Temp problems in 600w "under bed" setup. need suggestions.

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gcrumpets

Well-Known Member
Im having some temp issues right now, Ive never been able to get my temps lower than 79-81F average, but recently I sealed off my "room" to make 2 seperate lighting areas and have more of an issue now.

heres my setup, i have a 8'x4' bed that is elevated 44". underneath is where I grow. 3 sides are covered with wood, one side has a removable door panel where I can access the grow room

inside I have one 38"x30" Veg room witth 24 6500k CFL's, it has a 4" intake powered by a small 90cfm inline fan, it has one 6" 140cfm exhuast, that exhuast into the flowering room. ( veg room has 13 plants currently)

the flowering room is 38" x 25", with 1 600w HPS cooltube (6in), there is a 8" centrifugal (745cfm) acting as the exhuast fan for the light and pulling air from the room thru the light and out a carbon filter located outside of the bed, in the bedroom, this flowering room also has a 4" intake powered by the same 90cfm fan (the fan is hooked to a duct that goes to both veg and flower rooms). (currently has 8 plants)

right now my temps are around 85F for both room with the doors open, so thats like them both having a 3 square foot passive intake on one side. i closed the door on the flower room for 5min and the temp shot up to 90F.

what should I do? i wanna have my temps down around 79F, both cabs are under an elevated bed and the temp in the room surrounding is around 72-75. Do I add more exhuast fans for each cab? portable a/c? (although theres no room for it under the bed, maybe have it outside with ducting taking the cold air through each cabinet)

any help is MUCH appreciated.
 
G

gcrumpets

Well-Known Member
heres some,

shots of both rooms.IMG_0060.jpgIMG_0062.jpgIMG_0061.jpgIMG_0059.jpgIMG_0063.jpgIMG_0058.jpg

might also be noteworthy that my light itself isnt too hot, i can put my hand right on the glass surrounding the bulb no problem, the radiant heat is just spiking the room temp too much.
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
i think the room is faulty cuz you crammed a 600 in there, especially given your height. anyway your venting is also faulty. had you placed 2 fans as exhaust with passive intake venting would be better. still wont solve the problem IMO. i suggest you rethink a place for a grow cuz it seems your already setup. maybe a tent or a corner in the house. if your really jammed maybe raise the bed (lmao) use the entire space below as flowering then make a small cloning closet somewhere else... hahaha i'm really stoned
 
G

gcrumpets

Well-Known Member
ive already had 3 harvest from this bed setup, its the best we have (in an apartment), i have actually raised the bed 8" since i started, it used to be only 3ft tall but i built it up to 44" due to... heat, the 8" raise brought me down from 88-90 to 80-84. I only grow autos under here thus far so height hasnt been a big concern.

but you think 600w is too much? maybe an all out switch to T5 fixtures is in my future.
 
legallyflying

legallyflying

Well-Known Member
I have to agree with the above poster. You need at least 12" under the 600. So take that distance plus about 6" for hangers and shit and you have 26" to grow with. Now add a foot for your containers... And you have around 12-18" as total plant height (measured from top of pot). And if I may say so, your electrical cords look like a fire hazard from hell.

But anyways, if you don't want to get more headroom I would suggest the following...

Go to lowes or home depot and buy some of the foil bubble wrap insulation (radiant heat shield). Wrap the top of your hood and vent hoses with it. It WILL reduce temps that are resulting from the hot surfaces of the hood and ducting.

Next, Get some REAL exhaust fans. You currently have those super cheesy piece of shit booster fans installed. I would highly recommend at least one (two would be much better) 10" hydrofarm inline booster fans. They are high quality, actually throw air near their rating and are fairly quiet. These ones...not any other brand...
http://www.horticulturesource.com/product_info.php?products_id=6387

Mount it up high and exhaust out. You should probably buy another one and actively blow air around plant height.

The only way your going to regulate temps is by blowing shit loads of fresh air in their. You may also think about blocking the heat vents in that room when the lights are on. Fucking bunk bed grow, now I have seen it all. :)

Hope this helps.
 
legallyflying

legallyflying

Well-Known Member
600 probably a little overkill but fuck it, you have them. Deal with the heat and you will definitely like the yields. Just don't burn them..
 
