JayJammer'z Custom Grow-Room Design Thread

[ScoobyDoobyDoo]

yea more the likely it will be a window ac.


and thats actually in the works at the moment, just looking at some quotes, do u have a estimate on something like that?
its funny electricty scares the shit out of me, im willin to pay top doller for the safest and most reliable electrition/equipment!

i'd go with the window a/c if i were you. really not gonna have a problem with co2 leaking or odor. just leave the a/c running 24/7. when the compressor turns off the fan will still be running so you won't have any air escaping.

 

[ScoobyDoobyDoo]

Good info. my man and I'd agree with every word but we're only working with 3600 Watts Total. ^

600 Watters run pretty cool when vented and i think a portable A/C or window unit would handle it.

You may still want to incorporate some sort of lighting controller. And think about running a dedicated circuit to room just for lights and A/C.

i've run that many lights and a lot more. a 12,000btu portable ain't gonna do the job. not unless he lives in alaska. you are talking about an extremely large amount of radiant heat being produced. just would suck to get a 12,000btu unit and find out it's not enough. 12,000btu window unit "MAYBE" just because they are much more efficient.

 

[ScoobyDoobyDoo]

if you run that whole room on 120v you're gonna need an electrician for sure. you'll be pulling probably somewhere around 50-60amps off your board. 35 in lighting, 7 for an a/c, maybe 5 for a dehumidifier, and then fans and other stuff. most homes are wired in zones and all of the outlets in that room are probably on a single 15-20amp breaker. i would get an electrician to either wire contactors and relays to a box (DIY light controller) or just have him bring in a subpanel. you are going to need 1 (240v) or 2 (120v) dedicated lines for the lights and then another 15-20amp dedicated outlet besides the existing one in the room.

 

[foreverflyhi]

If you haven't already started setting up you can have an electrician come in and run a new line to the room for a couple hundred bucks. Just tell them your starting a home business and you need to run a lot of computer equipment, or something like that. You don't need much extra power, maybe just another 15amps. It's actually not too difficult to do yourself if you don't mind some reading. There's a few good tutorials here on Rollitup that will walk you through it.

Other than that you may want to pick up a light controller that you can plug all your ballasts into and control the night/day cycle. I know Sentinel makes a unit that can control your lights, temps, humidity, and CO2 levels all in one.

can u direct me to the right path on those tutoriols?

and yup sentinel is in my arsenal =)

 

[foreverflyhi]

i've run that many lights and a lot more. a 12,000btu portable ain't gonna do the job. not unless he lives in alaska. you are talking about an extremely large amount of radiant heat being produced. just would suck to get a 12,000btu unit and find out it's not enough. 12,000btu window unit "MAYBE" just because they are much more efficient.

lol alaska is about 10,000 miles from here haha, i live in southern cali, however due to lobal warmin(and other overnment conspiracies) its beens below average, but i do feel the heat coming everyday.

so ill look into a stronger unit, but even if these lights are air cooled that wont make much of a diffrence??

 

[foreverflyhi]

its either 120v or 240v. what kind of ballasts did you get? you can probably just send them back and get the 240v cords. the reason you want to run them 240v is that most light controllers have 240v receptacles. just cause ifyou ran them 120v you would need to pull a lot more amps of the panel which means you would have to run much thicker wire to the controller. like in your situation...3600w wired 240v would only draw about 17amps. you could run 12 gauge wire for that. if they are wired 240v though that's 33amps which mean 8 gauge. just a more efficient and safer way to run them. i would look into it.

yea correction 120v lumark,and i cant send them back i dont think, i got my equipment from a wholesale distriubter, so we buy in bulk, and cant really make another purchase unless its over 10,000.
anywayz i orignial got these thinking they require less energy which would be a plus, now im confused as shit, but either way, i am in the process of hiring a trusted electrition and having him handle it,
even tho im scared of electricity(lol) i do want to read up on wtv yall think i should look into, if its a easy DIY that involves common sense, then im more then down to learn!

