Grow Room Floorplans. Here to help.

I have found a couple of lighting controllers, I guess either will work just fine?

CAP MLC 4x lighting controller:
http://www.vminnovations.com/Product_15615/MLC-4X-C-A-P-4-HID-Light-Master-Lighting-Controller.html

Titan Controls Helios 11 - 4 light controller
http://www.ebay.com/itm/110841106902?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_500wt_1180

HydroDawg421 said:

WoW! This is amazing information! Thank You so MUCH!!!

• I will definitely set this up for 240v so it draws less amps
• The a/c will run off of 240v also
• My ballasts will be mounted to the backside of the South wall which is actually in a very big crawlspace area. The temps are usually 65-70 degrees in this area.
• Integrate a light controller box & hot strike box. I'm assuming these are 2 separate devices? (do you recommend any particular brands? CAP, Titan?)
• Add a 3rd light. I think a 3 light setup will be easier with ducting & raising/lowering the lights. I'll attach 2 drawings. one for a 3 light setup & one for a 4 light setup.
• I currently have (2) of the Quantum 1000w dimmable ballasts and can run them at 25, 50, 75 or 100% ( http://www.quantumhort.com/quantum-1000-watt-dimmable.html )
• I currently have a 6 site DWC and can expand to 12 or 18 buckets depending on the lighting, etc. I'm not dead set on doing 18 buckets, I can consider doing just 12 buckets and growing larger plants. I don't want to crowd my room with too many plants and I want some room to move around inside the room. I need some input on this! 12 or 18 ???
• I am concerned with the height of the room. My first grow I LST'd & topped. My 2nd grow I did a SCROG (this is a lot of work!) For this grow I was thinking about topping/fimming to get short bushy plants
• I will find some 5 or 10MIL vapor barrier that is a lot cheaper and also caulk/seal the room. I was going overkill with the $550 a roll stuff just to be safe.
• The room has plywood on the floor, walls & ceiling and the room is insulated with either R19 or R22 (I forget).
• I will DEFINITELY be getting a CAN75 filter and a couple of CAN or Vortex fans.

Here are my options for cooling the lights:

• I can intake air for the lights from the South wall which is the crawl space underneath the house. The air will always stay 65-70 degrees since it comes from under the house. I can then exhaust it outside via the foundation vent on the North wall. I'll use a CAN/Vortex fan(s) to drive this at a HIGH CFM. This option won't allow for a 'straight run' of ducting though so it WILL be less efficient.
• I could intake air for the lights from the West wall throughout the foundation and exhaust it out the foundation vent on the North wall. However this air would be as hot as 95 degrees in the summer. I know a straight run allows for more CFM air flow but where is the trade off? Hot air in a straight run or much cooler air with a couple of bends?
• I could intake from either the crawlspace or outside and then vent it back in to the crawlspace via the East wall. Although I don't know about blowing warm air under the house.I would worry about condensation and then mold/mildew once the outside temperatures drop in the fall/winter.

Should I mount these lights to the ceiling and not worry about raising or lowering or will my lumens drop off? I think at the beginning of the grow the lights will be 40"-48" or more from the tops of the buckets to the lights. Is this too far?

OR Should I stick with (3) lights and a 6 bucket setup and just grow some HUGE plants?

Checkout the 2 .jpg's I have attached. I like the 3 light setup for simplicity but am not opposed to a 4 light setup if it gives me distinct advantage of the 3 light setup!

Feel free to add anything that I may have missed!


View attachment 2131198View attachment 2131199

Click to expand...

Hey bud. This is why we put things on paper first. Know that I have it laid out I think some changes need to be made.

First off, I think you can do 12 plants pretty easily under 2 lights. Assuming you bush them out a little to keep them short and each plant has a width of 18-24" then you will have no problem fitting them all under 2,000w. A 1000w light has a footprint of roughly 5x5. That footprint increases when you have 2 lights side by side. So covering a plant area that is 3'-4' wide and 9'-12' long will not be a problem.

I would try and keep the chiller outside of the room as well. Not a big deal but they do produce heat that should be exhausted out of the room. I'm not sure which one you have but it soulnd like you are running you nutrient solution through the chiller. This is not a good idea and will lead to chiller failure. Not sure how the aquarium ones function but maybe they work for this application since they are designed to run saltwater through them anyway.

