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"fresh air" vs co2 rooms

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burnedout

Member
250wscrogger said:
I'd say CO2 ends up being way for trouble than it's worth 90% of the time, especially when aircooling lights. It doesn't even increase yields that much, it just makes plants ripen a little quicker. Just run more lights for more yield. C02 is just a hydro shop scam in my opinion. I find it funny how many people with unsealed rooms think that adding CO2 is going to give them better yields right off the bat...wasting money trying to maintain ppm's in an unsealed area or wasting money on electricity running 3 ton air conditioners to keep temps in check without aircooling. Take the grand that you were gunna spend on CO2 bullshit and buy a couple more lights. :2cents:
20% increase from CO2... LOL maybe 5% at the MOST and thats WITH A SEALED ROOM ONLY. You would end up running 5 lights worth of juice with the A/C needed to cool the room during lights on and another light worth for the dehumidifier which would be constantly running during lights off.
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CLIFFNOTES : CO2 is

more trouble than it's worth 90% of the time
doesn't increase yields that much
a hydro shop scam
bullshit
a 5% yield increaser at MOST

as stated by some 20 year old idiot who has NO experience using it. Save your "advice" for something you actually have first hand knowledge of.
 
Macster2

Macster2

Member
One other beneft to co2 is not only the yield increase but plants mature about 10-15% faster and if your a cash cropper this amounts to another crop per annum
 
Macster2

Macster2

Member
as far as sealing the room the best way is to dry wall and a zipper seal at the door correct?
Also roomtemps can be raised into the low 80's correct when running co2 so a/c isn't always necessary
 
OrgAeroMan

OrgAeroMan

Active member
Veteran
Hey fellas, I'm a micro-grower (vertical air-cooled 150w MH/HPS). I was wondering if I just shut my fans off three(+ / -) times a day for the period of time the CO2 was being applied, would this be enough to be beneficial? Heat doesn't start to build to an undesirable level for 15-30 min. with the fans off (depending on ambient temps). The space is 18" x 18" x 24", could the plants use this small amount in the allotted time? If it weren't for the radiant heat and humidity, I would hermetically seal the cool tube/ ventilation to draw fresh air from under the cab around the lamp and out the top. Thanks and keep up the good work.
 
Lazyman

Lazyman

Overkill is under-rated.
Veteran
beta said:
How often would you do this if you didn't enrich with c02? The higher temperatures of late have brought to the fore my poor decision to have a single air circuit for both cooling my hoods and providing fresh air to my plants in a room that requires AC to keep cool; As others have said, it's like air conditioning your car with the windows rolled down.

For obvious reasons, it'd be great to get the problem figured out stat, preferably for a reasonable price; Currently my airflow looks like this:

Filtrete intake > across room > Carbon filter > air cooled hoods > 8" vortex > exhaust out 6" basement chimney access.

I'm thinking the best solution to what ails me will be to separate the air cooling of the hoods and the air exchange of the room itself, but I'm not sure as to the best way to control the room exhaust fan to both minimize AC efficiency loss and maximize natural c02 / air exchange. A timer? A cooling thermostat?

I thought perhaps the best idea would be to put a backflow preventer on a new passive intake and set a timer for the exhaust fan to only turn on every so often... 1m every 5m? 5m every 15m? 15m every hour? Where's that happy medium?

Any suggestions out there?
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Yes, absolutely split the two systems, one for cooling, one for hoods. The hood circuit should be energized whenever the lights are on, put it on the same timer. Use a speedster speed controller to regulate fan speed for volume.

For cooling, plug the intake and exhaust fans into a cooling thermostat, a Grozone Temp-2v is perfect, day/night temps and it runs about $100. Don't even think about using timers, they are too dumb to do environmental control.
 
