Few ideas to get around the heating issue with LED lights.

Drop That Sound

Well-Known Member
What if you wired the scrog nets up with thin heat cable wires, instead of using string or bungee cord or whatever. Then, it would radiate most of the heat just in the thin canopy section, where most the leaf surfaces are. You know, instead of trying to heat the whole room and using more power.

;)
 

conor c

Well-Known Member
What if you wired the scrog nets up with thin heat cable wires, instead of using string or bungee cord or whatever. Then, it would radiate most of the heat just in the thin canopy section, where most the leaf surfaces are. You know, instead of trying to heat the whole room and using more power.

;)
I was gonna suggest horticultural heating cables for keeping soil temps up but i gotta admit a scrog with them sounds pretty interesting lol
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
OP: I think this is probably easier than what you think; just add a little of incandescent light. You have to be carefull with how much, and how the light is thrown towards the cannopy, hanging height etc cause they are quite full of far red and infra red, watch out for stretch. Incandescent and halogen have very nice levels of 670-700nm reds which seems to be a cholorphyll favorite and very hard to come by in inefficient leds.
you can check out Greyfader/Delta9s most recent grow on icmag for some nice results and inspiration. You may wanna have something that works on a dimmer, and have to figure out if better with an omni directional bulb or just something more directed like halogen spots. Watch out with too many watts, both in total and per point of light. Ymmv
 

2com

Well-Known Member
So I have often managed to save on heating my tents in winter by combining he extraction for my two tents. Running them in opposite time frames and passive ducting from one to the other.

However while I am now switching from HID to LED I am trying to think of other ways to reduce my dependency on heaters.

Ideas currently,

Run my extraction in reverse so bringing in cold/fresh air from above and exhausting out of the bottom, atleast this way any heat produced by the LEDs and Drivers will be drawn through my canopy.

Option two is to keep my current configuration but add an additional heat circulation ducting circuit taking the heat from top of the tent and pumping it back down into the bottom to draw back up to the top .

Does anyone else have any ideas?
CO2 generator. Win-win.
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
CO2 generator. Win-win.
It may work out as win-win but its a bad idea to rely on only a gasburner; you may get into the situation where you need more heat but cant use more CO2. You can get too much of CO2 which kinda mess with plant transpiration, also with a co2 burner you cant go completely sealed as you will run out of O2
If it can be dialed in though it works great, one of our best grows was based on sharing the same air between 3 spaces and with one gass heater on low in the main space.
 

meangreengrowinmachine

Well-Known Member
The use of heating reduces cultivation efficiency. If you don't have a suitable temperature, use sodium, lec or other lighting that raises the temperature and provides light. Do not use heaters that only provide heat.

View attachment 5372552
it does seem counter intuitive to be using LEDs for their efficiency which is mainly in that they have drastically reduced heat output only to then go behind and add heat... I guess I TRY to justify it by saying that at least I am not having to go through a lot of bulbs and the LEDs will last me a long time. But having both an LED (for warm months) and a more traditional set up for winter seems like it might be ideal for some of us (maybe even myself) but that is also more light investment cost that is needed so lowers that efficiency number even further.... the dilemma I have ponder for some time lol
 

GenericEnigma

Well-Known Member
I've thought of the only efficient way, I think...

Besides water cooling both the LEDs and driver with super efficient copper blocks, and pumping to small radiator\fan at the base of each plant. So that it blows nearly all the extracted heat back up into well trained umbrella like canopies, that is..

So check it out:

bongsmilie..

Each LED grow light fixture has a small built in go pro style camera, right in the center and facing down. So from there, basically in real time.. it projection maps out the leaf movements it senses, and creates a somewhat 3D virtual map of the entire plant from above. At all times, no matter how it grows. As long as the air circulation fans are running, and the leafs are slightly moving (and green, it senses that too), the advanced AI software analyzes that data and then controls a powerful fast moving IR laser beam, that scans only the mapped out plants in the area leaf by leaf, so fast (like, 100s of times per second!) you don't even know its happening, or see the beam coming out of the projector. It would be just the right frequency too, that it doesn't burn the leaves, or focus on any spot for too long. Just helps to mimic the intense heat of the sun rays, which you can tune with different settings to achieve the perfect VPD every time during lights on. All while using way less electricity than using any other kind of heater to supplement with.

Haha JK, HID is king!
I was pretty sure this was going to end with, "And then stick it up your butt!" Hehe!
 

Drop That Sound

Well-Known Member
I got a de-icing kit like this:

1708738686107.jpeg

Pretty sure its 50 or 75 ft, and at least a few hundred watts. Should be just long enough to wire up a trellis pattern across the scrog frame with the wire. Try not to kink it too much.. I'm guessing it will radiate up into the canopy and warm the leaves just right. Use a digital temp controller and IR thermo gun to dial it all in. Keep the canopy as flat and close to the wires as possible..

