Exhausting through existing residential vents

[Strapped]

I've got a beautiful closet in my basement. It's close to electricity, seals very well, and has a concrete bottom. My problem is the only place I really have to vent to (that's still stealthy) is the central air ducting for my house.

I need some advice. The air conditioner/ furnace is right next to this closet on the other side of the wall. The duct is about 20" wide, starts at the back of the closet and runs all the way up it to cool/ heat the rest of the house. I figure that I can cut a 4" or 6" hole in the vent, and I'll be good to go. Naturally, I'll be scrubbing the exhaust. Has anyone done this and has advice?

I'm concerned that the hot/ cold air will unnecessarily stress my plants because of the back flow. Could it be beneficial? I figure that I can just put a flap valve (I think that's what they're called) to restrict air from coming in to the grow if I want to. The other thing is that I don't want all the air that's cooling and heating the house to just exit out my exhaust port.

Any advice you can give would be great! Peace

 

[akasomeoneelse]

put a back draft damper on your exaust. vent into the existing central home ducting , for a small room this is perfect but too much humidity in the home is no good.. a dehumidifer might do some good.. in the room if theres room or in the home.. but inside the room is better.

good luck you futur looks bright

 

[Drybulb230]

Possible C02 source from furnace?

Possible C02 source from furnace?

In most furnaces there is a vent for C02 to escape from the furnace.. u could find the a way if possible, to use it for your grow.

 

[Strapped]

That'd be pretty awesome bulb, I've been thinking about it. I'll have to figure out how the co2 leaves the furnace. I think it's by a sheet metal duct unfortunately. Might be kind of hard to explain why I have a hose coming out of it and running in to the wall lol.

aka - damper! thank you, I wasn't sure what those were called. I already have a dehumidifier just in case, but lately the rh in my house has been about 20%, so the grow might even help haha. As long as you guys think there's no problems I'd encounter other than that, that's exactly what I'll do.

Any advice on how to patch it up when I'm done with it? I imagine I'd have to weld a piece of aluminum on there to cover the hole.
like copper pipe soldering?

 

[cobcoop]

You DO NOT want to tap into the CO2 exhaust for your furnace/water heater. Leave that one alone, not worth the risk of co2 poisoning.

 

[Strapped]

Thanks cob, a little better yield isn't worth risking my family. Plus, I work out in the same room so they'll at least have a little bit more than they would.

 

[akasomeoneelse]

get a roll of aluminum tape to patch it up.. or just add on a nice outlet piece to the existing ducting and nobody will be the wiser even if you leave it there when you move..

a small closet can benefit from co2 but everything else has to be optimal for the co2 to even work. the furnace co2 is not worth it.. and short of being a propane furnace which nurns clean, heating oil furnacing vent co2 up and out the chumney with smoke and soot.. you dont want to start affecting backdrafts and shit.. like you said your family isnt worth your grow...


within a crop or two when everything is dialed in go and splurge on a bottle co2 system..

i have vented 4000w of room heat/humidity into my home and just used dehumidifiers to trap the water and heat during lights off...
some mornings where like +40c and then after lights out would drop to around 18-20c and then rise again at lights on...

canadian winters.. no heaters just lamps and dehumidifers..
good luck

 

[Iron_Lion]

I've got a beautiful closet in my basement. It's close to electricity, seals very well, and has a concrete bottom. My problem is the only place I really have to vent to (that's still stealthy) is the central air ducting for my house.

I need some advice. The air conditioner/ furnace is right next to this closet on the other side of the wall. The duct is about 20" wide, starts at the back of the closet and runs all the way up it to cool/ heat the rest of the house. I figure that I can cut a 4" or 6" hole in the vent, and I'll be good to go. Naturally, I'll be scrubbing the exhaust. Has anyone done this and has advice?

I'm concerned that the hot/ cold air will unnecessarily stress my plants because of the back flow. Could it be beneficial? I figure that I can just put a flap valve (I think that's what they're called) to restrict air from coming in to the grow if I want to. The other thing is that I don't want all the air that's cooling and heating the house to just exit out my exhaust port.

Any advice you can give would be great! Peace

Any dryer vents in the area? or if not get a 4 inch hole saw and pop a hole thru the sil of the house and install an dryer vent cover on the outside and ducting on the inside.

As others said dont fuck with the c02 vent that can kill you.
I would cut a hole thru the side of my house before I cut in to my heating vents, those ducts are sized for the amount of airflow, pressure and return in your house. Throw off the pressure in the rooms and you could mess up the efficiency of your heating/ac.

