Extremely High Temps - New Grow Space - Recommendations?

[hades]

I've been tossing around of lot of different ideas in my head on how to best setup a room in the attic of my place. I already took the first steps and had roofers come over and perform maintenance on it (it needed to be done anyway). Electricians come tomorrow to get me as much power as humanly possible to that area of the house.

Basically, I have a whole floor to choose from, and still haven't decided where to set it up. The main concern is the massively high, sauna-like temperatures that these rooms got to last summer. Just standing up there would cause you to instantly break out in sweat all over your whole body. I'm thinking 100F+ (without lights).

Here's what we're dealing with:

The landing of the back steps to the attic.

The first room, I'm leaning toward this one if I choose to do it in a room.

The second room with the closet door, it's a little bigger than the first room.

The door in the back of the closet that leads to the unfinished space beneath the roof.

The unfinished space beneath the roof. It's much bigger than either room, but has the strange ceiling which is only 7' tall for a little over 5' the width, tapering off to zero on a 15 degree slope or so, probably 30' long.

The back stairs of the second floor of this duplex leads to two almost identically sized rooms (10'x13'x7'), one having a door in the back of the closet which leads to the unfinished space (larger than a room) beneath the roof and the ceiling of the 2nd floor (attic-space). The roofs of the two rooms are black rubber, the roof over the unfinished space is brown shingle. Walls of the rooms are double-layered brick. Both rooms have 2 windows each, and one vent each which is connected to central heating/air (gets very weak flow when running). Unfinished space has two 4" square weatherproof vents on opposite ends of the space and a 'ridge' vent (they chop off the ridge where the roofs meet and raise it an inch or so). The 4" square vents and the ridge vent in the unfinished space are new, and I don't know how much they'll help. I haven't decided what to use the pair of 4" ducts for, yet. I told the roofers 8", but they messed up. Might make them come back to correct it, but I got a good deal so didn't press them at the time.

I'd like to hear what you all would do in this situation. Which room would you use? What type of AC/ventilation would you run? Air/water cool horizontal lights in reflectors or vert cool tube/bare bulb? Sealed room with CO2 to help mitigate the high heat or vent, vent, vent? Room inside (top grade tent maybe?) a room or just insulate the walls (both?)? I can't seem to decide and would appreciate some experienced opinions on the matter.

The unfinished space seems safest since the entrance is in the back of the closet and not off the landing, although the back steps and the two rooms get no traffic as it currently is. The unfinished space would require the most work, for sure, as it doesn't even have a floor on most of it and I'd have to put insulation in the roof and hang drywall or something. I am good at DIY and could do all the work myself (except the roof and electric, haha), although I'm considering hiring someone to put the floor and drywall up.

Thanks for any help, decisions need to be made soon. Money isn't a huge concern, long term setup. Safety and Quality are top priorities. I don't really care what kind of modifications need to be done, I need a space that can stay cool in this type of environment with HID's glowing in it. And sorry for the long post, it's a lot of different things to consider and it's been floating in my head for a little over a week now and I'd love some input =)

 

[eddie torres]

frame insulate & sheet rock a sealed room. your going to have to run some new duct and tap in to your central a/c if you have it or invest in a high grade a/c unit. dont skimp on the intake and exhast cfm. use what ever room would atract the least attention if someone unwanted were to be in your house. If money is not an issue the skys the limit.hanging drywall does suck.

 

[FunkBomb]

I would choose one of the rooms, and keep the unfinished space for storage. Between the rooms, I'd choose the one (hopefully) that is not southward facing. The sun beating down on it all day won't help with temperature control.

I would grow in a tent to help keep things under control. The ability to take it all down in an hour is very underrated, especially if you rent. How large and how much light is up to you. A window AC unit would work well in one of the windows to deal with the heat. I grew in a tent, in a room, on the third floor of an old house during the summer. It can be done but make sure beforehand that you have enough available amperage/circuits to do it.

Have you considered using LED lights because of the heat? Or are you set on using HID's?

Hope this helps,

Funk

 

[simon]

I grow in an attic-type space. It gets HOT in the summer; it's a sauna in June, July, and August. I've used a ~24K BTU single unit, a supplementary 14K BTU roller, tuned down my lights and it's still an enormous PITA. My solution: I fire up my veg room at 12/12, along with the flowering rooms, for the last run of the season and shut down the main op for the summer.

