Building out my basement

TreeFiddy350

TreeFiddy350

Well-Known Member
I have a space/ basement below my house.
The area is 8x17x6.5ft.
I will have 3 led lights in there for a 4x12 canopy.
I found a formula online that said to add up all the wattage that will be used in your room then multiply it by 4.
I added everything up and multiplied by 4 and my total was 15,400. This number is supposed to be how many BTU’s I need to cool the room.
the room usually stays about 7-15 degrees cooler than outside (from what I’ve seen this summer).
I was thinking about going with a 1.5 ton mini split for the room. I figure I need more than 1 ton of ac.
SO!!!
My question is instead of going with the top of the line mini splits (Mitsubishi and such), do you think it would be ok to do with something from maybe Lowe’s or Home Depot?
I was thinking about going with this one. Any thoughts? Suggestions?
 
JoeBlow5823

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
Also are you planning to just have one grow area? No veg area? Not separating flower areas? For a larger grow area, its best to have two flowering areas so that one is always on keeping temps constant.
 
TreeFiddy350

TreeFiddy350

Well-Known Member
JoeBlow5823 said:
What LED's are you running that draw 1283w each? Growing in a basement with LED you are likely to have more trouble keeping the room warm enough than cool enough.....
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I was thinking about running an hlg 600h at first. Then after each harvest, get another high quality led light. Maybe a growers choice think led light. Or a gavita spider. Not sure on the other 2 lights right now. Each light will draw about 650 watts. then I’ll have 2- 70pt dehumidifiers. Those are really gonna be the heat that produces. I’ll have some from fans, but mainly the dehumidifiers and led grow lights will be the main heat source.
I’ll get a mini split that can do both cool and heat. ive added insulation and greenboard down there, so that’s why it’s able to stay at cooler temps.
I will also run bottled co2 with a controller and regulator. I’m gonna try to keep the temps around 80-82 with co2 then maybe 72-73 when lights out
 
TreeFiddy350

TreeFiddy350

Well-Known Member
JoeBlow5823 said:
Also are you planning to just have one grow area? No veg area? Not separating flower areas? For a larger grow area, its best to have two flowering areas so that one is always on keeping temps constant.
Click to expand...
This is just going to be my flower area. I’ll have a little veg room separate. As well as a water / nutrient reservoir room separate from the flower and the veg room
 
JoeBlow5823

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
TreeFiddy350 said:
I was thinking about running an hlg 600h at first. Then after each harvest, get another high quality led light. Maybe a growers choice think led light. Or a gavita spider. Not sure on the other 2 lights right now. Each light will draw about 650 watts. then I’ll have 2- 70pt dehumidifiers. Those are really gonna be the heat that produces. I’ll have some from fans, but mainly the dehumidifiers and led grow lights will be the main heat source.
I’ll get a mini split that can do both cool and heat. ive added insulation and greenboard down there, so that’s why it’s able to stay at cooler temps.
I will also run bottled co2 with a controller and regulator. I’m gonna try to keep the temps around 80-82 with co2 then maybe 72-73 when lights out
Click to expand...
A single 70 pint should handle a grow that size pretty easily. My 50 pint only runs maybe 20% of the time at the most for my 5x5 with a 1000w. If you have your flower areas split so one is always on and one always off, you only need half as much AC. I think a 15000 btu window unit would be plenty for you.
 
TreeFiddy350

TreeFiddy350

Well-Known Member
JoeBlow5823 said:
A single 70 pint should handle a grow that size pretty easily. My 50 pint only runs maybe 20% of the time at the most for my 5x5 with a 1000w. If you have your flower areas split so one is always on and one always off, you only need half as much AC. I think a 15000 btu window unit would be plenty for you.
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If I went the mini split route, do you think a brand from homedepot/ Lowe’s would still be good to use instead of a more expensive one
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
TreeFiddy350 said:
If I went the mini split route, do you think a brand from homedepot/ Lowe’s would still be good to use instead of a more expensive one
Click to expand...
I have a couple cheap Midea 4 ton ceiling mount units, they work, I have made a lot of crop with them but I wish I had Mitsubishi. The Midea's are loud (blower motor is speed controlled and loud as fuck), have had some failures that required parts replacement (I can do that myself thank god), they don't seem to really be 4 tons except in the cool/cold months, otherwise maybe 3 tons on a hot day. I miss my Mitsubishis I had back in Missouri, but I also miss 5k a pound wholesale lol.

If you go the budget route I would get a unit a little larger than you need.

The Mitsibishi has a much smarter auto mode.

You get what you pay for with these, so if you wanna save money just be willing to settle.
 
TreeFiddy350

TreeFiddy350

Well-Known Member
Renfro said:
I have a couple cheap Midea 4 ton ceiling mount units, they work, I have made a lot of crop with them but I wish I had Mitsubishi. The Midea's are loud (blower motor is speed controlled and loud as fuck), have had some failures that required parts replacement (I can do that myself thank god), they don't seem to really be 4 tons except in the cool/cold months, otherwise maybe 3 tons on a hot day. I miss my Mitsubishis I had back in Missouri, but I also miss 5k a pound wholesale lol.

