What's new
  • Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

Keeping Heat During Winter

G

Ghostricks

New member
Hi, new grower here. I just entered the flowering stage and winter is fast approaching in Northern Michigan. I'm trying to figure out a good way to circulate heat into a room without the need of a tent. I have a tent setup rn, but the plants are too big to be kept in there so I have to remove the tent and remodify the room to grow effectively. A friend of mine had the idea to put a heater where the intake for the room is going to be and boxing up the heater with insulation board to remove heat loss. Is this effective? But I'm also wondering on other ideas that maybe I haven't thought about. Thank you!
 
GMT

GMT

The Tri Guy
Veteran
Most common is to run the lights at night. Have your dark period in the day when the house heating is on.
 
F

FakePres

New member
I stuck a little space heater next to my intake fan. Raised my temps from 55 deg F initially to around 90 deg. I think lowered the thermostat a bit and now sitting around 75 deg. Works well.
 
f-e

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
I have run my intake through a box containing my ballasts, then as it got colder still, I put in a 500w greenhouse convection heater. An oil radiator would be best as they never really get to dangerous temperatures, if your airflow stopped. Tube heaters can be shoved up alloy flexi-duct, though I have never done so. That seems easy and safe.
 
G

Guest

My shop is super-insulated, every place but the concrete slab/floor.

Air circulation and filtration into the shop occurs on an internal loop, with the intake duct to the shop near an HRV fresh air supply grill nearby, and the carbon-filtered exhaust from the shop is near an HRV exhaust grill in the same area.

Temp and humidity meters on the walls and shelves in the basement and in the shop, recording the current temp and humidity, as well as low and high for each over the last 24 hours. (Fairly inexpensive, half-decent meters).

During winter, when humidity and temps are naturally down, you can adjust the fan pulling air through the shop and carbon system with a rheostat, if your in-line fan is suited to it. (My adjustable fan isn't installed yet, so I just have the single-speed in-line at the moment, pulling about 465-485 cfm's, if it had no turns or twists, though it has several of those, though they're minor, relatively speaking..

At the moment, with outside temps slowly heading down here, my low temp in the shop for the night was 68, and the average temp for the last 24 hours was about 70. I'd like it to be about 72 to 74 f., but things could be worse...

Humidity is another matter, hovering about 22% to 28%. It's a seasonal/annual issue, and will get straightened out if/when I put in the new in-line fan with the rheostat.
 
Switcher56

Switcher56

Comfortably numb!
GMT said:
Most common is to run the lights at night. Have your dark period in the day when the house heating is on.
Click to expand...

Ghostricks said:
Hi, new grower here. I just entered the flowering stage and winter is fast approaching in Northern Michigan. I'm trying to figure out a good way to circulate heat into a room without the need of a tent. I have a tent setup rn, but the plants are too big to be kept in there so I have to remove the tent and remodify the room to grow effectively. A friend of mine had the idea to put a heater where the intake for the room is going to be and boxing up the heater with insulation board to remove heat loss. Is this effective? But I'm also wondering on other ideas that maybe I haven't thought about. Thank you!
Click to expand...
What is the size of your tent and, how many plants?
 
f-e

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
Flippr said:
Those heat mats that are normally used for seedlings under the pots can help in my experience.
Click to expand...

I have a 120x60 heated blanket under my drip tray for lights out. It's only 40w I think but lifts the tray temp 4c which in turn is a couple of C in the area. More than 40w suggests. Drunk people wet the bed and don't seem to die. They're fairly safe.
 
mikeross

mikeross

Member
Setup 2 tents in the space and have them flip flopping. You will have same temps 24 hours a day... will also help keep your stretch down first few weeks of flower.
 
G

Guest

Even if you have acceptable temperature, the ground could be cold. Just lifting your plants a couple of inches from the ground should make sure roots aren't cold.
 
Doctor M

Doctor M

Active member
Ghostricks said:
Hi, new grower here. I just entered the flowering stage and winter is fast approaching in Northern Michigan. I'm trying to figure out a good way to circulate heat into a room without the need of a tent. I have a tent setup rn, but the plants are too big to be kept in there so I have to remove the tent and remodify the room to grow effectively. A friend of mine had the idea to put a heater where the intake for the room is going to be and boxing up the heater with insulation board to remove heat loss. Is this effective? But I'm also wondering on other ideas that maybe I haven't thought about. Thank you!
Click to expand...

The type of lighting you use can be a great heat source during the winter. HPS or MH can generate a lot of heat.

I use HPS in the winter and LED in the summer to avoid the need to heat or cool my grow space.
 
Fixer

Fixer

Active member
You could also run a closed room so you're not blowing warm air out and replacing it with cooler air.
 
armedoldhippy

armedoldhippy

Well-known member
Veteran
if running DWC, i used bird bath water heaters meant to keep their water from freezing. helped keep temps warmer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top