I guess there is only one way to find out right?

Heated scrog nets.. Man ,who would have thought? ;)
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
I got a de-icing kit like this:

View attachment 5372742

Pretty sure its 50 or 75 ft, and at least a few hundred watts. Should be just long enough to wire up a trellis pattern across the scrog frame with the wire. Try not to kink it too much.. I'm guessing it will radiate up into the canopy and warm the leaves just right. Use a digital temp controller and IR thermo gun to dial it all in. Keep the canopy as flat and close to the wires as possible..

I guess there is only one way to find out right?

Heated scrog nets.. Man ,who would have thought? ;)
I just dont think this is as well thought out as you may think. Id fear it giving contact burns or just not really doing very much at all; whatever heat this brings to the cannopy would likely go everywhere in your grow room due to necesary airflow. Except the heat that gets transferred directly, which isnt really good for the plant; similar to your plant touching the leds or the hot heatsink.
Its an interesting idea though if it works, id love to see it tried out but dont have high hopes.
This type heating by wire: id love to see it in or around the pot, or even built in to the pot, but on somekinda regulator
 

meangreengrowinmachine

Well-Known Member
I just dont think this is as well thought out as you may think. Id fear it giving contact burns or just not really doing very much at all; whatever heat this brings to the cannopy would likely go everywhere in your grow room due to necesary airflow. Except the heat that gets transferred directly, which isnt really good for the plant; similar to your plant touching the leds or the hot heatsink.
Its an interesting idea though if it works, id love to see it tried out but dont have high hopes.
This type heating by wire: id love to see it in or around the pot, or even built in to the pot, but on somekinda regulator
Yeah I agree I think this is a fire waiting to happen lol
 

meangreengrowinmachine

Well-Known Member
What temps/rh can you manage in there and how much light can your plants handle. Impressed with all those green stems, almost nothing purple, hats off :)
Thanks! I try to keep temps at 80f humidity is at 50% atm since going into flower. I normally have it higher but I constantly have a humidifier running distilled water to keep it there. I also run an oil filled radiator style heater on an ink bird with the sensor at canopy level. The light is a high Grove magnolia 6! Amazing light! I am also now running c02 at 1200. Trying for some conissuer bud here lol
 

meangreengrowinmachine

Well-Known Member
Thanks! I try to keep temps at 80f humidity is at 50% atm since going into flower. I normally have it higher but I constantly have a humidifier running distilled water to keep it there. I also run an oil filled radiator style heater on an ink bird with the sensor at canopy level. The light is a high Grove magnolia 6! Amazing light! I am also now running c02 at 1200. Trying for some conissuer bud here lol
Oh I also have the blu mat drip hose irrigation system set up delivering just plain water whenever the plants need it ans I only water once a week with the build a soil schedule. These are plants from the spin off seed company they are doing also living soil seeds. Double yahmba by kidkaya. You might say I'm a fan lolz but the results are so great I can't NOT be!
 

Cookie Rider

Well-Known Member
Winter shed grow
Two tents circulating air from tent to tent.
Radiant oil filled heater on low and controller in one tent, dehumidifier in the other.
Excellent air circulation under and above canopy.
Foam board insulation on the floors, and to block off openings the shed has; it’s been great at minus 17.
Co2 added minimally 550-750ppm
Led strip light and ballasts in tent.

Works great for a hobby grow.
I try to only grow in winter as it’s easier for me to seal it up and add heat rather than try to keep it cooler in summer heat waves.
For summer I’ll run a few autos outdoors to get a quick, cost free run.
 

meangreengrowinmachine

Well-Known Member
Winter shed grow
Two tents circulating air from tent to tent.
Radiant oil filled heater on low and controller in one tent, dehumidifier in the other.
Excellent air circulation under and above canopy.
Foam board insulation on the floors, and to block off openings the shed has; it’s been great at minus 17.
Co2 added minimally 550-750ppm
Led strip light and ballasts in tent.

Works great for a hobby grow.
I try to only grow in winter as it’s easier for me to seal it up and add heat rather than try to keep it cooler in summer heat waves.
For summer I’ll run a few autos outdoors to get a quick, cost free run.
very nice set up!!
 

meangreengrowinmachine

Well-Known Member
Question on this topic... do you think it would be worth trying to set up a small inline fan pulling warm air from the heat sinks and blowing that warm air over the canopy? You could use just a small 6 inch flex vent and a small 6 inch inline helper fan.. but would it pull off enough heat to do anything or would the heat sinks need to be enclosed for that to work?
 
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