Sealed Room - Cooled reflector exhaust ...

[Dreamscape]

Hola amigos

I was wondering if some of you kind IC folk could gimme some input ...

In a sealed room with Daystar AC reflectors where should I exhaust the heat from the lights to ? I was thinking of framing a visqueen plastic type of mini room within my room , then right outside of the visqueen have the intake fan blowing the air through ducting, through the reflectors however where should I exhaust this air ? In the room, under the floor , ect ???

Also ... how many CFMs do you think would be able to cool all 4 600w reflectors ? There would be a split in the ducting that would then turn into two ducting lines , 2 reflectors for each ducting line ...

many thanks friends
~ Dream

 

[Guest]

Don't know the layout of the place you got the room setup in but exhaust to anywhere you can outside the space but obviously do not exhaust into the area where you're pulling the air in from to cool the hoods.

As for the fan size I'd recommend at least a Vortex 6" for 447 cfm or step up to an 8" Vortex for 747 cfm or an 8" Elicent for 636 cfm if you have the $$$. Go for at least 100 cfm per 600/hood. One thing to keep in mind is any kinks and bends will reduce air flow...sometimes dramatically so I always recommend getting an oversized fan...which you can always slow down with a speed controller. Duct line length also adds resistance. In some instances it's probably best to use one fan to push and another to pull air through the line. Soooo you can say X amount of cfm on paper but in reality it seems you always need more power...especially in the Summer! Bottom line is get more fan than you think you'll need. I use 600's in a 4x setup with two hoods on a T then a Y to connect the T's driven by a single fan. I've got an open system and vent the hot air into the scrubber and out. In the Winter I redirect the hot exhaust into the room.

 

[payn4school]

im venting mine into my attic. I am pushing it all through a big carbon filter up there too. seems like there must be a better way. I hate having to filter it too, but its a must, I could smell it big time before the filter. Those "sealed hoods are far from "sealed".

payn

 

[Guest]

im venting mine into my attic. I am pushing it all through a big carbon filter up there too. seems like there must be a better way. I hate having to filter it too, but its a must, I could smell it big time before the filter. Those "sealed hoods are far from "sealed".

payn

If you push air through the hoods instead of pull, for closed systems, there should not be any smell in the exhaust. This forces clean air into any gaps in the hood/duct configuration. I like the new Daystar AC hoods with hinges as the cord is run through the top of the hood instead of the duct adapter...no leak there. The hinge is definitely a tighter seal than the old slide in lens type dealio.

 

[Dreamscape]

when did they come out with this hinge thing ? ... i'm about the check my reflectors right now to see which ones I got as they've just sat in a the boxes ... haha , wish me luck !

I'm thinking in worst case scenario just vent the air to come out right in front of the A/C , this way i dont have to worry about getting another filter just for the exhaust ...

 

[Dreamscape]

Fuck , doesn't look like any hinge ... just a lense that slides in with a "lens retention" screw that goes at the end of it and from the picture the cord goes through the ducting , shit ...

oh well ... i'll make the absolute best of it !!!

 

[Dreamscape]

If you push air through the hoods instead of pull, for closed systems, there should not be any smell in the exhaust. This forces clean air into any gaps in the hood/duct configuration.

Can you or someone else elaborate and or share experiences with this being the case ?

 

[Guest]

Can you or someone else elaborate and or share experiences with this being the case ?

If you put the fan before the hoods and push the air through the ducting (which means the exhaust side of the fan is pointed towards the hoods), through the hoods then out there should be no need for odor control. You always want the incoming air source to be the coolest possible, usually either from directly outdoors, the house or from a basement and not someplace like an attic (actually OK in the Winter but not any warmer time of the year). What happens is the ducting/hoods become pressurized (positive pressure) and this forces air out of any cracks/openings into the grow space. Problem being if there is too much open area in the setup it will force in hot air and possibly contaminants like pests (not likely but it can happen). If your sealed room is truly sealed there will be a minimal amount of air leaking into the room. I helped a friend with a sealed room and we went as far as spray expanding insulating foam into the electrical outlets to eliminate leaks.

If you put the fan after the hoods and draw air through the hoods, through the fan then out there is a possibility you will draw odor filled air from the grow space as you now have negative pressure in the hoods/ducting creating somewhat of a vacuum.

Sooooo...is your sealed room truly sealed? Any problems are also minimized by top quality hoods or extra effort to properly seal leaky air cooled hoods.

Hope that helps some...

 

[Guest]

One or two things I forgot to mention...it's always more efficient to pull rather than push air but this can be countered by using 1 greatly oversized fan or 2 matched fans (1 pushing and 1 pulling). While some would suggest using a small and large fan on the same line to create negative or positive pressure (whichever is desired) I say get 2 matched cfm fans and use a 20 or so $ speed controller to dial one down to achieve the desired negative or positive pressure. Doing so reduces the stress on the fans and makes the setup work much more efficiently. For checking neg or pos pressure I use a lit stick of incense and place near the area I think is leaking and dial a fan(s) down to achieve the goal.

People almost always underestimate the effect of resistance caused by duct line length and duct kinks and bends. While you can make a calculation on paper it's different in real life application...but close.

Something like that...

