Just double checking here but venting out your furnace ducting - wouldn’t that send the odors to every vent connected to the ductwork in your house or garage??
Need help with ventilation placement
- Thread starter BakedARea
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- Thread starter
- #43
No. I am thinking of using the exhaust duct, not the heat duct that goes throughout the house. The exhaust goes up to a roof vent. Also, no odors is the goal if running a filter...right?
he's sending it to the exhaust stack mate.
edit : i'm not sure you have a basic on home hvac
see above. you don't tie in to the heat side.
you're goin the right way. just do step at a time according to your actual needs. it's a marathon. not a race. more like nice long scenic walk actually. enjoy the trip.
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- #45
Haaa haaa...I'm liking the idea of a scenic walk. I won't tie anything in until I know for certain that I need it. I would prefer to add some ducting connected to the existing garage vent for fresh air intake.
don't worry. that exhaust fan will pull passive air from mars if it exists.
i run a closed flower 4x4 room with an air column, which just a fancy light tight passive vent. my exhaust fan exchanges in air the room in less than 2 minutes, and pulls more air in than i need.
you can figure out air exchange from the cfm rating of the fan and the grow space tent / area. the filter will add some restriction, but not piles.
it's good to know about the vent and think ahead. you may be able to use it for exhaust if need be as well.
- Thread starter
- #47
I haven't commented here in a bit. Now that I have run my tent for a while, I have a much better idea of my system limitations. I definitely need to understand passive air much better. Right now, I have an imbalance in my exhaust and intake. I am creating lots of negative pressure (tent sucked in) when the exhaust fan is on AND the new A/C unit I added recently.
Soooo, here it goes with some details and hopefully some pics to help clarify. I have a 4" inline fan connected to a manual fan controller that is connected to an outside vent. Fresh air! That's wonderful and all but the location of the vent is not the best. It brings in hot air when it's warm too and with hot lights, plants weren't happy when it got to 96° in my tent on more than a few occasions. Hence, the portable A/C unit!
I did not fully comprehend how these machines produce such incredibly warm exhaust! Well, I have it setup to vent into my garage at the moment. I know...MISTAKE! Well it's getting plumbed to exhaust out my current fresh air intake as suggested by the manufacturer *insert head slap*.
Instead, I want to intake cooler air from the garage. My garage is not insulated and has various places to suck in fresh air. Including a 1" gap above my garage door that fresh air exchanges from and gives the door clearance to open/close. So my garage will be my lung room.
Also by making those changes, I will dramatically decrease the ambient temps of my garage during lights on by probably 10° or more.
Couple questions for anyone that may have experience with A/C units. Another idea is to instead hook up the A/C exhaust to connect with my filter exhaust fan which is connected to my furnace exhaust. My logic is that if I can get the exhaust to come on when the A/C unit comes on, then the boost from my exhaust fan would be enough to help the air escape the A/C unit. I'm fairly certain the A/C unit doesn't have enough juice to push up the exhaust on its own. Anyway..
What do you think? Good idea or not practical? Or maybe you have a better solution.
Recent pics with the A/C unit. The humans are jealous that the plants got one before them.
PLEASE ignore the mess. It was like this briefly while I was setting up my new dabbing area. It's a work in progress and looks better now but this is the only pic I had uploaded. Gives you an idea of how I have the outside vent plumbed as the intake. WILL be converted to exhaust out of here OR exhaust out of the furnace exhaust. The latter would be my preference.
You can see my exhaust ducting as well.
My goodness...seems like so long ago. But you can see where I have the exhaust fan currently installed. Could I just use a tee fitting inside the tent to connect the A/C unit and filter?! That's my grand idea and it would get rid of the ugly and inconvenient ducting on the floor that's connected to the outside.
Or I could also easily connect the A/C exhaust to the current intake, remove the inline fan and call it a day? That would certainly be the easiest. Lol
Soooo, here it goes with some details and hopefully some pics to help clarify. I have a 4" inline fan connected to a manual fan controller that is connected to an outside vent. Fresh air! That's wonderful and all but the location of the vent is not the best. It brings in hot air when it's warm too and with hot lights, plants weren't happy when it got to 96° in my tent on more than a few occasions. Hence, the portable A/C unit!
