G
Godless
As I have been thinking through my plan, I had always assumed that I needed AC. After reading here how much portables suck and not being able to figure out how to incorporate a window AC into my design, I have started to wonder if I will even need AC at all.
Here are some of the details of my current gameplan:
SoG style growing of primarily sativa - 12/12 as soon as possible to keep the height down.
This is going to be a 10x10x8 room built into a mostly shaded, finished garage. The two walls of room that I am building will be very well insulated (2x4 framing, OSB sheathing, sprayfoam insulation). The existing corner walls and ceiling are decently insulated (hard to tell what's inside, but it is finished drywall). Haven't figured out what to do with the floor yet.
The bloom area will be two 3x3 E&F tables - each lit by a 600w HPS powered by a lumatek digi balast and both lights are in cool tubes with a filtered intake coming from the larger garage space and exhaust going into the small attic space (which have an outside vent). I am thinking of sealing up the bloom space with panda film nailed to a frame of 2x3s. This will require roughly a 6.5'x4x8 space. I will have a Co2 controller keeping my ppm up with tanks.
The Mom/Clone setup will be on a tall rolling metal cart that is 1.5'x4'x7'. I will probably use CFLs as much as possible, but I do have a 400w HPS with an integrated ballast, glass and open vents for air cooling - I might use this for vegging moms if the CFLs don't work out. I will set up a small exhaust fan above the cart that pulls hot air into the attic. Since the Bloom area is sealed off, I will only get the veg level of smell, which hopefully won't be obvious. I have an Ozone gen that I could put in the attic if it becomes an issue.
The rest of the 10x10 room will be for other uses, but I will also have a cabinet in the garage proper that backs up to the bloom space. I will put the Co2 tanks, electric box and ballasts in it.
As for weather, I am more concerned with the cold than too much heat. Winter can get into the teens. I am hoping that a small space heater in the bloom space, another one in the rest of the room, and turning off the room exhaust will keep the temps up without too much power draw. In the summer, temps will get up to the mid 90s, but it cools down almost every night. Humidity is very low (20-30%) most of the year, except for July/August when we get afternoon rainstorms. Since I am basically keeping the bloom space sealed up, I figure I will need a dehumidifier for those two months, but the rest of the time, I will be more worried about getting humidity up. (hoping that E&F using clay balls will help with this - I'll get a humidifier in there if it doesn't).
The big question here is: do I really need an AC? With Co2 on sativas, the occasional trip into the 90s (if it ever really does get that hot) shouldn't really be a problem right? If I do need AC, how in the world could I make a window AC unit work in this scenario? It would be very un-stealth to have the back of an AC unit sticking out of a wall inside the garage.
The other question is: do I need to exhaust my bloom space? The air here can be very dirty (dust and tree pollen) and I wonder at the effectiveness in cooling or bringing down humidity if the outside air is more hot/humid than in.
The only fixed parameter I have is electrical (I have 2 15amp circuits I can dedicate to lights, fans, heat, dehumid, cool). Money (within reason) isn't really an issue and I am open to changing anything that is necessary. The other factor is that I am only somewhat handy, so I want to avoid any project that will take me months to get right.
All your thoughts are welcome!
Here are some of the details of my current gameplan:
SoG style growing of primarily sativa - 12/12 as soon as possible to keep the height down.
This is going to be a 10x10x8 room built into a mostly shaded, finished garage. The two walls of room that I am building will be very well insulated (2x4 framing, OSB sheathing, sprayfoam insulation). The existing corner walls and ceiling are decently insulated (hard to tell what's inside, but it is finished drywall). Haven't figured out what to do with the floor yet.
The bloom area will be two 3x3 E&F tables - each lit by a 600w HPS powered by a lumatek digi balast and both lights are in cool tubes with a filtered intake coming from the larger garage space and exhaust going into the small attic space (which have an outside vent). I am thinking of sealing up the bloom space with panda film nailed to a frame of 2x3s. This will require roughly a 6.5'x4x8 space. I will have a Co2 controller keeping my ppm up with tanks.
The Mom/Clone setup will be on a tall rolling metal cart that is 1.5'x4'x7'. I will probably use CFLs as much as possible, but I do have a 400w HPS with an integrated ballast, glass and open vents for air cooling - I might use this for vegging moms if the CFLs don't work out. I will set up a small exhaust fan above the cart that pulls hot air into the attic. Since the Bloom area is sealed off, I will only get the veg level of smell, which hopefully won't be obvious. I have an Ozone gen that I could put in the attic if it becomes an issue.
The rest of the 10x10 room will be for other uses, but I will also have a cabinet in the garage proper that backs up to the bloom space. I will put the Co2 tanks, electric box and ballasts in it.
As for weather, I am more concerned with the cold than too much heat. Winter can get into the teens. I am hoping that a small space heater in the bloom space, another one in the rest of the room, and turning off the room exhaust will keep the temps up without too much power draw. In the summer, temps will get up to the mid 90s, but it cools down almost every night. Humidity is very low (20-30%) most of the year, except for July/August when we get afternoon rainstorms. Since I am basically keeping the bloom space sealed up, I figure I will need a dehumidifier for those two months, but the rest of the time, I will be more worried about getting humidity up. (hoping that E&F using clay balls will help with this - I'll get a humidifier in there if it doesn't).
The big question here is: do I really need an AC? With Co2 on sativas, the occasional trip into the 90s (if it ever really does get that hot) shouldn't really be a problem right? If I do need AC, how in the world could I make a window AC unit work in this scenario? It would be very un-stealth to have the back of an AC unit sticking out of a wall inside the garage.
The other question is: do I need to exhaust my bloom space? The air here can be very dirty (dust and tree pollen) and I wonder at the effectiveness in cooling or bringing down humidity if the outside air is more hot/humid than in.
The only fixed parameter I have is electrical (I have 2 15amp circuits I can dedicate to lights, fans, heat, dehumid, cool). Money (within reason) isn't really an issue and I am open to changing anything that is necessary. The other factor is that I am only somewhat handy, so I want to avoid any project that will take me months to get right.
All your thoughts are welcome!
