Shiny insulation in basement grow room

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Gabby987

Member
I grow in the basement with LED lights.
The walls are concrete painted white.
I added insulation with a shiny side. I figured it will keep warm and reflect light, but now I read that it's flammable. The lights don't generate much heat and there are no heat sources near it. I also have two fans and an extractor fan.
Could you please give some feedback?
 
Gorillabilly

Gorillabilly

Well-Known Member
is it the Styrofoam ? If so I use it in my veg room, never an issue. It is flammable tho, not explosive. Its fine under normal conditions, but make no mistake it will burn.... but so will most of what your house is made of.
 
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Gabby987

Member
You made a good point. Fire safety is important regardless.
And.. yeah. I did a match test. It burns like crazy, but also put a piece two inches below the LED lights to test it, it barely got warm.
Smoke alarm is installed.
 
The Gram Reaper

The Gram Reaper

Well-Known Member
Renfro said:
Id much rather have white walls than "shiny" insulation.
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I was pro mylar for a while, its hard to break that chrome addiction lol. Its a daily fight.

White walls are perfect, it reflects light while not causing hot spots. I am just now learning this after rebuilding my grow and going with the cheaper, and who would have knew better, option of white paint.
 
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Gabby987

Member
Renfro said:
Id much rather have white walls than "shiny" insulation.
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You are right. Newb mistake. Dam liquid nails. It will be a pain getting it off.
Will the concrete walls be too cold? I plan to heat the basement to about 60° , but it will always be cooler near the foundation.
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
Gabby987 said:
You are right. Newb mistake. Dam liquid nails. It will be a pain getting it off.
Will the concrete walls be too cold? I plan to heat the basement to about 60° , but it will always be cooler near the foundation.
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Depends on how much light you will be running. Too cool and you will have condensation issues and slow growth rates, especially if using LED. With LED we typically want temperatures in the mid 80's. With HPS the upper 70's.

You will definitely need heat, a lot more than just 60 degrees. TBH it sounds like HPS would be a better fit since you will need the heat anyways. How big is the basement and how much weed do you wanna grow?
 
The Gram Reaper

The Gram Reaper

Well-Known Member
I try to keep my day and night temps close to one another, day being slightly higher. It seems to get the best growth from my experience, not sure if it has been proven but it works for me. I always got slow growth when my plants had to warm up every morning.
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
The Gram Reaper said:
I try to keep my day and night temps close to one another, day being slightly higher. It seems to get the best growth from my experience, not sure if it has been proven but it works for me. I always got slow growth when my plants had to warm up every morning.
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Cold slows the metabolism and plants are growing, even when the lights are off.
 
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Gabby987

Member
Renfro said:
Depends on how much light you will be running. Too cool and you will have condensation issues and slow growth rates, especially if using LED. With LED we typically want temperatures in the mid 80's. With HPS the upper 70's.

You will definitely need heat, a lot more than just 60 degrees. TBH it sounds like HPS would be a better fit since you will need the heat anyways. How big is the basement and how much weed do you wanna grow?
Click to expand...
I will consider HPS next year. Right mow I already spent the money on LED.
I think my best bet is to call the plumber and install another zone in the basement. I have natural gas. Any suggestions on a particular system?
I would like to have 6 plants in flower at all times. I built a separate veg room for a mother and clones ( no light leaks)
Installed ventilation system.
Heat is my concern with Winter approaching.
 
xox

xox

Well-Known Member
how cold is the weather in february generally, the ambient temperature outside of a basement will influence the temperature inside the house even when it is insulated properly.
 
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Gabby987

Member
The Gram Reaper said:
I try to keep my day and night temps close to one another, day being slightly higher. It seems to get the best growth from my experience, not sure if it has been proven but it works for me. I always got slow growth when my plants had to warm up every morning.
[/QUOT
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xox said:
how cold is the weather in february generally, the ambient temperature outside of a basement will influence the temperature inside the house even when it is insulated properly.
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In February it drops below freezing.
The basement stays at around 50 because the foundation is below grade and the boiler and hot water pipes help. But I'm going to need something fast. It's already going below 65 outside at night
 
xox

xox

Well-Known Member
how big is the grow area, 50 is like 10 degrees celsius sorry im canadian. maby you should buy an electric heater put it on a sensor that only turns the heater on when the temperature is below 68 f.
 
G

Gabby987

Member
xox said:
how big is the grow area, 50 is like 10 degrees celsius sorry im canadian. maby you should buy an electric heater put it on a sensor that only turns the heater on when the temperature is below 68 f.
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The grow area is 8x10.
I will buy an electric heater. I just have to make sure it doesn't radiate light when it heats up.
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
Gabby987 said:
I will consider HPS next year. Right mow I already spent the money on LED.
I think my best bet is to call the plumber and install another zone in the basement. I have natural gas. Any suggestions on a particular system?
I would like to have 6 plants in flower at all times. I built a separate veg room for a mother and clones ( no light leaks)
Installed ventilation system.
Heat is my concern with Winter approaching.
Click to expand...
Just a thought, since you have natural gas, while you have a plumbing contractor in there you may wish to have them install a connection for a future CO2 generator/s. I ran lines for my two flowering rooms when I was putting up walls and running power. As far as heating goes, the oil filled type electric heaters don't emit any light and I think one of those would be perfect for your size space.
 
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Gabby987

Member
Renfro said:
Just a thought, since you have natural gas, while you have a plumbing contractor in there you may wish to have them install a connection for a future CO2 generator/s. I ran lines for my two flowering rooms when I was putting up walls and running power. As far as heating goes, the oil filled type electric heaters don't emit any light and I think one of those would be perfect for your size space.
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I will see what kind of price he gives me to heat the entire basement since I use it for laundry and projects, and I will ask about the CO2 connection.( I also just added a veg room, 3x6)
In the meantime I will get the oil filled heater, who knows when the plumber can get here. These guys are always so busy.
 
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