G

gcrumpets

Well-Known Member
lol, yea, the ext cords are chillin like that just cuz i threw em all to together to take some pics, im in the middle of lightproofing the outside of the bed for some added stealth. the goal is to have it completed consealed under the bed with only some ducting and a carbon filter on the outside....

im gonna yank the 600w and replace it with 24 2700k CFL's just so i can see how much my temp drops.

I do have one decent fan (semi decent) its the cheapo 8" 745cfm centrif fan from HTGsupply, it moves hella air out the cooltube but sounds like a goddamn turbine running, got a DIY muffler and insulated ducting so i can still sleep in the same room.
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
gcrumpets said:
ive already had 3 harvest from this bed setup, its the best we have (in an apartment), i have actually raised the bed 8" since i started, it used to be only 3ft tall but i built it up to 44" due to... heat, the 8" raise brought me down from 88-90 to 80-84. I only grow autos under here thus far so height hasnt been a big concern.

but you think 600w is too much? maybe an all out switch to T5 fixtures is in my future.
Click to expand...
well yeah 600 is too much for both the squared feet and the height but if you had more heigh, you could've worked something. you could maybe get a 400 in there with autos or a 250 hps. it would suck to go from hps to t5 i dont think you have to go there. if you think it through you can fit a 400 in there, and man you gota see what i can get under a 400w another thought is you can grow the whole space from seeds till harvest one room more area to flower and more bud. you need a minimum of 50watts per sq.ft, 60-70 would be ok, but when you go to 100 lol you have too much light. you could always find a box or small closet to start seedlings.
 
G

gcrumpets

Well-Known Member
so perhaps if i had like a 7ftx3.5ft area under the bed with just the 600w hps? that would be around 25sqft, seems like a lot for a 600w hps but being that i only have 44" of height to play with....

well right now im thinking the smartest thing would be to not use the 600w under the bed, just use all CFLs.. 24 of them (23watt) should give me about 38400 lumens, which is about 6400lu/sqft in the flower room, 4800 in the veg.

build a new box, like 3'x3'x6' and stick the hps in there.

i just got the HPS half way thru my last harvest, started using it when my auto lemon skunk was already 5-6 weeks old and didnt see much difference from my cfl yields. so perhaps i should stick to cfls for the bed.... theyve given me good smoke thus far.
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
i think your space is right for vertical. you could remove the whole reflector hang the lamp in the middle and place the plats in a circle around it, use your sq.ft. place both fans as exhaust with big enough passive intake holes. that would be cool!
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
gcrumpets said:
so perhaps if i had like a 7ftx3.5ft area under the bed with just the 600w hps? that would be around 25sqft, seems like a lot for a 600w hps but being that i only have 44" of height to play with....

well right now im thinking the smartest thing would be to not use the 600w under the bed, just use all CFLs.. 24 of them (23watt) should give me about 38400 lumens, which is about 6400lu/sqft in the flower room, 4800 in the veg.

build a new box, like 3'x3'x6' and stick the hps in there.

i just got the HPS half way thru my last harvest, started using it when my auto lemon skunk was already 5-6 weeks old and didnt see much difference from my cfl yields. so perhaps i should stick to cfls for the bed.... theyve given me good smoke thus far.
Click to expand...
the 600w is very efficient, could light up as much as 4x4 becuz it gives higher lumen per watt. i would at least make it 3x4. this 600 you got will make you laugh at your previous harvests if used right ;)
 
G

gcrumpets

Well-Known Member
zem said:
i think your space is right for vertical. you could remove the whole reflector hang the lamp in the middle and place the plats in a circle around it, use your sq.ft. place both fans as exhaust with big enough passive intake holes. that would be cool!
Click to expand...
that is an interesting idea... like have the cooltube(no reflector inside) pointed towards the ground? with plants circling around... would that achieve the same light spread? like would the plants have to be stacked stadium style to get enough light if they werent directly next to the tube.
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
gcrumpets said:
that is an interesting idea... like have the cooltube(no reflector inside) pointed towards the ground? with plants circling around... would that achieve the same light spread? like would the plants have to be stacked stadium style to get enough light if they werent directly next to the tube.
Click to expand...
yeah thats pretty exact, you can grow them around the light pointed down.
 
