winter air cooling lights...

[smurfin'herb]

my main question is, Can i use the outside winter air to cool my daystar a/c's? My worst fear is condensation in the hoods/ on the bulbs. Does anyone have any experience doing this?

Also..... I was also going to use the winter air to cool my room, so i was lookin at some day/night temp controllers to control the intake and the outtake (1 controller per fan) (so i wouldnt have to run it 24/7 leading to freezing temps) and i came across a problem... I cant get both fans to turn on at the same time b/c the temp where my intake is, is diff. from the temp where my outtake fan is. My intake is like 15ft from my outtake, and my outtake is higher than my intake (its hotter up there). The only way i see to solve this is to use 1 day/night temp controller and a 2 or 3-way plug adaptor and run and ext. cord from the outtake to the to keep the fans running on the same controller. Is this u guys do it?

 

[NiceShoes]

Honestly bro as long as it is all venting outside of the room I don't think it would matter too much. It might shorten the life of your ductwork but your lights/bulbs/sockets/glass and yadda should all be protected. Your hood BETTER be powder coated, and your sockets from the light should stay warm +80ºF at all times so that should prevent any rust/corrosion.

 

[smurfin'herb]

you dont see condensation being an issue?

 

[Ganoderma]

I've been thinking about using winter air temps to cool my room too, but I'm not sure how about to go about it. there are many varibles that i'm not to sure about like, as the air temp drops even lower over night how will the falling air temp flowing through the hood affect the room temp.

 

[rootfingers]

I love winter cold temps to air cool my room, just set up an inline pulling from a cold air intake and then back out of your room. Cold temps under (40F) should give you excellent results when using 1k or more. I usually start the air coming in at the same time the lights go on and leave it on for 15 minutes after the light is off to completely cool it down. I used to have a 1k in a walk-in closet that had a heat register in it, with the furnace heat at 68-70F and the cold temperature air cooled hood my ambient temps. were in the high 70-mid 80F. Not too shabby when you take into account that the gas furnace is putting out extra CO2.

The area that condensation becomes a problem is at the intake point to the first hood. This is very cold and if not insulated condensation will form and drip.

 

[omenman]

winter is the best time to grow!! i love the cold...i grow in a place where i have 3 1000s watters running and im worried more about heat then ac.... use the air from the outside to bring into your room by a window.. or from the attic.....they make those attachments for movable acs that theres a 3 inch window gap that converts to a 6in dia hole...soo you could have a 6 inch inline pull air from a window that would look like its closed...put a hepa fliter on there to block any pest from coming in any your good to go...and you have noo power.... this would be sick if you were in an area that is was cold for a long time...in the 20s...cus what you cold do is have all inline hoods and have those heat your house.. and the rest of the grow area with inline dampeners!!

 

[DirtyFreddy]

i have had problems with condensation when using cold winter air to cool my air cooled lights. i guess it would depend on how cold it got.

 

[ureapwhatusow]

i have had problems with condensation when using cold winter air to cool my air cooled lights. i guess it would depend on how cold it got.

me too, but I have found ways to deal with it

 

[smurfin'herb]

wow thx for the input guys. looks like im gonna hook my fresh air intake up to the great outdoors! now lets talk about the hood cooling issue. urea, would u mind commenting on how u deal with condensation...? I will be pulling air from a dryer vent (modded to 6in.). There is 10 to 12ft of ducting along the ceiling before the air even hits the first fan or set of lights. i have two rows of 4 600watt daystars (4800watts)in seperate lines that i will be cooling. I have an 8in vortex fan connected to a y-duct pushing air thru both rows at the beginning, and on the other end each row has its own 6in vortex pulling air which both of those 6in fans connect to a y-duct and vent to outside. Inline fans are better at pulling than pushing right? It sometimes gets to 0 degrees on occasion in winter round here, and thats without wind chill. Will that 10 -12ft ducting run be long enough for the air to warm up enough to where no condensation occurs?
Also have any of you ever got condensation in your hoods or on the bulbs by using cold air? what temp does the air need to be to create condensation?

 

[Purkle]

Bro I have never saw condensation on any 1000w hood. Just make sure you have enough air pull and if there was any it would probably disipate very fast. Dont worry bout it.

How are you gonna keep debri from entering your intake and can you post up your dryer vent conversion?

 

[smurfin'herb]

i was gonna use the hepa filter for the lights, but i found a cheaper way that will do the job i need it for. its called a bugnet.

 

[ooga booga]

I've see condensation on the ducting near the intake at a friend's grow. I don't think he ever had any issues from it, but duct insulation helps.

 

[vaprpig]

My first winter with my air cooled lights my room would turn into a rain forest sometimes. The guy at the hydro store turned me onto an interval timer that turns the fan on for a few mins and off for a few mins. You just have to learn your system and adjust it according to the outside temps. and the amount of cooling you need.

http://www.discount-hydro.com/productdisp.php?pid=73&navid=7

Problem solved.

 

[ooga booga]

vaprpig, looks like a vanilla DRT w/o thermostat. I think you'd be better off building a little device with a fan speed controller + thermostat + SPDT relay so that when temperatures exceed a set point, it will bypass the speed controller and run at full speed.

Plus if the run time is relatively short, the fan will never have time to reach full-speed.

 

[smurfin'herb]

how would your room turn into a rain forest? humidity is low in the winter... did you get water buildup in your lights?

 

[BlindDate]

how would your room turn into a rain forest? humidity is low in the winter... did you get water buildup in your lights?

The water buildup occurs on the OUTSIDE of the hood and ducts, not the inside.

btw..Why do you have a fan at both the in and out? Why not just use one or the other?

 

[badugi]

Running a sealed room w/ a closed circuit air cooling system, I just turn those fans off at lights out and don't have much issues with it. A duct damper at the intake would be awesome, too. When it's running, some condensation does build up on the intake fan. The intake ducting has been pretty well insulated and not much issue there, though.

 

[Igignokt]

I rent so I try my best to keep humidity low to keep the house in shape. I run a dehumidifier during the off hours, and open the windows when the lights are on so the dry air cools the room and takes away moisture since I don't want to run a dehumidifier when theres already 1000watts+fan and other chords in one power strip already

and it gets hot as hell in that room if windows arent open

 

[darthvapor]

filter the air because filters are cheap they keep out powdery mildew and other contaminates and like gadugi said a one way damper.

 

[Mackawber]

Use A Thermostatic Controller

Use A Thermostatic Controller

I use a thermostatic controler (a TMP-1) that cost about $70 bucks. The lights come on and the room starts to heat up. At about 73 degrees F. the thermostatic controller turns on the intake fan that brings in the cold air from outside. The air is discharged into the room towards the top (where the room's air is the warmest). When it cools down below 73 degrees F. the thermostatic controller turns it off.

I used to run a exhaust vent fan continually during lights on when I was using a 600 watt HPS but I've been using a 400 watt CMH that isn't as hot so I only timer the exhaust fan on for about an hour about 2 hours into lights on to vent excess humidity (I'm in late flower). I also have a dinky small dehumidifier that runs constantly. It works but it's not that effective from what I see. I need a larger dehumdifier. Until then, I run a fan aimed at the tops to prevent rot and to keep the air from stratifying into layers. I would give anything for a good dehumidifier now. The only other thing I can do now is restrict the amount of water I give my plants.