What's would your dream grow garage look like?

projectinfo

Well-Known Member
Building a grow garage :) 20ftx30ft

I'm thinking around 20 large plants under 1000w hps lights

IL be running 240v lines and water and putting drains in the floor and I have a Frigidaire 25000btu window ac unit with remote temp sensor

I've got two light controllers with 4000w capacity each .. So far

I'm thinking rdwc this time around. I've done dwc and soil. I'm open to suggestions though.

Questions.......
How high should the roof be. I'm thinking barn style maybe 12 to 14ft to control the heat

And what should I do for the walls . plastic sheets over the insulation or gyp rock?

What should I do for heat, I live in Canada and we definitely get all 4 seasons

Any other suggestions would be great!

Whats your dream grow room?? :)

Grow log to follow soon
 
Last edited:

klx

Well-Known Member
Building a grow garage :) 20ftx30ft

I'm thinking around 20 large plants under 1000w hps lights

IL be running 240v lines and water and putting drains in the floor and I have a Frigidaire 25000btu window ac unit with remote temp sensor
Good plan

I've got two light controllers with 4000w capacity each .. So far

I'm thinking rdwc this time around. I've done dwc and soil. I'm open to suggestions though.
Cant comment on that. I prefer the simplicity of flood and drain. When you get into a room this size, you will be busy as hell with canopy management, cloning, filling / ph / dosing rezes, trimming for days on end etc etc so keep that in mind when planning.

Questions.......
How high should the roof be. I'm thinking barn style maybe 12 to 14ft to control the heat
High ceilings will help in summer but hinder in winter. Think about if you biggest concern will be keeping cool in summer or warm in winter?

And what should I do for the walls . plastic sheets over the insulation or gyp rock?
Definitely gyprock with good insulation. I used metal track and stud with 13mm gyprock on each side and stuffed the inside with batt insulation. Can just paint the gyprock flat white. Virtually silent outside the room.

What should I do for heat, I live in Canada and we definitely get all 4 seasons
I get 4 seasons as well. The insulation will help. If you plan on using your air con then I dont see a problem You could cool tube your 1000W hps or use COBs in summer.

Any other suggestions would be great!
Take the time to build your room well and insulate the shit out of it. Once you have the room set up, grow styles etc can be tweaked easily. If you are going to run sealed with the AC then thats fine but if you are going to exhaust, get a bigger fan than you think you need and bigger carbon filter. Good luck!
 

Twerkle

Well-Known Member
8000watts will fit in a 20x20 easily even using rdwc. I have 6000w in 20x10 with 24 site RDWC. Also 25,000btu aint gonna cut it for 8000w. My 25k barely cools 6000w in the summer.

get a 3.5 or 5 ton air handler, you can get them for like 2-3k with electric heater strips then you got climate control solved. If you got ducting you can run two rooms and control them with dampers.

Also that remote temp thing IS BULLSHIT. I have it and it times out after 30mins so if you think you are gonna keep it in one corner of the room and the ac in the other you are wrong. :( learn from my mistakes
 

justugh

Well-Known Member
Building a grow garage :) 20ftx30ft

I'm thinking around 20 large plants under 1000w hps lights

IL be running 240v lines and water and putting drains in the floor and I have a Frigidaire 25000btu window ac unit with remote temp sensor

I've got two light controllers with 4000w capacity each .. So far

I'm thinking rdwc this time around. I've done dwc and soil. I'm open to suggestions though.

Questions.......
How high should the roof be. I'm thinking barn style maybe 12 to 14ft to control the heat

And what should I do for the walls . plastic sheets over the insulation or gyp rock?

What should I do for heat, I live in Canada and we definitely get all 4 seasons

Any other suggestions would be great!

