ventillation for growroom

[acidphiend]

Hi all.

 

I've got a 26 cubic metre granny-flat grow room, split into 2 - both will be flowering rooms, with mother and veg room separate. What I was wondering is would an appropriately sized centrifugal fan attached to a carbon filter, running 24/7, be suitable for reducing temps, as well as removing odour, or would a better option be to install an a/c unit and get a different (smaller?) fan and carbon filter for cooling and smell? If a/c is the way to go, what sort of fan should be used for the carbon filter then - should it be centrifugal or can an inline or axial be used? I'm sure I'd be able to find a couple of second-hand a/c's for not much more than a centrifugal fan, and I'll be running 2400W in each partition, so there'll be a fair amount of heat (and it'll be DWC so I don't wanna have to stress about water temps too much)...

 

I s'pose I've answered my own question - a/c is obviously the better option - but I'm still not sure what type of fan&filter combo I'll need, and how often it would need to run?

 

All opinions/advice much appreciated!

Cheers!

[everest]

hi mate ... you don't have to use air con if you get the air intake and exchange right , i've dealt with temps in the 40's and still had great plants .

 

the fans you seek would be big suckers , i love em .... 200mm , 250 mm or even 300mm inline fans , all vent do some nice ones and there are lots to choose from , i will unpack my fans later today and show you some pics ... and the more fans the merrier if ya ask me

 

cheers ev

[acidphiend]

Cheers ev!

Can the inliners push/pull enough air thru a carbon filter?

 

Also, is it better to suck air thru the carbn filter, or to push it thru it???

 

I will definately have at least one oscillating fan in each room, so that will help temps too... I'm just concerned that running the a/c's as well as the lights may draw too much current? Sure, I can change the fuse/breaker, but will the wire be able to handle it - I've got 4mm copper running supplying power - anyone have any idea how much this can tolerate?

 

Thanks!

[Luke Skywalker]

Nah, only the very smallest carbon filters can be used with an inline fan. And yeah, I agree with everest. Get the intake and exhaust right and you shouldn't necessarily need aircon. It does help if you've got more than 5 lights though, regardless the size.

 

Aircon is power hungry, so you may have to get yourself a second line if the present one is rated to 10amps. Does the line come from an exterior power point? (like from the house) or is it a dedicated line for the granny flat? If it's dedicated and through the fuse box, just check what circuit it's on (or if it has it's own) and what amps that can pull. This will determine your total available wattage.

 

To be honest, I'm not sure what a 4mm line is rated at, perhaps there's something written on it? Sometimes they have that printed on the line, but not always. I'm sure someone here will know though...

 

But yeah, for a pair of rooms with that much space you may be better having 2 exhaust fans, one for each section, but both going into one filter, but it'l certainly be a doozy... You can also use filters as scrubbers rather than filters, and use them to cycle the air in the room before it's exhausted. This is the poorer of two options there though. You can also cooltube the lamps and have them separate from the room air, thus helping greatly with temps. That will reduce the need for heat exhaustion, and all you'll have to think of is room air-exchange for co2 replenishment.

 

I'd say use more than one oscillating fan per room though, unless you can get a big un. You could use a large inline fan with a long length of duct, put holes in it on the top of the duct and stretch it out along the base of the plants, (or just under canopy height) and block of the end. This can help get air around where you need it, and may even mean doing away with the oscillating... (although it's still a good idea)

 

Anyway, hope that helps, and look forward to hearing more about your endeavour. Sounds like a lot of fun....

 

So what kind of wattage are you envisioning? That will probably make

[mull]

Hey acidphiend, good luck with the grow mate.

 

The current carrying capacity of your cable depends on what type it is and how it's installed.

The cable is limited by the fuse or breaker, so it doesn't have to tolerate overload.

 

So if for example, it is normal domestic tps, best to keep around 25A max mate.

 

25A times 240v = 6000w you have to play with there.

 

Can I suggest if you do go with aircon, that you feed it from another circuit mate? That way if it nuisance trips, you only lose cool air for a bit, and not light and water.

 

Good buds to ya

[cranky]

I would suggest a couple of heavy duty centrivical fans,

 

they can pull it, but your talking commercial air conditioning fans for a room that size.

 

.......looks through paper work.......................................

 

this mob make some nice stuff................

 

http://www.fantech.com.au/

I can recomend them from a professsional point of view. lots of good info on their site too .