G

gcrumpets

Well-Known Member
so after a night of thinking and reviewing my finances.... ive decided to only use CFLs under the bed, ill be replacing the 600w HPS with 24 23w CFL's, not as good as the hps but should still give me 6000lumns/sqft.


i wont let the hps go to waste though, also purchasing a 32"x32"x60" grow tent. and a 6" 400cfm fan... that should be enough room and vent power to keep the tent cool right?

this way i can have a veg room and 2 flower rooms... i have 6 photoperiod plants vegging with 7 autos right now so ill need 2 seperate flower rooms in the near future anyway, the autos dont like anything less than 18/6.

thanks everyone, i gave some rep to you dudes with good answers :blsmoke:
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
well the tent should be 3x4 or 4x4' the one your gettin is 2'8"x2'8" its small. i'm only tryin to help you get the most out of the light
 
cowboylogic

cowboylogic

Well-Known Member
gcrumpets said:
Im having some temp issues right now, Ive never been able to get my temps lower than 79-81F average, but recently I sealed off my "room" to make 2 seperate lighting areas and have more of an issue now.

heres my setup, i have a 8'x4' bed that is elevated 44". underneath is where I grow. 3 sides are covered with wood, one side has a removable door panel where I can access the grow room

inside I have one 38"x30" Veg room witth 24 6500k CFL's, it has a 4" intake powered by a small 90cfm inline fan, it has one 6" 140cfm exhuast, that exhuast into the flowering room. ( veg room has 13 plants currently)

the flowering room is 38" x 25", with 1 600w HPS cooltube (6in), there is a 8" centrifugal (745cfm) acting as the exhuast fan for the light and pulling air from the room thru the light and out a carbon filter located outside of the bed, in the bedroom, this flowering room also has a 4" intake powered by the same 90cfm fan (the fan is hooked to a duct that goes to both veg and flower rooms). (currently has 8 plants)

right now my temps are around 85F for both room with the doors open, so thats like them both having a 3 square foot passive intake on one side. i closed the door on the flower room for 5min and the temp shot up to 90F.

what should I do? i wanna have my temps down around 79F, both cabs are under an elevated bed and the temp in the room surrounding is around 72-75. Do I add more exhuast fans for each cab? portable a/c? (although theres no room for it under the bed, maybe have it outside with ducting taking the cold air through each cabinet)

any help is MUCH appreciated.
Click to expand...
Reduce the temperature in the surrounding room.
 
G

gcrumpets

Well-Known Member
well with the space i have to put the tent i can do 32"x32" or even a 48"x24", i thought the square shape would be better but the 48x24 would have a bit more square footage.... those are just the sizes i found available for around $100, my max space would be 48"x36"

and
i cant reduce the surrounding temps, im in an apt building and since its december, the a/c is off and the heat is on. i leave my heat off, but with the exhuast coming out the carbon filter next to the bed, the room stays in the lower 70's.
 
cowboylogic

cowboylogic

Well-Known Member
gcrumpets said:
well with the space i have to put the tent i can do 32"x32" or even a 48"x24", i thought the square shape would be better but the 48x24 would have a bit more square footage.... those are just the sizes i found available for around $100, my max space would be 48"x36"

and
i cant reduce the surrounding temps, im in an apt building and since its december, the a/c is off and the heat is on. i leave my heat off, but with the exhuast coming out the carbon filter next to the bed, the room stays in the lower 70's.
Click to expand...
Then you will just have to deal with the temps. The average growroom is about 10 degrees warmer than the surrounding area or lungroom. Short of adding AC that is..... 80-85 is not all that bad. Will just slow growth a bit.......
 
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