Ventilation questions.

anomolies

anomolies

Well-Known Member
These are 2 different situations / grow spaces. I've never really got the concept of ventilation because all the explanations I've seen don't go into detail.

I'm not concerned about keeping air in because I'm not using a C02 system.

Would rather not leave the central AC on because that thing uses like 3000-4000 w

Closet grow with door left wide open.
If you have a window thats is less than 10 feet directly opposite of your grow room, along with a fan inside the grow room for air circulation, is that good enough?

\\

I can't exactly go drilling holes in the wall and I'm not sure venting into the air duct is a good idea either since the air ducts will become really hot on a cold day.
 
K

Kodank Moment

Well-Known Member
Well I don't know how "hot" you are going to have your grow room. 75 F isn't scorching sir...so don't worry about your HEATING vents getting to hot. Leaving a window open? Why not just put a sign on your front door inviting thieves and police in telling them you have a grow room. That room is gonna stink and leaving a window open...wow I can't even believe you thought of that. If your venting to the outside you need a carbon scrubber and some vortex fans to pull the air OUT of the room. You're gonna need more then the summer breeze from your window. How bout you read some more before you end up in jail because I am very sure there is a FAQ thread that answers most of your venting questions. I just covered the main reasons and precautions.
 
desertrat

desertrat

Well-Known Member
first, are you at all concerned about smell? - and to answer the question for you - yes, you should be concerned about smell. even if you're growing as a legal caregiver you are inviting thieves if you don't control smell. neither of your options will work to control smell.

basically, you want to seal a grow room except for where you specifically want to vent. and you need to treat the air before you exhaust. a typical ventilation system for 1,000 to 2,000 watts would be: carbon filter at top of room ->fan->ducting->aircooled hood->ducting->exhaust and a separate room exhaust and one room entry. you'd need 3 good fans. you can use your home's return vents for exhaust and your home's delivery vents for incoming air.
 
anomolies

anomolies

Well-Known Member
Well I was thinking of using a carbon scrubber panel on the window screen to control the smell. I really don't want to seal the room as it's connected to the space that I sleep in. I don't have any other place to grow in.

I have a bathroom return vent that expels moisture but I don't think the fan suction is that strong, and it is at least 20 feet away from the grow space. That wouldn't work would it

btw my question isn't answered in the newbie central section.
So where is this FAQ you speak of which answers my question on how to vent a grow room where the only exhaust is 20 feet away and I can't drill holes in the walls
 
desertrat

desertrat

Well-Known Member
if you put a carbon screen on your window but don't seal the space your whole house/apartment will smell. people use a grow box or grow tent in your situation.
 
desertrat

desertrat

Well-Known Member
i going to try to help you, so please be patient. your plan is not practical. you are vastly underestimating the heat a couple of 1000 watt lights will produce and you are vastly underestimating how much smell you get from the number of plants you can raise under that much light. if you were doing a personal grow of a couple of plants with a couple of cfl's then heat and smell can be handled easily. your scale, not so much.

the only practical growing space i see is the closet. the only practical cooling i see is a/c or involves cutting through walls. assuming you are doing this for economic reasons then the cost of a/c or the cost of making holes and fixing them when you move is nothing compared to the value of the crop. also, if this is an apartment the owner has inspection rights that you want to be prepared for.

if i were trying to grow in your space i would put both flowering and vegging areas in the closet, probably using a grow tent. with any luck your household ducting goes through the ceiling of your closet, or is accessible through your closet ceiling. i don't think any other plan is going to work over the long term for you.
 
anomolies

anomolies

Well-Known Member
room.jpg

I re-drew it so please take a look at the diagram again. My friend suggested overpressuring the room (2 box fans sitting at bathroom window + sealing the entrance to room) and expelling air out through patio screen lined with carbon filter panel. Perhaps sealing the fan with the window would work better.

-With two, 250w MH the closet is still in the 70s range with only 1 fan for circulation.
-Closet door is always left open.
-probably will be using 1 or 2 600w instead, no more than 2000w.
Perhaps even looking into LED lighting when the CREE XP-XM is released in the fall.
-Not growing many plants, at most it is limited by Stinkbud's aeroponic system.

Yea its under rent so I can't put holes in walls. Thanks for the help so far..

Venting my room is a bit tricky... I have no experience with it, and I can't find any detailed guides.

Here's a picture. Closet & Shower room will be the growspace, unless there's a better way because I still need to shower everyday.
I can't use the AC because that means higher electricity bill. I think central AC uses like 3k-4k watts. If i were to suddenly turn that on 24/7 combined with 600-1k watt HPS i'm gonna be red flagged


View attachment 970679

I need 2 rooms, one for vegging, one for flowering

The numbers mean the parts I could seal up with a tent material or something, but I'm not sure if I should seal or how to get fresh air in.

