Insulation ideas….

Ok I'll start by saying this is my first build and first grow.

I sectioned off a 5x5 square in my garage and built a room using 2x2's and 2x4's nothing special. Then I stapled and taped orca film up on the walls and sealed it off pretty good for light leaks, and lined the floor with B&W panda film.

Inside are 19 plants with a 1000w light, the light is being vented by a 4 inch duct and just outside the tent a 4 inch inline is puling air out. It seems to do a pretty decent job.
I have an 8,000btu AC dedicated to the tent which cools it just fine………

My problem is that I sorely underestimated just how hot my garage gets. The thermometer over the last couple of days has topped at 90-91.
When I open my garage door to the house and vent out the hot air I can literally watch the temp drop a few degrees, when that happens it also drops in my tent ( I have two wireless therms).

I want to figure a way to insulate my tent so I don't have to let the heat into my house or run the AC on high 24/7.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
I know it looks sloppy…..

r2 insulation enough said

So just throwing up some R2 insulation you believe would keep most of the heat out?

Gotta get garage temps under control. Negative pressure from the room will pull in summer/winter temps. Seal off the garage and climate control it. Try using a 12 inch blower pulling air from inside the house into the garage, or heater/ac inwall unit in garage. My best input from my experience. I have a 8x5x8 room fully insulated and found with negative pressure climate controlling the garage rectify's the issue. Im sure there are better solutions than mine though.

Trainwrek'd said:

Gotta get garage temps under control. Negative pressure from the room will pull in summer/winter temps. Seal off the garage and climate control it. Try using a 12 inch blower pulling air from inside the house into the garage, or heater/ac inwall unit in garage. My best input from my experience. I have a 8x5x8 room fully insulated and found with negative pressure climate controlling the garage rectify's the issue. Im sure there are better solutions than mine though.

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A 12 inch blower sucking air from this guys home? I doubt he wants it sounding like a factory.

Where are you exhausting air from the light?

When the inside temp is 91 what is the outside temp?

- Jiji

Hot garage or attic is an uphill battle for sure. Expect added headaches.

If you are in a desert like I am, here's what I'd do.. but it's a bitch to do properly. I'll assume you get highs outside over 100F (up to 120 here) and that the garage is not insulated.

I'd start with a tent (or your space) and build a styrofoam igloo around it. Run the light(s) on a dedicated cooling circuit that intakes garage air and exhausts into the attic or outside. Use a 2 hose portable AC unit inside the grow, using garage air for the intake again, and exhausting outside or in the attic, same as the lights. Also, if the floor gets hot (concrete is great at conducting heat) you might consider raising it.

Now that cooling is addressed, the problem becomes CO2. Depending on conditions, just setting an exhaust fan on a timer will do it, but you'll have to re-cool the space. Could get expensive. Using some exhale co2 grow bags or a CO2 bottle would probably be a good idea.

Or just limit your grows to winter time.

Hey Trainwrek'd thanks for the advice, I was doing some research and stumbled across
Insulfoam Insulfoam Garage Door Insulation Kit.
At loses but I'm gonna get it from home depot, a few dollars cheaper, while thats on order I am going to get some insulation board to go on the outside of the frame if you look at my pic

So I know that part of my problem is that my light is being vented into my garage adding to the heat but it seems minimal to me.
The last couple of days have been the hottest this year for where I live, today was 94 yesterday 92, heat indexes of 100-101.
When the ambient temp of the garage is in the mid to low 80's then my tent stays at about 76-77 with lights on.
As I said before I think i need to get the garage door insulation kit and also add insulation board to the outside frame of the tent. Summers just getting started here and its only gonna get warmer.
Also I do in fact have some Co2 so I know that I can have warmer temps in my tent…..
Again my issue is that for now I have my dedicated AC running 24/7 on HIGH, I don't expect to ever turn it off but I would like to bump it down to medium or even low, and the only way I'll be able to do that is through some good insulation.

Maybe I don't understand.

Your venting air from your growrooms 1000 watt sealed hood into your garage.

Your venting hot air from a window air conditioners condenser coils into your garage.

You want to lower the temp of your garage by insulating the exterior, and don't want to ventilate hot air outside.

- Jiji

Yeah you can't really see the back of the AC but its being vented out of the garage and is efficient, so i have no hot air coming in from that.. the light? yes it is being vented into the garage away form the tent, i have a two car garage. It was going outside but temporarily i had to suspend that
So the only hot air coming from within is the light but that will be rectified soon.

I want to insulate the garage door because it is thin metal and lets a lot of heat through, so that will help at least a couple degrees, also i will insulate the "tent" as to help keep the cool air in instead of seeping out. There are no walls just orca film so cold air is surely seeping our through it and also tiny holes that have left uncovered… I have done a pretty decent job by sealing it up but I can't get everything

What's killing you right now more than anything is exhausting the light into the garage. Insulating the door is a great idea, but that lamp is dumping a ton of heat into the room. Those 1KW's run hot.

Well final update on this…
Before I got the garage door insulation (for Jiji- it goes on the inside of the door, slides into the panels) I stopped by my local hardware store and got some rigid board insulation 1 inch thick. And it has worked almost too good lol. The temps get almost too low sometimes down to 74F lights on, but thats still ok in my book. My temps have not gotten over 79F degrees even if the garage is 95F degrees.
Thought I sensed a little tude from Jiji, keep it to yourself. I know what I'm doing…..

WOOHOO!

Good job!

Just stating and or clarifying facts.

I originally understood what you wanted, but I misspoke about the insulation.

What I was trying to say was your insulating and sealing a chamber (your garage) while venting heat into it. Your goal was to keep it cooler.

That and the inefficiency of that air conditioner set up doesn't make sense to me, but you got this covered.

- Jiji

I suggest you put booster fans on your A/C. The fan built-in won't move enough air thru all that ducting. You've got pretty severe light leaks there, too.

If you look at the far left of the pic you can see half a 6 inch inline fan being held up by twine from the cieling (to help reduce bends in the duct). And as far as that light leak at the bottom there, a thick white blanket is used to press the film against the frame sealing the light leak.
And actually since adding the insulation to the frame I haven't had to turn on the inline fan. I'm actually considering taking it out to use elsewhere.
To Jiji, no hard feelings. I was looking for some specific ideas not critiques on how bad a set up I have or any tude, since I don't give it I don't expect it.

Nugs1 said:

To Jiji, no hard feelings. I was looking for some specific ideas not critiques on how bad a set up I have or any tude, since I don't give it I don't expect it.

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If you don't expect 'tude', then you need to get off the internet forums, lmao

Well another option, the one I currently am employing, is to make an insulated space to cool first. I'll try to post some pics today but it is pretty tight back there and will be hard to photograph. The space is constructed out of 2x4's and has metal building insulation inside, one wall of the space is to the outside of the garage and contains a small refrigerated air unit. The opposite wall is made up of my cabinet. I cool this space and then suck it into my cabinet and back into it because it is much easier to cool the existing air than 100 degree heat outside. I also have my veg and cloning cabinet importing and exporting air into this space. It's pretty air tight but it sucks fresh air from here and there, now I just need some CO2 to put in it and they will be even crazier than they are now.

Well, 24 hours can sometimes make a difference in your life lol.
I've been given an oppurtunity to go out if country for work and I need to be heading out in 8 days....
So I'm passing all my girls to a good friend of mine. Good guy I know he will take care of them.
Oh and JSJ, I think your right...
Cheers mate!