Proper ventilation for basement tent

D

diesel21

Well-Known Member
i will be setting up a 4x8 tent in my basement with with 2 cmh lights. Haven’t decide on 2 400s or 2 630s yet. Opinions are welcome. My main concern is proper ventilation. The basement can get kind of damp. I have a large dehumidifier that I can use to get the levels down to exceptable. I also have 2 old basement windows that were boarded off that I could use as an intake or exhaust. I also live in the northeast so it gets very cold in the winter so I the intake air would be freezing with is a big concern. What would be the proper way to set this up. Money isn’t an issue I just want it done correctly. Thanks for your help
 
thumper60

thumper60

Well-Known Member
diesel21 said:
i will be setting up a 4x8 tent in my basement with with 2 cmh lights. Haven’t decide on 2 400s or 2 630s yet. Opinions are welcome. My main concern is proper ventilation. The basement can get kind of damp. I have a large dehumidifier that I can use to get the levels down to exceptable. I also have 2 old basement windows that were boarded off that I could use as an intake or exhaust. I also live in the northeast so it gets very cold in the winter so I the intake air would be freezing with is a big concern. What would be the proper way to set this up. Money isn’t an issue I just want it done correctly. Thanks for your help
Click to expand...
vent straight out with a temp controller, what about stink!
 
D

diesel21

Well-Known Member
What about fresh air in the winter if I’m exhausting outside. I don’t want to take it from the basement so do I need to duct it into my living space?
 
D

diesel21

Well-Known Member
So maybe take it from the Basement through a hepa filter and exhaust it outside through the charcoal filter? Will I need a second fan to pull air in or just one big fan for everything?
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
diesel21 said:
So maybe take it from the Basement through a hepa filter and exhaust it outside through the charcoal filter? Will I need a second fan to pull air in or just one big fan for everything?
Click to expand...
HEPA requires a lot of pressure. A couple of furnace filters would be fine for intake.

Or basically anything like a lawnmower air filter would also work.
 
D

diesel21

Well-Known Member
Do you mean a hepa would require another fan to work properly? I’m assuming I would need 2 inline fans for proper ventilation. One intake one exhaust
 
blowincherrypie

blowincherrypie

Well-Known Member
Are you talking about a cellar type basement? Like basically a hole in the ground... worms crawling up from the floor type shit? Is it multiple rooms or one large area? AC?
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
diesel21 said:
Do you mean a hepa would require another fan to work properly? I’m assuming I would need 2 inline fans for proper ventilation. One intake one exhaust
Click to expand...
HEPA works by forcing air through very small openings to trap virtually anything . They require a bit of pressure so yes a booster fan would probably be needed. Why HEPA?
 
D

diesel21

Well-Known Member
blowincherrypie said:
Are you talking about a cellar type basement? Like basically a hole in the ground... worms crawling up from the floor type shit? Is it multiple rooms or one large area? AC?
Click to expand...
The basement has 2 large rooms. The portion I will be setting up in is walled off with a door. Old stone foundation that doesn’t leak but just stays damp if I don’t run a dehumidifier. The room is about 20x16. The boiler and water heaters are down there so it stays warm in the winter time also.
 
D

diesel21

Well-Known Member
hotrodharley said:
HEPA works by forcing air through very small openings to trap virtually anything . They require a bit of pressure so yes a booster fan would probably be needed. Why HEPA?
Click to expand...
Sorry I’m not saying I think I need a hepa. I’m just asking how it would work. I just want a clean environment. So you think I would be ok with one fan say 8” to 10” pulling air into the tent with some pleated ac filters up through my charcoal filter and maybe a muffler to get good air from the basement?
 
DCcan

DCcan

Well-Known Member
diesel21 said:
Do you mean a hepa would require another fan to work properly? I’m assuming I would need 2 inline fans for proper ventilation. One intake one exhaust
Click to expand...
This is what I did, similar basement.
  • used sealer on all concrete/fieldstone surfaces
  • partitioned the basement with plastic sheet, just an air dam, not sealed off. (Your basement , your choice..you know it best)
  • put tent, window AC, dehumidifier, and passive air intake on one side
  • exhaust runs to the other side of the basement, with dryer warm air keeping humidity/mold spores levels down on the exhaust side
Just put carbon filters on the exhaust, and put a cheap blower fan in one of the window panes to remove excess heat in the exhaust side if that is an issue You won't have to blow out that precious heat in the winter.