Your venting is gonna be tough. Long runs like that with curves in them just kill the CFM on a fan. You might have to oversize the fan (10" high output) and use a duct reducer. Also, hang your carbon filter and fan close to the ceiling to save room.

The light controller box and hot strike box are differrent. I use C.A.P. and I've never had a problem with them. I'd recommend the MLC-4XT which has the built in timer. For the hot strike box I'd recommend the HLC-3e.

With 2 lights I think you can get away with venting them back into the room if you get all the other equipment that produces heat out of there. I would still try and vent it outside but maybe getting extra fans and all that ducting might not be worth it for now.

I think it would be way more efficient to have your a/c unit on the North wall if at all possible. This will keep the lights from interfering with the air from the a/c and will blow cold air directly onto your plants. Not that big a deal though.

Let me know what you think. I just realized I messed up the ducting by accident. Should be pulling from up top and venting down below.

cuzogucci19 said:

Wondering if you can help me out I have a room with 1 window it 10x10x8. I have 3 600w hps, 2 exhaust fans(1 has carbon filter with it, 1 blower fan. How would you set this up? Any designs would be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

You posted yesterday and I responded with some question. Please look at my response to your last post on the previous page.

phillipchristian said:

Hey bud, thanks for stopping by.

Can youl let me know wha wall the window and the door are on? Like north, east, etc... Also, what grow style do you use? Soil or hydro? And generally speaking, how tall do you grow your plants?

Click to expand...

Sorry about that. Door would be on north side of room and the window is directly across on the south side. In growing in soil and let my plants get no bigger then 4 feet. Something like that

.......Wall......
door.........window
........wall......

I'm also having heating issues with the setup I currently have now which is in the shape of a triangle with lights. I need to keep heat down as much as I can because 88 is way too high and ac really is no option. My current setup is something like this ( I'm on my phone so nevermind the periods)

....light....
|............|
Light...... Light

cuzogucci19 said:

I'm also having heating issues with the setup I currently have now which is in the shape of a triangle with lights. I need to keep heat down as much as I can because 88 is way too high and ac really is no option. My current setup is something like this ( I'm on my phone so nevermind the periods)

....light....
|............|
Light...... Light

Click to expand...

3 lights (1800watts) seems like a lot without a/c. Surprised you aren't getting higher temps already. Summer's coming and my guess is you're gonna need some other form of cooling. Why is a/c not an option?

Roughly how many plants do you want to grow? Are you exhausting your hoods out of the room with air cooled reflectors? What size are the vents; 6" or 8"?

phillipchristian said:

3 lights (1800watts) seems like a lot without a/c. Surprised you aren't getting higher temps already. Summer's coming and my guess is you're gonna need some other form of cooling. Why is a/c not an option?

Roughly how many plants do you want to grow? Are you exhausting your hoods out of the room with air cooled reflectors? What size are the vents; 6" or 8"?

Click to expand...

Well of I absolutely have to I can purchase a AC system just didn't know where to put one. In growing 7 plants under each light. Yes I'm exhausting the heat out the the lamps with a 440cfm fan and two 240 cfm duct boosters. Everything is 6"

Also what size AC unit would you recommend for the room size of 10x10x10 with those 3 600w running?

phillipchristian said:

Hey bud. This is why we put things on paper first. Know that I have it laid out I think some changes need to be made.

First off, I think you can do 12 plants pretty easily under 2 lights. Assuming you bush them out a little to keep them short and each plant has a width of 18-24" then you will have no problem fitting them all under 2,000w. A 1000w light has a footprint of roughly 5x5. That footprint increases when you have 2 lights side by side. So covering a plant area that is 3'-4' wide and 9'-12' long will not be a problem.

I would try and keep the chiller outside of the room as well. Not a big deal but they do produce heat that should be exhausted out of the room. I'm not sure which one you have but it soulnd like you are running you nutrient solution through the chiller. This is not a good idea and will lead to chiller failure. Not sure how the aquarium ones function but maybe they work for this application since they are designed to run saltwater through them anyway.

Your venting is gonna be tough. Long runs like that with curves in them just kill the CFM on a fan. You might have to oversize the fan (10" high output) and use a duct reducer. Also, hang your carbon filter and fan close to the ceiling to save room.

The light controller box and hot strike box are differrent. I use C.A.P. and I've never had a problem with them. I'd recommend the MLC-4XT which has the built in timer. For the hot strike box I'd recommend the HLC-3e.