S

sparkjumper

Co2 enrichment is easier if you use uncooled lights IMO.I run 3 vertizontals in an 8 by 8 room and anywhere I drop a plant in that room,it's receiving 1500PPM co2.A vertizontal is a 4 ft parabolic without a lense to block the light.Uncooled vertizontals are just simpler in a sealed room and all you need is a window AC that will keep temps optimum.I use a 12,000BTU unit for my 3 vertizontals,cd-6 propane burner(mounted high on the wall,and the heat from my dehumidifier which I rarely have to run during lights on.You must run it at 50% during the dark hours and can drop to 40% towards the end.I know I get 25% increase in weight and actually close to 30%.I ran the same blockhead pheno for about 4 years so could really gauge the difference.Another most important thing that people neglect is not using an actual controller for their co2 source.Cyclestat timers and formulas do not take into account the number,size,and stage of development the plants are in.Its an empty room as far as they are concerned.Co2 fluctuations will inhibit growth terribly,a fluctuation of more than a couple hundred PPM either way and you lose your edge.Thats where the controller comes in making sure for 12 hours straight you will neither drop nor rise more than 200PPM above the setpoint.The gas is magic my friends it just takes doing it correctly.
 
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sparkjumper

beta I guess all that I typed was for nothing,or you dont think I know what I'm doing.That being the case put your co2 on a timer(a cyclestat timer controls the frequency and duration of burn.Your flower room is going to be fluctuation central and you will come out with normal yields as if you were using fresh air.If you cant keep levels at 1500PPM never dropping or raising 200PPM or more you are spinning your wheels.And that aint gonna happen using a cyclestat timer(Which is what you should use if you use a timer at all)You will be disappointed my friend after a decade of doing this I can assure you.The remedy is such a simple one too!Get a co2 controller
 
D

dtfsux

Member
Beta you only have one fan, need to cool the room, bring in fresh air, and have an AC?

Pull in outside air through the lights, and exhaust outside. This should be a sealed system that in theory does not pull air from the room. Theory is great but does not always work. Push through the lights to prevent odor getting sucked out or put a filter at the end.

Then put a 2nd fan that exhausts the room on a timer and just have the room dump for 5 minutes every hour or so?

I have run fairly sealed rooms without any CO2 enrichment or venting and still got decent yields. Of course when I added Co2 yields did go up.
 
TLoft13

TLoft13

Member
250wscrogger said:
It just seems like 20% + increase is impossible, but I have never ran CO2 myself so I really shouldn't say anything I guess.
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Man the technology is used by the Dutch, and not only for cannabis, why don't you go to them tell them your theories about indoor horiculture?
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subrequest
 
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dtfsux

Member
beta said:
This is my plan exactly - The tricky bit, I think, will be getting the timer figured out. I hear alot about exhausting every cubic foot of air out of the room at least every five minutes, but is that for cooling or c02? For my c02 only purposes should I set the fan to come on for a couple minutes every 5 minutes? 5 minutes every 15 minutes? 15 minutes every hour?
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I think the 5 minute rule is for heat, not Co2. Like I said before, I have run rooms (500-600 plants) that were completely panda filmed, AC'ed and no intake or exhaust and the plants did fine. No it is not optimal but they lived and I got at least a # per 1000

If you exhaust every 5 minutes your AC is going to work overtime and at that point you might as well just shut the AC off and vent the room 24/7
 
S

sparkjumper

It just freaks me out that people think a 25% plus increase in weight is somehow impossible or too difficult to mess with.I've seen it with my own eyes over and over again.O yea when you get you co2 device and controller,don't forget R/O water also.Its very much part of the equation.I learned that after a couple grows
 
I

isit420now

New member
This sounds weird, but do you guys scrub your dump air? Sealed room, AC, eventual CO2. 1000K 8" air cooled light pulling from different room venting to attic. I recirc a big filter in the room for odor control. Seems weird to have two scrubbers and I need odor control during lights on. Any suggestions?
 
bs0

bs0

Active member
isit420now said:
This sounds weird, but do you guys scrub your dump air? Sealed room, AC, eventual CO2. 1000K 8" air cooled light pulling from different room venting to attic. I recirc a big filter in the room for odor control. Seems weird to have two scrubbers and I need odor control during lights on. Any suggestions?
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I don't think that dump air is necessary.

At least I never do it. I do use two different CO detectors though.

My scrubber is a 6" vortex on an appropriately sized scrubber and the plants seem absurdly happy... 1200ppm CO2 @ 79*
 
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