Starting to think about my bud room......

So I am planning on taking my girls up to the attic for flowering. My attic has a footprint of 25'x40' with a center ridge height a little more than 7'. There is vents on both end walls. The house is almost 70yrs old and not even close to being airtight. I have an 8'x8' area in the center of the room that I am going to be designating to my girls. My plan is to mount 2x 8" inline duct fans at either of the attic exhausting OUT the end vents of the house. If my plan works I should be sucking fresh cool air up from the house itself.(living quarters) Hopefully this will help out in the heat of the summer. I have a few questions for the RIU experts: 1) Should I hang or build something to hold up 4 reflective walls inside of my 8'x8' area? I am just wondering if I wall in an area, if it will take away or restrict any of my ventilation. 2) I ran across a steal of a deal on a 400W HPS fixture and was just wondering as to what people's opinions are on a hood for it. My plans are either to bend up a piece of HVAC duct panel and mount a 6" fan out the top, or put it inside of a 6" round HVAC duct with the fan out one end. To add to that, I will have my eye out for another steal, so I might be upgrading this hood to a bigger watt HPS in the future. As always, thanx guys for your valued input.

JSJ said:

Should I hang or build something to hold up 4 reflective walls inside of my 8'x8' area?

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I really don't get what you are asking. What are your "reflective walls?" Of course you need something to hold the walls up, whatever they are.

You have 2 fans at each end of the attic, 4 fans total? They are blowing air out of the attic? How is the cool air from down below going to get in your 8X8 grow area? Are you just sucking up household air into the attic space in general? If so, depending on how hot it is where you live, you are going to have a hell of a cooling bill if you are constantly draining off your cooled and dehumidified air into the attic to be discharged back outside.

Just don't get it I guess.

AimAim said:

You have 2 fans at each end of the attic, 4 fans total? They are blowing air out of the attic? How is the cool air from down below going to get in your 8X8 grow area? Are you just sucking up household air into the attic space in general? If so, depending on how hot it is where you live, you are going to have a hell of a cooling bill if you are constantly draining off your cooled and dehumidified air into the attic to be discharged back outside.

Just don't get it I guess.

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Guess I didn't explain it right. My attic is totally open, from end to end. I have 2x 4'x8' sheets of plywood across the rafters giving me an 8'x8' work area. 2X fans total, 1x on each end wall exhausting out. We do not have any a/c, so just relying on the thermals. Heat rises, exhaust out the very top of the house, sucking in from downstairs. I doubt that I could cool the house off, but my temps should never be more than the actual temp outside. As for walls in my 8'x8' area, that's what I'm asking. Should I hang walls(tent) inside the attic, or just leave the whole thing open so there is more air movement/ventilation. Thanx!!

yeah, so any and all helpful comments or suggestions are welcomed here.

I would hang something for reflection for sure. Heat is gonna be an issue though. I'm not sure where you are, but here in the prairies in Canada my attic is flipping hot! In my basement, with a 300CFM fan moving air out of a 4'x4' tent my temp still hits 80 degress, and my basements is only mid fifties.

JSJ said:

but my temps should never be more than the actual temp outside.

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What? An uninsulated attic is WAY the hell hotter then the actual temp outside when the sun is on the roof. I guess it depends on where in the world you live.

Still not gettin it

I don't have a basement, just a crawlspace. My closet is way too small to finish them in there. The attic is my only option. Never said it was uninsulated. Not sure how else to explain it so somebody "gets" it. I think we all agree the attic is going to be the hottest fucking place to try and finish these girls. So my only option at this point is to try and cool down the attic. Hence the fact of having 2x 8" exhaust fans blowing the hot air out of the attic while sucking up the cooler air from down below. A couple big fans blowing in opposite corners to keep things moving and that's going to best I can do to cool off the attic. With all that being said, how crucial is it going to be that I put up reflective walls around my work area. At that point I will have a box inside of the attic, an already hot attic. So all my venting and air movement that I can create will actually be on the outside of the flower room. If I left the attic open (which means no reflective walls) then atleast the girls are going to get ALL of the air circulation that I make. So there are my two questions: 1) Should I wall in a box inside of the attic or would I be better off to keep it all open? 2) I have never run a 400W HPS bulb before, so I am wondering what kind of a hood would be best for reflection and if a 6" duct fan will work to remove all the extra heat off the girls??

cdnbudder said:

with a 300CFM fan moving air out of a 4'x4' tent my temp still hits 80 degress

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And how big of a light? What kind of hood? How is it cooled?