Have the intake tube with a cheap prefilter near the AC, and dial down the AC and DeHumidifier to whatever you want, no more variables.
diesel21 said:
Sorry there is no ac down there.
Click to expand...
Get one, the dehumidifier alone will not cut it. It didn't for me,the lights and dehumidifier drove temps out of control in the summer. And that was venting directly out, not to the other side like I do now. Use a portable unit if you cant get a window nearby.

You can setup and run full on, with some buckets of hot water or a humidifier near the tent for humidity and see what temps look like, you may not need one .
 
Last edited:
D

diesel21

Well-Known Member
DCcan said:
This is what I did, similar basement.
  • used sealer on all concrete/fieldstone surfaces
  • partitioned the basement with plastic sheet, just an air dam, not sealed off. (Your basement , your choice..you know it best)
  • put tent, window AC, dehumidifier, and passive air intake on one side
  • exhaust runs to the other side of the basement, with dryer warm air keeping humidity/mold spores levels down on the exhaust side
Just put carbon filters on the exhaust, and put a cheap blower fan in one of the window panes to remove excess heat in the exhaust side if that is an issue You won't have to blow out that precious heat in the winter.

Have the intake tube with a cheap prefilter near the AC, and dial down the AC and DeHumidifier to whatever you want, no more variables.

Get one, the dehumidifier alone will not cut it. It didn't for me,the lights and dehumidifier drove temps out of control in the summer. And that was venting directly out, not to the other side like I do now. Use a portable unit if you cant get a window nearby.

You can setup and run full on, with some buckets of water or a humidifier in the tent for humidity and see what temps look like, you may not need one .
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot. I think this will work good. I will draw my intake air from the tent side and dump it in the the other side of the basement. It happens to be a lot larger than the tent side so I think I won’t need another fan to dump it out side. I also have a portable ac already so if I need it I will throw it down there with the dehumidifier. I was really just concerned about pulling air from the tent side and causing mold in the tent. But if the room humidity is good I shouldn’t have any problems correct?
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
diesel21 said:
Thanks a lot. I think this will work good. I will draw my intake air from the tent side and dump it in the the other side of the basement. It happens to be a lot larger than the tent side so I think I won’t need another fan to dump it out side. I also have a portable ac already so if I need it I will throw it down there with the dehumidifier. I was really just concerned about pulling air from the tent side and causing mold in the tent. But if the room humidity is good I shouldn’t have any problems correct?
Click to expand...
Anything over the intake including a fine mesh bag just to keep stuff like dust and animal hair out.
 
DCcan

DCcan

Well-Known Member
diesel21 said:
. I was really just concerned about pulling air from the tent side and causing mold in the tent. But if the room humidity is good I shouldn’t have any problems correct?
Click to expand...
Thats why I didn't want to seal the room, I wanted the air exchange to take place.
And dumping the dry hot air into the other side took care of dampness on the other side, but you can put a UV C? bulb in a filter box for the air intake to kill microbes, mold spores.
Sealing the stone will keep it from acting like an incubator for mold spores too, it won't allow it to suck up the moisture and release a spore bloom if conditions are ripe. I wouldn't even setup down there till you spray down with muriatic acid to etch the surface, then put on the sealer.
Hit everything else in the room with bleach, vinegar, sulpher burn or something to kill any existing colonies.
 
D

diesel21

Well-Known Member
DCcan said:
Thats why I didn't want to seal the room, I wanted the air exchange to take place.
And dumping the dry hot air into the other side took care of dampness on the other side, but you can put a UV C? bulb in a filter box for the air intake to kill microbes, mold spores.
Sealing the stone will keep it from acting like an incubator for mold spores too, it won't allow it to suck up the moisture and release a spore bloom if conditions are ripe. I wouldn't even setup down there till you spray down with muriatic acid to etch the surface, then put on the sealer.
Hit everything else in the room with bleach, vinegar, sulpher burn or something to kill any existing colonies.
Click to expand...
What if I use a thick poly to cover the walls and floor and closed cell spray foam it all in. And then setup my tent inside there?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top