Ventilation and heat issues

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DoubleX5150

Well-Known Member
Hey everyone. I've been growing a single plant with a 125w CFL and I'm on week 8 of flowering. I recently upgraded to two 600w viparspectar LED lights. Actual wattage is ~225 on each housing. The reason why I bought two is because I'm growing in a 3.5ft x 3.5ft x 6ft tent and these lights only cover a 2ft x 2ft area during flowering. The problem I'm having is that my tent is way too hot. With the lights on I was running 85F!! With the CFL I was hovering around 73F with the light on.
My question is this too much light for my tent? I bought the LEDs because I had read so much about how it keeps temperature and electricity costs down. Also because I plan on starting 4 plants as soon as I harvest my Clementine.
Here is what my set up looks like. I took my plant out so you can see it better (and because I'm embarrassed of my lack of FIMing)
I had to shorten the length of the hanging wires because my plant is just too tall, that's my fault though because I didn't do much training in the early stages
6in inline fan attached to ducting which pushes the airflow outside. I will say that the fan is a few years old so it probably isn't blowing as hard as it should.
2 clip ons to circulate the airflow inside. I added the 20in box fan but I'm not sure it's really doing any good. Just blowing hot air around.
Any suggestions? Is it even possible for me to have normal temperatures in such a small space? Should I send one of the LEDs back?
 

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Beachwalker

Well-Known Member
Couldn't read it all but I got the gist of it;
A quick fix is to use one light over that one plant and cut your heat in half

and then for your next grow figure out what you want to do, make a plan and if it's two lights then you'll need to think about ventilation fans and all that going forward, good luck
 
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DoubleX5150

Well-Known Member
Beachwalker said:
Couldn't read it all but I got the gist of it;
A quick fix is to use one light over that one plant and cut your heat in half

and then for your next grow figure out what you want to do, make a plan and if it's two lights then you'll need to think about ventilation fans and all that going forward, good luck
Click to expand...
That's probably what I'm going to do. Remove one of the LEDs. I only switched to the LEDs for this last week because I'm trying to fatten up some of the popcorn buds that were covered by the canopy.
 
blowincherrypie

blowincherrypie

Well-Known Member
DoubleX5150 said:
Hey everyone. I've been growing a single plant with a 125w CFL and I'm on week 8 of flowering. I recently upgraded to two 600w viparspectar LED lights. Actual wattage is ~225 on each housing. The reason why I bought two is because I'm growing in a 3.5ft x 3.5ft x 6ft tent and these lights only cover a 2ft x 2ft area during flowering. The problem I'm having is that my tent is way too hot. With the lights on I was running 85F!! With the CFL I was hovering around 73F with the light on.
My question is this too much light for my tent? I bought the LEDs because I had read so much about how it keeps temperature and electricity costs down. Also because I plan on starting 4 plants as soon as I harvest my Clementine.
Here is what my set up looks like. I took my plant out so you can see it better (and because I'm embarrassed of my lack of FIMing)
I had to shorten the length of the hanging wires because my plant is just too tall, that's my fault though because I didn't do much training in the early stages
6in inline fan attached to ducting which pushes the airflow outside. I will say that the fan is a few years old so it probably isn't blowing as hard as it should.
2 clip ons to circulate the airflow inside. I added the 20in box fan but I'm not sure it's really doing any good. Just blowing hot air around.
Any suggestions? Is it even possible for me to have normal temperatures in such a small space? Should I send one of the LEDs back?
Click to expand...
Send both of them back if you can.. If you can get strips/QBs you can properly light things with less heat(watts).

what kind of fan are you working with and where are you exhausting to? Unless your ambient is really high you shouldnt be that high if your exhausting properly
 