Whats your dream grow room?? :)

Grow log to follow soon
hey
i been working on mine for a while 24x36x12

1 look into LED the energy cost vs the flower output more then justifies the upfront cost of it .....not to speak of the reduction in heat compared to a HID

2 from what i am understanding from a contractor i got for bid on job there is a paint out on the market that would act as a sealer (like the plastic sheet would) but no chance of vapors getting on walls and all that ........just tell the paint guy u need it for sealing a room up

3 the AC u were going to get look into 2 12000btu mini splits with heating and ac .......i say 2 at that power for over kill factor and to divide the area unit needs to cool in half making more effective

4 RDWC is going to cost yah .,.......1 make sure u have a water chiller 2 check into a auto PHer system 3 plan out drainage for breaks in the system 4 plan for water change out 5 the water filter 6 the drainage from the water filter

5 the big one for yah ........RDWC needs a back up power supply encase something happens to the main one .......with out bubbles into the water u have 12 hours before u see droop and if it goes longer then 72 hours u might as well start over unless in veggie then 2 more months can fix what lives .....u need the water pump and air pumps to keep going plus lights
 
Umm 36k btu mini split needed. With one porta 14k and your temps will be around 77 if you are running 1000 watters. If Led you have the opposite problem. You have to keep room way warm
 

nevergoodenuf

Well-Known Member
Another thought would be to split the room into 2 flower rooms. Run one day and one night. Now you would only need half the AC. Also gives some control if you ever have bug/mold problems. Can also run staggered start times to distribute the work load.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
A power splitter is nice to have for twin flower rooms too. Then you only need one set of ballasts to run the two rooms that each have their own lights and reflectors. Not much good for LEDs tho but the money saved on ballasts will make up for extra power costs running HID lights.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Umm 36k btu mini split needed. With one porta 14k and your temps will be around 77 if you are running 1000 watters. If Led you have the opposite problem. You have to keep room way warm
Got that right in my case. My grow is in the basement underground where it's very cool and If I were to switch to LED I wouldn't save a dime as I'd need to run more heat to keep my temps up. Power here is almost 24¢/KWH.
 

justugh

Well-Known Member
Another thought would be to split the room into 2 flower rooms. Run one day and one night. Now you would only need half the AC. Also gives some control if you ever have bug/mold problems. Can also run staggered start times to distribute the work load.
do not do that

that is just going to increase your need for support gear and load more on the power
(assuming u are doing it sealed with Co2) ....2 rooms means 2 zones plus your 3rd zone for growth and general working

tent systems work better then it just matter of 1 extra fan (2 if u use a strong one one for intake one for exhaust)

this way it one system suppling the heat the cooling the humidity control the co2 .........with it in tents u control the light timing so u can stagger harvest so u are not cutting 20 plants down in 3 days and then spending 2 weeks trimming for 6-8 hours a day ( u got hand trim the tumblers just take off so much crystal ....tho speede trim is a nice system electric hand trimmers)

this is what i am doing sealing the building itself then using a tent system for the Photo flowers and the rest of the building for veggie and auto flower ........the math works out to being cheaper this way then building actual walls setting up venting system .......just need to build one floating wall for the main door 8x10 overhead open (just frame and polywrap then use duct tape to seal in less then 40 lbs move it easy replace the tape to seal back in) ...did get a insulated door save on heating and cooling
 

projectinfo

Well-Known Member
Wow thank you for the reply so it's given me a lot to think about. My garage footer should be poured before winter but I can't see it being finished in time we have a lot of projects on the go as it is.

But I actually have a nice tool shed about 9x7wide and 7 ft tall. I plan on moving it a bit and building it out twice as long and maybe 11 ft wide and raising the roof a few feet if needed.

Question is should I raise the roof for heat and to be able to run 1000w or maybe even go vertical and do wall trellises.
 

ANC

Well-Known Member
I would have a tube farm filled with vertical grows like Sedan's
It is still the most efficient method of growing lots of bud in a small area off little power.
Each rig has about a 4x4' footprint.
 

