How to Recover HEAT from Grow Room

[hogs]

Anyone know of anything to help with this???

I do have a ? for you or anyone out here at all....It is using the heat within your house ,but due to the windows dripping Does anyone know how one can recycle the heat for heating purposes during the cold months....Such a waste to just vent it OUTSIDE??????

I know running 3500 watts plus I could sure use it for heating the house,If it wasn`t for all that condenstaion etc etc..??

So anyone know of any mechanical means etc etc. to recover all or part of the wasted heat??

Thanks

 

[hogs]

Re: How to Recover HEAT from Grow Room????

Anyone???

 

[Siscokid]

Re: How to Recover HEAT from Grow Room????

You have a blower? a de-humidifier? Where is the room located?

Some more info./pics of grow room?

 

[hogs]

Re: How to Recover HEAT from Grow Room????

Room is located in basement, and yes I have a dehumidifier... and inline fanes 12 inch and 6 inch etc etc...

Thats not the problem as the exhausted air is nice and HOT but also full of Humidity that gets vented into my living quarters.. if I do this then the windows drip etc.. Just wonder if there is Some way one can use the heat but get rid of the humidity.. As it is now I vent to the outside but all that GooD heat is wasted....Room size is like 13 by 18 feet

 

[Siscokid]

Re: How to Recover HEAT from Grow Room????

Is the de-humidifier working by itself in the basement?

 

[PrairiePoet]

Re: How to Recover HEAT from Grow Room????

How much humidity is it dumping? What is the exhaust humidity in the grow room?

In the winter, we change the clothes dryer vent to be inside, into the house. Both of my grow closets dump into the house, not outside. But we fight low humidity in the winter, not high. In the summer, I fight high humidity.

You will need to dehumidify it somehow, if it is dripping on the windows (ours frost).

One way you might try is to get a cheap desiccant (like ice cream salt). Put it into a box, pump your air into the box, vent the other side. Pump more in than can escape so you have a positive air pressure in the box. This should bring it down under 50% (depending on what it was). Keep the salt on plastic, it is going to get wet and
messy.

OR, bring in outside air, but have it run through a baffle system with the grow room exhaust running through it. So you would be still exhaust outside, but it is warming up outside air coming into the house.

Not sure if that makes sense.

Prairie

 

[burrr]

Re: How to Recover HEAT from Grow Room????

There is a tool for this called a heat recovery ventilator, or HRV. You pass your exhaust air through a heat exchanger, and use it to heat incoming air. Look to spend around 1000.00 for a good one from a HVAC company.

 

[hogs]

Re: How to Recover HEAT from Grow Room????

SiscoKid,

The Dehumidifier is inside the room and its on..Its when I use the exhaust vent to vent the room with all the heat along with it goes the humidity...I`m trying to use the Heat but somehow get rid of the humidity....


Prairie..

The humidity is any wheres from 50 to 65 percent... Not really following what you r saying...

Heres the deal I should of said this up front.. I have a 2 hose A/C unit in the grow room, that I was sucking intake air from inside another room in the basement and then exhaust the other hose into my living quarters in the basement outside of the grow room to use all that heat but it also gives me all the humidity...Not sure if there is something I can make or whatever to be able to use this heat seems like a waste just to heat the outdoors...When I could heat my House with it.... and save big $$$ on heating costs for the winter...

I know there are units used for dryer vents, but that also dumps all the humidity into the house Not GooD...!

Got to be something out there, or would think its about Time that there is something to use all this heat???

Thanks guys...

 

[hogs]

Re: How to Recover HEAT from Grow Room????

Burrr,
Interesting I have one of them now in the house but way down the other end of the basement contain yet in another room , really hard to use that..also comes the smell thing to...but guess that the Carbon filter could be plumbed into one as well..Now that has be thinking but...Hmmmmm

 

[PrairiePoet]

Hogs,

I couldn't even understand what I said. <s>

Burr has the ideal of what I was thinking.

Prairie

 

[Growing247]

I have a grow room in a finished basement also and what I did was run the exhaust from the light hood into the space between the top of the basement and the floor of the first floor. I cut a hole 6" wide and temps stay fine @ around 70. I run the 70 pint dehumidifier 24 hours a day. To me, if you are growing and still getting condensation you need another dehumidifier for upstairs. I still get condensation upstairs also. Sorry to say there is really no other way around it. You need @ least 1 dehumidifier for each floor if you are growing in the winter. For sure if you are using hydroponics.

 

[Siscokid]

Re: How to Recover HEAT from Grow Room????

Is the de-humidifier working by itself in the basement?

Throw another de-humidifier into the room your exasting into if you don't already have one and set it to 30% or so.

 

[Growing247]

For sure. It doesn't have to be a big 1. One big humidifier for the basement and small dehumidifier for upstairs and you will be in good shape.

 

[SmokeyMcMedic]

Growing247, I hope that you are dehumidifying your exhaust first, otherwise you will develop a serious mold problem. I don't think I need to tell you how expensive a problem like this could be. Just looking out man.

 

[Maer]

If you have a reflector that takes in house air and puts out to the house, all sealed while in the grow area you will have no issues with humidity or smell as the air passing through the light has not passed through the grow room. It may mean replacing your reflectors but if your running 4kW of lights... it will be worth it.

 

[hogs]

I think PrairiePoet Nailed it...Thanks for that just got to try and pick one up somewhere used...

That wd. be great ducted into that through a Carbon Scrubber of sort...Hmmmm

 

[Maer]

Thats a pic of what I mean, air go through the light and grow area without ever mixing with the air from the tent. This way 100% of the heat goes into the house and no smell.

There are reflector style enclosures with glass also, i have heard some ppl dont like the tubes but either way this seems easier than a heat exchanger.

 

[hogs]

Thanks for that,However I run Verticals, too much hosing,and moving them up and down etc. not worth it...! But thanks for the input.

 

[Maer]

I was told vertical lights are one of the most inefficient uses of light, because the light leaves the filament primarily radially along the length of the tube.

 

[modnarb]

I also use the heat from my lamp. Your furnace uses return air to circulate the "warm spots", among other things. So this a must when using lamp heat, dont just dump a bunch a heat in one room as you do have a furnace with a thermostat.With a sealed hood you wont intake or exhaust in the grow room. Seperate intake and exhaust for the grow room works well. Imo that works better then filtering/de-humid the whole room to heat the house, for my kids health and mine.