 

[Dreamscape]

Sooooo...is your sealed room truly sealed? Any problems are also minimized by top quality hoods or extra effort to properly seal leaky air cooled hoods.

Hope that helps some...

My "room" isn't even set up yet Haha ... BUT , I plan on getting a room setup sometime in the very near future , i'm just trying to decide on what would be the best route to go considering the situations I have to deal with ...

Ideally , if temp could be maintained i'd like to just port the hot air from the lights directly in front of the A/C ... if that can't be done i'll just exhaust into the room above or the floor below ... either one of those would be LESS than ideal considering work, risk of no longer having a sealed room considering my reflectors leaky nature and what not ...

And yes - it did help , many thanks ...

 

[Guest]

My "room" isn't even set up yet Haha ... BUT , I plan on getting a room setup sometime in the very near future , i'm just trying to decide on what would be the best route to go considering the situations I have to deal with ...

Ideally , if temp could be maintained i'd like to just port the hot air from the lights directly in front of the A/C ... if that can't be done i'll just exhaust into the room above or the floor below ... either one of those would be LESS than ideal considering work, risk of no longer having a sealed room considering my reflectors leaky nature and what not ...

And yes - it did help , many thanks ...

Well...glad my rambling helped but...'just port the hot air from the lights directly in front of the A/C'??? Get that hot air out of the space and dump it somewhere outside. What you're talking about sounds like trying to put an A/C into an oven and expect it to work. Those 'leaky' reflectors are just fine but need a little help...no biggie at all. When you find something ideal just lemme know. There is no ideal...just the space we got and how best to make it work properly. Every situation is different...for some reason I just don't think you're getting how a closed system works. The A/C is for cooling the grow space only. When cooling hoods in this situation the air used never really mingles with the grow space as it is isolated by the ducting and sealed hoods.

Anyway...I know you'll figure it out...can't you just vent that hot air outside? Are you in a condo? Apartment? What's the layout you're dealing with? Maybe an open system would be better?

 

[MTF-Sandman]

You can use some foil backed tape to make those hoods air tight...it's cheap and it'll last as long as the bulb does.

I'd vent it out of the room personally...dedicated intake/exhaust is the most efficient way to remove the heat from your room - which will lower your power bill since the AC won't be running as much.

 

[Dreamscape]

Good advice guys ...

just to clarify something too ... the logic behind moving the hot air from the hoods to the A/C was because #1 - I wouldn't have to start cutting holes in two ceilings and #2. As far as I understand , assuming your A/C can handle the heat no problem, the main reason for air cooled hoods is so you can get them closer to the plants - therefore if the heat were moved from the hoods to anywhere else it would still be beneficial , although obviously not as beneficial as sucking it up and just cutting holes and venting ...

 

[Guest]

You can use some foil backed tape to make those hoods air tight...it's cheap and it'll last as long as the bulb does.

This is solid and will work but thing I don't like about it is unless you use finely filtered the incoming air those glass lenses should be cleaned during the grow. I do mine before start up, midway and 2 weeks before finishing. It doesn't take much dust to reduce efficiency. Taping up hoods really hinders regular cleaning.

Dreamscape - I hear you on the not wanting to cut holes thing but you're gonna need a HUGE A/C. Like I said...it's putting an A/C into an oven and expecting it to work well. THose lights generate a tremendous amount of heat. Yes...air cooling hoods allows to put the lights closer and that's one reason but the main reason is temperature control in general IMO.

Something else you can do, if you dump the heat out of the space, is wrap the hoods in that double foil wrapped small bubble plastic insulating foam. Also use insulated ducting wherever you don't need it to be moveable, for whatever reason. I also wrap any T's or Y's I use. It's amazing the amount of radiant heat those surfaces kick off.

 

[Dreamscape]

thanks for the additional advice ... I wouldn't have thought the T's and Y's would actually kick off much radiant heat, thats good to know...

good luck
~ Dream

 

[Guest]

thanks for the additional advice ... I wouldn't have thought the T's and Y's would actually kick off much radiant heat, thats good to know...

good luck
~ Dream

It really depends on how much air you're moving through and how many watts you're trying to cool. Anything warm to the touch is adding heat to the room. I only use uninsulated ducting where I need some flexibility with the setup...mainly to raise and lower hoods.

Anyway...good luck on the setup!

 

[stillsmokin843]

i agree with what the guest is sayin it is all true vent out and push so ya no letting smells out .You will see a huge differance in heat i would suggest more cfms like my glass to be cool to the touch. hers a trick that will some times work for a vent from lights for renters that dont want to try to hide patches later. if ya have a crawl space or upstars but only if ya have carpet. ya take a corner pull the carpet back in a corner ya can cut a hole in the sub floor (save the circle ya cut out) run your vent if your not pusshing to many cfms the air will normally find a place to go in the floor system. when ya tear down your system take a peice of 2x4 6 or 8 in bigger than your circle slide it in the hole and pull it up flat with the bottom of plywood and screw threw the plywood in to 2x4. then drop the cut out circle ya save screw it down and flap carpet back in place. no one would even no a hole was there. hope this helps... oh yea i have the hinge hoods so not sure bt mabey some of the foam or rubber peal and stick weather strips would help seal it up better.

 

[stillsmokin843]

lmao guess i should smoke less or read more just relized i posted this on a really old ass thread lol damm... damm...