 

[foreverflyhi]

if you run that whole room on 120v you're gonna need an electrician for sure. you'll be pulling probably somewhere around 50-60amps off your board. 35 in lighting, 7 for an a/c, maybe 5 for a dehumidifier, and then fans and other stuff. most homes are wired in zones and all of the outlets in that room are probably on a single 15-20amp breaker. i would get an electrician to either wire contactors and relays to a box (DIY light controller) or just have him bring in a subpanel. you are going to need 1 (240v) or 2 (120v) dedicated lines for the lights and then another 15-20amp dedicated outlet besides the existing one in the room.

so overall its just better to add a subpanel dedicated to this room? i have other smallprojects thru out my place and i dont want to have to cut production just for this room.

 

[ScoobyDoobyDoo]

can u direct me to the right path on those tutoriols?

and yup sentinel is in my arsenal =)

honestly i really don't think you need to get an environmental controller. your fans will run on timers or the same light controller and trigger cord since the room will be sealed. the ac and/or dehumidifier will have built in controls. plus it will be much cheaper to buy a controller for your Co2 generator than it would be to buy an environmental controller. plus your a/c will not run on your environmental controller because most of the time it will end up shorting out the controller if you hook a dehumidifier or a/c up to it. the ac needs time to cycle and let the pressure stabilize. the a/c's are designed to habe the compressor cycle on and off while the fan constantly pulls air over the coils. the controller doesn't allow for this and you will have huge condensation issues. plus, the simple fact is that most of those boxes are rated for only 15amps so an a/c and any other equipment will just be too much.

for what you need to have done in that room you need to call an electrician. this isn't changing out a breaker...you need a professional. tell him you are putting in saltwater tanks with a chiller, lights, pumps, etc... let me know when you are ready and i'l tell you exactly what to tell him.

lol alaska is about 10,000 miles from here haha, i live in southern cali, however due to lobal warmin(and other overnment conspiracies) its beens below average, but i do feel the heat coming everyday.

so ill look into a stronger unit, but even if these lights are air cooled that wont make much of a diffrence??

air cooling makes a huge difference. but you are running 6 lights and you will get radiant temps off the hoods and from the other equipment in the room. if you go with a window unit you could probably get away with 12,000btu but i would go with 18,000btu. i just don't think 12k will be enough. especially in the middle of summer.

yea correction 120v lumark,and i cant send them back i dont think, i got my equipment from a wholesale distriubter, so we buy in bulk, and cant really make another purchase unless its over 10,000.
anywayz i orignial got these thinking they require less energy which would be a plus, now im confused as shit, but either way, i am in the process of hiring a trusted electrition and having him handle it,
even tho im scared of electricity(lol) i do want to read up on wtv yall think i should look into, if its a easy DIY that involves common sense, then im more then down to learn!

yea, get an electrician. if you can't simply change out the power cord for a 240v one then you need to have a subpanel brought into that room or at least a hardwired light controller and another 15-20amp outlet.

so overall its just better to add a subpanel dedicated to this room? i have other smallprojects thru out my place and i dont want to have to cut production just for this room.

if your ballasts are gonna stay 120v then you will need about 40amps just for the lights. then you will need power for the a/c, dehumidifier, fans, and other equipment. either a subpanel or 2 seperate lines; one for the controller and one for another 120v outlet.

 

[BigBhuda]

Okay, here you go. Fantasy medical grow.
Empty 30 by 40 building. Overhead door on one end with a window on walls closest to overhead. Walkin door in middle of left side when looking out of overhead door.
Dedicating rear 16 feet to grow.
Thinking a veg and bloom room on each side 16 x 11.
In the middle back a clone and dry room 8 x 8
Leaving the front 8 x 8 for a control and fertilizer mix room. All the ballasts will be mounted on the control room side. Lumatek air cooled electronic 1000/600/400 switchable
Each grow room would have 3 1000 watt lights on each side. Leaving a 3 foot path in the middle and 4 feet at the end for work space and room for additional equipment or to cram in a 4th light for overkill someday.
Entry door in the middle front I think for each grow room.
The clone room could maybe have a 4 x 4 cloning table under 400 or 600 watts and a 4 x 4 drying cabinet.
The front of the control room could be open with a door in the middle of the clone room front wall.