With 2 lights I think you can get away with venting them back into the room if you get all the other equipment that produces heat out of there. I would still try and vent it outside but maybe getting extra fans and all that ducting might not be worth it for now.

I think it would be way more efficient to have your a/c unit on the North wall if at all possible. This will keep the lights from interfering with the air from the a/c and will blow cold air directly onto your plants. Not that big a deal though.

Let me know what you think. I just realized I messed up the ducting by accident. Should be pulling from up top and venting down below.


View attachment 2131347

Click to expand...

This looks fantastic!

I do have a couple more questions:

• Should I mount my lights flush to the ceiling and not worry about raising or lowering them?

This would put the plants 40"-48" from the lights at the beginning of the grow and will be reduced as the weeks pass because the plants will grow up. Is this too far away?

• What are your thoughts on adding a 3rd light?

I think I'm going to use an HO fan to pull cool air from within the room across the lights and just vent it in to the room. This will at least pull some of the heat away from the canopy and will help lower the temps.

• Can I get away with not exhausting the lights if I use a 3rd light? Is 2 the limit without exhausting?

Bulbs

• I have used HPS for BOTH veg & flower. Should I use MH for veg & HPS for flower?
• Should I use the Hortilux Super Blue MH/HPS Dual Arc? That way I don't have to change bulbs between veg & flower.

cuzogucci19 said:

Also what size AC unit would you recommend for the room size of 10x10x10 with those 3 600w running?

Click to expand...

You said you are exhausting your lights but are you exhausting them out of your grow room?

They make portable 12,000btu a/c units. Get a dual hose unit and connect the hoses to your window or a vent. That way you won't be exchanging air with the outside. Just using the outside air to cool the a/c unit.

phillipchristian said:

You said you are exhausting your lights but are you exhausting them out of your grow room?

They make portable 12,000btu a/c units. Get a dual hose unit and connect the hoses to your window or a vent. That way you won't be exchanging air with the outside. Just using the outside air to cool the a/c unit.

Click to expand...

Do you have a picture of the setup I should use for the 3 lights? It would be greatly appreciated if you had any ideas.

HydroDawg421 said:

This looks fantastic!

I do have a couple more questions:

• Should I mount my lights flush to the ceiling and not worry about raising or lowering them?

This would put the plants 40"-48" from the lights at the beginning of the grow and will be reduced as the weeks pass because the plants will grow up. Is this too far away?

• What are your thoughts on adding a 3rd light?

I think I'm going to use an HO fan to pull cool air from within the room across the lights and just vent it in to the room. This will at least pull some of the heat away from the canopy and will help lower the temps.

• Can I get away with not exhausting the lights if I use a 3rd light? Is 2 the limit without exhausting?

Bulbs

• I have used HPS for BOTH veg & flower. Should I use MH for veg & HPS for flower?
• Should I use the Hortilux Super Blue MH/HPS Dual Arc? That way I don't have to change bulbs between veg & flower.

Click to expand...

Hey bud, I would mount the lights flush to the ceiling and create a table system to raise your plants. I know it seems like a lot fo work but trying to move 2 lights and inline fans and ducting all at once is really tough. Even for 2 people. You don't want to leave your plants that far from the lights; even when they are young. I would honestly build a lift system and put your entire plant setup on the system. They are not hard to build at all. Just some welding needed probably. You could get a contractor to do it in a day or two. Took me and a guy who works for me 2 days to build a system for 84 plants. I have a workshop that puts Bob Villa to shame but it isn't much to do.

If you run a 3rd light then you should put the a/c on the North wall and run your system setup against the South wall. You could probably get 4-6 more buckets in there no problem. 2 rows of 9.

If you vent that air back into the room I think you'll see in the summer that youa/c is working awfully hard to keep up. Try it out. Worst case scenario is you have to get some ducting and a flange later on. With a 3rd light I don't see how you could pull that off. Just too much wattage.

Definitely use HPS for flower. Actually, use MH for veg and the first 2 weeks of flower. Then switch out your bulbs for HPS ones. During the first 2 weeks of flower your plants actually will benefit more from an MH than an HPS.

