Sealed with co2, do i ever need to vent?

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DWCgrower406

Well-Known Member
My room is all ready to switch over. Light has its own isolated venting, room has ac and dehumidifier. Already tested it sealed and i have no problem holding temp and humidity where i want without venting. Is there any other reason to vent occasionally if temp and humidity are good? What about at night? Just co2 off and plants are totally fine sealed?

Another question, i have solenoid regulator and ppm controller which i understand how to setup just fine, but the regulator has a flow rate adjustment. I assume high flow rate will result in a lot of on/off switching of the controller and you probably want it as low as you can get to minimize switching, but i have no idea where to start. I have a 5x5 room with a section to side, about 300 cubic feet. Is there an estimation of what flow rate i will need? Room is very well sealed. Walls sealed against concrete floor, door has gasket.
 
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DWCgrower406

Well-Known Member
Herb & Suds said:
You have to vent the room before entering
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Why? For safety reasons? 1500ppm is not a problem for people. Not uncommon for house to be between 1000 and 1500ppm just from breathing and not great ventilation. I mean its not super healthy to live at 1500ppm, but surely not a problem for going into a room short term. Do you mean for some other reason?
 
Herb & Suds

Herb & Suds

Well-Known Member
DWCgrower406 said:
Why? For safety reasons? 1500ppm is not a problem for people. Not uncommon for house to be between 1000 and 1500ppm just from breathing and not great ventilation. Do you mean for some other reason?
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I have a burner and I never enter till it is vented
Maybe it is overkill but messing with toxic gas isn't a good thing
 
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DWCgrower406

Well-Known Member
Herb & Suds said:
I have a burner and I never enter till it is vented
Maybe it is overkill but messing with toxic gas isn't a good thing
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It doesnt become a real problem until youre passing 4000ppm or so, even then it starts with headaches. I think you have to go much higher to really be in danger. In my case, i would need a failure of both the regulator and ppm controller to get into that situation. The flow rate id be running at would be pretty unlikely to reach dangerous levels even if controller is stuck open. I definitely wont be wasting gas by dumping it every time i enter. I very much doubt large commercial operations vent all their gas before anyone enters, but i guess you could argue their equipment is more reliable. I suppose i could add a co2 alarm to be safe.

Anyway, let me rephrase. For the sake of my plants health, is there any reason i would ever need to vent, like at night, if my temperature and humidity is good without venting?
 
kingromano

kingromano

Well-Known Member
no you never need to vent
and 1500ppm is nothing for us, in a room with a few people it will climb way higher
 
Herb & Suds

Herb & Suds

Well-Known Member
DWCgrower406 said:
It doesnt become a real problem until youre passing 4000ppm or so, even then it starts with headaches. I think you have to go much higher to really be in danger. In my case, i would need a failure of both the regulator and ppm controller to get into that situation. The flow rate id be running at would be pretty unlikely to reach dangerous levels even if controller is stuck open. I definitely wont be wasting gas by dumping it every time i enter. I very much doubt large commercial operations vent all their gas before anyone enters, but i guess you could argue their equipment is more reliable. I suppose i could add a co2 alarm to be safe.

Anyway, let me rephrase. For the sake of my plants health, is there any reason i would ever need to vent, like at night, if my temperature and humidity is good without venting?
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I have a dampered mechanical vent but if you have total control of the environment , NO
 
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DWCgrower406

Well-Known Member
kingromano said:
no you never need to vent
and 1500ppm is nothing for us, in a room with a few people it will climb way higher
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Sounds good, no venting it is.

I guess one other thing i wonder is if theres a higher lilelyhood of fungal issues like powdery mildew if you never vent. Maybe ill throw a merv13 filter on my ac just to be safe
 
kingromano

kingromano

Well-Known Member
with sealed room you have rh under control, stable temperatures, and you don't contaminate your room with outside air.

if you have good air circulation you will never get oidium or botrytis, even at 60% RH

your air conditionner will keep day/night temp close and avoid the RH spike during night, that cause fungal issues
 
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DWCgrower406

Well-Known Member
kingromano said:
with sealed room you have rh under control, stable temperatures, and you don't contaminate your room with outside air.

if you have good air circulation you will never get oidium or botrytis, even at 60% RH

your air conditionner will keep day/night temp close and avoid the RH spike during night, that cause fungal issues
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Ok. Originally i was hoping my ac would be enough to handle my humidity, but it didnt work out so well so i had to add a separate dehumidifier. Its a basement room so the slab wall and floor does a good job of pulling heat out. Even with 1400watts of hid in a sealed 5x5, the ac was barely coming on and humidity was sitting at 75 most of the time. I had a plan to add some solenoid controlled vents to mix in warm air from the condenser coil of the ac when i needed to drop humidity without cooling, but i decided it would be simpler to just add the separate dehumidifier. Now the environment will sit at exactly the temp and humidity i want.
 
Cptn

Cptn

Well-Known Member
DWCgrower406 said:
Sounds good, no venting it is.

I guess one other thing i wonder is if theres a higher lilelyhood of fungal issues like powdery mildew if you never vent. Maybe ill throw a merv13 filter on my ac just to be safe
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These guys are wrong.
Humans may be able to remain conscious at high levels, I ran my rooms up past 4000 ppm when I was building them. I got dizzy and a serious headache. Had to vent the room to continue working. No bid deal I guess as there was no smell to worry about.

It's a much bigger issue when it goes too high for the plants. When that happens, stomatas close up tight and transpiration STOPS.
At that point, CO2 levels will not drop unless you get it out of there somehow and bring in O2.
With plants in there stinking up the place, not having a well thought out system with carbon filtered exhaust will seriously increase the risk of smells escaping.
In a small sealed space, already running CO2 near the top of what the plant can use, it is easy increase the levels by a couple 100 PPM just by hanging out in the room with them and working.

"Shit happens."
Being prepared for it now will mean less risk and faster recovery if the "impossible" becomes reality.
 
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DWCgrower406

Well-Known Member
Cptn said:
These guys are wrong.
Humans may be able to remain conscious at high levels, I ran my rooms up past 4000 ppm when I was building them. I got dizzy and a serious headache. Had to vent the room to continue working. No bid deal I guess as there was no smell to worry about.

It's a much bigger issue when it goes too high for the plants. When that happens, stomatas close up tight and transpiration STOPS.
At that point, CO2 levels will not drop unless you get it out of there somehow and bring in O2.
With plants in there stinking up the place, not having a well thought out system with carbon filtered exhaust will seriously increase the risk of smells escaping.
In a small sealed space, already running CO2 near the top of what the plant can use, it is easy increase the levels by a couple 100 PPM just by hanging out in the room with them and working.

"Shit happens."
Being prepared for it now will mean less risk and faster recovery if the "impossible" becomes reality.
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I dont think anyone would argue hanging out in 4000ppm will cause problems. Why did you have your room up at 4000ppm? 1500 is already at the point of diminishing returns.
 
Cptn

Cptn

Well-Known Member
DWCgrower406 said:
I dont think anyone would argue hanging out in 4000ppm will cause problems. Why did you have your room up at 4000ppm? 1500 is already at the point of diminishing returns.
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You missed the part "...when I was building them" I hit 4000ppm just from breathing.
No plants in there, but I had the CO2 sensor installed and running.
I never ran my rooms at more than 1100 ppm when growing.
Tanks BTW, no burners for me.
 
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