If you get creative you might also be able to vent into your hatch way too, not sure what youre basement is like tho.


depending on the ambient temp of your basement and the size light you are using you might even be able to intake and exhaust into the room without a need for external venting.

 

[Strapped]

Thanks for all the replies guys. aka your experience makes me feel better about the whole deal. Iron, I'm definitely concerned about messing up the house's heating and cooling. That's the kind of thing that made me post for help.

As of right now, my ambient temperature is pretty much whatever I set the thermostat to.
The closet will be split into two 30" x 24" x 24" sections with 110w of pll for mothers/ clones, and 440w of pll in the bottom chamber for pre-veg and flower.

Unfortunately the vent for the furnace/ ac takes up the entire top portion of the closet. I wouldn't even be able to get a 4" flexible duct up there, even drilling holes would be a nightmare. The one wall is the concrete foundation for the garage. I fear my only other option would be to cut a hole in the side of the closet to exhaust in to the adjacent room (it's just wood paneling lining that wall) but that would ruin the stealthiness of the whole deal :/ It's harder to explain random holes in your wall/ closet door than the air rushing noise coming from where your ac is.

Do you think it would hurt much if I just put a damper in there? I suspect it wouldn't add much at all to the total volume of the vents since it would keep air from flowing in to the closet.

 

[RedRain]

if you are living in your house, dont cut into the vents and exhaust your hot air into the system.

do you have kids? family that are there?

ever think of water cooling??

 

[Strapped]

It's just wife and baby atm Red, but family can drop in any time. I hadn't thought of water cooling... I'm pretty limited as far as space goes, but what exactly do you mean? Got a link? All I can think of when I hear water cooling is a swamp cooler.

 

[Fred el Gato]

Hey Strapped, I remember reading somewhere about venting into the sewer. They tapped in at the clean-out using some sort of angled duct or pipe, so as nothing nasty would collect there. Don't know whether this helps or not just another idea. Grow on, Fred.

 

[RedRain]

It's just wife and baby atm Red, but family can drop in any time. I hadn't thought of water cooling... I'm pretty limited as far as space goes, but what exactly do you mean? Got a link? All I can think of when I hear water cooling is a swamp cooler.

hey strapped

look for thermoplus water cooled AC, or water cooled heat exchanger

http://www.jonsplantfactory.com/qs/product/63/4182/160975/0/0

these ones have no refrigerant and use just water...the 4 fan ones can cool 10 X 1000w bulbs!!

you can also get Thermoplus water cooled ACs from almost any store in BC, Jons can probably get it for u as well. They use refrigerant and have no outdoor unit. Water is used to cool down the refrigerant.

Both of these devices will not add any moisture to your room, since the water is in a closed loop system. They will actually draw moisture from the air that is being cooled. You cannot reuse the water, its all waste water. You also pretty much need to have cool water being put into either or machine, since the temperature of the water will transfer heat from the refrigerant.

 

[Strapped]

Nice info man! I appreciate it. I'm not sure it will work for my purposes, but it's always good to learn something new

 

[akasomeoneelse]

WTF he has like 600w.. vent into the fucking furnace vents, KISS.. dont buy a ac for that shit... are you trying to grow weed to save or do you feel like growing for the same price as buying it???

dont make it harder than it needs to be..... vent straight into the vents. the funace when on will over power a 4" and no problems will arise...

i am planning on doint the same shit at my father in laws place.. he wants to grow his own insted of buying it.. ill be setting up 2x600w hps with a carbon thou cooltubes into the furnace vents... his room wil be about 8x3.5x5.

overthinkin can be a downfall... ill post up pics of the father inlaws when im done construction...

 

[Strapped]

You're right aka. I'll be taking your advice. I'll post pics of construction as well. I can do chillers and 1k watters with sealed rooms and CO2 when I'm retired lol.

 

[dansbuds]

if your adapting to any type metal duct work these start collars come in handy & you can add a damper to them easy enough also . i've used them for so many different ducting methods it would take days to show them all to you .they even stick to panda film !!!

http://www.theductshop.com/shop/catalog-super-seal-start-collars-c-1_8.html
peal & stick then throw in a few self tapping screws & your done ...they come in 4" too

 

[qbert]

air duct is a great way to get the air out of the room. Disperse it through the house and it'll dissipate (assuming you aren't running kw's and kw's). Don't mess with the burner exhaust. Don't use a frickin dryer vent (obvious much?).

 

[Strapped]

damn dans, that thing looks perfect for what I need. Thanks for the link!

 

[dansbuds]

your welcome dude . you can get them locally at any heat & ac supplier .