it's actually a dropped ceiling with acoustic insulation. he might not be vented at all.
Exhaust ventilation in an apartment: is this viable?
- Thread starter DoinkDaddy
- Start date
Ahh. I thought it was an actual crawl space where pipes and drainage is at. Forgive me.
Vegan4life
Well-Known Member
Grow space is so small, probably fine to recirculate in apartment
dropped ceiling between floors of an apt building. it's concrete so they pour then drill holes between the compartments to run wire etc. it won't be airtight between spaces, but i don't think it's vented either.
kind of what i'm thinking. issue is everyone starts small lol
Since it’s new and concrete construction but there is a floor above.... do you know how the plumbing and wiring are accomplished? Was the concrete core bored or sleeved with oversized pipe stems molded into the concrete pour? Are both the inside and outside of the sleeves or core bores all fire sealed with pink, burgundy or rust colored caulk? (assume they are still using same color coded fire prevention / fire resistant caulk)
No worries - this is not a crawl space as such tho, it is unfinished ceiling space with service access that (may be) sealed for fire prevention. Technically you could leave the hatch door cracked and use passive to exhaust your tent. I mean come on now - warm air still rises and cool air still sinks..... even in a pandemic. But the bigger risk is that you void the fire prevention that the architect and builders worked so hard to accomplish not just for yourself but for the entire complex.
Right now the landlord may not be overly concerned about your tent.... but I think they would draw the line at putting the entire building at risk by unauthorized modifications without prior approval. From building code to insurance point of view this would put the landlord in great jeopardy. I would seek another way to ventilate
No worries - this is not a crawl space as such tho, it is unfinished ceiling space with service access that (may be) sealed for fire prevention. Technically you could leave the hatch door cracked and use passive to exhaust your tent. I mean come on now - warm air still rises and cool air still sinks..... even in a pandemic. But the bigger risk is that you void the fire prevention that the architect and builders worked so hard to accomplish not just for yourself but for the entire complex.
Right now the landlord may not be overly concerned about your tent.... but I think they would draw the line at putting the entire building at risk by unauthorized modifications without prior approval. From building code to insurance point of view this would put the landlord in great jeopardy. I would seek another way to ventilate
- Thread starter
- #26
DoinkDaddy
420 Member
Where do you exhaust out to? Unfortunately I'm super limited with my space and this is the biggest tent I can have while still being completely hidden and stealthy.
Stormblessed
Well-Known Member
I have central ac and leds so heat isn’t really an issue, so I just use the whole room as a lung room kinda, and smell isn’t really an issue but I just vent through my carbon filter to outside the tent
- Thread starter
- #28
DoinkDaddy
420 Member
Sorry, I think I should have been a bit clearer. This space isn't exactly a crawl space. There's no way that someone could get up there and move around. I think the hatch is purely a maintenance hatch for one of the fans already up in the roof. The only things in this area are the plumbing for the sprinklers in my apartment and the apartments ventilation system.
On my balcony there is an exhaust that the kitchen, bathrooms and above the washing machine/dryer extract to with the ventilation for this running in the "crawl space" above (fans and ducting). There is also an intake in the balcony that feeds into the bedrooms and the living room (same type of thing, fans and ducting). I imagine that there is not a perfect seal by the balcony intake/exhaust and the some of this air can hopefully escape via this route. I planned on having my grow ducting facing towards the balcony vents (probably about 6 feet away).
I'm doing this in a cupboard that's a decent distance away from the window. I'd prefer to have this super stealthy and not have ducting running across the room or anything visible when my cupboards shut.
Not a rental but there is absolutely no way that I want to even start tinkering with the existing ventilation.
- Thread starter
- #29
DoinkDaddy
420 Member
dropped ceiling between floors of an apt building. it's concrete so they pour then drill holes between the compartments to run wire etc. it won't be airtight between spaces, but i don't think it's vented either.
kind of what i'm thinking. issue is everyone starts small lol
Just had another look and I think the only wires running around are for my apartments ventilation and the fire-alarms etc. I checked another one of the hatches by the bathroom and think I can see what is the plumbing for the toilet upstairs and thats it.
