Can i use foil as a mylar substitue? pics included

Diablos

Diablos

Member
I dont know much about mylar, i know its shiny. But iver never handled it, i assume its thick and bends like hobby wire.

My problem is my res and light covers are black, and they absorb heat. Im having a few heat concerns, its been hot latley, like 30 - 32 Celcius outside, ive managed to keep things around the 34 -35 mark.

Can i make a reflective thing to sit on top of the res out of aluminium kitchen foil? or will it just absorb the heat?

Also i know i need to reflect whatever leftover light i can back up into the canopy, is foil really that shiny or is it going to just fade out under the extreme light?

pics are a few days old, i know shes heat stressed :(

IMG_1858.jpgIMG_1859.jpgIMG_1860.jpgIMG_1861.jpgIMG_1862.jpgIMG_1863.jpg
 
The Red

The Red

Active Member
You can definitely use foil. That's what I used in my entire sealed up grow box. It causes "hot spots" whatever the fuck that means lol, but I've never had problems. You'll be completely fine with it just being on the res. I would try to get my hands on mylar if I were you though. I haven't had the money so I just said fuck it and went with foil. Here's pics of my setup with the entire thing using foil. And these pics are a little old, I have a legitimate can filter and will be harvesting in the next 2 weeks so I'll have new pics up then if you're interested.
 

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GrowinDad

GrowinDad

Well-Known Member
You can get mylar at WalMart for a couple bucks. Go to the camping section and find the emergency blankets.
 
Slipon

Slipon

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't, and yea hot spots (burned plants/grow room if your unlucky) also traps the heat (tho maylor is also a heat trap)

no use the little money to buy a few meters of maylor, wort every penny, according to my light meter and comparing it to flat white ..

if your realy cheap/poor or cant find/order a sheet of maylor, go to your local "Walmart" and look for a emergency blanket or one of them ice covers for Car windows (both maylor/silver like)
 
AimAim

AimAim

Well-Known Member
Mylar - definitely not thick and does not bend like hobby wire.

It's a thin polymer film, super reflective, kind of slinky and hard to describe.

The mylar I buy is pretty tough, actually hard to tear.
 
B

bseeds

Well-Known Member
i was told by the hydro store guy to use the duller side faceing the light if your going to use it
 
giggles26

giggles26

Well-Known Member
If you can't get your hands on mylar then use flat white paint, it's way better then foil and emergency blankets as they are intended to keep heat in and can cause burn spots.
 
Diablos

Diablos

Member
1. I live in australia and have no equivelant of "walmart discount warehouse", i wish we did. Its so freaking cheap, and you also have a T-Mart? If i remeber correctly?
2. The black pond plastic everything is lined with is just absorbing heat, as black absorbs heat.
3. I understand the point made about foil trapping heat, I just thought about the fact we use it to bake stuff in the oven, So my question would be, what traps more heat, thick black plastic or aluminium foil.
4. I have 294 CFM of TRUE airflow, not 294 restricted to 100. So i get a ton of airflow, i was going to put the foil over 3/4 of the res, and just not put it directly under the plant. Im trying to bounce the light (light = heat) away from the res.

I see we have mixed opinions on foil, are we sure we cant use foil? Im flat broke after getting evertything going... Im trying to get light back up under my canopy. If i can reflect even 10% back, ill be happy. But i can clearly understand the point about the foil baking. Guess the next question to ask is about; Does aluminium dissapate heat faster/more effectivley than 2mm thick black pond lining?, If so wouldnt it be better to have something shiny/reflective as apposed to something not shiny/heat absorber?

God this is like picking between 2 virgin college girls... One seems as good as the other, one seems to have pros/cons, that the other doesnt.

I know im getting into the science now, but im a geek, and i love the numbers :)
 
Nol

Nol

Member
laughed may ass of at your photo diablos

If you got foil use foil ~
If you got mylar use mylar
Might as well reflect some light that is lost ~
I used foil tell i broke down bought a roll of mylar ~ both r fine ~ Use what ya got 1st upgrade later
mylar is better
But Use Foil W/ no Issues forlong time ~
I use to PRE_CRINKLE ~ Roll up in a ball then unwrapp
w/o tearing it. not sure if this helps w/ heat spots ~ but in my mind i figured it did
 
shaun2000

shaun2000

Well-Known Member
Diablos said:
1. I live in australia and have no equivelant of "walmart discount warehouse", i wish we did. Its so freaking cheap, and you also have a T-Mart? If i remeber correctly?
2. The black pond plastic everything is lined with is just absorbing heat, as black absorbs heat.
3. I understand the point made about foil trapping heat, I just thought about the fact we use it to bake stuff in the oven, So my question would be, what traps more heat, thick black plastic or aluminium foil.
4. I have 294 CFM of TRUE airflow, not 294 restricted to 100. So i get a ton of airflow, i was going to put the foil over 3/4 of the res, and just not put it directly under the plant. Im trying to bounce the light (light = heat) away from the res.

I see we have mixed opinions on foil, are we sure we cant use foil? Im flat broke after getting evertything going... Im trying to get light back up under my canopy. If i can reflect even 10% back, ill be happy. But i can clearly understand the point about the foil baking. Guess the next question to ask is about; Does aluminium dissapate heat faster/more effectivley than 2mm thick black pond lining?, If so wouldnt it be better to have something shiny/reflective as apposed to something not shiny/heat absorber?

God this is like picking between 2 virgin college girls... One seems as good as the other, one seems to have pros/cons, that the other doesnt.

I know im getting into the science now, but im a geek, and i love the numbers :)
Click to expand...
There are many Stores That sell mylar here buddy. I Dont use it so i dont know whats a good price.

http://glandorehydro.com/Mylar.html <aussie.
http://www.hollandforge.com.au/contents/en-us/search.php?searchphrase=mylar <ships to aussie re-sellers
http://www.growroom.com.au/site-search/?Keywords=mylar&SearchStart=1&homesearchformsubmit.x=0&homesearchformsubmit.y=0&homesearchformsubmit=Go



The list goes on


Personaly i Use White Paint And that works fine for me, In My Soil-seedling Propagation boxes i use tinfoil, Just Use the dull side not the shiny edge (there is a real reason for this, but i dont rember why)

Good luck
 
M

Mithrandir420

Well-Known Member
Black does not "absorb heat". Black absorbs LIGHT, the energy of which is converted into heat. If you have heat issues in your rez it's not because of the rez color. Maybe if your rez was sitting in the sun for hours.

Your wall coverings are not going to dissipate enough heat to make any difference.
 
FourZeroTwo

FourZeroTwo

Active Member
You can also use a mylar balloon, ive heard those work pretty well. i just picked a few up myself. couldnt find the emergency blanket at walmart.. didnt have any :/
 
Ghettobird209

Ghettobird209

Active Member
Go to amazon. search mylar reflective. Gotham Hydroponics sells rolls 48"x25' for 20$ free shipping! couldnt find it at any local stores so that was the best deal i found. Was enough to fully rap a 8x2x6 closet.
 
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