1- open attic grow is not an option unless you figure out a way to keep the temps night time above 65 and daytime below 80. You should verify that is possible before planning any further. If you live in a place outside these temp ranges you will need to build a climate controlled room in your attic. Find a steal on a window a/c unit because you will probably need it.

2- any sealed light fixture will work - don't know what size light to recommend because I don't know your plant count and how big they are. I run a long 30" cool tube with a reflector on a 400w. This setup will raise your grow room temps by another 10 degrees. It will need intake from lower house and exhaust out of the attic. Figure a carbon scrubber and an inline fan into your budget too.

prosperian said:

1- open attic grow is not an option unless you figure out a way to keep the temps night time above 65 and daytime below 80.

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Have thought about it, so I planned ahead at that one and my lights on time is set for 10pm so when I go 12/12 my lights won't be on during the heat of the day. As for an a/c unit, I took note about a month ago or so, me and the old lady were at a little discount store and they had what I would call a portable unit. They were self contained anyways, not like a window unit where the backside(outside the window) is open and vented. They were $90, but I really can't remember how many btu's they were listed at.
As for the cool tube, when I first picked up this floodlight, everybody said to get rid of the glass because glass eats light. So why would I want to put my bulb inside of a glass tube?? Wouldn't what I believe they call a "winged reflector" with an inline fan coming straight out the top right above the bulb be better?? Just my noob thoughts, would like to hear opinions.

The reduction of lumens from glass is very small, not even worth discussing unless you don't keep it clean. Heat from an unsealed light fixture will kill your plants or reduce the production of the bud. Sealed is the way to go in most cases. The wing reflector is installed outside of the glass tube. See mine below. That 400w produced half a pound of bud from four plants this month. You might reconsider a closet grow like mine. It's only 2' x 3' 100% sealed, stealth, easy access, climate controlled, and cheap to build.

Room temp has a lot to do with your success. And in my opinion, until you get temps nailed down, you should expect bad results. Grab one of those digital temp gauges from the local hardware store - make sure it will tell you the prior 24-hour hi and low temps too. Throw it in the attic about the same height and location of where the plants will be and see what hi and low you record. Add that information to last couple years of high and lows for your area factoring more for the attic temps. That will give you a good idea of what you are working with.

I know my attic gets over 100 degrees in summer. It might be different in your area, but attics in general are a poor choice unless they are insulated, sealed rooms. That will cost you serious bucks to build, electricity for a/c, and time.

I don't see running the lights at night as the total solution for your attic heat. Yes, it's cooler, but day time temps are going to be scorching. Definitely look into a tent or close the attic off with a sealed room. If you don't, you will attract every bug in a two mile radius. And if you are concerned about stealth, your roof will be a beacon in the night with a heat signature. I ran my grow during the day to blend in with the daytime heat from the house.

Keep doing your research and good luck.

just to add to what my Bro just wrote ..

I tested my 600W with out the cool hood/glass on and with it and according to my light meter the glass block about 10-20% but since you can keep it much closer (12" instead of 20") from the plant top you actually provide your plants with more light as artificial light loose a lot over a short distance

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beside the fact that you actually get more light at your plant`s it will also be much more easy to maintain perfect temperatures with a cool tube or hood, made my temps drop from +85F to 78-80F last summer

Hey thanx guys, I really appreciate you guys taking your time to help me out. I just got a surprise bonus from work so plans are kind of changing, but your input will be valuable for my changes also!! +reps to both of you!! thanx again.