 65° to 84° hah.
Click to expand...
If you could bring your current temps about 10* closer you'd be in the the zone! For the heater recommendation, I was just thinking size since once you get some greenery in that 2x4 area, your going to want to utilize as much cubic space as absolutely possible for the plants. The heater you have will certainly work, its just the size is really the only factor it has going against it for 2x4 size room.
 
slow_grow

slow_grow

Well-Known Member
Gotcha, yeah good point. I can't imagine this thing working once they fill out. We have a super walmart pretty close so I'll check out the smaller units next time I'm in, if I could nab something for under $20 that would rock.
 
Bose

Bose

Well-Known Member
HydroRed said:
If you could bring your current temps about 10* closer you'd be in the the zone! For the heater recommendation, I was just thinking size since once you get some greenery in that 2x4 area, your going to want to utilize as much cubic space as absolutely possible for the plants. The heater you have will certainly work, its just the size is really the only factor it has going against it for 2x4 size room.
Click to expand...
I agree it will work for now. However like @HydroRed said you want to maximize your space. I also have a small heater hanging up in my grow space. And I use this to control the heater.
Lerway 110V All-Purpose Temperature Control Controller with Sensor 2 Relay Output Thermostat Stc-1000
 
slow_grow

slow_grow

Well-Known Member
Thanks man, they are Cree 3590s @ 3500k via Timber's 300W kit. I'm itching to supplement though. They run so cool that towards the end of my last (first) grow I had them reflector-less at 6" from canopy with zero burning or light bleaching while keeping temps below 84°. If I go that route I'll probably drop down to like 3k or even 2700k via a pair of citizen 1212s and fire them up at flower. I have so much to learn though, the far red thing breaks my brain but I'm pretty intrigued by it too so for now I'm just going to hold off till I get more experience. This go around I'm going to try mainlining but had originally intended the space (and this light setup) for SCROG.
 
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