I've got another question for my knowledgeable folks at ICM. I am trying to figure out how many and what size fans I should pick up to cool (8) 1000 watt HPS. I haven't picked up the lights yet, but plan on picking up (8) Blockbuster 8". I currently have 2 8" vortex fans (rated at 747 cfm) I was going to use, do you think I need more for 8kw? I was also a little torn between getting the Blockbusters with the 6" ducts vs. the Blockbusters with the 8" ducts. The pros with the 6" are more reflective material, cons less air cooling ability. The pros with the 8" are more air cooling ability, but less reflective material. So what do you guys think about these questions? I really appreciate all the info I have been getting lately, your guy's knowledge is priceless!
Air cooling question for 8kw?
- Thread starter louie
- Start date
250wscrogger
Active member
Two 8'' vortex's pulling from 4 lights/hoods each.
Leave one end of the hood open at the end of each run of lights to suck room air out/dump into scrubbers if you're not running c02...
Go with the 8'' blockbusters.
Leave one end of the hood open at the end of each run of lights to suck room air out/dump into scrubbers if you're not running c02...
Go with the 8'' blockbusters.
GanjaIsMyLife
Member
2 fans are fine, if they are just for aircooling, shit ive seen one 10" max can fan cool 8 lights but they also had a seperate fan cooling the room.
You should always PUSH air with fans, almost every fan design is most efficient and powerful PUSHING, not PULLING air.
Also, if you push air through hoods, any smelly air will be pushed out of any leaks or gaps in the hood chains. If you PULL, you pull in smelly air that hasn't been filtered, negating the effects of any carbon scrubbers.
Best thing is to have the fan pull air from outside the building, push through the chains, then straight outside. A single 90* bend reduces airflow by 60%!
If you're using the chains to exhaust the room, you must have a carbon scrubber before the fan. Either way you'll want a dust filter before the first hood or they will fill with dust quickly. Count on cleaning the glass 1-2X a month.
oh, and a 8" fan on four hoods is plenty, I've done that many times with just a 6" Vortex (very straight ducting though.)
Good luck!
Also, if you push air through hoods, any smelly air will be pushed out of any leaks or gaps in the hood chains. If you PULL, you pull in smelly air that hasn't been filtered, negating the effects of any carbon scrubbers.
Best thing is to have the fan pull air from outside the building, push through the chains, then straight outside. A single 90* bend reduces airflow by 60%!
If you're using the chains to exhaust the room, you must have a carbon scrubber before the fan. Either way you'll want a dust filter before the first hood or they will fill with dust quickly. Count on cleaning the glass 1-2X a month.
oh, and a 8" fan on four hoods is plenty, I've done that many times with just a 6" Vortex (very straight ducting though.)
Good luck!
Thanks Lazyman! So if I am taking air from outside and pushing it through the lights ( I will have one 8" vortex before the first chain of 4 hoods and then another 8" vortex before the second chain of 4 hoods) and then exhaust the heat straight back outside, I should hook up a filter before the first chain of 4 hoods to filter dusts and other particles? What kind of filter do you use for this? For smell reasons I plan on running 1 or 2 12"x39" phresh filters like you suggested as scrubbers (the air won't be vented because I will be using co2).
I never understood why people always say pull through a light for air cooling.. I have tried both and pushing is waaaaaaaaaaay more effective..
IMO it doesn't make too much of a difference in pulling or pushing in terms of smell issues because if the concern is of sucking out air from the grow room through a leaks in the ducts / hoods, then that same air can be pushed out through seams & cracks in the room, just less predictable now and could be more difficult to treat depending on your setup. In rural areas you could do something like install an inline CD ozone generator on the exit end of the air-cooled hood closed loop if you want to completely eliminate any risk of smell.
I'll have to try again on a particular set of hoods this time around pushing and pulling. I'm in a similar situation trying to cool 8kw of 6" hoods in a "long" room, and I really don't like having to put more than 3 lights in a series for 6" as heat builds up in later hoods in the series not to mention reduce airflow. I'm planning on using a pair of 8" Vortex (747cfm) reduced down to 6" to pull two rows of 4 lights to keep things simple. It could get as complicated as breaking it down into four rows of 2 lights, keeping it 2 in a series max with fresh cold air intake instead of 4. But that would add a little bit of complication to the ducting in a limited ceiling height room.
I planned on using, per row of 4 hoods: starting with 6" duct start collar for cold air intake, into hood1 ducted through hood4, to 8"x6" reducer, to Vortex 8", to 8" duct muffler, to exhaust.
Without building a long manifold (which I have done in the past, and is a pain in the ass) for a 2, 2, 2, 2 layout, that's as simple as I can picture it right now for a "long" room with intake at one end and exhaust at the other.
I'll have to try again on a particular set of hoods this time around pushing and pulling. I'm in a similar situation trying to cool 8kw of 6" hoods in a "long" room, and I really don't like having to put more than 3 lights in a series for 6" as heat builds up in later hoods in the series not to mention reduce airflow. I'm planning on using a pair of 8" Vortex (747cfm) reduced down to 6" to pull two rows of 4 lights to keep things simple. It could get as complicated as breaking it down into four rows of 2 lights, keeping it 2 in a series max with fresh cold air intake instead of 4. But that would add a little bit of complication to the ducting in a limited ceiling height room.
I planned on using, per row of 4 hoods: starting with 6" duct start collar for cold air intake, into hood1 ducted through hood4, to 8"x6" reducer, to Vortex 8", to 8" duct muffler, to exhaust.
Without building a long manifold (which I have done in the past, and is a pain in the ass) for a 2, 2, 2, 2 layout, that's as simple as I can picture it right now for a "long" room with intake at one end and exhaust at the other.
I cool 4k effciently with one 8" on front" one 6" booster in middle, one 6" inline on the rear, 6" hoods.
one 8 inch per 4 hoods is fine. keep ducting/lights in a straight line