Control room would have an 8 light control panel on each wall of the grow rooms.
2 twenty gallon mixing tanks with hoses for watering.
Storage shelves or cabinets somewhere in control room.

Thinking to avoid CO2 initially in favour of lots of air circulation.
two 6 inch vortex fans (649 cfm) at front bottom of each room for fresh air from the building and a 12 inch vortex exhaust (1140 cfm) at the top of each grow exhausting towards the control room.
The exhaust fans will both run into a single Airbox 4+ (3500 cfm) carbon box filter hanging from control room ceiling and exhausting into remainder of building.
Probably a 6 or 8 " fan from the clone/dry room into the Airbox.

I like big plants and long veg so 4 plants per light in extra large tubs.

I think that is the basics. Open to comments on what is overkill and what is missing.

 

[JayJammer]

Here you go BigBhuda-
View attachment 2193802

Is this the kind of layout you're looking for?

 

[BigBhuda]

That looks pretty darn cool and awfully close to what I had in my head.
Maybe move the lights to the back of the room and access the grow rooms from the front of the control room.
Move the clone table to the back and have the clone room door in the middle.
I was thinking 2 rows of 3 ballasts, but with the water I think the ballasts should be up as high as possible. 12 ft ceiling so shouldn't be a problem above the doors in a single row.
Will have to check with an Electrician to see if and how we can fit water into the control room and stay within code.
I think that perhaps all the water access should go in the clone room, which should stay fairly cool. I could even use T5's for light in there.
Sorry for thinking while I type, but definitely a 4' 8 bulb T5 and water mixing in the clone room.
4 x 4 drying cabinet in the back beside the clone table and mixing tanks on either side of the door.

Where I really need input is on the ventilation.
I am in Canada so anywhere from 40 below in the winter to 100 above in the summer.
I am hoping just to go with open hoods and a large 12" vortex exhaust in each room. At 1140 cfm this should exchange the air every 2 minutes.
2 6" intake fans are 1300 cfm so they could be slowed down if necessary to maintain negative pressure if its a problem.
I would like to try venting everything to the rest of the building since it would be nice not to have to heat it in the winter.
In the summer I could install a greenhouse vent fan if the entire building becomes too warm.

I found this Airbox filter that looks cool. http://www.hydrotek.ca/en/airbox/air-box4plus.html

Is it possible to have a 12" duct down the centre of each room with an appropriate size opening above each light.
One 90 degree elbow to send the exhaust to the control room where there is a T connector going into the Airbox from each room and exhausts to the rest of the building.
The two fresh air intakes would probably come directly through the walls to the rest of the building and could also have a main trunk and outlets to disperse the air more evenly.

Will this work if I forgo CO2 and could I get away with even less cfm??

Thanks again for your skills and everyone's expertise.
I am fairly new to this and LOVE criticism. (The constructive kind)

 

[JayJammer]

That looks pretty darn cool and awfully close to what I had in my head.
Maybe move the lights to the back of the room and access the grow rooms from the front of the control room.
Move the clone table to the back and have the clone room door in the middle.
I was thinking 2 rows of 3 ballasts, but with the water I think the ballasts should be up as high as possible. 12 ft ceiling so shouldn't be a problem above the doors in a single row.
Will have to check with an Electrician to see if and how we can fit water into the control room and stay within code.
I think that perhaps all the water access should go in the clone room, which should stay fairly cool. I could even use T5's for light in there.
Sorry for thinking while I type, but definitely a 4' 8 bulb T5 and water mixing in the clone room.
4 x 4 drying cabinet in the back beside the clone table and mixing tanks on either side of the door.