I essence, I have rooms somewhat similar to yours and an unfinished space. Ventialtion is faily simple, as the air is is exhausted into the unfinished space - it also houses all the fans - where it mixes with ozone and then dissipates outdoors. I don't use CO2. All reflectors are aircooled on a closed loop and the rooms, themselves, are vented with dedicated fans. I run 10" Vortexes for the rooms and 8" Vortexes for the lights.

Simon

 

[Guest 18340]

I would use that first room, the one with the windows in it. That way you can hang an AC out the window and it'll look perfectly normal. It'll be A LOT easier too cool than that attic, that's for sure...

 

[budleydoright]

buy as much insulation as you can afford. it will pay monthly dividends. A minisplit over a window banger will also add needed effeciency. Buy the best AC & Dehuey you can afford. Growing in a 100 degree attik is incredibly hard on your gear.

figure out your water management in advance. if you go hydro, be prepared for the inevitable flood. I'm such a klutz, I refuse to keep any water upstairs anymore. Once brought up, it's used.

 

[stupidlegs13]

I'm lookin at spot just like this.... need advice on cooling aswell. I made a post about it last night....

 

[Lammy]

A space that gets above 100 degrees without lights seems like a nightmare to grow in.

The efficiency of AC's are rated in SEER. The higher the number the better. I haven't looked hard but I haven't seen any 24000 BTU split AC with a higher SEER than window AC's. I got a LG window unit from home depot for $550, it's about 25000 btu. I really like it.

I think you could spent more on electric for AC than for lights. I wouldn't consider venting over AC. Sucking in hot summer air isn't going to cool very much.
Consider getting dimmable ballasts so you can turn them down when the room over heats, and it will overheat. (Well I didn't see how many lights you want to run) consider you need 4000 BTU of AC for every 1000w of light plus whatever it takes to cool the room itself which is probably a lot.

I'd consider have a separate high efficiency central air unit installed on the roof above.
I'd cover the walls and ceiling with insulating foam board. Thickest on the ceiling cause that's were most of your heat is coming from.

 

[Lammy]

A space that gets above 100 degrees without lights seems like a nightmare to grow in.

The efficiency of AC's are rated in SEER. The higher the number the better. I haven't looked hard but I haven't seen any 24000 BTU split AC with a higher SEER than window AC's. I got a LG window unit from home depot for $550, it's about 25000 btu. I really like it.

I think you could spent more on electric for AC than for lights. I wouldn't consider venting over AC. Sucking in hot summer air isn't going to cool very much.
Consider getting dimmable ballasts so you can turn them down when the room over heats, and it will overheat. (Well I didn't see how many lights you want to run) consider you need 4000 BTU of AC for every 1000w of light plus whatever it takes to cool the room itself which is probably a lot.

I'd consider have a separate high efficiency central air unit installed on the roof above.
I'd cover the walls and ceiling with insulating foam board. Thickest on the ceiling cause that's were most of your heat is coming from.

 

[greenmatter]

would a swamp cooler work in your area? they cool a ton of air for a lot less $$$ than AC and work fine if you are in the right place.

i would go with the room with the windows too ..... attics are a bitch

 

[SativaKeith]

I'm at similar situation as yours during the summer. i use Soil.

if you can't afford AC unit, the best advice i could think on is to use your outdoor climate best-temperature times to work with your lights.

for example turn them on at 22:00 and turn off at 10:00 in the morning, combine that with massive air-flow from outside 24/7 and that could have you set for 12/12 room.

try to find the sweet-spot for 18/6.

also with this setup, you could use a small portable cooling if the night gets too hot.. one of this standing units with inside water reservoir.. this could easily be connected to Thermostat for auto control.

but its really depends on your Night/Day outdoor temperture..
good luck

 

[hades]

Thanks so much for the replies, guys.

I've decided to use one of the rooms and to build a sealed room inside it, with the lights in air-cooled hoods that intake and exhaust outside air. I don't like using hoods, especially with glass, but I know I'll be pissed if I don't do it that way when it really starts heating up.

Thanks again, very helpful responses and I appreciate it a lot.

 

[Cartel530]

you will appreciate glass when one of those bulbs explodes and starts burning through the floor of your tent Learned that the hard way.

 

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[Cartel530]

74.6 degrees. the guy at the hydro shop said it was a defective bulb. it was only ran for not even two months on 12/12 only. needless to say. i slapped the glass up in all my reflectors haha. Not to mention with a metal halide the mercury isnt too good for your plants or you lol. and by the way, the scenes in the movies where the bulb in the stadium lights explode. Its very true. I thought someone through a glass bottle though my back window.