grow fridge help

Whats up rollitup?

Me and my friend decided we would try growing again after my last attempt went bad with our Rubbermaid set up. Well we went and bought one of those fridges. Its bigger than a mini fridge, but its not a full size. We stripped it and started hooking up lights. However, I was wondering, what can we do for ventilation and exhaust?

Heres some pics

Also open to any other suggestions you guys have. I think we have a lot of flexibility here.





Open Fridge







Closed Fridge





We used pre-existing wiring from the thermostat







The back housing where the wires come out.



Also, I was wondering how many plants we could fit in there if we used LST and Topping. We have 6 42w CFLs that fit in there. And the inside is completely reflective except for the inside of the door which we will be painting flat white.

dude, i did the same thing with a full size fridge, and unless you have the skills and patience to cut out all the insulation in it, then its not worh it. i had major heat issues with only 2 42 watt cfls. It could work if you used a cool tube, but then youd have to cut air in and out exausts on either side, and that would defeat the purpose of stealth. But then again, my fridge didnt work( it didnt cool anything). If yours works, then shit, you're set. I hope that helps

hahaha, wow spent all that money and didn't even think about ventilation, look im not dissing you but for 1/4 of the price you can have a nice box or something that you can acually drill holes into.

-outcome- cant help you

Well I just found someone else's grow log that used almost the same exact fridge we have haha. He used a dremel to cut holes towards the bottom and top and stuck some fans in there. He used 2 150w HPS and had no problems with heat. Im sure we can manage with CFLs

anyone? .

=)

itll work bro fuck the naysayers, could you pull out the freon and use the compressor it already has for some added ventilation

I have been considering doing the same thing and would be interested as to how it turns out with a little SOG, FIMing and LST..

I'm sure you can make it work, it will just require a little flexibility and ingenuity.

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oh shit. no wonder. that fridge has like no insulation and is small. mine was full size and had about 3" of insulation. It worked , but again, i was restricted due to heat. Yah, you shouldnt have a problem with that dorm fridge. the white inside does wonders!

so.... wonder if you could set the fridge on the highest setting like 50 or 60, add your lights and shazham, 72-80 degrees? yes i am extremely stoned but it just might work

I thought that too. It might have worked, but he removed the compressor.

put a 150-400w hps in there...lol im on to something here!

Kingb420 said:

put a 150-400w hps in there...lol im on to something here!

Click to expand...

i saw a guy who had a working fridge full of plants on youtube. the only problem is it uses more electricity to counteract the heat. its still a badass setup though.

I'm in the process of gutting and old fridge myself. It's full size two door with the freezer above the fridge, but it had a real nasty stink inside that crept into the insulation and I had no choice but to gut it. But this turned out for the best because once I stripped all the interior out of it and the doors I'm left with this perfectly sealed big sheet metal cabinet that with the doors shut looks like a perfectly fine fridge.

The only problem so far is that the inside of the cabinet is gray. Because Of where it is it's impossible for me to get it outside to spray paint the inside white so I guess I'll be installing some mylar. My guess is that carpet tape would be a good way to stick it on there.

I ordered a 250 watt hps with a hydro farm air cooled reflector. It's got 6" flanges on it and I'm wondering what's the best way to vent the air in and out. Obviously 6" flexible metal ducting but what vent do I use where the ducting meets the cabinet? Dryer vents? Do they even make 6" dryer vents? I'm also gonna have to read up on how to cut large holes in sheet metal.

And what besides maybe some curves in the ducting keeps the light from flooding out from the ventilation holes on your cabinet?

MR70,

That sounds pretty great. You have a lot more space that way, too. Everything still seals up around the doors?

Why not just use brush on white latex paint? Or Kilz? Kilz is an oil based product but it's white, it's affordable (available in quarts at almost any hardware store), it dries quickly and it's a high quality finish for a primer.

You can cut the hole in the sheet metal with a jig saw. You could even use tin snips if you get desperate.

