Heat Issues.........

Hi,
I am just started flowering under (3) 1000w HPS lights with 7 plants. I have (2) portable ACs totaling 24,000 BTU of cooling, but only (1) 6" 400 cfm fan venting all 3 hoods. Lights are running at night and temps are topping at 103!!!!!!!!!!! When I was running lights during the day I could get temps down to 95...... still no good...... Outside temps are around 85 during the day, and 65 at night...... but 55 in the wee hours of the morning........ The grow is in the basement..... outside the grow room tents are about 75. AC is vented directly outside as well as the lights...... I am getting pretty pissed off about this..... MY plants are looking sad as shit, and I dont know what to do. I suppose I could buy 2 more 6" fans to cool each light individually but that doesn't seem neccesary or the most efficient....... Tomorrow I am going to blow out the radiators on the ACs and see what happens but this kind of shit cannot go on...... Check my signature for some pics....... I am about ready to lose my plants if I cant fix this....

Also, Prior to flowering I was running (1) 1000W HPS 18 hrs on, with no AC or venting the hood and keeping temps at 80, 83 was the highest I saw which didn't bother me a whole lot....... Tell me what to do, I just need a for sure fix despite the cost at this point.... Thank you for listening.......

Brief Follow up:
Ended up adding an 8" fan, and running 8" duct to the first light, and then 6" duct between the lights. I put the 6" fan blowing through the hoods.... I think it should all work well.....

If my plants sway in the wind of my fans will there be any long term problems?

Personal preference. Swaying to a certain point is healthy and can strengthen the stems, but if its excessive, leaves will probably start drying out and dying..... I like seeing things move a little in my grow room, lets me know the air is moving.....

wonderblunder said:

Brief Follow up:
Ended up adding an 8" fan, and running 8" duct to the first light, and then 6" duct between the lights. I put the 6" fan blowing through the hoods.... I think it should all work well.....

Click to expand...

I heard its better to pull the air instead of pushing it.mount the fans so that they suck the hot air out of the hood instead of trying to blowing it.

I pull through my 8" Elicients. 1 for the lights, pulling screen filtered air from outside. The other exhausts on the opposite side of the Lab.

3 x 1000 watt lights and I'm running heaters to keep the room above 75 at night with all lights blazing.

Gotta get that venting fingered. Where are you drawing the fresh air for the room from and how big
are the entry ducts?

bb57

could you expand on entry duct sizing?

i'm trying to get to the coldest air possible.. (under deck) and i cut a 4"x10" rectangle household vent
that connected to 6"duct-->8"ducting and then an 8" inline fan pushing this air into the room..
this was very efficient but created too much air flow noise outside.. soo i disconnected the duct work so there is a 3ft gap between the fan and the passive 4"x10" hole i cut..
this cut down on the noise above the deck but i think this also draws in less of the cold air under the deck and more air from other sources..
im thinking i need to cut another hole? and seal off the area around this intake?
thanks in advance

maybe u might want 2 think about using 600hps...........

are your portables ac units duel hose or single hose? where are you getting the air to cool your lights? make sure you dont have to many right angles in any of your vent tube exspeacaly the exhouse vents for your ac. im running 2x1000watt in cool tubes and 8' fan, 1x400 without a hood or tube , a few hundred watts of t5s and i keep my temps at 75 degrees 6-8 inches from 1000 watters. i do this with 1 8000 btu duel hose portable ac. i live in florida the temps out side are above 90 all day and no lower the 80 at night.

RastaMonsta said:

I heard its better to pull the air instead of pushing it.mount the fans so that they suck the hot air out of the hood instead of trying to blowing it.

Click to expand...

what /\ /\ said pushing warm air is harder on the fans, always pull.

stonestone said:

could you expand on entry duct sizing?

i'm trying to get to the coldest air possible.. (under deck) and i cut a 4"x10" rectangle household vent
that connected to 6"duct-->8"ducting and then an 8" inline fan pushing this air into the room..
this was very efficient but created too much air flow noise outside.. soo i disconnected the duct work so there is a 3ft gap between the fan and the passive 4"x10" hole i cut..
this cut down on the noise above the deck but i think this also draws in less of the cold air under the deck and more air from other sources..
im thinking i need to cut another hole? and seal off the area around this intake?
thanks in advance

Click to expand...

more holes in the floor
Set up the intakes in the far opposite side of the room you exhaust from.
Put another vent or two in the middle of the room. Adjustable floor vents.
You decide how much air gets in.

I'm pulling exhaust out of a 25Lx15Wx10H Lab with a single 8" Elicient.
I'm running 4 1000 watts and a bunch of other heat generators.
And I run a Vortex heater on the 8 setting to keep temps at 80 or higher.
I have a/c but have yet to use it. So Cal heat.

Suck in the cool, exhaust the hot. Place the fan as high up as you can.


bb57

there are to problems with pulling. 1st you will heat up your electric fan by pulling in all that hot air and electric motors dont like heat just like every other electronics. 2nd if your bulb blows up ( which is raw but does happen) all the glass will go into fan and will be mulched and shot out other end like a sand blaster. i had it happen to me and all the vent tubing was trashed so i push now and i dont see any difference but that dont mean there is none

smokking ace said:

maybe u might want 2 think about using 600hps...........

Click to expand...

I think Id rather save my money.....

1mikej said:

are your portables ac units duel hose or single hose? where are you getting the air to cool your lights? make sure you dont have to many right angles in any of your vent tube exspeacaly the exhouse vents for your ac. im running 2x1000watt in cool tubes and 8' fan, 1x400 without a hood or tube , a few hundred watts of t5s and i keep my temps at 75 degrees 6-8 inches from 1000 watters. i do this with 1 8000 btu duel hose portable ac. i live in florida the temps out side are above 90 all day and no lower the 80 at night.

Click to expand...

ACs are singles. Have turns in the ducting etc, is unavoidable until I hardline the ventilation. Everything is fine now.

1mikej said:

there are to problems with pulling. 1st you will heat up your electric fan by pulling in all that hot air and electric motors dont like heat just like every other electronics. 2nd if your bulb blows up ( which is raw but does happen) all the glass will go into fan and will be mulched and shot out other end like a sand blaster. i had it happen to me and all the vent tubing was trashed so i push now and i dont see any difference but that dont mean there is none

Click to expand...

I like your thinking man, neither of the 2 issues ever crossed my mind.... I think I will be hardpiping it all when I fire up the identical room to this one, everything will be straighter, and you have to imagine that a smooth round pipe moves air faster than ribbed ducting....

wonderblunder said:

I like your thinking man, neither of the 2 issues ever crossed my mind.... I think I will be hardpiping it all when I fire up the identical room to this one, everything will be straighter, and you have to imagine that a smooth round pipe moves air faster than ribbed ducting....

Click to expand...

yes, good luck dude