Heating my grow tent...

my grow tent is 2x4x5' high and is in my basement. it's been perfect down there over the summer, but it gets pretty chilly in the winter. it shouldn't be a problem to keep the temps right while my lights are on, but i'm not sure how to best keep it warm enough in there when they're off. i imagine i could use a tiny space heater on a timer, but i can't seem to fine any that are really low wattage. it's a small tent, so i shouldn't need much. any input would be very appreciated!

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Build a simple ventilation system that circulates the hot O2 rich air from your tent to your living area to heat the house when the lights are on (do this when you're home for heat savings); and an inlet from the living area into the tent to keep the temperature there warm and to feed the plants CO2 rich air. Symbiotic.

This is an air filter housing I made to redirect the air from my attic grow room to my living area. Very easy to do, if you want to talk through it please post in my Grow Lab thread linked below. Check out the air floor on page 1, if you don't have one with your tent building one will increase yield & potency, reduce flowering time, reduce mould.



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what kind of lighting set up do you have? If your running a HPS/MH set up id say you probably wouldn't have an issue with keeping your tent warm. If your running tube lights like i used too then maybe you might have a problem with your tent getting to cold. When I used to run my setup in a friend basement it got cold down there in the winter and I was running 12 48" tube lights. While they were on it kept it around 68 then when they went off his room dropped down to 45-50 but in never really seemed to hurt the plants. So IDK if you really need a space heater or not unless your temps are going to be below 45. If they are then Id say yes you do probably need something to heat your tent up, but be careful space heaters in enclosed spaces are fire hazards. I knew a friend that burnt his apartment down heating his space up with one. Somebody on here may be able to give you a better solution to your question, but i figured I just add my own experiences with this problem

i'm using two 200w (850 equiv) CFL's, so they run pretty cool. they usually don't heat the tent to more than 10-15 degrees above ambient. i may just have to rig something from a basement vent to my tent with vent hose. wonder if you can safely regulate a space heater with a dimmer switch...

look for something like tubular green house heaters they are around 50w-160w for small greenhouses . you could run these on a timer.


http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=tubular+greenhouse+heaters&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=




J

very cool. haven't seen those before.

mr.lucky405 said:

i'm using two 200w (850 equiv) CFL's, so they run pretty cool. they usually don't heat the tent to more than 10-15 degrees above ambient. i may just have to rig something from a basement vent to my tent with vent hose. wonder if you can safely regulate a space heater with a dimmer switch...

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it will cause the heater to overheat the motor. i tried it with a router speed control it wont work

Awwww Yeah Baby...someone making sense. Those tubular heaters are CHEAP and do the trick. Good lead....

SocialistSeeds said:

Awwww Yeah Baby...someone making sense. Those tubular heaters are CHEAP and do the trick. Good lead....

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Too funny, was just about to start a thread on cheap heating...then you bumped this old dinosaur thread and answered the question.

Thanks!

I wish I could find those tube heaters in the usa

Hobbes said:

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Build a simple ventilation system that circulates the hot O2 rich air from your tent to your living area to heat the house when the lights are on (do this when you're home for heat savings); and an inlet from the living area into the tent to keep the temperature there warm and to feed the plants CO2 rich air. Symbiotic.

This is an air filter housing I made to redirect the air from my attic grow room to my living area. Very easy to do, if you want to talk through it please post in my Grow Lab thread linked below. Check out the air floor on page 1, if you don't have one with your tent building one will increase yield & potency, reduce flowering time, reduce mould.

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This is definitely the cheapest and most beneficial way to do it if you're in a cold area, you're running your furnace anyhow, your furnace is likely to be in the basement, where the main plenum runs are, if you can tie into the home heating system it's a win-win, a little time/creativity like Hobbes here and you're off to the races… for virtually nothing compared to heating with space heaters and the like… I love winter for growing in a basement, no heat issues, no bugs, free heating

GroErr said:

This is definitely the cheapest and most beneficial way to do it if you're in a cold area, you're running your furnace anyhow, your furnace is likely to be in the basement, where the main plenum runs are, if you can tie into the home heating system it's a win-win, a little time/creativity like Hobbes here and you're off to the races… for virtually nothing compared to heating with space heaters and the like… I love winter for growing in a basement, no heat issues, no bugs, free heating

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Problem here is my home has a boiler/water heated, no forced air to divert.

And those damn electric space heaters use up 1,500 watts...ouch!.

Sunbiz1 said:

Problem here is my home has a boiler/water heated, no forced air to divert.

And those damn electric space heaters use up 1,500 watts...ouch!.

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Yeah that sucks, I tried one of those space heaters early this fall and metered it, it thing drew more kwhr's and amps than my whole setup including a tent for clones with cfl's and a grow cabinet with led panels. That quickly sparked some creativity to tie into my heating/cooling, it'll be the source of fresh air and heat or cool depending the season going forward

I'm in the same boat. basement grow, boiler heat. I've got a 3x3x7 600 watt hid. Day temps no problem but night dropping to low 60's. got a small ceramic heater an a multi timer. on for 15 minutes every 3 hours. been helping but still fine tuning it

funny, this thread is over 4 years old

and yet the problem remains the same

slowandsteady said:

I'm in the same boat. basement grow, boiler heat. I've got a 3x3x7 600 watt hid. Day temps no problem but night dropping to low 60's. got a small ceramic heater an a multi timer. on for 15 minutes every 3 hours. been helping but still fine tuning it

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Just moved my flower room to the basement, fortunately I installed an extra radiator down there when I moved in.

On the upside, the water heat at least keeps humidity reasonably high. But still, with temps plummeting I may have to break down and use an electric.

Between heaters, lighting, and now a fuck ton of holiday lights...think it's time to look into solar panels.

Hmm, if I were to place panels into the grow rooms, wouldn't the lighting effectively pay for itself?...always wondered if that would work.

A small desktop heater with a digital thermostat switch is all you need. It can be set at 900 watts or 1500 watts. I used it on low for a 4'x4' tent and if seal well, it should only be on for a few minutes every hour. It really shouldn't up your bill by much.

Ya know what hasn't been mentioned that might work for a lot of ya's. It worked well for me. They're waterproof so they work well for gardens. Winter Heat mats for outdoor dog houses, the one I have is about 2'x3 1/2' and heat to around 65F or so. You can set it on a timer so it runs on your night cycle. You should be able to find them at your local box pet stores. Either put your pots or res right on top of it. The heat will rise into the roots and up the plant.

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/721533-advice-about-temperature.html

There are some pretty useful suggestions there.