My attic grow room construction

bryant228 said:

I've thought of the attic fan idea. The only problem is I might need 2-3 of them because of how my roof is divided. That is still an option for me. As far as the shingle color goes. I'm pretty far away from having my roof redone. And yes, of course my shingles are black. They werent doing alot of "green construction" back when my house was built.

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bryant228 said:

I have thought of that. They have those wireless webcams. More for security then anything else. Someone here has to have done that at some point.

Why don't YOU guys do it first and let me know how it works out

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Mr.Funk said:

I heard a while ago like a light blue color will attract the sunlight if you are growing outside.

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bryant228 said:

Well, I had to install an exhaust vent today. Was not fun hanging on the roof. I needed to vent it away from the house towards the back. My air handler is located right next to the grow room, so the room will be heated and cooled. And I already know I'm going to need a portable AC for the hot summer months. I'm at the end of framing right now. Wait till you see the rest of the pics.

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cain129 said:

tap your handler and run a 7" A/C duct with baffle.

Construction, building design, wife and husband professionals, in the evening and all weekend smoker. I think we live the same life...LOL!

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bryant228 said:

Ok, another update. Got my intake vent for the cooltube put in place. Had to make my own flange. Then I saw one online that would have been perfect. I'm going to order a couple for the cooltube exhaust and room exhaust fans. They say they were made for grow tents. See below:
http://www.4hydroponics.com/grow_room/dualflange.asp

I also started putting up the insulation. What a bitch! I'ts just messy and cumbersome. And the staple gun I was using wasn't helping either. Started cramping up my hand. So I said fuck that and went and bought an electric stapler. I will never use a hand stapler again. Thats it for now. Order about a $1000 of eguipment so there is no backing out now.

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bryant228 said:

Thanks for the comments.

If you can, and you have the means, I would go with a window unit. I've done EXTENSIVE research on the portable a/c units and the don't hold up to the old window units. And the portable ones cost alittle more. Unfortunatly, mine will have to be a portable unit because of the odd shape and construction of my room.

Any airconditioner is going to bring your elec bills up and run alot longer, but alot of guys here to work with them ok. I'm guessing one will cost you 20-40 dollars a month.

If your fan is too big for your room, then yes, I think it would pull the cool air out before it has time to cool the room. Both of my fans move 424 cfm. One does seem to do the trick. I've plugged both in and they would suck my door shut! So 848 cfm was too much for my room bscause it was sucking hot air from my attic into my room through unsealed areas. The 424 might be alittle too big as well. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

LOL,I havn't even bought one yet, so maybe I'm not the best person to ask about this. But I've researched them for about 2 years now. I'm kinda waiting till I really have to have one. I'm waiting for one real hot day to put my main house a/c on and see what it does for the grow room.

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bryant228 said:

Waaaaaay ahead of you. Our powder room is right under the grow room. So I just took that duct work and routed it to the room. The veg room has noooo problem staying cool. The flower room is heating up though with the 600watt HPS. I'm going to wait as long I can to get a portable AC unit.


Thanks for the sikk thread! + rep It has helped me with what I am working on now a great deal.

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cain129 said:

But if you come straight from the central A/C with an 8" duct and tie it in at the grow rooms floor level, all of the hot air at the top of the room would suck out before the cool with and exhaust fan. A vacuum will form in the 8" A/C distribution duct and supply a constant fresh cool air supply from the unseal A/C unit that has the least resistance path straight from the house filter.??? right?

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eric1589 said:

sort of. if the exhaust is pulling air out of the room, and there is an a/c vent supplying the room, air will be pulled through the a/c vent into the attic room. even with the air conditioner off.

how ever, its not going to pull that air from the filter. it will more likely pull the air through the largest or closest supply vent, in another room. it may pull a little bit of air from several different places, maybe even a little bit through return, where the filter is located. it depends on where the grow room vent is tapped into the central air.

be sure not to use too much exhaust. if you are, then you are just pulling conditioned air out of your house, through your grow room, and dumping it outside, or in the attic. big waste of money.

id recomend using a thermistor switch. set it to run the exhaust when the room gets too hot. the thermistor switch will shut the exhaust off whenever the room is at or below its desired temperature. also, where the exhaust draws the air in(the air to be exhausted), should be at or near the highest point in the room, to ensure you are removing the hottest air first.

then you can wire in a seperate switch, parallel to the first one. you can use a light switch to run the exhaust when ever you want to. like just before entering or exiting the room' to help keep odor from escaping.

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eric1589 said:

dont wait untill you are ready to have your roof replaced. i believe you can just paint the shingles. i see contractors driving around all the time with something on the sides of their trucks mentioning roof painting.

you could just roll some white paint on with a roller or spray it on with a sprayer. either way having your roof white will help keep your house cooler and reduce energy consumption.

if you are not COMPLETELY convinced, by what i say, to paint your roof white. atleast research it online.

as far as needing more then one fan. are the different areas of your attic completely isolated from each other?

a dont put off installing a fan untill you do all 3. if you just install one, for now. the energy savings will help you save some extra cash to get the others done sooner. assuming cost is a factor.

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Nick E.S.P said:

hey good luck on your journey I'm doing a small litle growbox in my attic do you think the smell would murk into my house from my attic like how strong is the smell is it worse than like a rat dying up there? Pls help

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bryant228 said:

LOL, I've never heard of painting the shingles. Cedar shake shingles, yes. Never ashphalt. But, their doing all sorts of crazy energy savings shit now a days. I'll have to look into this. Thanks

An attic fan will not really give me very much bang for my buck. But it's still on the table for a method come july. I think my temps should stay ok till then.

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eric1589 said:

sort of. if the exhaust is pulling air out of the room, and there is an a/c vent supplying the room, air will be pulled through the a/c vent into the attic room. even with the air conditioner off.

how ever, its not going to pull that air from the filter. it will more likely pull the air through the largest or closest supply vent, in another room. it may pull a little bit of air from several different places, maybe even a little bit through return, where the filter is located. it depends on where the grow room vent is tapped into the central air.

be sure not to use too much exhaust. if you are, then you are just pulling conditioned air out of your house, through your grow room, and dumping it outside, or in the attic. big waste of money.

id recomend using a thermistor switch. set it to run the exhaust when the room gets too hot. the thermistor switch will shut the exhaust off whenever the room is at or below its desired temperature. also, where the exhaust draws the air in(the air to be exhausted), should be at or near the highest point in the room, to ensure you are removing the hottest air first.

then you can wire in a seperate switch, parallel to the first one. you can use a light switch to run the exhaust when ever you want to. like just before entering or exiting the room' to help keep odor from escaping.

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