Fire/safety concerns

I have a couple of questions that might seem silly, but the wife is an insurance underwriter and so views everything through potential risk.

LED light, intake/exhaust/circulating fans, cords, controller, water (using soil, but still a potential risk factor), etc. in a tent; assuming a degree of common sense is used, how big of an issue/concern is fire or electrical issues?
Should I be shopping for a light that has X, Y, and Z certifications?
Is there a minimal recommended clearance between the tent wall and the light? I would think a light spec'd for a 2x4 space would be less than 48" long, but perhaps that's not the case?

Anything I'm missing? My main goal with this first grow is to have as bulletproof a set-up as possible (even if improved yields take several harvests as skill increases), and I want to be able to leave it unattended without either of us wondering if things are okay (I'm also in insurance, so considering risk is just second-nature... yeah, we're really fun at parties).

UL certified LEDs, use GFI’s, keep water well away from plugs, don’t allow things to get too hot like your ballast, and don’t max out your circuits.

at the end of the day I don’t think insurance companies will cover much if anything cause by a indoor grow. Just follow common safety practices to reduce your chance of having to deal with this nightmare.

Use good judgement, don't overload your electrical and just think everything through. Your/her concerns are valid and probably not considered often enough by the general public. Without going into detail, I know quite a bit about underwriting, risk assessment & insurance adjusting (residential & commercial). That being said, an automobile and a gasoline lawnmower in an attached garage poses a greater potential risk than a properly set-up grow room/tent, IMHO. Keep it simple.

Cynister said:

That being said, an automobile and a gasoline lawnmower in an attached garage poses a greater potential risk than a properly set-up grow room/tent

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perfect - will use this rational if concerns are raised.

Seems like i stumbled onto a thread or article using fire retardant pucks in tents. At the time i had thought that it was a brilliant idea, but i did a quck search and came up empty. Maybe someone can chime in if they have additional information?

Well my first mistake was using the word retardant instead of suppressant. I did find StoveTop firestop that appears could fit the bill and had some videos demos ( which i did not watch full disclosure)
Would be interesting if anyone is using it or something similar.

Most lights give a 'safe distance' for you to hang them. I believe my HLG's warned that you should give them 18-24" of space above the lights. So pay attention to that and also be cognizant of anything in contact with that kind of hardware. All my cords/cables are raised as are any in-tent outlets and power strips. I do have a small 400w oil filled electric panel heater in the tent, but that also is placed so it's not near a wall or other thing (though at 400w it doesn't really get hot enough to combust anything).

Check stuff like your lights' timers that they're rated for the kind of draw your lights have. Many household timers/smart-outlets are not built for thousands of watts.

The main thing I worry about is my exhaust fan failing. I have clip fans that blow on my lights so they're barely warm to the touch, but if my exhaust fan were to fail, the heat would build up pretty fast and best case only kill the plants. They make thermal cut off controllers that you would plug your light into with a temperature probe that you put in the tent and once the temperature reaches a certain degree, it cuts the power.

If you're using quality LED lights, the risk of fire is extremely low. The largest risk is going to be running high amps through a cheap timer or power strip. Even if they say they're rated for 15A, don't run more than 10A through them. I've heard many stories of them melting or smoking if they are running 12A+. Kill-a-watt meter is going to be your friend, get one.

Another thought is that there's plenty of wifi therm/hygro units (cheap!) that will alarm above or below certain temps. Get one (or more) and set the alarms for above a certain ambient temp and you get an alarm/alert to your phone. To me that's an extra layer of safety in most situations. Mine is set to alarm past 100f degrees. There aren't any instances where my tent gets that hot, so if it does, I know something has gone off the rails and to check it.

My lights do run hot at the heatsinks, so I certainly don't want to tempt fate with anything getting near them.

Honestly, I bet more accidents occur due to people spilling water on a poorly placed power bar or something. You used to see it all the time in pics of new setups. If you grow long enough, you're going to spill some water at some point, so best to set things up so that's just a minor issue. With LEDs, the weak point is the connectors, and most of these companies use the same connectors, so just be sure to regularly check all your connections and make sure they haven't worked themselves loose. HIDs are much more of a fire concern for me since I've experienced a blown bulb before and it's not fun. Keep a fire extinguisher handy just in case.

your not always going to be standing next to your tent this almost goes without saying put a smoke detector in your grow room if your burning natural gas for co2 get a monoxide detector as well the cheapest insurance is basic preventative stuff.

i've got 2 of these:

thank you for all of the good info and suggestions!

xox said:

your not always going to be standing next to your tent this almost goes without saying put a smoke detector in your grow room if your burning natural gas for co2 get a monoxide detector as well the cheapest insurance is basic preventative stuff.

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As soon as I installed my LP CO2 generator... that's the first thing I bought. Never went off, but if you're near the floor trimming, feeding, you could very well wake up dead without even knowing it.

... also, just try not to use power strips. You need to make sure that you're pulling less than 80% of the load on that leg of the circuit. For instance, if your circuit is a 20 amp breaker, make sure all your load on it is no more than 15-16 amps.

pahpah-cee said:

UL certified LEDs, use GFI’s, keep water well away from plugs, don’t allow things to get too hot like your ballast, and don’t max out your circuits.

at the end of the day I don’t think insurance companies will cover much if anything cause by a indoor grow. Just follow common safety practices to reduce your chance of having to deal with this nightmare.

Click to expand...