If you go the budget route I would get a unit a little larger than you need.

The Mitsibishi has a much smarter auto mode.

You get what you pay for with these, so if you wanna save money just be willing to settle.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I’ll prob go the budget route until next summer. Hopefully by then I’ll have enough to upgrade lol
 
TreeFiddy350

TreeFiddy350

Well-Known Member
JoeBlow5823 said:
Dude you shouldnt need any AC for a basement grow in the winter depending where you live.....
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It’s more so like a half basement. It’s kinda hard to explain. But yeah I probably won’t need much ac during winter time which is why I was thinking maybe a not as expensive 1.5ton that heats and cools to hold me over until next summer. Then I can use the 1.5 ton in another room if I decide to upgrade it/ it breaks down
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
JoeBlow5823 said:
Dude you shouldnt need any AC for a basement grow in the winter depending where you live.....
Click to expand...
he plans to get a unit that will heat and cool, so if he needs heat in the winter he has it. Honestly I have to run my 4 ton units to cool in the very cold winters, they do a lot better job of cooling and I get my best crops in winter runs. It all depends on how many watts you wanna run. Yeah you can vent and use the cold outside air to cool the grow but thats not something CO2 growers really wanna have to do.
 
J

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
Renfro said:
I have a couple cheap Midea 4 ton ceiling mount units, they work, I have made a lot of crop with them but I wish I had Mitsubishi. The Midea's are loud (blower motor is speed controlled and loud as fuck), have had some failures that required parts replacement (I can do that myself thank god), they don't seem to really be 4 tons except in the cool/cold months, otherwise maybe 3 tons on a hot day. I miss my Mitsubishis I had back in Missouri, but I also miss 5k a pound wholesale lol.

If you go the budget route I would get a unit a little larger than you need.

The Mitsibishi has a much smarter auto mode.

You get what you pay for with these, so if you wanna save money just be willing to settle.
Click to expand...
Grew up in Missouri about 20 minutes south of downtown St. Louis. $120/quarter and $400/ounce was standard before I moved to Michigan 10 years ago. If you had the homie hookup it was $320-$350/ounce. I only had a small closet grow there before the wife and I packed up and headed for Michigan. I was terrified every day thinking an army of cops was going to kick in my front door over my 6 plants. Jeez I'm glad those days are over. Love me some Michigan :)
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
jonnynobody said:
Grew up in Missouri about 20 minutes south of downtown St. Louis. $120/quarter and $400/ounce was standard before I moved to Michigan 10 years ago. If you had the homie hookup it was $320-$350/ounce. I only had a small closet grow there before the wife and I packed up and headed for Michigan. I was terrified every day thinking an army of cops was going to kick in my front door over my 6 plants. Jeez I'm glad those days are over. Love me some Michigan :)
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I ran a lot of grow houses in Missouri. Dunno how I avoided getting busted, well actually I do. I just kept moving them and always trusted my gut instinct. One day the morning after I had just torn down and sterilized a grow house an army of cops rolled up the driveway while I was next door playing frisbee with my buddy. They went in all gung ho and a minute later were leaving, nothing to see there lol.
 
Bosgrower

Bosgrower

Well-Known Member
JoeBlow5823

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
Renfro said:
he plans to get a unit that will heat and cool, so if he needs heat in the winter he has it. Honestly I have to run my 4 ton units to cool in the very cold winters, they do a lot better job of cooling and I get my best crops in winter runs. It all depends on how many watts you wanna run. Yeah you can vent and use the cold outside air to cool the grow but thats not something CO2 growers really wanna have to do.
Click to expand...
Renfro said:
I do.
Click to expand...
He plans to start with a single hlg 600 and add 2 more led boards later but even at that, I'm not sure i see the need for a minisplit. Im seriously doubting the need to run ac for winter. If anything, he will need heat.... might as well just buy a heater.
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
TreeFiddy350 said:
I found a formula online that said to add up all the wattage that will be used in your room then multiply it by 4.
Click to expand...
Really using the 4 as your multiplier is over sizing a little, probably smart with HPS due to all the infrared but with LED we aren't dealing with that and therefore we actually need to run the room warmer, like 85 instead of 79.

1 BTU/hr = 3.412142 Watts

So reversing your math and using the 3.412 number I get 13136 BTU/hr.

Honestly it sounds like you could get away with a 1 ton unit or if you aren't running a co2 generator and you run the lights primarily at night you could cool that grow easily with a cold air intake.

I have ran a night room (basement) with 6kW of HPS (SE) using nothing but a fresh air intake filtered with a dust shroom.

Here is what I would do. Fire up the room and let it run for a day without plants. See how hot it gets. You may find that your need for cooling is minimal at best.
 
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