sealed rooms, a little help needed.

[snadge]

I'm considering building a sealed grow room with a/c, co2, based on 2*600w and a 12 pot(10l) flood and drain.

before I design and build it I'm after a few pointers.

1. Is it necessary to use cool tubes for my lighting? I already have 2 diamond reflectors and if I could use these in this environment my wallet would be happier?

2. Do I have to use inlet and extraction fans to renew the air at lights off as the co2 would not be running.

3. Would it be beneficial to also have a humidifier and a de-humidifier in there to keep an optimal environment?


Any other tips and pointers would be appreciated.


thanks..

 

[yamaha_1fan]

I'm considering building a sealed grow room with a/c, co2, based on 2*600w and a 12 pot(10l) flood and drain.

before I design and build it I'm after a few pointers.

1. Is it necessary to use cool tubes for my lighting? I already have 2 diamond reflectors and if I could use these in this environment my wallet would be happier?

2. Do I have to use inlet and extraction fans to renew the air at lights off as the co2 would not be running.

3. Would it be beneficial to also have a humidifier and a de-humidifier in there to keep an optimal environment?


Any other tips and pointers would be appreciated.


thanks..

1 You dont need cool tubes but in the long run you will be better off air cooling those lights. Its probably cheaper to air cool the lights, then to A/C the heated room.

2. I dont think so, but not sure. I dont exchange air in my room.

3. Depends on environment but you will probably only need a dehumidifier. The plants transpire and will raise the humidity on their own

 

[Guest]

I run non-cooled vertizontals in a sealed room with co2,you want 3-4K BTU per 1K of light with non-cooled fixtures.

 

[snadge]

Thanks for the replies.

yamaha_1fan, is it not detrimental to the plants to not renew the air during lights off, as I have two spare 4" rvks I was thinking of setting these up with backdraft valves and speed controllers on a timer to turn on at lights off, as I already have them alongside a 4" carbon filter.

are you a R1 owner?

 

[Guest]

sealed is sealed no air exchange needed.
cooltubes thats up to you, if your ac is big enough you dont need them. It will save you some power if you want to lower your electric bill at the cost of lumen lost.
always have a dehumid at all times a large one at that, dont skimp get a commerical grade like the santa fe.
your enviorment is everything, your A/C is the heart of a sealed room.

 

[yamaha_1fan]

nah, I owned a gixxer but all my PWC were Yamaha

 

[Guest]

Renewing the air in a sealed room would call for a namechange.Maybe an unsealed room lol?

 

[snadge]

Renewing the air in a sealed room would call for a namechange.Maybe an unsealed room lol?

point taken .

my fears have been addressed, I just thought that with backdraft valves on both inlet and exhaust and only running at lights off it would still be a sealed room at lights on with the co2.

I was a bit nervous about keeping the plants in a depleted atmosphere for 12 hours, with no fresh air coming in during lights off, what do the plants breath as they aren't too keen on co2 during the dark cycle, they need o2 don't they?

I was considering adding an ozone generator to the reservoir, would the o3/o2 in the nutrient solution suffice.

 

[Guest]

O my brother.There is nothing like flowering at 1500PPM at 85 degrees for 12 hours solid with no venting or air exchange whatsoever.My plants do great during the dark cycle in an 8 by 8 room,thats 20 or more big flowering plants.I have no outside air exchange during dark hours and it hasnt been needed one bit

 

[Guest]

snadge air does not go stale.... with carbon srucbbers and big fans circulating air you do not need to exchange the air. Once you get a sealed room dialed in it is the best way to grow. I have seen 2.5 lbs a light dry with 1k non aircooled hoods in sealed. If you do sealed you have to do it right and not skimp or else you wont get the right conditions.

 

[snadge]

Okay everyone, thanks for all the replies, my fears are allayed, I am happy at the solution it makes my job a lot easier.

One more question.

I was thinking about making a stud frame room, 1.5 mtrs * 2mtrs and using plasterboard for walls and ceiling and a pond liner for the base, sealing all the joints with aluminium duct tape and painting with white gloss then making sure all the corners are sealed by using silicon sealer, insulating with rockwool.

2*600w lights, diamond reflectors, 9000btu a/c, 30l/day dehumidifier and co2 injection system.

would this be adequate for my purposes.

LOL, I should have said 2 questions, I'm busy looking at portable air conditioning units and they all state that the exhaust goes out the window, how do you guys get around that in a sealed room?