If it makes any difference I only have neighbours on one side of me and I think each apartment is effectively sealed with firewalls etc.
Constant supply of warm humidified air would still be a pretty significant mold danger, I expect. Plus, even if there's a high-capacity vent... if that location experiences Winter, lol, that vent is going to look like a dryer exhaust does when the dryer is running and it's cold outside, only for 12 to 18 hours per day.
If it was me, I'd stick the tent by the window if I wanted to exhaust its air outside. Or somewhere else in one of the rooms instead of a confined cabinet. People stick tents in large cabinets or small closets and then, oft times, find that they have heat issues, Besides, if you're trying to hide it... it's not impossible to obfuscate a small grow tent in a room. On the other hand, an exhaust duct running to a metal hatch in one's ceiling, LMAO - and, one assumes, some kind of intake setup, too, to allow air to enter your cupboard - is a pretty obvious giveaway. Even people who wouldn't recognize a grow tent for what it was if the thing fell on them would look at your proposed exhaust setup and wonder WtF is going on in your cupboard. . . .
I think you are probably overthinking this. I assume your apartment is climate controlled, and you have an extraction fan and filter for a small tent. You will be exchanging the air in your tent a few times per minute (not days). Don't vent into a closed closet. Don't put your extractor duct next to where the new air is coming from. Vent into the room and you'll be fine. Best to vent outdoors or another room, but it isn't going to matter much.
this is the ventilation the professionals tie in to for legal grows in small spaces. there are two hydro companies local that will set systems up for folk. they usually show the tents set up in or near laundry spaces, sharing ducting and ventilation with the drier.
this would be a much better solution. a lot of folk live with an internally vented micro-grow, you may be ok, but if you aren't you won't know until way too late. i'd plan ahead and add a contingency to vent outdoor if at all possible.
if you're not going much bigger than a space bucket you should be ok. it's a one plant bonsai approach. check space bucket grows on the forum. that may be the way to go, instead of converting the entire closet you plan on.
just be warned, most never stop at a just a space bucket or two, and then you're looking at the same limitations you're faced with current.
just be warned, most never stop at a just a space bucket or two, and then you're looking at the same limitations you're faced with current.
Ganja Goose
Well-Known Member
I really enjoyed this thread. These are questions that the new grower definitely needs to know. I am on my second grow, currently my tent is located in an attached, unheated double garage. Planning for a winter grow and I think the temps in the garage will be too cold for the grow so I am considering moving my 4x4 tent with 4 plants and exhaust (with carbon filter), into my basement.
I'm trying to determine if I need to vent outside thru a window or not. If I do vent, my question is do I need to worry about cold air coming back into the tent when the exhaust fan is off? I would have a flapper installed in the exhaust piping, but its just a cheap little plastic flapper.
If I just exhaust into the basement (approx 1500 sqft) am I in danger of mold problems. I think on a larger scale the answer is an automatic yes, but Is 4 plants even a blip on the scale of problems that cause black mold?
GG
I'm trying to determine if I need to vent outside thru a window or not. If I do vent, my question is do I need to worry about cold air coming back into the tent when the exhaust fan is off? I would have a flapper installed in the exhaust piping, but its just a cheap little plastic flapper.
If I just exhaust into the basement (approx 1500 sqft) am I in danger of mold problems. I think on a larger scale the answer is an automatic yes, but Is 4 plants even a blip on the scale of problems that cause black mold?
GG
Hi. You have to have air exchanging from the room to start with. Where you vent is secondary. If you don't have decent air exchange, you will have problems including mold.
Vegan4life
Well-Known Member
If you are pulling air through a carbon filter and exhausting to the outside you should not need to worry about cold air coming back in through vent when off. But you will need make up air to displace the air you are venting to the outside.