I wouldn't touch that dual arc with a 10' pole dude. Heard some horror stories about it. Plus the technology is not there. If you want supplemental lighting for flower (without all the expense) then look into UVB bulbs. Sold by most pet stores. They throw off some heat but they give you an excellent mixed spectrum and will increase trichrome production. Just turn them on a little at a time in the beginning and let your plants get used to them. Maybe 3 three 1 hour segments the first week. Then thress 2 hour segments the second week. Then just have them on the full 12 hours. Plants need to harden off to them. Start them out like 2-3' away. You'll see sign of heat stress if they are too close. You can get them as close as 18" byt the end. Check these links out.

Domes
http://www.terrificpets.com/pet_supplies/reptile/lighting/clamp-lamps/106745.asp
http://www.terrificpets.com/pet_supplies/reptile/lighting/clamp-lamps/116922.asp

Lamps
http://www.petguys.com/-097612340100.html
http://www.terrificpets.com/pet_supplies/reptile/lighting/uv-lamps/12129.asp

cuzogucci19 said:

Do you have a picture of the setup I should use for the 3 lights? It would be greatly appreciated if you had any ideas.

Click to expand...

Look man, I've asked you a ton of questions that you don't answer. What do you want me to do? Draw you a picture of three lights in the middle of the room? I really don't have enough info man. You have a 10x10 room. Take the 3 lights and make a L shape in a corner of the room. Isn't that the most logical? 1 light in the corner covering a 4x4 area and 1 light on either side.

I've asked you a ton of questions and you've given very few answers. I really don't have any info besides the wattage of your lights, the size of the room, and that you might get an a/c. You just want me to draw something for you so you can have a picture? Come on man.

Based on the LIMITED info you gave me bro...this is the best that I can do.

Actually bro I gave u all the answers to your questions if you go back and read all the replays u gave me I replied right back with all the answers. I just needed some help no need to come at me like that. But u should go back over these past couple posts between us and u will see all the info I gave you

Again I will give you the info. 3 600w hps lights 2 exhaust fans, 1 blower fan. Door on north side window on south side. Growing in soil no plant will be taller then 4ft. any help will be greatly appreciated. I thank you for taking the time to help me. If u need anything else I can easily write it for you

phillipchristian said:

Roughly how many plants do you want to grow? Are you exhausting your hoods out of the room with air cooled reflectors? What size are the vents; 6" or 8"?

Click to expand...

phillipchristian said:

You said you are exhausting your lights but are you exhausting them out of your grow room?

Click to expand...

phillipchristian said:

Hey bud, thanks for stopping by.

Can youl let me know wha wall the window and the door are on? Like north, east, etc... Also, what grow style do you use? Soil or hydro? And generally speaking, how tall do you grow your plants?

Click to expand...

cuzogucci19 said:

Again I will give you the info. 3 600w hps lights 2 exhaust fans, 1 blower fan. Door on north side window on south side. Growing in soil no plant will be taller then 4ft. any help will be greatly appreciated. I thank you for taking the time to help me. If u need anything else I can easily write it for you

Click to expand...

Above you will find a few questions that you did not answer. Also, if you look back on this page you will see that I already posted a design for you. What do you want me to do bro? I have no info. Could you design a room with no info?

* Can you exhaust the lights out of the room? Where?
* What other equipment is in the room?
* How big are the door and window? Are they located smack dab in the middle of the walls? Does the door open inward or outward?
* Where are your vents now?
* How wide are your plants? What size pots are they in? You fit 7 under 1 light? How? Seems like an odd number.
* Soil or hydro? If hydro then what kind?

You've asked me 4 times in 3 pages to post a drawing for you. Based on what I had I already did post one. I don't have any info to determine how to place your plants or what walls you can vent out of. I don't even know if you have flood tables or what you are growing in. I have no clue what you want to do as far as your grow. So, with the very little info I have that is the design you get.

You have any suggestions for a direct drain dehumidifier? Its for a 500 sq ft room and I have two 4x8 tents and 3x3 also. Humidity is 63 rite now I haven't started yet but I just got everything set up today trying to get everything fine tuned before I start. I had problems with mold before I even thought about starting something here I scrubbed the walls and sprayed the carpets with water that was phd super high. There was only one spot that looked like had mold but I know it spreads really easy so I'm hoping the dehumidifier will help keep the mold at bay if i missed any.

@cuzog. Hey dude phillip trying to help you! Might help him if you just scribbled something on paper and take a pic of it
And post it! Then phillip can alter it to whats best.