Secret basement grow room help

P

p604

New Member
so i'm buying a older home and the basement has options for me to build a smaller room inside a room :) the ceiling is about 7 ft high and width.. what ever i want lol!! MAN ROOM... NO KIDS!!!!

i have a bunch of old equipment laying around so don't need to spend much on grow stuff..

the carbon filter is about a year old..but has been used for 1 grow.. had to move house.. 6 inch carbon filter and squirl fan... made my 4x4x8 tent walls bow inwards..

how long does a carbon filter last? is there a way to test it?

thinking of growing 2 white widows.. in a undercurrent system.. let them veg for 4-6 weeks and scrog.. how big should i do the room?? it will be for veg and flowering... due to where i live.. 5 plants is the max i can do.. I have a 430 LED diamond and also a 600 hps/mh..

how much space does each plant need or "the recommended" if vegging for 4-6 weeks?

thinking of using the window to suck in air.. and then using a carbon filter -> into the cool tube bulb -> fan -> venting out through the hvac or hot water vent which goes up through the attic and straight outside.. has anyone done this? any issues?

or should i just suck up intake air from the basement.. it will be cooler air now.. but cooler in winter...

thinking of vegging 4-6 weeks.. then once i get room 1 flowering.. start room 2 vegging about 2-4 weeks after room 1 has taken off...

if you guys have pictures of your set up in the basement please post them..

all advice is helpful thank you all...
 
a carbon filter generally lasts about 12 months of active use, I reckon you could get another grow out of it.

easiest way to test it is to run it, have someone in one room smoking a strong joint and filter the air into the next room and have someone (preferably a non smoker with better senses) see if they can smell anything, lol.
Alternatively you could use jos sticks or something but you risk contaminating yourself with smell setting up the test...just get creative.
Also, you can have your filter refilled, its generally cheaper than replacing.

I would give at least 2 square foot per plant.

>>>carbon filter>>fan>>cooltube>>exit -exposes the extraction fan to less heat, so it will live longer.

I think you should take basement air into the tent and push your clean warm air up to the top floor of the house, use the energy to warm your house through the winter and save costs and if you get a co2 monitor, you can control the house ventilation based on safe human levels of co2 and the temperature of the basement, as you wont have smelly or polluted air anywhere, the plants will even give back some oxygen.
 
thanks bane.. my concern of venting back into the house is smell.. thats why i was thinking of venting up with the hvac, hot water tank, or dryer vent... Not to sure if i'm gonna do the co2 if i do might go cheep lol..
 
haha, you slightly misunderstand. I don't mean spend money on co2 I mean you and your family are little co2 factories all of your own. I only mentioned it at all to do with safe ventilation. its easy to close all the windows and enjoy the warmth. but a carbon filter wont clean co2 from your breath, so you still need to ventilate even if the outdoor temps are not ideal. The carbon filter (if working correctly) WILL remove all forms of smell. =)
 
GiGaBaNE said:
haha, you slightly misunderstand. I don't mean spend money on co2 I mean you and your family are little co2 factories all of your own. I only mentioned it at all to do with safe ventilation. its easy to close all the windows and enjoy the warmth. but a carbon filter wont clean co2 from your breath, so you still need to ventilate even if the outdoor temps are not ideal. The carbon filter (if working correctly) WILL remove all forms of smell. =)
Click to expand...
I have been saying this to a few friends that grow in a loft .it's one of the only few free resources indoor growers get so use it if you can it can only improve your environment and from the research I've been doing you give out more co2 when your sleeping
 
ok forget co2 for a moment, as you have missed my meaning ;)

if you have an extractor sucking air out of your property and filtering it out of something like the hot water vent. then your house will try to suck the same amount of air in from the outside. in winter this is going to put your heating bill through the roof.

If you go the opposite way and have the warm (smell free) air leaving the grow room and recycling through the house, you will save money on heating during cold weather...this method however can cause a build up of carbon dioxide from the humans living in the house, this is what needs to be a concern.

If the weather outside is not too bad, then you suck air in from outside and then push it back out the house, its separate to the houses heat and offers no opportunity to reclaim the cost of producing and moving heat ;)
 
i see your understanding now.. my major concern is hopefully my carbon filter is good.. if not then I gotta get a new one.... if i go the recycle air route will 1 carbon filter do?
 
ok your extraction fan needs to be able to replace the entire air in the grow room at a rate of at least once every 5 mins.
If your room is 10'x10'x10' that is a thousand cubic feet. now since you only need to clear that every 5 mins you divide by 5 making your requirements a 200CFM fan. If your extractor is the correct size and has the correct filter to fit then you should have no problems with either the plants not breathing right or smell.

If your carbon filter is right, there is still a small chance of smell because of the age of the filter. you need to test it for your own peace of mind. but as long as the system is as good or better than the numbers above, you will be just fine venting into your own house...in fact, any smell leaks at all are better in your house than directly out into the local area, at least if it leaks in the house first it gets to dilute the smell before it leaves your property ;)

if you have the slightest doubt however about the rated capacity of your fan or the state of decay about your filter....just get new.
you can grow a plant on modern house bulbs, but there is no substitute for a good carbon filter.

If you do need to purchase, the sponsors of our site do often offer significant discounts to 420 magazine members =D
 
thanks GIG... i'm only doing 2 plants with lots of LST, topping, scrog... so a 6x6x8 room should be good enough...i have a 424 cfm squirrl fan with a rheostat so controlling the fan speed wont be a issue..

so should the exhaust fan be left on 24/7? there wont be a intake fan... just exhust
 
is it possible to run 2 carbon filters? or even needed?

something like

carbon filter > light > fan > carbon filter in to room...

any recommendations on carbon filters? brands?
 
not needed and not cost effective, but doable I suppose with the size of your fan compared to your grow room. if you have the money to buy another then to be honest just chuck this one and by a new one and that can put your mind to rest. I don't have advice on brands, but there are cheapo filters and premium filters, I would be looking at a premium filter and shop around the sponsors, with the 420 discount they offer it may be the cheapest option ;) the price difference between premium and cheapo isn't that big and will definatly last you 12 months of continuous use without leaking any smell.
 

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