I did not fully comprehend how these machines produce such incredibly warm exhaust! Well, I have it setup to vent into my garage at the moment. I know...MISTAKE! Well it's getting plumbed to exhaust out my current fresh air intake as suggested by the manufacturer *insert head slap*.
Instead, I want to intake cooler air from the garage. My garage is not insulated and has various places to suck in fresh air. Including a 1" gap above my garage door that fresh air exchanges from and gives the door clearance to open/close. So my garage will be my lung room.
Also by making those changes, I will dramatically decrease the ambient temps of my garage during lights on by probably 10° or more.
Couple questions for anyone that may have experience with A/C units. Another idea is to instead hook up the A/C exhaust to connect with my filter exhaust fan which is connected to my furnace exhaust. My logic is that if I can get the exhaust to come on when the A/C unit comes on, then the boost from my exhaust fan would be enough to help the air escape the A/C unit. I'm fairly certain the A/C unit doesn't have enough juice to push up the exhaust on its own. Anyway..
What do you think? Good idea or not practical? Or maybe you have a better solution.
Recent pics with the A/C unit. The humans are jealous that the plants got one before them.
PLEASE ignore the mess. It was like this briefly while I was setting up my new dabbing area. It's a work in progress and looks better now but this is the only pic I had uploaded. Gives you an idea of how I have the outside vent plumbed as the intake. WILL be converted to exhaust out of here OR exhaust out of the furnace exhaust. The latter would be my preference.
You can see my exhaust ducting as well.
My goodness...seems like so long ago. But you can see where I have the exhaust fan currently installed. Could I just use a tee fitting inside the tent to connect the A/C unit and filter?! That's my grand idea and it would get rid of the ugly and inconvenient ducting on the floor that's connected to the outside.
Or I could also easily connect the A/C exhaust to the current intake, remove the inline fan and call it a day? That would certainly be the easiest. Lol
The basic principles of warm air rises and cool air sinks will always apply. In any given room the air at top of ceiling will always be warmer than air at the floor
I could be wrong here but that is not an outside vent….. it appears that vent is attached to your duct work and as such it will always deliver pre-conditioned air from your hvac system
The only way to intake fresh air from a garage would be if your existing hvac system has a cold air return already placed in the garage and your tent intake was located in between the cold air intake and it’s ductwork to the air handler, or by piping in a separate 4 inch line from garage to the tent
passive air intake just means leaving the bottom vents open and your fan sucks the heat and odors out of the top of your tent and by doing so your fan is also passively drawing cool air into the bottom.
usually in the hall near the thermostat there will be one large vent that is called the cold air return, your home hvac system does not bring in fresh air from outside, it simple recircs the air inside your home…. T-stat calls for more hot or cold air, fans kick in and passively draws air thru the cold air return, into the hvac system where it conditions that air by making it warmer or cooler depending upon season & t-stat setting and pushes the now conditioned air out of the vents. It’s a big loop moving air thru your home.
bottom line in your current config you are drawing pre-conditioned air from that vent and sucking it into the tent but all of your exhaust air stays in that same room
have you tried removing the last piece of 4 inch flex pipe that ties your intake fan to the wall vent? just let the 4inch fan suck room air into the bottom of the tent?
I could be wrong here but that is not an outside vent….. it appears that vent is attached to your duct work and as such it will always deliver pre-conditioned air from your hvac system
The only way to intake fresh air from a garage would be if your existing hvac system has a cold air return already placed in the garage and your tent intake was located in between the cold air intake and it’s ductwork to the air handler, or by piping in a separate 4 inch line from garage to the tent
passive air intake just means leaving the bottom vents open and your fan sucks the heat and odors out of the top of your tent and by doing so your fan is also passively drawing cool air into the bottom.
usually in the hall near the thermostat there will be one large vent that is called the cold air return, your home hvac system does not bring in fresh air from outside, it simple recircs the air inside your home…. T-stat calls for more hot or cold air, fans kick in and passively draws air thru the cold air return, into the hvac system where it conditions that air by making it warmer or cooler depending upon season & t-stat setting and pushes the now conditioned air out of the vents. It’s a big loop moving air thru your home.
bottom line in your current config you are drawing pre-conditioned air from that vent and sucking it into the tent but all of your exhaust air stays in that same room
have you tried removing the last piece of 4 inch flex pipe that ties your intake fan to the wall vent? just let the 4inch fan suck room air into the bottom of the tent?
