Hey guys,
I've been reading this thread for a while, and trying to learn something. Taking my inspiration from the PC grows, I decided to build a grow box with something that I already had, a two drawer filing cabinet.
I removed the bottom from top drawer, an the dimensions are 22" tall, 22' deep, and 14" wide. I guess as far as the height and depth, it's not a lot bigger than the PC case, however I do have greater width. Hopefully this will allow me to use a larger volume container to have more room for root growth. The total area comes in at just under 4 cu ft.
At this point I have (4) 26 watt CFL's mounted at the top ( I left about 6" clear above to allow heat to rise). I have a 120mm exhaust fan rated at 78 cfm mounted in the area above the lights. I have the same size intake fan mounted towards the bottom of the cabinet.
With 4 cu ft of cabinet space, and 78 cfm rated fans, I'm completely exhanging the air in the cabinet almost 20 times per minute. Probably not that many times, because obviously it's not operating at maximum efficiency, but still pretty good.
My temps at the bottom of the cabinet directly across from the intake fan is holding steady at 78 degrees. If I move the thermometer to the same side as the fan so that it is not blowing directly on it, it is holding at around 86 degrees.
However, if I place my thermometer centered in the cabinet a couple inches directly beneath my lights, it is around 96 degrees. I have the intake fan blowing as close as I can get it beneath the lights.
I don't think that I can really do any better than this.
Has anyone ever really checked their temperatures directly beneath their lights within a couple of inches?
Would Plexiglass beneath the lights help?
In an area approximately 8 inches below the lights its around 92 degrees.
I haven't started trying to grow yet, I'm trying to get everything working right first. At some point, I plan on adding a couple more lights on the sides.
Thanks