Where I really need input is on the ventilation.
I am in Canada so anywhere from 40 below in the winter to 100 above in the summer.
I am hoping just to go with open hoods and a large 12" vortex exhaust in each room. At 1140 cfm this should exchange the air every 2 minutes.
2 6" intake fans are 1300 cfm so they could be slowed down if necessary to maintain negative pressure if its a problem.
I would like to try venting everything to the rest of the building since it would be nice not to have to heat it in the winter.
In the summer I could install a greenhouse vent fan if the entire building becomes too warm.

I found this Airbox filter that looks cool. http://www.hydrotek.ca/en/airbox/air-box4plus.html

Is it possible to have a 12" duct down the centre of each room with an appropriate size opening above each light.
One 90 degree elbow to send the exhaust to the control room where there is a T connector going into the Airbox from each room and exhausts to the rest of the building.
The two fresh air intakes would probably come directly through the walls to the rest of the building and could also have a main trunk and outlets to disperse the air more evenly.

Will this work if I forgo CO2 and could I get away with even less cfm??

Thanks again for your skills and everyone's expertise.
I am fairly new to this and LOVE criticism. (The constructive kind)

Ok so i moved things around a little.
Check out the ducting in the veg room. Is this what you meant with the 12" duct down the middle?
You won't need to filter the air from the veg lights but the flower room will have to be odor controlled.
I would also go with T5's in the clone room so you wont have to worry about heat in there, plus clones don't need intense light.

You definitely want to air-cool ALL of your lights since you want to run 1000's. A 12' duct fan in each room should do the job. You can exhaust into the main building.

Keep brainstorming you'll figure out exactly what you want to do.

 

[BigBhuda]

Ok so i moved things around a little.
Check out the ducting in the veg room. Is this what you meant with the 12" duct down the middle?
You won't need to filter the air from the veg lights but the flower room will have to be odor controlled.
I would also go with T5's in the clone room so you wont have to worry about heat in there, plus clones don't need intense light.

You definitely want to air-cool ALL of your lights since you want to run 1000's. A 12' duct fan in each room should do the job. You can exhaust into the main building.

Keep brainstorming you'll figure out exactly what you want to do.

View attachment 2194719

No, I was just thinking of going with unvented hoods and just suck the air from near the lights.
I see your point and agree that I should just vent the hoods.
And given that I should just vent each group of 3 from the rear exterior wall from outside air straight through to the rest of the building. And I could reverse the fans in the summer and suck from the building to outside.
I think a 6" fan on each should suffice.

If I don't do C02 I should still have a fresh air fan and an exhaust fan.Both from the shop side. Do you think a couple 6" would suffice just to keep the air circulating. Have much cooling do you need if the hoods are vented.

A couple wall mounted fans in each grow room and one in the clone room.

If I went back to accessing each grow room from the shop side then that would free up space in the control room for a workbench on each side wall and we could move the cupboards to above the workbenches beside the ballasts.
The 6" exhaust fan could go above each door in the grow rooms and run ducting down the roof in the middle to suck from the back. Fresh air in on the floor to one side of the door.

There is also room for cupboards in the clone room on the side walls.

I thought this would just be fun. But it really is incredibly helpful to help visualize and fine tune things. I can see exactly where all the wiring and plumbing has to go.

More Thanks Again.

 

[JayJammer]

No, I was just thinking of going with unvented hoods and just suck the air from near the lights.
I see your point and agree that I should just vent the hoods.
And given that I should just vent each group of 3 from the rear exterior wall from outside air straight through to the rest of the building. And I could reverse the fans in the summer and suck from the building to outside.
I think a 6" fan on each should suffice.

If I don't do C02 I should still have a fresh air fan and an exhaust fan.Both from the shop side. Do you think a couple 6" would suffice just to keep the air circulating. Have much cooling do you need if the hoods are vented.