- Thread starter
- #49
Oh man...I completely forgot to come back here and respond. Thanks @013 for the reply. I read when you posted it and then got distracted. Common occurrence lately.
Thankfully I do understand the general physics of hot air. Just trying to get it out faster than it's getting produced has been a struggle.
Anyway, so
Here you can see the intake was removed.
I also moved the fan closer to the tent port for higher efficiency. Forgive the tape job. This is a temporary setup until I build my manifold to keep things more secured.
Here you can see how I tied the A/C unit with the filter exhaust line with a 6" tee.
The passive vents are open for now but I don't like it. I would prefer to have it better filtered and no chance of light leaks. I have a 4" duct hose also bringing in passive air. You can see it in the bottom right of the last picture. I will be opening up the other port on the opposite side.
The A/C unit is plumbed into the AC Infinity exhaust fan. Currently working on trying to find a good balance of performance and efficiency. Then to automate it!
Thankfully I do understand the general physics of hot air. Just trying to get it out faster than it's getting produced has been a struggle.
Anyway, so
Actually, it is. I installed it. It is a 4" x 12" register fitting that I attached a 4" duct hose to an inline fan to assist with bringing in more fresh outside air into the tent. Unfortunately, it was not a good solution. I was bringing in hot air that was radiating off the cement near the vent. Partially solved that by covered the area with a piece of plywood. It did help cool it down but not enough. Here is where we are at now.
Here you can see the intake was removed.
I also moved the fan closer to the tent port for higher efficiency. Forgive the tape job. This is a temporary setup until I build my manifold to keep things more secured.
Here you can see how I tied the A/C unit with the filter exhaust line with a 6" tee.
The passive vents are open for now but I don't like it. I would prefer to have it better filtered and no chance of light leaks. I have a 4" duct hose also bringing in passive air. You can see it in the bottom right of the last picture. I will be opening up the other port on the opposite side.
The A/C unit is plumbed into the AC Infinity exhaust fan. Currently working on trying to find a good balance of performance and efficiency. Then to automate it!
Shit….. Baked Area ….aww please accept my apology, It looked like you were sucking conditioned air into the tent intake … totally my bad!!!
you know sometimes I just really screw the pooch and this is one of those occasions.
I’m sorry - I really hosed that one up
you know sometimes I just really screw the pooch and this is one of those occasions.
I’m sorry - I really hosed that one up
- Thread starter
- #51
Nahhh...no need to be sorry at all. Just wanted to make sure you knew what was going in and what was going out. Always best to clarify so that way we can continue to help each other out. Blessings and again, no apologies needed!
Currently still working out the kinks but my VPD has been erratic. I have got close to the danger zone a few times with the humidity going up when the A/C unit and exhaust fan turns off. Last thing I want to do is put the dehumidifier in there too. Anyway... it's still better than it was before.
This plant took the worst of the heat damage before the A/C unit was installed. It has slowly recovered over the past few weeks. She'll be getting chopped in the next day or two.
cool, cool, my rh has been stable but high so I’m working to get back in line with VPD also
hope you nail it and get trees out of your crew!
hope you nail it and get trees out of your crew!
- Thread starter
- #53
Yeah man. It sucks because I thought I was killing my plants when my temps were too high. They were actually fine BUT I wasn't watering enough. Nowhere near enough! I had no idea that they were looking ok because the VPD was actually ok. I failed to realize how happy they were and they sucked up water so fast that they basically dried out. This happened a few too many times I think and I chalk it up to ignorance. Great learning experience though!
High temps and low humidity are not always a bad thing. VPD for the win.
High temps and low humidity are not always a bad thing. VPD for the win.
