First buildout I actually own can you double check my math and tell me if I’m nuts

Laughinggrass420

Active Member
I have pretty much the same room, 12 lighter, although 800 is gonna be a bit too much per 4x4 unless they're inefficent. That's 50 watts per sq/ft, im running 35 per sq/ft to get 900-1000 ppfd. Im using about half the AC and dehumidification you spec'd out.
Note**** I can always dim down lights to desired ppfd & tbh didn’t like the idea of going over 700 watts.

used to run fluence 630s and they were more than enough.

I don’t like the trend of led brands coming out more and more with higher out of the wall draws. Was honestly thinking about giving flora flexs 8 bar a run for it. 650 watt ( although I believe there coming out with an 800 watt as well right now ‍♂)
 

SofaKingHigh_

Well-Known Member
I’m definitely going to talk to my hvac guy on this, as much as I watch, listen & read I still can’t quite grasp this concept.
I am co side ring ducting in my dehums though which will remove a significant amount of btus. Thoughts on that?
Ok so this is a Instagram video but I just found this guy and he specializes in hvac for cultivation. Excellent content that helped me. Your honesty small enough the mini splits will work I’m just not a huge fan of them.

 

nxsov180db

Well-Known Member
What does your room need for water on a daily basis and what medium are you in?
Honestly not sure, I just set the irrigation timers that get fed off of dosatrons. Based off the number of plants and waterings and if the flora flex bubblers really are giving 2gph it could be up to 60 gallons a day. But there's some runoff there too..
Also do you know roughly how many total watts or btus all equipment in your room is throwing on a daily basis?
Well the lights are 35w per sq/ft at about 200 sq ft so 7000 watts roughly, 170 pints of dehumidification uses 1350 watts max. co2 4 burner runs about 2 hours a day which is 9050btu, so that averages out to 1500btu of added heat. 5 inline 8" fans, ac infinity, are 72 watts each, so 360 watts there.. So 8710 watts which is 29,720 btu, plus the burner brings it to about 31,220 btu. I started off with a 2 ton mini split, it worked but you won't be dropping your temps to the low 70's late harvest if that's what you want. I ended up adding a multi head mini split for the veg rooms and stuff so when I did that I added a 1.5 ton mini split head to the room because in the dead of winter when it was -20f my 2 ton stopped working. So long story short 2 tons got me by but 3 tons would have been more practical.
how well insulated would you say your room is?
It's not insulated at all but it is in a basement. Upstate NY. 2 walls are the foundation and the other 2 walls separate the room from veg areas, so the other side of those 2 walls its always 80f.
do you run into any environmental challenges or lack of control at your current specs?
Yeah, I wish I had better dehumidifiers, the ones I have restart all the time, I should have went with 2 quest dual 110's. They work but I get spikes sometimes..
 

Laughinggrass420

Active Member
Honestly not sure, I just set the irrigation timers that get fed off of dosatrons. Based off the number of plants and waterings and if the flora flex bubblers really are giving 2gph it could be up to 60 gallons a day. But there's some runoff there too..

Well the lights are 35w per sq/ft at about 200 sq ft so 7000 watts roughly, 170 pints of dehumidification uses 1350 watts max. co2 4 burner runs about 2 hours a day which is 9050btu, so that averages out to 1500btu of added heat. 5 inline 8" fans, ac infinity, are 72 watts each, so 360 watts there.. So 8710 watts which is 29,720 btu, plus the burner brings it to about 31,220 btu. I started off with a 2 ton mini split, it worked but you won't be dropping your temps to the low 70's late harvest if that's what you want. I ended up adding a multi head mini split for the veg rooms and stuff so when I did that I added a 1.5 ton mini split head to the room because in the dead of winter when it was -20f my 2 ton stopped working. So long story short 2 tons got me by but 3 tons would have been more practical.

It's not insulated at all but it is in a basement. Upstate NY. 2 walls are the foundation and the other 2 walls separate the room from veg areas, so the other side of those 2 walls its always 80f.

Yeah, I wish I had better dehumidifiers, the ones I have restart all the time, I should have went with 2 quest dual 110's. They work but I get spikes sometimes..
Awesome man, all this info really helps.
It sounds like Our climates our very similar so it’s easier to compare as I am also in the northeast.

