Fans and vent questions.
- Thread starter Peter421
- Start date
Okay.. What I'm trying to ask is what type of fan do I need to connect to a carbon filter. I'm guessing a squirrel cage fan? And from that squirrel cage fan,does the exhaust connect to the carbon filter, and the intake connects to the outside or visce versa? And last, is that all the fans and ducts I need except for a normal rotating fan?
Kludge
Well-Known Member
If you are going to use a carbon filter your best bet is to use an inline centrifugal fan. The squirrel cage fan might work but the centrifugal fans handle back pressure much better.
You want to pull air with your fan, not push it, so you want the fan at the end of your chain not the beginning. So it goes like this:
Carbon filter -> hose -> Light -> hose -> Fan -> Connector/hose -> Exhaust Vent
Don't try to go cheap on the fan either. You'll just end up buying something you can't use and you'll still have to buy the more expensive fan anyway.
I don't know your situation but you can get a good, inexpensive inline 6 inch fan that does 435cfm for about $120-$150, insulated A/C hose for about $25 for 20 feet, and you'll need an air offtake to use as the exhaust and some clamps which should run you about another $20.
Other than that yeah, you need an oscillating fan too. I went a little crazy though; in addition to all that I add a big floor fan that moves about 1,500cfm to blow the air in the room around; I have it blowing just above the plants. Oh, I also have a 1,500cfm blowing on the ballasts and another 500cfm (the one I bought that won't work for cooling lights) that blows air around the base of the plants.
Just make sure you aren't beating the hell out of your plants with the fan.
You want to pull air with your fan, not push it, so you want the fan at the end of your chain not the beginning. So it goes like this:
Carbon filter -> hose -> Light -> hose -> Fan -> Connector/hose -> Exhaust Vent
Don't try to go cheap on the fan either. You'll just end up buying something you can't use and you'll still have to buy the more expensive fan anyway.
I don't know your situation but you can get a good, inexpensive inline 6 inch fan that does 435cfm for about $120-$150, insulated A/C hose for about $25 for 20 feet, and you'll need an air offtake to use as the exhaust and some clamps which should run you about another $20.
Other than that yeah, you need an oscillating fan too. I went a little crazy though; in addition to all that I add a big floor fan that moves about 1,500cfm to blow the air in the room around; I have it blowing just above the plants. Oh, I also have a 1,500cfm blowing on the ballasts and another 500cfm (the one I bought that won't work for cooling lights) that blows air around the base of the plants.
Just make sure you aren't beating the hell out of your plants with the fan.
Alright. How does this sound.. I have centrifugal fan connected to the wall of my growroom. On one side, is the carbon filter. The other side, is a duct that connects to the outside. On the other side of my growroom opposite of the carbon filter, I will have a 150+ CFM Axial fan and a circulating fan inside. I cannot connect any ducts to my hood, I just have a reflector =( But I am going to try to customize my hood for atleast some airflow towards the light. And is a fan for my ballast Absolutely necessary? Or just your own... overprotective nature?
Kludge
Well-Known Member
Sounds good. You don't HAVE to put a fan on the ballasts but it helps keep them cool and if they are cooler they operate more efficiently and last longer.
On my 400W MH ballast I just use a $10 fan, one of those Honeywell Hurricanes, nothing fancy but it works great. Before if my power flickered in a rain storm the MH would be so hot it wouldn't restart. The fan fixed that but I'm going to go ahead and put UPS's on all my lights just for the brief flickers we get during storms.
On my 400W MH ballast I just use a $10 fan, one of those Honeywell Hurricanes, nothing fancy but it works great. Before if my power flickered in a rain storm the MH would be so hot it wouldn't restart. The fan fixed that but I'm going to go ahead and put UPS's on all my lights just for the brief flickers we get during storms.
speedhabit
Well-Known Member
I use two valueline 6" centrifrugal blowers in my room. Cheapest on the net and awesome.
www.businesslights.com
look in the fan section. 79$
And I go exhaust to carbon filter and it works fine, one 465cfm blower just for exhaust/filter and I have another blower that pulls air from the outside, past two 1000watt bulbs and back to the outside.
Edit: You need enough pressure to make a carbon filter work at peak efficiency, I used to have a suncourt 8" "duct booster fan" on my carbon filter and the filtration was weak, stepping it up to a blower that can handle back pressure was enough to completely remove the odor from way more plants.
www.businesslights.com
look in the fan section. 79$
And I go exhaust to carbon filter and it works fine, one 465cfm blower just for exhaust/filter and I have another blower that pulls air from the outside, past two 1000watt bulbs and back to the outside.
Edit: You need enough pressure to make a carbon filter work at peak efficiency, I used to have a suncourt 8" "duct booster fan" on my carbon filter and the filtration was weak, stepping it up to a blower that can handle back pressure was enough to completely remove the odor from way more plants.