First option:
1) Friend suggested I could pull in air from the bathroom window and overpressurize the room, thus expelling air out from the patio sceen via carbonfilter panels.
2) My idea, seal #2 and pull in air from the bathroom window, and vent out through bathroom fan (but my friend said that it would be difficult to force the air upwards or something.. don't quite get it.

Closet space = 7 x 7 x 10 (for flowering? Thing is the closet is so roomy and has shelves, almost seems like a waste just for flowering a few plants, but it's the only room capable of 12/12 or complete darkness)


Shower room (for vegging) slightly bigger than closet.
+Carbon filter on bathroom fan/exhaust which is right above the grow-space
(I'm not sure how strong the bathroom fan is but it doesn't keep the mirrors from fogging during a shower)
+Carbon filter on window screen

Do I have to go through all this trouble? I thought opening a window (with a carbon filter) would be good enough for air exchange

The other problem is that there will be humidity in the vege room because I use the shower.

How should I setup my ventilation efficiently?
Click to expand...
 
desertrat

desertrat

Well-Known Member
i got to give you an A for effort, but your plan still has big holes:

1. smell - your whole bedroom suite is going to reek of weed. everything in the space will reek of weed. you will reek of weed. you will get busted. the only way to effectively control smell is to confine the contaminated air to a small space and then treat with carbon filter or ona gel or negative ions or similar before the air leaves the space. you definitely do not want to create over-pressure in a grow room because that just forces the contaminated air out of every little crack in your room. you actually want to create negative pressure to keep the smell in.



2. cooling - since your bedroom suite has central a/c i assume it's getting kind of hot where you live about now? you need to keep your grow space below 80 f (preferably 75 f)- no way you're going to accomplish that during the summer without the a/c.

3. living with your grow - i'm assuming you use your closet for clothes and your bathroom for yourself? how are you going to get by with growing spaces taking up your living quarters?

i think your best solution is going to take a hole or two in your ceiling/walls. it's really not a big deal to repair a hole when you're ready to move and to hide a hole from apartment inspectors while you're living there.
 
anomolies

anomolies

Well-Known Member
Where I live is usually pretty hot but for the past two years the summer have been cool. I think it's the house design or somethin.
Haven't had to use AC so far.

Yea it's my living quarters but I don't spend much time in my room. I'm a person that doesn't need much personal space I could practically live in a closet. My closet is cleared out and I keep my clothes in drawers.
I thought the smell easily evaporates off clothing, unless the resin gets on you..

hmm.. hole.. what if I removed the light fixture? Totally forgot there was one in the closet. But I don't want to vent heat into the attic, maybe I could use that as the exhaust?

I'm thinking of buying a replacement door and drill a hole through that to put some \fans for intake

I'd have to resort to SOG or something.
In keeping my veg and flower both in the same room, how could I keep one side competely dark?
Any idea on what material to use for a DIY grow-tent?
 
desertrat

desertrat

Well-Known Member
the light fixture is a good place to start. you can at least remove that and get a look at what's above your ceiling. and if you can vent to the attic you're good because all attics have their own airflow to the outdoors.

depending on how handy you are, it's pretty easy to create your own grow tent or space. make a 2x4 stud frame and close it up with plywood would be the cheapest. but check out ebay or craigslist and you may find a great deal on a tent.

cutting a hole in the door is tougher to fix later on than a hole in the wall or ceiling. since it sounds like you're on the top floor below the attic then i'd vote for cutting up the ceiling for both incoming and exhaust air.
 
anomolies

anomolies

Well-Known Member
Well a replacement door is like $50 bucks or somethin.. Plus I could save the door with the hole for future closet grows if I move. Or I could just buy wood and make my own door.
If you put a hole in the wall but patch it up, wouldn't the wall still be damaged but you're just covering it up? Eh.. just don't like the idea of damaging things that aren't mine.

I thought the air in the attic is stale, so wouldn't it be counter productive to have the exhaust and intake exchanging the same air?

how big of a fan and how many would I need to vent the growspace and how big of a fan for intake?
200 CFM enough?

Mylar by itself isn't light proof right?
 
desertrat

desertrat

Well-Known Member
I thought the air in the attic is stale, so wouldn't it be counter productive to have the exhaust and intake exchanging the same air?
Click to expand...
depends on the size of your attic. but you're right it would be best to vent through the attic to the outdoors but that might not be practical.

how big of a fan and how many would I need to vent the growspace and how big of a fan for intake?
200 CFM enough?
Click to expand...
depends completely on temps. 200 cfm is plenty to bring in fresh air but it can take up to two air exchanges a minute to cool a room (that would be almost 800 cfm in your case)

Mylar by itself isn't light proof right?
Click to expand...
yea, it's lightproof but tears easily so you probably want something stronger backing it up.
 
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