Exhale C02 Bags. An Honest Review

[Payaso]

Greetings everyone!

Sorry there are a few missing posts above... sometimes a thread needs a little cleaning up, especially after folks decide to hate each other publicly for little or no reason...

Really folks, this is a place for adult growers to discuss growing. If you haven't got anything nice to say, please don't post anything... just move along to something you might find more to your liking.

 

[Avinash.miles]

thanks payaso!

has anyone considered using a small cage with 2-3 horny hamsters in their grow rooms?

just saying

hampsters, rabbits, mushrooms, etc... interesting...

 

[Granger2]

I guess you could measure the CO2 level at lights out, then again just before lights on to get an idea of production. Plants shouldn't be using CO2 during lights out. -granger

 

[medicalmj]

I guess you could measure the CO2 level at lights out, then again just before lights on to get an idea of production. Plants shouldn't be using CO2 during lights out. -granger

I think the term "production" is misleading. The carbon can come from one place only, the fungus, and cannot exceed that quantity. If a bag weighed 5 pounds then there's only about 4 pounds of carbon in that bag, period. And you will not get all of that to convert to a gas (CO2).

 

[Joaltman88]

I really do not think Co2 bags do anything significant. I think co2 should only be used if the room is properly set up for co2 and the levels can be confirmed with gauges. Tanks and or burners I think are the only way...

 

[GuerrillaGary]

Anyone ever think of running a clear plastic tube along the base boards into the grow room and then the other end goes to the recliner where the grower could just breath out CO2 into the grow room? lol

Maybe hook a nose piece up and just breath normal and forget about the damn thing.

Best nap I ever had in my life was in the field (Army) while wearing a gas mask. I never thought I could sleep while wearing the fucking thing until I just accepted that I couldn't take it off. I passed out and had great dreams...woke up feeling unusually refreshed.

I think I'll try this with the old winter sealed room. Fuck the bags. If I thought that mycelium would do the trick then I would just throw a mono-tub or a few colonizing spawn bags full of Cyanescens mycelium in there. Anyone know if fireplaces create a good amount of CO2 in the house?

 

[Granger2]

Hey Gary,
When you get that set up, invite me over. Sounds like the ultimate man cave, and I'm more than willing to engage the plants in some symbiosis.

Seems like the CO2 produced by a fireplace would mostly go up the flue like 90% of the heat. Good luck. -granger

 

[hush]

This thread has helped me decide to go ahead and give the ExHale bags a shot. I have decided that bottled CO2 is too costly, and logistically complicated (refilling, deliveries, setup) to keep going down that road. Propane burners are out of the question because they add heat. So I researched DIY methods and eventually found out about these bags. I am willing to give them a try. If they fail, I will start brewing beer in my grow room.

 

[medicalmj]

This thread has helped me decide to go ahead and give the ExHale bags a shot. I have decided that bottled CO2 is too costly, and logistically complicated (refilling, deliveries, setup) to keep going down that road. Propane burners are out of the question because they add heat. So I researched DIY methods and eventually found out about these bags. I am willing to give them a try. If they fail, I will start brewing beer in my grow room.

Are you still growing in that 4x4 under a 1k?
Here's some equations and calculations to consider:
mg/m^3= [(ppm*(g/mole)*273.15) / (22.414*(Temperature in Kelvins)*ATM)]

To raise the ppm of CO2 from 400 to 1200, or net 800 will require
just under 1.5 grams per cubic meter. A 4x4 tent has around 3.4 m^3. You need around 5 grams of CO2 to raise the ppm from 400 to 1200 in your tent. But those molecules will soon escape or be used. This is where we need to gather other info. I hear some folks will use a 20lb tank every 2-4 weeks per 1k light. Taking the latter rate of using a 20 pound tank once per month flow rate, you'd be adding 5 grams of CO2, 2.5 times per hour, 12 hours per day (30 times per 12 hour light) for 30 days.

Here's the issue with Exhale bags, how does the CO2 get produced? The fugus, mycelium, does convert carbon from nutrients, the soil, organic matter, etc. into inorganic CO2 gas. So regardless of what substrate and how much available carbon is in the bag, it cannot produce more carbon than is contained within the bag. Say the bag weighs 5 pounds. And as they state it releases over 6 months. If the bag contained 99% carbon and 1% mycelium and it converted all the carbon to CO2 gas you could produce 18 pounds of CO2 over 6 months.

The reason you can get more than 5 pounds of CO2 gas from 5 pounds of carbon is that CO2 has a molecular weight of 44g/mol of which 32 is oxygen and 12 is carbon. Obviously this efficiency is not possible. But even if it were possible, you'd want at least 6 in your room. Considering actual efficiency I 'd think 10-20 (or more) in a 4x4 tent would be on par with bottled gas.

 

[hush]

That's some good mathematics right there, thanks for that. But the real problem here is that it is logistically complicated filling up a co2 tank every 10 days or so, which is how long they last for me in this room, and I'm pretty sure my room is sealed tight. It would be nice if I had like 6 tanks, but I don't, I only have the one, and it doesn't stay filled for long.

So yeah, I'm thinking I could get by with maybe 4 of these bags... It doesn't even have to raise the levels up above 1000 ppm... Honestly, even just maintaining atmospheric levels of 400 or so would be acceptable. It's just that I have a sealed room, and I want to keep it that way, but I can't afford to purchase 5 more 20 lb tanks to get me through an entire grow... So that leaves me with few options.

I'm not a commercial grower. I just need to have a healthy garden, it doesn't need to have prehistoric CO2 levels. It seems to me, for people who just want to maintain about 500 ppm in a sealed room, this might be just the trick.

