closet grow, vetalation help needed

so heres my problem, in the picture below is the size/dimensions of my closet, i have no attic anything to exhaust into, cant cut throught the ceiling or wall to exhaust outside as that would be a bad idea anyway, i was wondering if i could cut directly into the floor and have my intake and exhaust that way. on different sides of the closet of course
any ideas would be very helpful.
i ran my 400 watt hm for 30 mins with 2 fans inside and the temp went up 8 degrees
 

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i have money to spend, i was thinking of buying 2 inline can fans,
if it still is to hot maybe an air conditioner.
anyone know where to get a mini air conditioner?
 

Green Floyd

Active Member
I have basically the same dimensions for my closet grow. I ended up cutting a hole right at the top to vent out back into my room. When the smell gets too strong I'll add a home made carbon filter there. I have fan for intake at the bottom of the door with a sort of ghetto cardboard duct that allows air to be pulled in all across the 1 1/2" gap along the bottom. There is another fan right above my lights to pull that heat off. No fan at the top but it's fairly airtight to force the air out there. I have a lot of flow this way and I reckon it has the same effect of a ceiling fan circulating air in my room. Maybe a little oxygen too. When I add the carbon filter that will clean up the air in my room as well. Win, win, win. Sounds good to me. :)

The main thing I discovered is that there is a huge difference in the temps from the floor to the ceiling. Obvious, I know but more than you might guess at first. For example I started with my plants on the floor and when I moved them up about 4' the temp was about 5 degrees higher with the same setup. I plan to move them back down pretty soon.

I like to keep all the air flow within the house so it stays consistent since I have central air. Even if you vent in and out through your floor you'll still need a carbon filter for the smell and tiny critters as well.

If you must vent in and out through the floor maybe have the outtake pull from the top of your closet via some kind of duct and then below the floor far enough away from the intake that your not just spinning your wheels.

Grow hard!
 

gobbly

Well-Known Member
yeah, really depends on what is below you. Mold is a concern unless you live in a desert type climate. But if you're venting into a family room, or other large space which is frequently used, you can usually get away with it (and also spot the first signs). Kinda depends on where you live though, mold is all about the humidity.
A key to venting is to take advantage of hot air rising. Regardless of where the actual exhaust is, it should be pulling air from the upper portion of your grow space. You want your intake coming from low to the floor because that's where all the cooler air is, as well as a higher concentration of C02. You also want to separate where your exhaust is blowing out from where your intake is, basically you don't want your intake to be sucking back in hot air you just exhausted.
 

igothydrotoneverywhere

Well-Known Member
so heres my problem, in the picture below is the size/dimensions of my closet, i have no attic anything to exhaust into, cant cut throught the ceiling or wall to exhaust outside as that would be a bad idea anyway, i was wondering if i could cut directly into the floor and have my intake and exhaust that way. on different sides of the closet of course
any ideas would be very helpful.
i ran my 400 watt hm for 30 mins with 2 fans inside and the temp went up 8 degrees
Every situation is different, but barring a lucky break and there is space in between the layers of flooring in your house you could run it that way.

If i were you however and had to do a discrete grow packed into a closet, I would sell that HPS and switch to all CFL's or a couple of UFO LED's. I have had good success with a glowpanel 45 from sunshine systems.

You can run a 4" carbon scrubber attached to a 180 cfm fan inside that tiny closet and no smell will leak. That fan will clean the room 2x everyminute. because you have about 96 cubic ft as per your dimensions.

Dont cut large holes in the drywall if you can help it. Remember everything you do has to, and can be, undone. But how much work do you want to have to do if you have to move it one day.
 
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