 

[sneakyninja]

LOL, I should have said 2 questions, I'm busy looking at portable air conditioning units and they all state that the exhaust goes out the window, how do you guys get around that in a sealed room?

1. Don't use a portable A/C, in a sealed room setup w/ CO2 it will suck all the CO2 out of your room

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=73571&highlight=portable+a/c

2. Use a window A/C w/ a box so that the window isn't needed

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=79032&highlight=a/c+box

and

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=57828

 

[snadge]

1. Don't use a portable A/C, in a sealed room setup w/ CO2 it will suck all the CO2 out of your room

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=73571&highlight=portable+a/c

2. Use a window A/C w/ a box so that the window isn't needed

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=79032&highlight=a/c+box

and

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=57828

thanks very much for those links very helpful, I'm a lot wiser now. .

I'm thinking of going for a 12000 btu diy split unit, these seem to be a lot less hassle to install than the non diy units, twice the price though.

Although I'm pretty handy when it comes to plumbing and that sort of thing I'm not sure I'm confident enough to plumb one up and bleed the system and there is no way I'm going to get a HVAC engineer to install one.



LOL, now I have one more question for you great folks on here, where is the best position to put the co2 feeder tubes, high up seeing co2 is heavier than air?

 

[Guest]

I have my cd-6 about 6 ft up the wall on an 8 ft ceiling,you want all emitters above the plants like you said.I lost years of co2 with a dual hose portable AC and cyclestat timer instead of a controller.Without the controller I had no idea of the loss of co2 and fluctuations.Do it right the first time man.Use a dehumidifier 24/7 along with the window AC.You'll draw buckets during dark hours wioth stretching plants beginning 12/12.And use a controller no cyclestat timer gig that only takes into account cubic footage,not number of plants or stage of development.Co2 enrichment without control is like sex with yourself,it feels good but its useless lol.Set the controller at 1500 PPM,it'll kick on at 1450 rise to around 1650 and slowly drop back down,no more than a 200PPM fluctuation for 12 hours.85 degrees F with at least 50W per sq ft.its done.

 

[gdawg]

dang block i wish i had that controller but i gotta wait one more run. let me ask you this how should i be runnin my filter during lights on? what about lights off? right now it has a 6" fan on it but i'm thinkin of going down to a 4" to save watts and run a lil more often. right now lights on it runs 30min. on 2hrs off but the crib is startin to reak a lil. lights off 30min. on 3hrs off. i totally agree with ya on the co2 thing bro.

 

[ThereIsHope]

LOL, now I have one more question for you great folks on here, where is the best position to put the co2 feeder tubes, high up seeing co2 is heavier than air?

Stick the CO2 hose on the ass end of a fan and let the fan do the work to disperse the CO2 otherwise, hang the CO2 hose up high above the canopy.

If you do not get the CD-6 to control everything, consider the CAP PPM-3 CO2 monitor/controller.

This baby only regulates the CO2 only and costs around $300.00. The thing is tits and once you get everything dialed in, nutes, lights etc....CO2 will blow your doors off. Expect at least a 25-30% increase in crop yield.

 

[Josh-Skunker]

I'm no expert but isnt a sealed room supposed to stay sealed?

 

[snadge]

I'm no expert but isnt a sealed room supposed to stay sealed?

yep, but we got that one sorted....
:wink:

consider the CAP PPM-3 CO2 monitor/controller.

Yep I've come across this but it's a US only thing, I've been looking at the DIY one on here and am probably going to go with that as it would be easy to modify to 240v, cheaper as well.

 

[snadge]

Trelaire CO2 sensor will cost me $350 once I get it shipped to UK , a lot of dosh to have to still do some work.

I've spotted the other thread on the sentinel CHHC-1 and done a search for one, looks like the bollox for a reasonable price, controls everything, it would have to be converted to 240v and I have emailed the manufacturer to find it if they would make a 240v version they look like quite a small outfit so we'll see.

 

[Guest]

The CD-6 I was talking about is a Green Air propane co2 generator.I also use the CAP PPM-3 controller to control the generator.The PPM-3 is the most inexpensive cheapest one on the market.I has stuck below setpoint once in about a year,just a couple weeks ago.Its been working fine since.I didnt grow for 8 months and just left it connected as a monitor,maybe it needed to work itself back in..Anyway,its the cheapest,it works.If you can afford better,definately go for it as this is my first controller certainly not my last