Nugachino

Well-Known Member
I'd probably be happy with one of those little sheds. Ones that can only hold a small work bench. Store a mower, trimmer. And a few other tools.

I'd probably set up a small veg area off the side. And have the rest dedicated to flower. Maybe a hybrid lighting method. 150w hps in the middle and a couple satellite vero29's. Or maybe a CMH.
 

projectinfo

Well-Known Member
Yes I'm in Canada so I get some harsh winters like - 20 maybe - 30 and with humidity its not nice. But I do plan to insulate very well and I think IL have to put a heater on A thermostat for the night cycle
 

projectinfo

Well-Known Member
I would have a tube farm filled with vertical grows like Sedan's
It is still the most efficient method of growing lots of bud in a small area off little power.
Each rig has about a 4x4' footprint.
Yeah if I make the space rectangular and grow vert down the middle that might workout for the space. I'm Maxed at 25 plants so I'm thinking up to 8000 w cool tube if I have to.
 

Carolina Dream'n

Well-Known Member
Flip flop rooms are always going to be better than a single flower room IMO. Constant power draw instead of 12 hour spike. Less ac needed total because of splitting load.
 

justugh

Well-Known Member
I don't understand how 2 flower rooms would increase power load and equipment? He could essentially save on equipment by using the same ballasts for each room on a flip switch and A/C and Dehumidification requirements would be less. He would also be eliminating most if not all of additional heating costs in the winter season.
2 rooms means
2 sets of ac/heat
2 sets of fans(support fans used in the area to make the air flow so ir heat build up does not damage the crop)
2 sets of timers/controllers
2 sets of Co2 supplies
2 sets of humidity control (add or removing it)
(if go hyrdo it is even more gear pump air pumps tanks water chillers auto Phing systems )

in one room u remove all that extra stuff u just need to split of the area of coverage in the ac/heating 2 units controlling smaller area is more effective then one trying to control a larger area(and with the louvers on the system it can replace the need of 2 fans for air flow to make the plants happy (no ir heat build up on the leaves or flowers)

2 rooms means 2 grows
1 in flowering
1 in veggie so when flowering is done can flip it
(assuming wants to do a veggie room for 2 months then start a 2nd veggie room give the 2nd room a month then flip the first veggie into flowering ...by it is time to harvest the 2nd veggie room will be ready to flip into flowering ....while the first is harvested and used to dry in for 2 week before they start the room as veggie again ) .......the cycle that makes the most logic

i am saying keeping it all in one area ........flowers on need 12 12 when it is time to go that way the rest of the timing is 18/6 or 20/4 .........so the plants u want to flower set them in a tent in that area hook up the lights that are ment to cover that area and run them on the 12/12 to flower it

but the heating and cooling the rh and co2 is still controlled by one system ....the only add on is the fans to intake and exhaust from the tent

cost of the walls the systems and all that when it can be done with a tent system in one area
 

justugh

Well-Known Member
Not necessarily. You exchange the air between both rooms. Now you're benefiting from the night cycle that's actually producing Co2. Your temperature differential is minimal. And again in the winter you have constant supply of heat.
the c02 the plants make are not good for growing it is the wrong for them .....i had this explained years back

the Co2 at night is a waste form to them they need the Co2 that comes out of us or animal .....(i tried that idea with a veggie and a flowering tent did not do anything to improve but i added a bucket of mash brewing moonshine and 2 oz increase )

that is what the mini split handles cooling and heating .......the building is over sized it will have a heat well up top from the lights and the heat from the AC units ......u just need to vent that down to ground mixx with coldest air
( take a temp gun with a laser on it and find the hottest spot in your open air hook into that with a carbon filter and fan at that lvl and pump it down to the bottom ....u made a air scrubber and u ahave used area that was not being used for anything to supply your area with heat in colder months ......hotter months put the ducting tho the roof zypher out the hot air )
 

