Redoctober
Well-Known Member
I'm attempting to set up a fan/filter exhaust in my grow room and I have a few options that I'm juggling. I'm not into doing any major construction e.g. cutting holes in the side of my house, floors, ceiling.
Option 1: There are a set of two windows in the room that are currently covered with light proof plastic drop cloth. The windows overlook the back yard of my house and are obscured by a large pine tree. The windows are on the first floor, but the way the house is constructed, the porch ends and the windows are about 3 feet further over, and relatively high up so for all intents and purposes, they are like second floor windows. The back yard is pretty spacious and I am about 30 yards from my nearest neighbor. There are gardeners that come to do the lawn and stuff about once a week (they take care of everyone on my street). That would be my only concern, but I'm not terribly worried about them, especially if the carbon filter does its job properly. I'd just have to figure out a way to camouflage the duct, with either a dryer vent type setup or maybe the empty shell of an air conditioner. I'll admit that constructing something airtight in the window sounds difficult. I haven't seen anyone elses method for this either.
Option 2: Cut a hole in the door to the room and exhaust the air back into the house. With this method, I wouldn't worry about smell escaping unnoticed or conspicuous venting of hot air, but on the the other hand, I'd be pumping hot air back into the house which would raise my ac usage in the summer. Also I'd have to deal with the hole in the door somehow if anyone came into the house, and that might mean shutting the fan off, which wouldn't work for any length of time.
Option 3: Exhaust into the central air duct that's built into the room. I guess the downside is that if my air conditioning is on in the summer, I'd be counteracting it by pumping hot air into the same duct where the cool air is flowing throughout the house. Also I was going to use this as a passive intake and a perfect vector for cool, fresh air to flow into the room. I'd need to figure out another intake method if I used it as an exhaust. Air from outside is no good because in the summer it's too hot, and winter it's way too cold. I don't know how big an intake needs to be? Would there be enough air flowing underneath the crack between the door and floor to replace the air being blown out? Or does an intake need to be bigger?
What do you think is my best bet? This has been gnawing at me for a solid month.
Option 1: There are a set of two windows in the room that are currently covered with light proof plastic drop cloth. The windows overlook the back yard of my house and are obscured by a large pine tree. The windows are on the first floor, but the way the house is constructed, the porch ends and the windows are about 3 feet further over, and relatively high up so for all intents and purposes, they are like second floor windows. The back yard is pretty spacious and I am about 30 yards from my nearest neighbor. There are gardeners that come to do the lawn and stuff about once a week (they take care of everyone on my street). That would be my only concern, but I'm not terribly worried about them, especially if the carbon filter does its job properly. I'd just have to figure out a way to camouflage the duct, with either a dryer vent type setup or maybe the empty shell of an air conditioner. I'll admit that constructing something airtight in the window sounds difficult. I haven't seen anyone elses method for this either.
Option 2: Cut a hole in the door to the room and exhaust the air back into the house. With this method, I wouldn't worry about smell escaping unnoticed or conspicuous venting of hot air, but on the the other hand, I'd be pumping hot air back into the house which would raise my ac usage in the summer. Also I'd have to deal with the hole in the door somehow if anyone came into the house, and that might mean shutting the fan off, which wouldn't work for any length of time.
Option 3: Exhaust into the central air duct that's built into the room. I guess the downside is that if my air conditioning is on in the summer, I'd be counteracting it by pumping hot air into the same duct where the cool air is flowing throughout the house. Also I was going to use this as a passive intake and a perfect vector for cool, fresh air to flow into the room. I'd need to figure out another intake method if I used it as an exhaust. Air from outside is no good because in the summer it's too hot, and winter it's way too cold. I don't know how big an intake needs to be? Would there be enough air flowing underneath the crack between the door and floor to replace the air being blown out? Or does an intake need to be bigger?
What do you think is my best bet? This has been gnawing at me for a solid month.