Lordhooha

Lordhooha

Well-Known Member
DoubleX5150 said:
Hey everyone. I've been growing a single plant with a 125w CFL and I'm on week 8 of flowering. I recently upgraded to two 600w viparspectar LED lights. Actual wattage is ~225 on each housing. The reason why I bought two is because I'm growing in a 3.5ft x 3.5ft x 6ft tent and these lights only cover a 2ft x 2ft area during flowering. The problem I'm having is that my tent is way too hot. With the lights on I was running 85F!! With the CFL I was hovering around 73F with the light on.
My question is this too much light for my tent? I bought the LEDs because I had read so much about how it keeps temperature and electricity costs down. Also because I plan on starting 4 plants as soon as I harvest my Clementine.
Here is what my set up looks like. I took my plant out so you can see it better (and because I'm embarrassed of my lack of FIMing)
I had to shorten the length of the hanging wires because my plant is just too tall, that's my fault though because I didn't do much training in the early stages
6in inline fan attached to ducting which pushes the airflow outside. I will say that the fan is a few years old so it probably isn't blowing as hard as it should.
2 clip ons to circulate the airflow inside. I added the 20in box fan but I'm not sure it's really doing any good. Just blowing hot air around.
Any suggestions? Is it even possible for me to have normal temperatures in such a small space? Should I send one of the LEDs back?
Click to expand...
Where are you venting the air too? Back in the same room? If that’s the case your just sucking that hot air right back into the tent so there the main thing.
 
D

DoubleX5150

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
Are any of the bottom vents open?
Click to expand...
Yes, I actually used to have another 6in inline fan at a bottom vent but it broke on me and I didn't want to spend the money for a new one. There is also another mesh vent next to it, basically where the box fan is leaning up against. It has a Velcro attachment but I've been leaving it open the entire grow.

blowincherrypie said:
Send both of them back if you can.. If you can get strips/QBs you can properly light things with less heat(watts).

what kind of fan are you working with and where are you exhausting to? Unless your ambient is really high you shouldnt be that high if your exhausting properly
Click to expand...
I was actually going to create my own board eventually but just wanted to try out a grow or two using these Chinese LEDs.
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Lordhooha said:
Where are you venting the air too? Back in the same room? If that’s the case your just sucking that hot air right back into the tent so there the main thing.
Click to expand...
The inline fan is placed directly above the lights, it's placed inside one of the circular vents. Ducting is connected to it which is routed to a window. So the air is getting pushed to the outside. No carbon filter but I live in a legal state so it's not a huge priority for me.
 
blowincherrypie

blowincherrypie

Well-Known Member
DoubleX5150 said:
Yes, I actually used to have another 6in inline fan at a bottom vent but it broke on me and I didn't want to spend the money for a new one. There is also another mesh vent next to it, basically where the box fan is leaning up against. It has a Velcro attachment but I've been leaving it open the entire grow.


I was actually going to create my own board eventually but just wanted to try out a grow or two using these Chinese LEDs.
.



The inline fan is placed directly above the lights, it's placed inside one of the circular vents. Ducting is connected to it which is routed to a window. So the air is getting pushed to the outside. No carbon filter but I live in a legal state so it's not a huge priority for me.
Click to expand...
something doesnt make sense.. without a filter a 6" should be getting plenty of exchange so there should be minimal heat buildup. You have a link to your inline fan? What is the ambient temp?
 
Lordhooha

Lordhooha

Well-Known Member
blowincherrypie said:
something doesnt make sense.. without a filter a 6" should be getting plenty of exchange so there should be minimal heat buildup. You have a link to your inline fan? What is the ambient temp?
Click to expand...
I'm with you it shouldn't be getting that hot at all especially with the lighting being utilized.
 
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DoubleX5150

Well-Known Member
blowincherrypie said:
something doesnt make sense.. without a filter a 6" should be getting plenty of exchange so there should be minimal heat buildup. You have a link to your inline fan? What is the ambient temp?
Click to expand...
I checked the temp right before I went to sleep last night when the lights were off and it was down to 70F.
I can't post the inline fan link because of my post count. But it's
SUNCOURT Inductor 6-in Dia Galvanized Steel Axial Duct Fan from Lowe's
I used to have two but one of them stopped working by the time I started my second grow. When I put my hand up to it, I can feel the suction of air. Now I'm starting to think that it's only working at 25% capacity because there's no reason why 500 actual watts should be heating my tent up so much. It's 60F outside right now, windows open, yet my tent is still hovering around 88F. I think I'm going to buckle down and buy some new inlines.
 
