Planning stage

[Scottmaine]

Okay ,take 3! I think I know how to post now . Phewwww!
I will try keep it short with as much info as I can. 8x16x16 ft room. Split in half for flower and other half veg and storage. I want to become care giver and provide the highest and best quality I can, but for now I'm only allowed 6 in flower. So in flower room, the walls floor and ceiling will have r19 insulation value. Then plywood,covered in mylar ceilings and walls (mylar). Thinking 600w virtual sun hps with digital ballist. Also might go with 10 gal pots soil. Veg room also insulated same way,going with two florescent 4ft dual tube , one white ,one blue in both. Mylar walls and possibly base as well. Now as for fresh air intake was wondering if it can come from veg room cause winter air would hurt plants in flower room. Yes will have fans circulating both rooms. I will also have to have source of heat as it will be winter. So how well so far? Any and all input will be appreciated. Like I say still in planning stage and want to do it right. Look forward to hearing from you all soon thank you.

 

[Scottmaine]

Can I or should I synchronize my intake with the exhaust system or would that be okay

 

[iwltfum]

I would use the 600w in veg and a 1000w or even two in bloom. Unless you plan to veg in your bloom room before each switch to 12/12, then you will probably need more veg light. If it were my set up, I would run a 1000w MH in the veg room and 2 1000w HPS in bloom.

As for the ventilation. Is this room connected to anything or is it a stand alone garage or something? Passive intake works great for me in the cold climate that I live in (temps occasionally get down into the negative 10's and 20's here). In my stand alone garage, I don't use any intake or output in the winter. I use a ac/heater that vents to the outside, but it only pulls air in when the ac is on - which it rarely is in the winter. If it's connected to your house I would use vented lights and run the ducting into your living spaces. I can almost completely heat my house on the coldest of days with only my veg lights.

 

[iwltfum]

I should add here that my ventilation set up completely changes from winter to summer. Kind of annoying, but it's the only way I've gotten things to work with low winter temps in the -20's and high summer temps in the 90's.

 

[Scottmaine]

Thanks for that iwltfum. Yes it is a stand alone and was thinking of ceramic electric heater for when lights out. I am also thinking rotate air from veg room to flower room and back to veg room as a way of mixing the air but not sure it would help anything.

 

[Dave Groomer]

Thanks for that iwltfum. Yes it is a stand alone and was thinking of ceramic electric heater for when lights out. I am also thinking rotate air from veg room to flower room and back to veg room as a way of mixing the air but not sure it would help anything.

I use Mars-Hydro Leds and an oil filled heater in the grow room for winter time. My tents stay at 84-86 degrees all the time. 2 tents with 500cfm fan split between both tents. Are you planning on using a carbon filter for smell?

 

[iwltfum]

Rotating air works great. Just make sure you take care of light leaks through the ducting.

 

[Scottmaine]

Not worried about smell as we are alone .

 

[Scottmaine]

Yes I will make sure of light leaks. What is a good strain for high yield as I get confused on the measurements ,am I crazy to think 8 oz per plant. Would bending limbs over be better then a type of cropping?

 

[iwltfum]

You're not crazy to think 8oz per plant depending on how big your plants are. I've pulled 18 off one plant, but it took 4 months to veg it that big. Honestly, there are tons of high yielding strains. To find them, I only buy from breeders that I trust and I just take there word on the relative yield. With the good breeders, they will be honest with you about yield because some of their strains will be bred specifically to have an amazing smell, taste, and/or smoke and generally will be a little lacking on weight. That's what some people want so it's in the breeders best interest to be honest about it.

 

[Wood butcher]

From everything I've read, temperature stability is crucial If incoming air in winter is an issue, and it is here in Vermont, you may want to set up a small vestibule room with its own heating system to preheat the air going into your vegging room. Be aware that when you're vegging, the plants really pump the H2O so the air will be very humid coming from the vegging room as your plants grow. Given the size of the rooms you are planning a 100 pint dehumidifier in each room is not a bad idea. They seem to love it around 50%. Also for the best bang for the buck, $/lumens emitted you would be better off with HIDs, 600 watt MH for vegging and HPS for flowering. Beware, All MH and HPS lamps (the actual lighting industry neme for bulbs) are not created equally and some brands are definitely better than others and well worth the extra $$. Digital ballasting is the only way to go. The best 600 watt systems are more efficient

 

[Scottmaine]

Thanks woodbutcher,I am putting most of the initial investment in the building, as far as electrical and materials to construct as I can build.it myself. I have thought of a 4ft x 4ft mud room so to say for entry so cold air doesn't rush in every time I enter. I'm concerned bout electric bill, cost per month if 1000w ta 600w, would like to know if you or anyone had price range what cost potential could be. Say running 3 600w digitals? Look forward to hearing from you all, thanks

 

[Atulip]

Thanks woodbutcher,I am putting most of the initial investment in the building, as far as electrical and materials to construct as I can build.it myself. I have thought of a 4ft x 4ft mud room so to say for entry so cold air doesn't rush in every time I enter. I'm concerned bout electric bill, cost per month if 1000w ta 600w, would like to know if you or anyone had price range what cost potential could be. Say running 3 600w digitals? Look forward to hearing from you all, thanks

I can give you an estimate on electrical usage. 3 600w hids. ~1500 watts for heater, ~500watts for dehumidifier. There will be more based on the equipment you're using, but that covers the big stuff. We'll use 12 cents per kilowatt hour.

1800 watts of lights
18 hours: 972 kW/hr /month = $116
12 hours: 648 kW/hr /month = $77
2 lights at 12 hours, 1 at 18: 756 kW/hr /month = $90

1500 watt heater
6 hours: 270 kW/hr /month = $32

500 watt Dehumidifier
6 hours: 90 kW/hr /month = $11

Expect $140 a month extra on your bill, depending a lot on how long a heater needs to be on. I used 15 mins per hour.

 

[Scottmaine]

Thanks atulip, that is very interesting. I hear all kinds of horror stories bout 600 bucks a month. Sounds like you'd have to have shit load more lights to get that kind o bill. Talk to again sometime.

 

[iwltfum]

The equation to figure out what any appliance will cost you to run is:

(cost of electricity in KW/hr) x (wattage of appliance/1000) x (number of hours running per day) x (number of days running per month) = cost of appliance per month

 

[Scottmaine]

Thanks iwltfum! It cost me .08cents na hour and so like 84 month for the lights. Cool oh and it's 3 600w.

 

[DRM Ranch]

Thanks iwltfum! It cost me .08cents na hour and so like 84 month for the lights. Cool oh and it's 3 600w.

I want your electric rate, I pay $0.38 per kWh now. That's 5 times what I was paying where I used to live. About $80k in solar would free us from the grid but damn that's a big investment.

 

[Scottmaine]

Thanks alot iwltfum.

 

[Scottmaine]

Drm ranch,unless I screwed up my math ,but all I did was divide my bill by kwh and that's what it came out too. And OUCH on your cost! What state you in if I mat ask?

 

[iwltfum]

my rate is .15/kWh. I guess it's kind of all over the place. I've seen as low as .05/kWh. Your bill should tell you exactly how much they charged you per kWh that month.