Keeping Root zone cool

Hey guys i was wondering if anyone has tried painting their hydroponic systems white to reflect light and keep temperatures lower in their rootzone. As it currently stands in my set up my plants are in something that is a reddish color and i know that this is absorbing much more heat and light then it is reflecting. I was contemplating spray painting the outside of the rootchamber with flat white spray paint. Has anyone else tried this? thanks in advance

havent tried it but I would think a gloss white would be better

im pretty sure i read flat is actually more reflective then gloss, thanks for the input though i will do some further research just to make sure which is right. Does anyone else take any measures to insulate their hydroponic root zone from hot HIDs? im open to any suggestion really, id even consider trying to insulate some way if i knew somebody else had success with it. Thanks

Some people use a material commonly found at your local hardware super store called Reflectix. It will insulate the reservoir/container as well as reflect some of the light back outwards.

Oh, and flat white is in fact more effective than glossy, you are correct.

Thanks for confirming the flat white for me, I also am currently using reflectix to insulate my reservoir which is outside of my actual grow room. The problem that I'm running into is that the system my plants are growing in is a really odd shape and reflectix with the bubble wrap is really a challenge to contour to the unit(it's a coliseum vertical unit. I guess with spray adhesive and a lot of time I could make it work, I was just hoping I could rattle can something onto it.

Well, give it a try. Unless your having extreme temp issues there's no reason you can't spray paint it. Though if the container is even partially clear, I've heard recommendations to spray paint the container black first, let it dry, then paint it white to ensure there are no light leaks.

the coliseum looks like this


it is made from thick opaque plastic so no light really makes it through, i just want to make sure that i am attacking the water temp problem before summer rolls around. I figure room temps will be of the greatest effect to temperature inside this thing, but i have to imagine that 12 hrs of direct light from 2000 watts some of it will be getting absorbed due to the "dark"(red) color.

it has a cool tube right? just a thing, make sure to get a paint that's good for plastics, there are a few and theyr pricey, is that flowers you're growing? how are they fed? dwc? look into water chillers or a/c maybe i don't know much about growing flowers lol

yep i do have cool tubes which help keep the room temp down. Im just trying to add some simple things to improve efficiency. I would rather not have to buy another peice of equipment that uses even more electricity, like a water chiller. BTW Thats not my picture so i cant take credit for those pretty flowers, I actually use it like a huge aeroponic system (intermittent mist feeding) which works great as i am able to create a root environment that is loaded with oxygen and nutrients. I am also able to maintain reservoir temps bellow acceptable levels, its just i want to take all steps necessary to not over heat the root area in between the mists of cool nutrient.

I've recently painted some totes also and had really good results. I can't stress enough on following the directions if you want it to make a nice bond. I used flat white automotive spraypaint for plastics from autozone with a primer that is designed to use with it.
I found the longer that you let the primer cure, like 24 hours, the stronger and better adhesion in the final product.
If you have any questions on the product or the steps I took feel free to ask and I'll try and answer them to the best of my ability

pazuzu, I just went to the store and got some krylon spray paint made for plastics, I think the suggestion you made about the primer is crucial. I may be heading back to the hardware store to pick up some primer. Thanks for the tip. Also what kind of results did you get from painting, did you notice a dramatic improvement in temperature control? I know that an answer to that question will be hard to quantify but any more info you can give me about what made it so successful would be great.

^^^^ Try to scuff the box up with a red scotch Brite pad. This will give it some bite "grip" for the paint when you spray it on there.