I think I'm going to give it a try because I literally have no other options. I can't always guarantee I'll be able to drop everything in the moment and go get a refill when the tank empties. I can't afford the initial all-at-once cost of buying several tanks, and going with a propane burner is out of the question because of the heat.

So what other choice do I have, other than venting the room, which will introduce variables I don't wish to deal with?

Thanks for your comment!

 

[medicalmj]

So what other choice do I have, other than venting the room, which will introduce variables I don't wish to deal with?

Thanks for your comment!

Thanks man, I know the dilemna. Check out this contraption (see pic) when I was testing em out. I like the beer brewing idea. I calculated the CO2 poduced from glucose. Maltose C12H22O11 is broken down into two glucose molecules by enzymes and fermented as follows:
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]C6H12O6 ==> 2C2H5OH + 2CO2
The glucose is 180 grams/mol and the carbon makes up 72 of the grams
And it goes to 2 moles ethanol and 2 mole carbon dioxide
==> .4/6 = .0667; .0667*2=.1333
For every kilogram of sugar or malt e[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]xtract you will produce .133 kilograms of carbon dioxide. If you brew five gallon batches using around 6-7 lbs, or about 3 kilos. of extract you'd produce around .4 kilos of CO2 or around .85 pounds per five gallon batch. Most of that will be produced in a few days or less. The amount produced would extremely high over the peak production during the day or two after it got rolling. My calculations suggest over a 1 hour period during the top 3 days of fermentaion you'd actually add 800 ppm for your space.

So brew a batch every 3-5 days and you'll produce plenty of CO2. It's perfect. I just might start brewing again.[/FONT]

 

[ProperGreen]

Another +1 here for the bags. I've been using them for a year now(1 per 4x4 tent)and wouldn't do without them. When i get a chance to go sealed and tanks I will, but until then I'll spend $26 @ Amazon on one of these without thinking twice.
I've been very happy with them!

 

[Mr Roboto]

Anyone ever think of running a clear plastic tube along the base boards into the grow room and then the other end goes to the recliner where the grower could just breath out CO2 into the grow room? lol

Maybe hook a nose piece up and just breath normal and forget about the damn thing.

Best nap I ever had in my life was in the field (Army) while wearing a gas mask. I never thought I could sleep while wearing the fucking thing until I just accepted that I couldn't take it off. I passed out and had great dreams...woke up feeling unusually refreshed.

I think I'll try this with the old winter sealed room. Fuck the bags. If I thought that mycelium would do the trick then I would just throw a mono-tub or a few colonizing spawn bags full of Cyanescens mycelium in there. Anyone know if fireplaces create a good amount of CO2 in the house?

I 'm not blowing anything!!!! lol

 

[Granger2]

Check this out for some insite on CO2 needs:
http://www.hydrofarm.com/resources
/co2calc.php

And this:
http://growershouse.com/co2-calculator-for-grow-rooms

There are 8.741 cu. ft in one pound of CO2.

Also, you want the CO2 to be depleted back down to 300-400 ppm at lights out, so you don't want it to run for the whole 12 hours of lights on. Otherwise, you'll have excessive levels during lights out.

Using these calculators, my CO2 levels fluctuate between well above ambient and about 1000+ ppm, and my calculations are verified by the number of calendar days the tank lasts.

At some point, I'll probably spend the money needed to dispense CO2 more precisely, but this is fine for now.

One thing about the Exhale bags that I see as a sizable Con is that if they produce significant CO2, they're keeping the levels too high during lights off. Good luck. -granger

 

[medicalmj]

There are 8.741 cu. ft in one pound of CO2.

Not that it's important, but I am getting that 1 pound of CO2 will occupy 8.176 cubic feet of space @ 25C and at 1 atm.

From the equation PV=nRT you find that any ideal gas will occuppy 22.456L @ 25C (298.15K) and 1 ATM. That's .7933 cubic feet per mole of an ideal gas. V=[(1 mole*.0821*298.15)/(1 atm)]

CO2 has 44.01 gram/mole. That's 0.0970 lb/mole (44.01/453.6). So it takes 10.307 moles of CO2 to make 1 pound of CO2 (1/.0970).

From the fact that 1 mole of an ideal gas occupies .7933 ft^3, 1 pound of CO2 occupies 8.176 cubic feet (10.307*.7933).

But what does that mean? And how is does this relate to the amount of CO2 generated by Exhale bags?

 

[Granger2]

There are discrete ways to get a CO2 tank in and out. I put mine in a suitcase with casters.

I've run into that 8.7ish figure from multiple sources, at 70˚F. 25˚C=77˚F, so at higher temp it would be more.

I brought this up because methods other than the bags have been considered. -granger

 

[landdragon]

Thanks for this. Very helpful as we considered this purchase!

 

[jaybodankly]

Need a CO2 meter to test the ppm over eight weeks. Has anyone done this test?

 

[Floridian]

Man so many numbers and formula's hurts a brothers head.Co2 is only effective when it's controlled and all the other factors are dialed in.If you're not using a co2 controller that will keep co2 levels from going too high or too low its just not effective.You don't want a swing in levels it should be kept constant with little more than a 200PPM higher or lower than your setpoint,otherwise you get growth with co2 but not the co2 enrichment we all strive for.And a co2 cyclestat wont get it either,it's based on the room size only and won't take into account the number of plants in the room or what stage they are in.A controller is a must

 

[gladysvjubb]

Using 2 Exhale CO2 bags in my grow. The results..............spectacular!!!!
Never seen anything like it!