Stealth Refrigerator

I'm new to hydro growing but I'm jumping in the waters. i have a old fridge and am thinking great place to grow 4 or 5 plants. figured on mercury vapor for veg and hps for flower. Possibly upper freezer for germination and seedlings. I do like the DWC idea seems compact enough. open to any help with cooling and air flow.

I use a fridge to start and veg my clones. Very stealth, however the extreme insulation tends to keep heat inside. I run a 200 watt cfl and still can't start clones in the summer due to the reservoir building up to much heat. Not sure where u live but if the air temps are above 75 it will continue to climb. I can veg in potted soil year round with no problems and only use a seedling mat to heat it in the winter. I suppose you could run a chiller but that would take up half your space. You could also plumb it in from outside the unit but then you lose the stealth factor. Hope this helps. If you do run hydro and can make it work let me know your secret. I'd love to convert

Use a hole saw on the inside of that fridge & freezer with some high CFM PC fans installed in a push pull config with an old easily modded PSU from a computer (purchase used for 10 - 20 dollars). Make sure the holes are on the top and towards the back of the freezer part with some 180 degrees PVC elbows and run pipes down the backside of the box (or not) so no light can enter or escape + you can add in-line filters if you like.

I'm going with DWC for sure and really like the push pull idea. I'm in the NE so heat transfer fans for wood stoves are everywhere those should do the trick.I wonder what kind of headaches the winter will bring. THANX GUYS good stuff.

Mercury vapor sucks for growing...Use Metal halide for veg.

Hard to find around these parts but i was thinking the same thing. sooooo I'm on a quest for power.maybe home depot?

Maybe, they should have some metal halide security lights there! Well, they do in my branch!

sorry about the late response i have a very busy life and yes i found a security light a company was throwing out new in the box with 12 new bulbs.175 watt for free.but can i flower with these i also have a new t5 setup someone didn't want. what do you think.

Hey NOG....I'll be hangin' out in your thread now watching your build...Not sure how much I can offer for advice....But I am also doing something similar....I am going to convert an upright freezer into stealth grow box....My plant is 8 days old, and in a closet right now.....I'm on the hunt for the freezer.....

I have a thread here I started also, feel free to stop by anytime

hopefully I'll have pix of this build in a day or two. looking good thou.afraid of using mh lights.time will tell.

Hey man, I was just looking at the 12V HID lights on Ebay from china in the 55W category (4500+ lumens each) for around $50 (total + shipping) for a kit of 2 bulbs + 2 ballasts. The thing is that they are now available as low as 3000K HID and all the way up to 12,000K+. These kits are not really high powered but are easy to replace bulbs (around $10 a pair), are 12v (less heat and less noise from the ballasts) and they can be spaced out for best lighting.

I just ordered 1 kit (110w total power) with 3000K bulbs and 2 extra kits (1 kit to replace the 4300K lights I have now and one more for spare parts). Just my 2 cents instead of bigger lights that emit sound and more heat.

Edit: Forgot to mention that Xenon bulbs are full spectrum lights.

sounds great for tight quarters..good luck...

why wouldnt you use CFL for veg? or the whole thing? seems like a cheaper and solid way to veg and keep temps manageable

NOG, so far from what I gather keeping temps down will be an issue for us...Not only am I going with cfl's and maybe t5's because of cost but because of temp also

yes till i find a fix

NEWOLDGUY said:

sorry about the late response i have a very busy life and yes i found a security light a company was throwing out new in the box with 12 new bulbs.175 watt for free.but can i flower with these i also have a new t5 setup someone didn't want. what do you think.

Click to expand...

Nice! Use the metal halide for veg(if you can dial in temps), and maybe those T-5's for pre-veg or cloning!