60 gallons a day with 170 pints Dehu seems a little under spec by my math.

it sounds like you could have gone with 4 tons in the flower chamber to achieve those ripening temps late in flower.

it also sounds like you have some Humidity swings you’d like to control with more Dehu .

I guess over sizing in my scenario might suit me well.

what LEDs are you running? Do you like em?
 

nxsov180db

Well-Known Member
Awesome man, all this info really helps.
It sounds like Our climates our very similar so it’s easier to compare as I am also in the northeast.

60 gallons a day with 170 pints Dehu seems a little under spec by my math.

it sounds like you could have gone with 4 tons in the flower chamber to achieve those ripening temps late in flower.

it also sounds like you have some Humidity swings you’d like to control with more Dehu .

I guess over sizing in my scenario might suit me well.

what LEDs are you running? Do you like em?
yeah but that's 170 pints of dehumidifiers that don't work right, a real deal growing dehumidifier would make a world of difference, I bet a single dual 110 would outperform both of the 85 pint dehumidifiers I run. plus the ac removes a TON of water itself.. I built my own leds
 

Laughinggrass420

Active Member
yeah but that's 170 pints of dehumidifiers that don't work right, a real deal growing dehumidifier would make a world of difference, I bet a single dual 110 would outperform both of the 85 pint dehumidifiers I run. plus the ac removes a TON of water itself.. I built my own leds
The a/c doesn’t remove much water at night though depending on what your nighttime temps are and your set point.

it seems you think I’m way overkill in my sizing of A/C and Dehu ? Is that fair to say?
 

nxsov180db

Well-Known Member
The a/c doesn’t remove much water at night though depending on what your nighttime temps are and your set point.

it seems you think I’m way overkill in my sizing of A/C and Dehu ? Is that fair to say?
Well you won’t need as much dehumidification at night, plants don’t transpire nearly as much. Get 2 dual 110’s and a 3 ton ac I’d say..
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
OP: have you planned out a layout of your space? As in drawn it up, thought out how to access each tray and plant?

18x15 sounds a little cramped for 12x 4x4s. Assuming this would be in a 4x3 config of 4x4 trays: in order to have a small walk way between rows (say 2x1.5') youd have to push up the outer trays against the walls. 3x4 + 2x1.5 = 15 feet and your space is full wall to wall. Problem is that the plants deepest to the wall will be with very limited access, you would be able to put fans on the wall due to missing space.

In a similar way: on the other dimension you have 18feet but 16 of those is eaten up by trays, youd only have 2 feet of space left over.

Id try to prepare the space with deposits/fans or whatever you need then see how much space you have left IRL.

Maybe using slightly smaller trays. Dunno. But defo plan that space out with some drawing/blueprints first with how to access and how to move air on top of cannopy and bottom in mind.
 

Laughinggrass420

Active Member
OP: have you planned out a layout of your space? As in drawn it up, thought out how to access each tray and plant?

18x15 sounds a little cramped for 12x 4x4s. Assuming this would be in a 4x3 config of 4x4 trays: in order to have a small walk way between rows (say 2x1.5') youd have to push up the outer trays against the walls. 3x4 + 2x1.5 = 15 feet and your space is full wall to wall. Problem is that the plants deepest to the wall will be with very limited access, you would be able to put fans on the wall due to missing space.

In a similar way: on the other dimension you have 18feet but 16 of those is eaten up by trays, youd only have 2 feet of space left over.

Id try to prepare the space with deposits/fans or whatever you need then see how much space you have left IRL.

Maybe using slightly smaller trays. Dunno. But defo plan that space out with some drawing/blueprints first with how to access and how to move air on top of cannopy and bottom in mind.
Hey my mind & body is fried right now after spending all day running the chainsaw and chopping. Pretty much all I can do is sales and work around the property until I get my electrical service in which we all know can take some time. I plan on reading this and diving deeper in the AM over coffee.

yes I have drawn it out & yes I may have to expand width and or length of room if not both. I will say the 4x16 trays will be on sliding benches. So that might clear things up. I’ll have to look at mymap Out again and likely AGAIN before really getting things built out but I should have as it stands a good 3 ft to play with at any given time with rolling benches.
 
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