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4kw Basement Grow

H

Hellavated

Member
Hello Icmag!
Don't post too often but really enjoy lurking around the forums as I learn more about something I'm so passionate about! I just finally cleaned out the basement to the degree where I'd be comfortable building the stand alone room. My plan is 4kw, I have low ceilings so I'm thinking something like 4 plants per light, scrogged over 5x5 overhanging trellis over my 4x4 tables fit for DTW in Coco. My plan is to seal the room to the best of my abilities however the water heater (pilot light) and dryer (pilot light) are in the basement so those are natural CO2 boosters. At this point in time I just have the large basement shell, 19ft wide by 16ft long - there is a weird drain pipe that goes through the middle (ish) of the basement which leaves me with a 6ft by 19ft strip I plan on doing the 4kw (I'll be doing tents for veg and moms). It's an old house however, so the electricity really scares me and I don't have any friends in the business. I've done a lot of reading in Philthys forum and feel slightly comfortable, hopefully big bro will come by and help out a bit as he does solar.

As far as genetics I got some classics and exotics I'll mix underneath the lights. Some "real" P91, Blood Orange Urkle, Cherrygasm and a GSC cross. I'm at work right now but a little later I'll post up some pictures of the basement. The electricity is what's scaring me the most.
 
Phaeton

Phaeton

Speed of Dark
Veteran
My upstairs bud room is 4 kw. The room is small but i put the plants and lights in a row and fit 6 plants under the lights.
The plants average four foot tall at finish

A friend also uses about 4 kw but he has 30 two foot plants in a solid square. He has to clear a path for watering then move the plants back under the lights.
His yields are almost exactly double, two pounds versus one pound every month.

There are a lot of different ways to grow a garden right, it all depends on your goals.
 
Phaeton

Phaeton

Speed of Dark
Veteran
I have difficulty with grams per watt, several answers are possible for the same plant.
It depends on how many plants are under the lights. It depends on how long the plants are under the lights.

Back when I tracked energy usage versus harvest weights it was done by how many kilowatt hours were used per gram of harvest.
It came out to about 11 kwh per gram on average.

I have not been able to come up with a consistent method to figure out watts per gram. The time factor is the main obstacle, the same watts for longer give larger harvests.
More wattage on mature plants and less wattage when growing also throws off the numbers.

How many watts used for how many hours gives total energy used. Add the energy from each stage of growth for the total.
This method will give the dollar amount of electricity used per gram of product.

This came in handy when growing poppies. At 6 kwh per mg of product the cost came out to $1500 per gram just in electricity. Black market street prices were about half that amount, proving indoor poppy growth as impractical.

11 kwh per gram of bud takes $2.62 worth of electricity in my area. Street prices run $10/gram making it worthwhile to grow.

Grams per watt is not a repeatable number, there are too many different ways to make up the total for comparison.
Total energy used is straightforward to figure and consistent in showing energy costs versus harvest weights.
Garden efficiency can be tracked an improved with good record keeping.
 
H

Hellavated

Member
picture.php
picture.php


Just a half way shot of my less than part frame job. All electrical is safe though :)

Next to come down is the 4x4 water tables and lights
 
dansbuds

dansbuds

Retired from the workforce Bullshit
ICMag Donor
Veteran
subbed !!!
curious to see this build up . i run pretty much the same set up ,( 4k watts in a 10 x 10 room , 6 plants per light in 3 gallon pots of coco DTW ) but i use a portable AC & intake from another basement room & vent to the outside . i know , not the best , which is why i'm looking to change things .
i also have a 7' x 15' veg room with 2 600 watt mh & some T'5s that i was planning on putting a 24k btu mini split AC in & use it as a lung room for the flower room .


as i said , curious to see what you do ! :tiphat:

my build is in my photo albums , the basement . https://www.icmag.com/ic/album.php?albumid=63496&page=33
first page is where i'm at now & the last page is where i started .
 
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H

Hellavated

Member
Looks good man! I'm just really focused on being able to pay off my investment and take things from there. I know it's a lot genetics and environment, two things I'm focusing on. Torn between adding co2 or not
 
H

Hellavated

Member
I'm going to run three in a chain along the concrete wall, there will be another light between wannabe cabinet and drywall.
 
H

Hellavated

Member
Now I've reached the fun part. I just up all lights and will be working to do trays setups soon. Looking into ventilation and ac needs - my room is 19ft long, 6 ft wide, and 6.5ft tall, running 4kw right now. I'm in southern California I've yet to see the basement get over 80,*. If the room is fully insulated can I get away with exhausting fresh air through the lights and out of the room? I want to keep consistent tempetutes. Should I be doing my best to remove Ballasts from room ad I know they generate heat. I have a outside window that works in conjunction of the direction of my lights so I was thinking I'd bring in cool air from night through lights.
 
B4URTIME

B4URTIME

Member
Hellavated said:
Now I've reached the fun part. I just up all lights and will be working to do trays setups soon. Looking into ventilation and ac needs - my room is 19ft long, 6 ft wide, and 6.5ft tall, running 4kw right now. I'm in southern California I've yet to see the basement get over 80,*. If the room is fully insulated can I get away with exhausting fresh air through the lights and out of the room? I want to keep consistent tempetutes. Should I be doing my best to remove Ballasts from room ad I know they generate heat. I have a outside window that works in conjunction of the direction of my lights so I was thinking I'd bring in cool air from night through lights.
Click to expand...


Your not going to cool 4k with just air cooling by means of blowing cool outside air through hoods and out of room that may help reduce the heat produced by the lights but its not gonna completely negate it. All this does is reduced the load on an air conditioner, it's never gonna work as stand alone means of controlling temperature of a grow room.

Also pushing cold outside air through sealed 1k's is a quick way to form lot's of condensation making the ducting drip all over the canopy below or build up water in the hoods even. You need to look into a mini split air conditioner if you wanna do it proper, or at minimal a less efficient portable air conditioner. 4000btu per 1k is ideal.
 
N

nukklehead

Active member
Subbed.. nice job..

Is it common for houses to have basements in southern california?

Never been but when I lived in texas no houses had basements..

Old midwest basements have coal rooms that make good grows.

Keep up the good work!
 
M

mcnasty

Member
Depending on where you live, and the outside temps you get, air cooling 4k can be done

I run 4k in a 12x8 (too small i know) I use an 8" vortex pulling through carbon exhausting the room, and 6" fans on 2 1k hoods strung together,( so 2 6's total per 4k) It pulls air from the basement over the lights and into the attic.

I then use a 6" pulling cool air from the basement into the room as active intake.

The room stays at low 80s most of the summer, the hottest of days I'll hit 90 but not often. I think 8" fans on each string would be better.

My summers tend to be high 80s to mid 90s.
 
H

Hellavated

Member
Were right about to approach fall so ten petered should be going down quite quickly. Just looking for a cost effective way to run this so I don't get in over my head.
 
H

Hellavated

Member
Sorry about the lolligag! Just got all my cuts from a friend of mine! Having problems with maintaining humidity in the dome inside the veg tent. I just have the desk lamp over the dome because the 315w LEC light is pretty gnarly haha - nice and warm in there (84.3°f) but humidity around 46% fluctuating 2 percent. I sprayed the dome but it doesn't seem to do much. Maybe I do need that heavier light because ambient temp isn't enough?
 
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