Questions About My Setup[HOMEBOX XL]

Hello Everyone,

I'm fairly new to RIU, but have been learning so much from all of you in the past month. I have been reading a lot about growing for quite sometime, but wanted to wait till I felt like I was fully ready, so I can do this right. I just have some questions before I begin my first grow later this month.

First, I will be growing 12 Clones in a Homebox Xl with a Hortilux 600 Watt Hps. I also have 2 Co2 Tanks that I will probley throw in the mix. My first question has to do with the reflector.
I have read that a lot of people get the CoolTube to keep Temps down in such a small grow space. But i have read the reflection off the CoolTube sucks. I really want to get a Double Parobolic Adjust-A-Wing reflector[medium] to have maximum light output and relection for my small space. I am trying to Harvest as much as I can for this space because all of my medication will be donated to qualified patients throughout Cali. Anyways, the question is will I be able to get away with the Adjust-A-Wing instead of the CoolTube while still keeping the temps down? Which goes right into my next question because I know, or at least I believe i know that ventilation is what keeps temps cool. As far as fans go I was looking at the 6in. Vortex or 6in. Soler & Palau which I believe both push over 300 Cfm. How many inline/Exausht fans would i need for this size of a room? And Which would be better for my situation or could I get away with an even smaller/cheaper inline? This will be the carbon filter I am using also http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/itemdesc.asp?ic=AOCCF033&eq=&Tp=.
If anybody has any suggestions on Carbon Filters, Inline/Exausht Fans, Or anything about my setup I would greatly appreciate any words. I am trying to set this up as good as I can.Also, Once i hook up my ducting it would only be about 5-10ft of ducting including inside and out. Not sure if that helps when coming to how much CFM i will need to push or pull air.
GodSpeed

I am hooked on air conditioning myself. It is a serious waste to use vent fans to cool if your using co2 and a regular reflector. That's my opinion.
And yes the reflection of cooltubes is much smaller than say a parabolic, but you can get the light so much closer to the plants. That's the trade off. I switched to air conditioning about December 1st, and haven't vented the room once since then. I use co2 and the plants create oxygen that the roots use. So realistically, there are different ways to do it. You don't have to follow a set guideline of how to set a room up.

But in my opinion, I would go with a cooltube and use a vortex fan for it, stick with your co2 and get an ac unit. It is more expensive initially, but for a 20lb co2 tank to be refilled is $65 for me. If your only paying $15-$20 it might be different.
I don't know how big those Homebox XL's are, but you essentially are creating a heat box with an HID lamp in there, and it's gonna need to cycle those intake and exhaust fans so often that youd be flushing your c02 straight out the window.

Rudiger said:

I am hooked on air conditioning myself. It is a serious waste to use vent fans to cool if your using co2 and a regular reflector. That's my opinion.
And yes the reflection of cooltubes is much smaller than say a parabolic, but you can get the light so much closer to the plants. That's the trade off. I switched to air conditioning about December 1st, and haven't vented the room once since then. I use co2 and the plants create oxygen that the roots use. So realistically, there are different ways to do it. You don't have to follow a set guideline of how to set a room up.

But in my opinion, I would go with a cooltube and use a vortex fan for it, stick with your co2 and get an ac unit. It is more expensive initially, but for a 20lb co2 tank to be refilled is $65 for me. If your only paying $15-$20 it might be different.
I don't know how big those Homebox XL's are, but you essentially are creating a heat box with an HID lamp in there, and it's gonna need to cycle those intake and exhaust fans so often that youd be flushing your c02 straight out the window.

Click to expand...

Thank You for the response. Alright, the CoolTube logic sounds right. The closer the lights the more lumens, and having only a 4x4 space covered in white mylar im sure the Adujust-A-Wing would be unefficent for my situation. Odor would be an issue so i want the room to not smell. The room I am growing in is a 8x10 room next to the garage. Its like you walk out the door to go the garage, then there is this room, then another door, then the garage. So I will have to inside locks from this room blocking both doors but I need to keep it smelling like nothing. My homebox will be in this room. So should i have the Carbon Filter Inside, or how should i do this, because i want to use Co2. And if the CoolTube has a duct going through it to cool it, does anybody know the temp it keeps a 600 watt hps at? Because with Co2 In my grow room the temps can rise about 5-10 degress, so instead of 70-75 degrees it can be 75-85 right? But if the 600 watt stayed cool from the Cooltube, how could i suck the smell out without sucking all the Co2 out. With 12 plants would an Ozone generator or Ionic Breeze be better?
Godspeed

bump

Rudiger- Quick question. Seiing as you use an AC how are you running co2 at the same time? Because your ac unit pulls air from your room? Im just wondering because i have a portable ac and it has a vent that you have to vnt out of the room, whih therefor ended the use of co2 for me. Lemme know thanks

I have a "euro" type refelector its bigger and more bulky than the cool tube but still air cooled. I then put it on its own ventilation by taking in air from outside of room blowing it through the fixture and back out of the room exiting through a filter This blower turns on and off with the lamp. I then have a 2nd carbon filter and blower in the room and an osiclating fan that I have set to be off for an hour after the co2 was released. So my temp will rise during that time but it cools right back off when the fans are back on. I like to do it that way with no circulation of air arround the plants so they can suck in every bit of co2 possible.

The temps that the light will heat the room to depends on a few things. How big the room is inside, how much air volume. And the air that your cooling the cooltube with as well.
I suck my light cooling air from a seperate room that is freezing compared to the rest of the house, so the lights are being cooled by cold air, and not just room temperature air or recycled heated air from inside your room. Noticeable difference, and I had to put insulated ducting on because the air was so cold compared to so hot inside the room that the outside of the ducting had major condesation and was dripping all over the plants.

Yes you can run higher temps with co2. My ac turns on at 86 and turns off at 78.

You aren't gonna need to suck the air through your carbon filter all day. Just buy a digital timer and set it to turn the fans on 5 minutes every hour or whatever. You are still gonna run into a time when it just fills the room with co2 and then your fans come on to clean the air out, but if you limit the time that you clean the air to only a few minutes, then you aren't gonna run into it too often at all.

I run 3 aircooled lights off one 10" vortex reduced to 6", but if your only running one light, and you are cooling it with non hot air, then you might not even have temp issues. Just gonna have to try it yourself and see how your situation plays out.


notcalek: If you look up how an air conditioner works, you'll see. It's a window style.