Tent heater, any suggestions?

[Ca++]

I'm not sure you could put any fan heater, actually in a tent. Not where plants are. The air coming out is very hot and dry, and may keep switching on and off. The stomata won't be able to react in time as the hot dry air comes on, and I would expect some real issues.

Warming the air going in is good practice. Think about office space. Their might be radiators, but the fresh air coming in, is still heated. For us, we have lights as that heat within, but the inlet air hasn't been near them, or any other heat source yet. It wants heating before it enters. Heating and likely humidifying. If you can keep up with that.

 

[More Overkill]

Yeah the OP started a thread about a fan heater for his tent iv'e seen lots of tent grow pics with heaters in them it can be done if that's want you want.

 

[flylowgethigh]

I cant turn my LED lights over 500W in the 4 x 4 x 8' tent, or the temps get too high. Who needs a tent heater? If in early sprout stage where they can't tae much light, there are humidifiers that warm the mist pretty well.

 

[graser]

Hi,
so far I have used heating mats for the terrarium or waterbed.
Now I have read that temperatures up to 21 °C are ideal for roots.
Underfloor heating is probably rather counterproductive.
Therefore, I am looking for alternatives, such as an infrared heater.

Does anyone have experience with IR heating in a tent?
How does irradiation with IR through the heater affect the plants?
Does not the heater become much too hot?
Or can the heating mats be safely hung without overheating?

So please share your opinion/experience with me.

 

[Nannymouse]

Many years ago, we had an unheated basement. Tacked up a 'grow tent' using old tarps, stapled to the joists. The door was just overlapped tarp. A wire shelf with adjustable shelves was put in to hold up shop lights. For heat...took a crockpot, filled with water, put the lid on, and put it on the floor. Had a small fan to circulate. Worked great. Very low tech, ha.

 

[Koondense]

I made a simple heating system using a floor heating IR panel.
It consumes between 60-100W per square meter(depending on model) and is controlled via thermostat.

If you need more heating(I think more is overkill) you can use the heating wire floor heating system, it uses around 150W per square meter.

Cheers

 

[Piff_cat]

Ive used 2 options to raise ir for led
1. Waterproof tube heater this solved the problem of low phosphorous uptake for me and it can be used in light and dark cycle.
2. However if lights on Temps are the only issue a bare bulb hps of 250w uses nearly same power as my tube heater but also adds extra red to spectrum which can also help leds. Plus heats air quicker

 

[graser]

@Nannymouse
My grandfather has also helped himself with a hot water bottle in bed and you can not imagine with what adventurous constructions I have already grwt.
Now I'm looking for a practical solution for a small budget.

@Koondense
Do you think the elements are suitable for a DIY solution that can be hung in the tent? What temp do the parts reach uninsulated?

@Piff_cat
You give me the idea to take a HMI or IR LEDs to it.
I'll have to do a cost-benefit calculation first and find out how much IR the plants tolerate.

 

[Koondense]

Same as for the floor there is an IR panel suitable for mounting on mirror(anti dew).
But they're basically the low power version of wall mounted IR panels.
The temperature depends on the W/area or W/length of wire. Also from the thermostat, mine allows for two powering options, 100% and 60%, which limits the heating, so the base reaches 45°C, in 100% it's limited on 60°C I think. My foil is rated at 65W/m^2 and I set it on 23°C in the winter. Works great

The other option I was looking at is heating wire for water pipes but they come premade and with internal thermostat which does not work for our needs.

If you want to avoid too much complications, just get a 100W wall mounted IR heater/panel for 100+usd on amazon. DIY can even be more expensive and especially more time consuming.
Depends on what solution is best for you.

Cheers

 

[graser]

@Koondense

Thx!

 

[Piff_cat]

this is the heater we went with to fix low temp in a 4x8 the tent was underpowered to begin with using a 2x5 mars which the spread covered the canopy light wise but no where close IR wise. this fixed the problem when attached to a simple temp outlet controller. my buddy at the time was super stingy and didnt want to up electric bill with my 250w hps idea. but as you see the heater is damn near at 250 without any extra red light added bonus. but these things are great and i like how you can get them up by the canopy easily.

this was the bulb i was going to use instead of heater.

the third option could be use both- 250w during the day and tube heater only at lights off to guard against temp going too low. its also a nice crop steering opportunity allowing you to run extra light in middle of lights on to simulate high noon or increase your red/far red during ripen.

 

[xtsho]

I use an oil filled heater sometimes if it gets too cold out in the garage where my flower tent is. I don't bother covering the small red led indicator light on it. It's not going to cause any issues. I also have a power strip in the tent with a small led light on it as well. I've been growing without covering the lights for years. Never had the negligible amount of light cause any issues but if it gives you piece of mind then cover with a piece of black tape.

I've been procrastinating about doing floor heating like @Koondense for several years but just haven't gotten around to it. The heater takes up valuable space that could be used for growing more bud. Maybe next year.