justugh

Well-Known Member
CO2 is CO2. Now if they release something else other than CO2 at night that is bad for the daytime that would be a different story but I've never heard of it. I'd like to see some documentation about that.
i thought the same thing but it is not
the only way i can think to get u to believe what i say is a experiment

co2 senor (about 80 to 120 bucks )
plug it into the wall and run lights on lights off in the tent 1 day with the fans just moving air for the IR heat but not exchanging it (just one day to get a full read out)

u will see the CO2 that is put out is a waste form there is nothing be hide it.......it animal life co2 that the plants want ...the co2 it makes itself is nothing it has no use for it

google it there is not one set up like the way u are talking for the factor i am telling u .......the CO2 it makes is waste there is nothing be hide it think of a sleeping mouse now a few dozen of them and that is about what u have ......cannabis is not one of the CO2 dumping oxygen breathing plants (if u want to go the low tech way mushrooms all of them are oxygen eating co2 dumpers )

1 plant type can not make a ecosystem ......the mushrooms and cannabis are a good mix (those Co2 bags u hang over the plant is just mushrooms some spore with some medium and little water food ) they eat the oxygen and dumb the co2 faster then it can be absorbed getting area to a mid way point 1000-1200ppm basing off a room of 400
 

Carolina Dream'n

Well-Known Member
2 rooms means
2 sets of ac/heat
2 sets of fans(support fans used in the area to make the air flow so ir heat build up does not damage the crop)
2 sets of timers/controllers
2 sets of Co2 supplies
2 sets of humidity control (add or removing it)
(if go hyrdo it is even more gear pump air pumps tanks water chillers auto Phing systems )

in one room u remove all that extra stuff u just need to split of the area of coverage in the ac/heating 2 units controlling smaller area is more effective then one trying to control a larger area(and with the louvers on the system it can replace the need of 2 fans for air flow to make the plants happy (no ir heat build up on the leaves or flowers)

2 rooms means 2 grows
1 in flowering
1 in veggie so when flowering is done can flip it
(assuming wants to do a veggie room for 2 months then start a 2nd veggie room give the 2nd room a month then flip the first veggie into flowering ...by it is time to harvest the 2nd veggie room will be ready to flip into flowering ....while the first is harvested and used to dry in for 2 week before they start the room as veggie again ) .......the cycle that makes the most logic

i am saying keeping it all in one area ........flowers on need 12 12 when it is time to go that way the rest of the timing is 18/6 or 20/4 .........so the plants u want to flower set them in a tent in that area hook up the lights that are ment to cover that area and run them on the 12/12 to flower it

but the heating and cooling the rh and co2 is still controlled by one system ....the only add on is the fans to intake and exhaust from the tent

cost of the walls the systems and all that when it can be done with a tent system in one area
You have one Ac for two rooms. Usually about 50% smaller than you would if all the lights were in one room. It only has to cool half the lights at one time, therefore it doesn't need to be as big.
Saving of over $1000.

Circulation fans aren't going to change much. Not a valid point.

Two sets of timers for the lights, yes. One master controller for each room. Extra $500 bucks that you saved in AC.

Yes you'll need two co2 gens or tanks. Extra $300.

Humidity control, I don't like one dehumidifier for large rooms anyway, no failsafe. So no extra cost to use 1 in each small room vs 2 in big room.

You can run 50% more lights using flip flop as you can with one room. Let's say you have 100 amp service, and want to run 8000 watts.

You can put all 8 in one room 40 amp.
Ac to cool it 30 amp.
Dehumidifier 5 amp.
Your at 75 amps (maxed out)

Two rooms with 6000 in each. 30 amp
AC to cool it an other room 30 amp. Dehumidifier for both rooms. 10 amp.
Total amount running at one time- 70 amps.

Meaning people with limited power, flip flops is actually a lot better because of the split power usage.

The same 100amp service that can only run 8000w in one flower room, could do 12000w in two flip flop rooms.


You won't catch me dead using a tent. Rooms need to be insulated and have dedicated power to them.
 
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