Help me decide whether I should upsize my garden?

[hush]

Let me start by saying that, yes, obviously by upgrading I will end up with a bigger harvest. So based on that alone, yes, I should upgrade... but this is about the logistics of it all, and whether or not it is worth it.

Currently I have a single 1000w that I use in a 4x4 tent. But the tent is actually inside of a 8' x 6' room. I've been thinking about coming out of the tent and doubling my garden size to roughly 4x8, and adding another 1000w light. But I'm now starting to wonder whether it would be that easy, or if the logistics involved are worth it.

For starters, I would immediately have to add more amperage to the room. I've only got 20 amps available in there, and it currently supplies the 1000 watter and the window AC unit. Altogether that's something like ~1700 watts or so. So I know I would have to route more electricity back there, which I've never had to do before. It just so happens I have an entire 20 amp circuit that isn't being used, which supplies power for lighting the carport. So I have to figure out how to reroute the electricity from the carport about 30 feet away to the grow room. Is this soemthing ridiculously complicated, provided I will have a helper who is a journeyman carpenter (but not an electrician)?

Secondly, I'm not even sure if my current AC unit will be able to handle the extra heat. It's only an 8000 btu unit. But currently I'm cooling the single 1000 without a closed loop, so all the heat the light produces comes out into the grow room, and the AC unit is totally able to cool the room. So I'm wondering if the AC will still be able to cool the room with the extra 1000 watts *IF* I cool them in a closed-loop? Any thoughts?

Last but not least... what is the best option for creating a "foyer" of sorts, where I can open the external door to the grow room without leaking any light, then close that door before entering the lit-up portion of the grow room? Looking around it seems people just use black-white poly and velcro?

Thoughts appreciated. Thank you!

 

[ZZTops]

If you need it do it, the rest is just details..."-)

I expanded from 2-2x4 to 4-2x4 and had pot coming out my ears, so back to 2-2x4 but can expand back up as needed...

Good Luck My Friend...

 

[Snauseberry]

That a/c might do it. Im running a 10k with 2, sometimes 3 1ks and it get pretty damn hot in the desert.

The wiring shouldnt be too bad, just do a little research and take your time doing any connections. I wired up the 220 in my room (probably shouldnt have done it alone, it was my first time), but its all said and done now

 

[hush]

Thanks for the response, ZZ. I haven't seen you around in a little bit, hope you've been doing well? I enjoyed your Bubblegum and AK journals.

Yeah, I know this is a weird question to ask, and people are thinking "What the fuck do you want us to tell you?" lol but I'm hoping for some insight into what is required, and what things I will have to think about, in terms of operating a grow room that is no longer contained inside of a tent. I've never grown this way before! I've only ever used tents or cabinets. Those are easy to isolate, and contain, and control. But an entire room for some reason seems complicated.

My first and most immediate thoughts are that in order to get rid of a tent, I would have to seal each and every crack or gap in the walls and ceiling, or else orange light will be coming out of everywhere! So I know I will have to get some cement or plaster or something and start sealing up all the gaps in the cinderblocks and stuff. Then, after that is done, I will have to lightproof the window AC unit. Then, after that, I will have to install some kind of lightproof foyer at the entrance, so I can enter the grow room and close the door behind me before any orange light bleeds outside.

I already spoke to the person who will help me finish this room. He assured me that rerouting the electricity from the additional 20 amp circuit into the room will be a breeze. So that worry has been wiped off my list. I think a total of 40 amps will give me plenty of power in there, for a 2kw garden anyway.

I still have to find out whether I will need to upgrade my AC unit or not. That is one of my primary questions here: can anyone tell me whether 8000 btu's is enough to cool the air in a sealed room with 2000 watts, when the lighting is in its own closed-loop?

 

[hush]

Thanks Snauseberry! I appreciate your input. That's what I'm looking for, first hand stories like that, to ramp up my confidence factor.

Yeah, the more I think about it, if this AC is able to efficiently cool 1000 watts that aren't even being exhausted from the room, then surely it would be able to cool double that amount if the lights are being exhausted in a closed loop. Right?

 

[stoned-trout]

absofuckinglutly...get to work man.......its a no brainer

 

[dreaded]

Hello hush..... i was in a 4x4 tent also. Two years ago i moved...& my ceilings were short, so i ended up just using the spare room. First i put up poly paper & used the closet in the room as my veg room. Shortly after i ended up just using the whole room and moved the veg room in my bedroom(2 bdrm house)...
The story i'm getting to is....i don't know how big your veg room is...but when i upgraded my flower room...now i noticed...my veg room was to small...i was getting more mother plants(i like variety)more clones to pump in room...now i'm running out of room in veg...
soooo...my be ready to upgrade both...
also... poly paper w/zipper worked for me..
...lol..a little off topic...but i came back..

 

[hush]

^That's exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to hear!!! I hadn't even thought about that!!! My veg tent will probably end up being upgraded too, lol. Oh jeez, this might get more expensive than I thought!

So yeah as it stands I'm hoping to be able to use my 2x2 tent for the mother plants. But maybe I might have to convert the 4x4 tent for that purpose instead! I hadn't thought about the fact that with a larger flowering room probably also comes a larger veg room.

 

[SmokinErb22]

The wiring shouldn't be too difficult, consider simply running a new wire to the breaker, and simply disconnecting the carport line if you don't need it.

If you have drywall up, that's probably going to have to come down if you want to re run the line. A new line could be placed in conduit on the walls and would be easy to remove when that time comes as well

 

[dreaded]

you could also use the 2x2 for moms...& the 4x4 for veg & clones...

 

[hush]

The wiring shouldn't be too difficult, consider simply running a new wire to the breaker, and simply disconnecting the carport line if you don't need it.

That's actually exactly what my helper told me we will be doing.

The room I'm going into is an external room on my house, originally intended to be a laundry room. It is constructed from cinderblocks, and the inside walls are not drywalled. The outside walls were coated in stucco like the rest of the entire house's outside walls. But there is already a hole where the existing conduit carries power into the room. I figure I should just be able to add another row of conduit right there, going through the same hole. Then, after everything is finished, I would seal that hole up with expanding foam or something, for lightproofing.

 

[LSWM]

Cheapest easiest way to light proof is b/w poly. I've built tents inside of rooms with nothing but 1x2s and b/w poly. Oh a luttpr gorilla tape to seal it up, but never any light leaks if you overlap enough then tape the seams. A stapler makes putting everything up and taking down a breeze.