fresh ass intake ventilation commiseration

Greeting all. First time posting in 5 years, first post of relative value. I ambled over to the bay area and got my rec. been toying with my space for a couple months, decided to grab a lighthouse off ebay. Very happy so far, but I know I'm gonna need good ventilation. I've hung out in there a bit (it's a 5x5x7) and it doesn't get unbearably hot/sticky but it's not going to be optimal for my gals, especially come summer. Anyway my intent is on keeping the hood ventilation closed, so that I can get closer to the tops and keep the tent temp down. I have already picked up a blockbuster 6in reflector (huge) and 2 inline active airs (green ones), 1 for pushing heat off of the 1k, and 1 for pulling heat through my not yet realized scrubber.

This last part of my ventilation system though, that I can't make a decision on after some weeks of research. I'd like to have active intake, pulling air into the tent through a small intake filter, my woman has a cat and the city air aint exactly fresh. I know that intake pressure should be lower than exhaust to keep the tent's pressure negative. The two 6inchers have good speed controllers, to save energy$ and keep em quieter. I know I wont usually, or hopefully ever, need to exhaust a 175ft³ tent at full power, 400cfm.

Anyone who has worked with exhausting a 5x5(ish) tent have any thoughts on what I should use for intake? I've been considering grabbing a 4inch active air and running it on top of a small 4x6 intake filter, which would be able to give the tent new air each minute, but I'm thinking I might have to run it on full, maybe not if the exhaust is running at 30%. Would it be a better idea to drop the extra 15 dollars and get another 6inch inline, rather than a 4' and a slightly larger intake? My only problem with this is that it seems like a bit of overkill, and would burn excess electricity.

I'm down to talk ventilation, if anyone else is..I see some decent threads on it but they fizzle out, or are missing whatever the fuck I'm looking fer.

live long and potspder

Go 6 inch. Install a damper and then just adjust to your needs. Plus - if anyone ever overhears you talking it's always better to be braggin' on a 6 inch and not a 4 if you know what I mean.

bioWheel said:

Go 6 inch. Install a damper and then just adjust to your needs. Plus - if anyone ever overhears you talking it's always better to be braggin' on a 6 inch and not a 4 if you know what I mean.

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thanks bio..was wondering though, what do you mean by damper? As in a backdraft damper? Or is damper another term for a fan speed controller?

I do intend on getting some backdraft dampers to keep everything closed up if and when fans should shut off.

sadly I have no friends to brag about my dickfan size to ( ._.)

I reckon another thing that has stopped me from going triple 6 would be matching the intake fan to an intake filter. I've really only been looking at the phresh intake filters, and if I got another 6inch fan I suppose I'd pair it with a 6x12inch intake filter that is rated at 450cfm. I will ideally be running the fan at a much slower speed though. I forget what effect this will have, having a fan only pull 100cfm or so through a "450cfm" filter. I would assume it wouldn't overcome the pressure, or perhaps it would wear the fan, or work just fine gynrr. Could maybe get a reducer and use a 6inch fan on the 4inch intake filter and just run it on low to match the cfms best I could. This could of course have some unforeseen result that my brain cannot currently realize. I'm smoking some velvet full melt, top notch

This is the kind of damper I was referring to. Very simple - I admit but damn effective.

Gotcha, what is the value of those though? I intended on picking some up, but only to keep dust and stuff out of my ducts when no air is flowing.

My tent is a 5x8 and I put most of my emphasis on top notch exhaust fan and filter, with variable speed. My intake is just two four inch holes with a short duct piece and a 90 degree elbow on the outside to keep light out. Totally passive intake, creates automatic negative pressure for smell. I used to use inline fans, but even the good ones tend to quit after a few months of constant use. They are made for off-on like a furnace or AC, not continuous use. My passive works great, and it's cheap. Oh yeah !!, I forgot....I bought a roll of carbon prefilter and put it on the outside of the intake. Peace & be kind

I keep wanting to keep my ventilation passive, for simplicity and price, but I know I wont be happy with it. Great idea on the prefilter over your intake flaps

For that size of tent though bro, a passive intake is just what the doctor ordered. I would only use forced intake for a large setup, as it just seems over kill when a 6inch exhaust fan is going to be running about a quarter throttle to vent the room, there really is no need for anything to help push it through the room.

And don't be afraid of inline fans. Some go bad, but most will provide years (not months) of service. I have a 6 inch inline that has literally been running non-stop since 2009, 24 hours a day she's a screamin. My 10" is 2 years old and has had many 12/12 rotations. 4 inch only was used for a year, but it never hiccupped either and worked like a champ the day I gave it to someone else, and a few other 6" attached to carbon filters that also on more than they are off, never a problem. Non of these are name brand, all junk low ball fans that I got off ebay, think a couple of them are HTG's lower end inlines, etc.

I feel ya spandy. No fear of inlines here, they do me right. Air flow isn't really my concern, but it's coming forward in my statements for some reason. What I'm mainly interested in is having a closed environment. There's a cat in the place and I just imagine its hairs along with billions of dead skin cells and shit drifting under the door cracks and through my intake flaps getting all tangled up in my buds. That delectable scent of hobo sweat and 40oz piss that seems to emanate from the street below the window doesn't turn me on either. External temperature and humidity are optimal, I suppose I'm primarily interested in maintaining a sort of virgin ecosystem for them, in the city.

I might need to kick the exhaust up once or thrice a year if it gets too hot in there, in which case my mind feels it would need a similar capability in cranking the intake. I guess a 400cfm exhausting a 160cfm intake would still work well, and I could pop a flap if I needed to pull more air. You're right though, a 6inch intake and exhaust is over the top for 5x5. Thankfully still have a month to obsess over it

why not just use a passive intake that you've placed a HEPA filter over? if your only concern is the cleanliness of the air being brought in a HEPA should work perfectly.


cut some holes and then build a box for the HEPA to sit in, and then mount that over the intake holes. VOILA, instant intake filters.

Yep, The filter works great. Been doing same thing for a while now.

ii dP ii said:

why not just use a passive intake that you've placed a HEPA filter over? if your only concern is the cleanliness of the air being brought in a HEPA should work perfectly.


cut some holes and then build a box for the HEPA to sit in, and then mount that over the intake holes. VOILA, instant intake filters.

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hydrogreen65 said:

Yep, The filter works great. Been doing same thing for a while now.

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-noted, will most likely go this route before diving in and building an active intake