I would buy two flanges and mount them on either side of the hole and then use a hose clamp and separate piece of duct on either side of the fridge.

cleef said:

MR70,

That sounds pretty great. You have a lot more space that way, too. Everything still seals up around the doors?

Why not just use brush on white latex paint? Or Kilz? Kilz is an oil based product but it's white, it's affordable (available in quarts at almost any hardware store), it dries quickly and it's a high quality finish for a primer.

You can cut the hole in the sheet metal with a jig saw. You could even use tin snips if you get desperate.

I would buy two flanges and mount them on either side of the hole and then use a hose clamp and separate piece of duct on either side of the fridge.

Click to expand...

Thanks. Yeah it seals up just as tight as it ever did. Both doors open to the same large space. I'll use the fridge door to access the plants and hydro system (I'm leaning towards Bubbleponics) and the freezer door gives access to raise lower the light and to ventilation fans and whatever odor control.

One thing I just realized is that if I reinstall the inner metal box without the insulation I end up with a chamber within a chamber with 2 1/2" airspace between them all the way around. The inner box is bright white and has a few helpful holes on it already. The outer box has no holes on it anywhere. I wonder if I could attach my vent flanges to holes in the inner box and then draw and exhaust air up from the floor through the large 2 1/2" void that surrounds the inner box. And any hardware (nuts & bolts) that needs to be installed for lights or whatever would be attached to just the inner box making the fridge an ultimate stealth box that could be viewed from the front, top and both sides without giving a clue that something weird was going on. I'm just not sure if I'll be able to draw enough air off the floor to make this possible. The inside of the outer box could then be painted flat black to help absorb light that hopefully wouldn't escape through the vents and radiate from under the fridge like a spaceship. That would be difficult to explain to anyone who sees it.

I'm not sure how much light to expect coming from the fridge with the 250 hps. My only experience has been with a 1000 watt MH in a small bedroom with soil and vermiculite. I've never had to worry about having something hidden in plain site before, but I moved and the 1000 watt had to go.

I grow in a cabinet and it doesn't leak light at all- it cab be done. Designing vents and so fourth that don't leak light is easy compared to trying to get a pair of crappy flimsy doors to seal.

MR70 said:

I'm in the process of gutting and old fridge myself. It's full size two door with the freezer above the fridge, but it had a real nasty stink inside that crept into the insulation and I had no choice but to gut it. But this turned out for the best because once I stripped all the interior out of it and the doors I'm left with this perfectly sealed big sheet metal cabinet that with the doors shut looks like a perfectly fine fridge.

The only problem so far is that the inside of the cabinet is gray. Because Of where it is it's impossible for me to get it outside to spray paint the inside white so I guess I'll be installing some mylar. My guess is that carpet tape would be a good way to stick it on there.

I ordered a 250 watt hps with a hydro farm air cooled reflector. It's got 6" flanges on it and I'm wondering what's the best way to vent the air in and out. Obviously 6" flexible metal ducting but what vent do I use where the ducting meets the cabinet? Dryer vents? Do they even make 6" dryer vents? I'm also gonna have to read up on how to cut large holes in sheet metal.

And what besides maybe some curves in the ducting keeps the light from flooding out from the ventilation holes on your cabinet?

Click to expand...

Thats sweet. i was going to do the exact same once i got a new(old)fridge, except with like 2 150 watt cfls and have 6 lowryders on the bottomm and six more on top. On my first fridge project i used alot of smaller cfls, but it worked. I didnt gut mine though, so i was wondering, how stable is the fridge when its completley gutted. Like does it wobble if you hit it, or did you have to add plywood or reinforcement? I think if the fridge has a radiater type thing on the back, you could get away with a vent at the top back of the inside, with a carbon filter before the lights intake.

Mine was a steel wardrobe, not a fridge. I really think you can get away with having a lot of venting in the back. Especially if it's behind the coils. When was the last time you randomly looked at the back of someone's fridge?