A couple wall mounted fans in each grow room and one in the clone room.

If I went back to accessing each grow room from the shop side then that would free up space in the control room for a workbench on each side wall and we could move the cupboards to above the workbenches beside the ballasts.
The 6" exhaust fan could go above each door in the grow rooms and run ducting down the roof in the middle to suck from the back. Fresh air in on the floor to one side of the door.

There is also room for cupboards in the clone room on the side walls.

I thought this would just be fun. But it really is incredibly helpful to help visualize and fine tune things. I can see exactly where all the wiring and plumbing has to go.

More Thanks Again.

alright so i made some more changes according to your specs.

Every 3 lights are vented by a 6" duct fan. You can either set these up to bring air from the building and exhaust it outside or vice-versa.

I'm not sure how cool the rooms will stay with no A/C, so you may want to think about adding one somewhere.

I know you wanted to simply exhaust the room via fans but those lights create a lot of ambient heat even when air-cooled. What are your daily temps. like?

 

[BigBhuda]

You may be right. It is something I should wire for as I am sure it will be needed in the summer. You can add some split units off the exterior wall in each room if you have pretty pictures.
That must mean that I am forced to use C02 since there is no outside fresh air.

The door off the clone room to the veg room looks good. Which means that we can move one table from the control room to under the cupboards in the clone room as well as eliminate those 2nd set of cupboards in the control room.
We can then move the entry door for the bloom room back to off the control room. One door from the rest of the shop will definitely look cleaner.

Other than that I think both water reservoirs should be together opposite the door on the exterior wall. I can then run water lines along the exterior wall to the grow rooms.
And slide the drying cabinet down to the corner.

Awesome.

 

[BigBhuda]

One last change. I hope.

I think 2 12,000 btu window type air conditioners per grow room.
Mounted on the inside shop walls venting into the shop.
Heat the shop in the winter and I can vent the rest of the shop in the summer.
Who knows, the hood exhaust vents may be enough when directed from the shop to outside
Even during the summer night time temps when the lights are running are usually 10 to 15 degrees celsius. maybe a month or so they stay over 20 celsius at night.

I can then implement the plan 3 lights at a time as we expand.
Any Canadian MMAR patients out there?? PM me.

They just delivered the lumber package. Contractor should be hear next week to put up the shop.

 

[BigBhuda]

I think it would work better to fit equipment and work benches if the doors to the control room and clone room were on one end of the wall rather than the centre. Probably kinda kitty corner to the grow room doors.
My only requirement in the clone room is reservoirs along exterior wall so I can run lines to the grow rooms.

 

[BigBhuda]

Another realization.
The power will be entering the building from the rear.
This means that the clone room and control room should be switched.
The breaker panel could be in the middle of the rear wall with the controllers and ballasts mounted on either side.

Reservoirs then both need to be along the shop interior wall in the clone room to run piping.

I gotta quit thinking about this.

 

[JayJammer]

Another realization.
The power will be entering the building from the rear.
This means that the clone room and control room should be switched.
The breaker panel could be in the middle of the rear wall with the controllers and ballasts mounted on either side.

Reservoirs then both need to be along the shop interior wall in the clone room to run piping.

I gotta quit thinking about this.

haha alright tell me what you think -

 

[sticky420scissors]

I need some help setting up my 12x13 room. Running 3 1k HPS and 1 600 HPS. Total of 3600watts just for the flower room. And the veg room will have 2 400 MH. I have a 25,000btu window a/c unit but HOA doesn't allow them. I was wondering if a 14,000btu dual hose portable unit will work? I plan on splitting the room for a veg room and keeping it one sealed room with the flower room by running 1 fan pulling in and another pulling out.. Gonna use panda film to section it off. The lights will be air cooled pulling air from the house through the 4 lights and up into the attic. I am running co2 at all times at 1500 ppm. How does this sound?