Grow room insulation help please

Hi there,

I'm have just recently become familiar with these online grow forums, and sure enough, I have encountered a problem that I could use some solid advice on. My current set up is 2 4x4 grow tents in an air conditioned basement. They both have 600 watt mh/hps lights with 6 in air cooled exhaust and 24 sq ft cfl side lighting. Right now my wife is insisting that I move the tents to the garage which is not insulated, sealed, and is subject to extreme temperature changes. My garage is close to 250sq ft and has a loft/ storage area which will be very difficult/ costly to properly seal and cool or heat. There is an alcove in my garage 12'X5' that I will be placing my tents in. So my question for all of you, is there a material/fabric that I could drape over the 12x5 alcove in which I could place my tents and keep this smaller area air conditioned? I would use a portable 5000 btu ac, vented out of the garage. Basically my two tents would have passive intake from a larger tent that would be air conditioned. Is there a material to achieve proper insulation or am I going to have to bite the bullet and properly finish the whole alcove?

oh, temps in the garage fluctuate between 75 and 100 in the summer.

Thanks

Next she'll wanna park her car where your tents are! Move wife to garage.

Sounds reasonable to me. I will be informing her today.

I would use 2" Styrofoam sheets. 4x8 sheets are around $13 at Menards right now. Create a frame of 2x4's 16" apart on center (standard spacing) and screw the Styrofoam sheets to the inside or outside of the room so where the sheets meet, they don't move . Then use silicon calk to seal where the sheets meet. Add an exterior door $116 at Menard's and I like to replace the weather stripping with magnetic weather striping $15 from Menard's. Do the floor and ceiling and on the floor add 1/2" or larger plywood. I used particle board and painted it but I think that linoleum would be better. If you have a budget and have the hinkering then run a water line and a drain in the room (sink). If you have more money then add r19 rolled insulation between the 16" on center 2x4's and add drywall or more Styrofoam and calk. You will not have any temperature problems with this setup. It takes a while but is not hard to do. I cut the Styrofoam with a circular saw. Use a face mask or you will be coughing. It's messy to cut. If you set it up this way then you can actually get rid of the tents if you want to.

Thanks for the input computer groove. I was wondering about the foam insulation but have never used it and was unsure of its ability to handle relatively extreme temps. I'm trying to keep my tents because I control inner-tent temp and humidity depending on strain. Your idea sounds like a fun project and a good way to get out of the house. I appreciate your help.