i have never grown before, so bear with me. i have certainly done alot of reading and comparing and shopping. probably too much in fact. i have overwhelmed myself with options. first let me give you the basics.
I am designing my grow area, which is a 8x9 enclosed/insulated area to be divided into 2 4x9 areas for clone-veg and flowering. i had originally planned on a larger 13x16 layout, and planned a Can Fan 8" Inline Fan - 493CFM with a Can Filter 50. I will probably keep the same filter, but drop the fan to something like a Can Fan 6" Inline Fan - 270CFM. i will be running 2 1000w hps air cooled lights in the flower room, as it will be wall to wall with up to 36 flowering plants. the second room will have a 4x2 area for 36 vegging clones and a with a single 1000w mh over it. there will also another area in this same 4x9, yet undesigned, to house the 4-6 mothers and whatever lighting i decide on for them, as well as the heated clone tray with 8 2' VitaLUME PLUS T5 flors.
i live in the great lakes region, temps here range from -20 like we had recently, to 105 in the dead of summer. so conditions here can quite often go from needing the furnace to needing the a/c and back in the same day.. i don't, and very well may not be able to run to the grow room as soon as the temp changes, and the grow room is in an uninsulated enclosed structure with no form of climate control. i need the system to be as automated as possible.
i had originally planned on using an in wall 1500w forced air heater to heat incoming intake air. each 4x9 room would have it's own heater for that intake. 5,050btu a/c to usher in cold air through a second air intake when the temps get to high, however, without going with 2 individual a/c units, i can only supply cold air to both rooms or not at all. i am assuming i'll be running the fans 24hr to exchange out the used air and introduce new, co2 rich air to the room. the heater would rely on the built in thermostat, which makes me nervous, and also brings up and interesting problem. the thermostat will be reading the incoming air, not the room temp. in theory, the room itself could be 120F, but the heater still thinks it's 30 degrees. however, the a/c would be run through a CAP AIR-2 to allow the a/c unit itself to be mounted remotely and split between the 2 rooms. the air-2 would fire up the a/c, and that would be and interesting, yet expensive battle for dominance.. i'm open to suggestions... haha
as for humidity, i'm not sure if i'll be combating high humidity or low humidity. my solution is to get a dehumidifier and control it with the aforementioned CAP AIR-2 in the room the air-2 is mounted, and get a second dehumidifier for the remaining chamber and again, rely on the build in electronics, or fork out more money for a humidistat. i am shooting for a constant 50% in the veg room and 65% in the flower room.
now, with the air being changed roughly every 2 minutes, i'm wondering how effective any humidifying/dehumidifying equipment will be. wouldn't it have to be pretty big equipment to treat 250-300cfm and still make headway? i have 0 experience with dehumidifiers, so again, bear with me. also, i was planning on 2 16" oscillating fans mounted high/low on opposite walls for the flower room, and a single 16" oscillating fan for the veg area. is this enough? too much?
also, i am going to be running ebb and flow hydro with a separate res/nute solution for each 4x9 room. i am going to get 200w tank heaters to keep the water above 70f in the winter. a chiller is an option, but i don't think the res's will get above 80f in the climate controlled rooms. my current shopping list calls for 2 Nutradip Tri-Meters for readily visable confirmation of res water temps and ph. am i being too geek as my wife would say? with 18g being the size of the smaller res, would the ph possibly change fast enough to need constant/instant monitoring or justify the $400 combined price tag. or should i just get a pocket ph meter and a couple cheap tank thermometers?
so, i think that's about the extent of my environmental control questions for now. i reserve the right to ask more as time goes by. also, if anybody has any ideas for cheaper ways around those expensive controllers, i am all ears.
I am designing my grow area, which is a 8x9 enclosed/insulated area to be divided into 2 4x9 areas for clone-veg and flowering. i had originally planned on a larger 13x16 layout, and planned a Can Fan 8" Inline Fan - 493CFM with a Can Filter 50. I will probably keep the same filter, but drop the fan to something like a Can Fan 6" Inline Fan - 270CFM. i will be running 2 1000w hps air cooled lights in the flower room, as it will be wall to wall with up to 36 flowering plants. the second room will have a 4x2 area for 36 vegging clones and a with a single 1000w mh over it. there will also another area in this same 4x9, yet undesigned, to house the 4-6 mothers and whatever lighting i decide on for them, as well as the heated clone tray with 8 2' VitaLUME PLUS T5 flors.
i live in the great lakes region, temps here range from -20 like we had recently, to 105 in the dead of summer. so conditions here can quite often go from needing the furnace to needing the a/c and back in the same day.. i don't, and very well may not be able to run to the grow room as soon as the temp changes, and the grow room is in an uninsulated enclosed structure with no form of climate control. i need the system to be as automated as possible.
i had originally planned on using an in wall 1500w forced air heater to heat incoming intake air. each 4x9 room would have it's own heater for that intake. 5,050btu a/c to usher in cold air through a second air intake when the temps get to high, however, without going with 2 individual a/c units, i can only supply cold air to both rooms or not at all. i am assuming i'll be running the fans 24hr to exchange out the used air and introduce new, co2 rich air to the room. the heater would rely on the built in thermostat, which makes me nervous, and also brings up and interesting problem. the thermostat will be reading the incoming air, not the room temp. in theory, the room itself could be 120F, but the heater still thinks it's 30 degrees. however, the a/c would be run through a CAP AIR-2 to allow the a/c unit itself to be mounted remotely and split between the 2 rooms. the air-2 would fire up the a/c, and that would be and interesting, yet expensive battle for dominance.. i'm open to suggestions... haha
as for humidity, i'm not sure if i'll be combating high humidity or low humidity. my solution is to get a dehumidifier and control it with the aforementioned CAP AIR-2 in the room the air-2 is mounted, and get a second dehumidifier for the remaining chamber and again, rely on the build in electronics, or fork out more money for a humidistat. i am shooting for a constant 50% in the veg room and 65% in the flower room.
now, with the air being changed roughly every 2 minutes, i'm wondering how effective any humidifying/dehumidifying equipment will be. wouldn't it have to be pretty big equipment to treat 250-300cfm and still make headway? i have 0 experience with dehumidifiers, so again, bear with me. also, i was planning on 2 16" oscillating fans mounted high/low on opposite walls for the flower room, and a single 16" oscillating fan for the veg area. is this enough? too much?
also, i am going to be running ebb and flow hydro with a separate res/nute solution for each 4x9 room. i am going to get 200w tank heaters to keep the water above 70f in the winter. a chiller is an option, but i don't think the res's will get above 80f in the climate controlled rooms. my current shopping list calls for 2 Nutradip Tri-Meters for readily visable confirmation of res water temps and ph. am i being too geek as my wife would say? with 18g being the size of the smaller res, would the ph possibly change fast enough to need constant/instant monitoring or justify the $400 combined price tag. or should i just get a pocket ph meter and a couple cheap tank thermometers?
so, i think that's about the extent of my environmental control questions for now. i reserve the right to ask more as time goes by. also, if anybody has any ideas for cheaper ways around those expensive controllers, i am all ears.