blowincherrypie

blowincherrypie

Well-Known Member
DoubleX5150 said:
I checked the temp right before I went to sleep last night when the lights were off and it was down to 70F.
I can't post the inline fan link because of my post count. But it's
SUNCOURT Inductor 6-in Dia Galvanized Steel Axial Duct Fan from Lowe's
I used to have two but one of them stopped working by the time I started my second grow. When I put my hand up to it, I can feel the suction of air. Now I'm starting to think that it's only working at 25% capacity because there's no reason why 500 actual watts should be heating my tent up so much. It's 60F outside right now, windows open, yet my tent is still hovering around 88F. I think I'm going to buckle down and buy some new inlines.
Click to expand...
thats a duct fan.. you can find a good enough inline fan on amazon for like $50-60
 
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DoubleX5150

Well-Known Member
Ah I always referred to them as inlines. Just ordered a proper inline fan with a speed controller 740 CFM. Since this thing is so powerful I might get a "Y" connector and use the duct fan for a small clone/veg tent that I'm in the process of building. Already bought some emergency mylar blankets to line the walls with.
 
blowincherrypie

blowincherrypie

Well-Known Member
DoubleX5150 said:
Ah I always referred to them as inlines. Just ordered a proper inline fan with a speed controller 740 CFM. Since this thing is so powerful I might get a "Y" connector and use the duct fan for a small clone/veg tent that I'm in the process of building. Already bought some emergency mylar blankets to line the walls with.
Click to expand...
that may be a bit overkill.. if you get a good variable transformer(variac) you can turn it almost all the way down. The cheaper $20 joints usually cant go below 50-60% and are fire hazards imo. Since you're in a legal area and probably not as concerned about noise a 6" at full speed is more than plenty for a 3.5x3.5
 
Kingrow1

Kingrow1

Well-Known Member
That box fan is useless, grow tent not a wind tunnel.

Read ambients away from the lights, light radiation is not what your trying to read. A hard concept for some :-)
 
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PinPin

Active Member
DoubleX5150 said:
2 clip ons to circulate the airflow inside. I added the 20in box fan but I'm not sure it's really doing any good. Just blowing hot air around.
Any suggestions? Is it even possible for me to have normal temperatures in such a small space? Should I send one of the LEDs back?
Click to expand...
Do not send them back, they are not bad for their prices. Open the bottom vent in your tent, take the big fan that is shown on your picture next to the vent outside. Then put the fan as close to that vent outside of your tent as possible and run it when lights are on. This way the cold air from outside will be pushed inside by the fan through the vent and hot air that stays at the top of your tent will be pushed out through top vents in your tent.
 
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DoubleX5150

Well-Known Member
Thank you very much for the advice. Here's what my set up looks like now. The inline fan is so strong!!! It's borderline overkill even on the lowest setting, but it's doing wonders for keeping the temperature down! Tent is hovering around 71ºF now. I just bought 4 clones from the dispensary yesterday, to be honest they kind of looked like shit but very few places around here sell clones. Hopefully they will start looking better once the roots become bound. Strains: Big Diesel x2, Tangie G, and Mob Boss

Thanks again guys, I love the growing community of this site.

 

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Walter9999

Walter9999

Well-Known Member
Having you considered leaving the tent flap wide open when convenient and closing it only when necessary i.e. Lights out??? Even if you did it part time it would easily reduce some of the heat issues
 
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Ford20

Member
Good to hear that you got a proper fan. As you probably know now those inline fan boosters are not designed to move much air on their own. I bought one many moons ago when I started growing and I quickly realized that fan wasn’t worth more then the box it came in.
 
Kingrow1

Kingrow1

Well-Known Member
I stress again we are not looking to make wind tunnels, if you have too mucch extraction you will have to buy lesser.

Air temps are controlled by keeping your room at the right levels not by exhausting till you wind cool your thermometer.
 
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