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"!

Need advice on maintaining temperature for my shed..

V

vspin

Member
I'm building a 10'x12' (120 sq ft) gable shed with 8 ft walls. I'm building this shed to code, and it will be insulated as well. Right now, I'm trying to figure out the most efficient way of maintaining the grow room temperature. To give you an idea, my climate is the same as Fresno, CA, and temperatures can reach over 110 degrees. The air is pretty dry here as well.

Here are a few ideas (naïve probably) I came up with:

  • Use a cost-efficient evaporative cooler. But what about the humidity?
  • Use a portable air conditioner. I have one, and used it before, but it doesn't seem to get the room cool enough (maybe I'm exhausting air out too fast, including the cold air..?).
  • Don't cool the air. Pull air from outside through a vent with a HEPA filter, and exhaust the top hot air through the roof with a large exhaust fan. The idea is that the temperature will be the same outside as it is inside the shed. I read that the air outside is higher in CO2, and therefore the plants can handle higher temperatures..?
  • Use a portable air conditioner, exhaust fans, and CO2 injector.

One of my concerns with exhaust fans is that I may be exhausting air too quickly, including the cooler air. Any advice? Thanks.

Edit: For reference, this is my portable air conditioner: https://www.danby.com/products/portable-air-conditioners/416710/
 
Last edited:
troutman

troutman

Seed Whore
Go underground. :woohoo:



4_underground-greenhouse.jpg
 
V

vspin

Member
Thanks, guys.

Underground looks like a cool idea, literally, but I couldn't do it where I live. :)

soil margin said:
Have you considered portable AC, sealed room and co2 supplementation? Seems like the simplest solution.
Click to expand...

I think that's what I'll do.


I just discovered something that I've not noticed for over 5 years. My exhaust fan is pulling less than half the air it should to replace the room's air every minute. Ugh! I was worried that I was pulling too much air when it was not nearly enough..
 
Last edited:
Drop That Sound

Drop That Sound

Well-known member
I recommend using white roof panels, and light exterior paint. If you have to you could cover the roof panels/shingles with henry's Solar flex or another white roof coating.


Just doing that could drastically reduce your cooling bills by a large percentage.
 
Drop That Sound

Drop That Sound

Well-known member
Oh ya and if you are gonna ventilate the room you can get fan speed/temp controllers that will idle down the fan at night time, etc..

Nothing sucks worse than constantly running out to a shed to adjust the fan.. ;)
 
E

Easy7

Active member
Veteran
I'd shut down for the summer. Just the a/c is going to cost a bundle. I play with numbers for what it costs to grow. Axillery equipment adds more than you'd think. A/C, dehumidifier, exhaust, ever little doohickey and fan. It all adds kilowatt hours. Cheaper to heat than to cool and grows never cool, they dump massive heat.

Just run enough to keep the mother plants going during the outdoor season. Not a lot of below ground basements in California :(

Turn those summer time extra expenses to cool into more winter harvesting.
 
G

Gr33nSanta

2 flower rooms, one slightly bigger than the other, the slightly smaller room runs in the day time and the slightly bigger room runs in night time when a little bit cooler outside. If you can have a buffer zone between the 2 rooms for air exchange even better.
 
G

Gr33nSanta

Easy7 said:
I'd shut down for the summer. Just the a/c is going to cost a bundle. I play with numbers for what it costs to grow. Axillery equipment adds more than you'd think. A/C, dehumidifier, exhaust, ever little doohickey and fan. It all adds kilowatt hours. Cheaper to heat than to cool and grows never cool, they dump massive heat.

Just run enough to keep the mother plants going during the outdoor season. Not a lot of below ground basements in California :(

Turn those summer time extra expenses to cool into more winter harvesting.
Click to expand...
I have never stopped in the summer. I always feel shitty about it because it is strictly due to prohibition, here I am lighting up a room when its absolutely bright outside! Anyhow, with LEDs, one can easily grow indoors in the summer. Never used a proper AC, I just run fresh air from upstairs in the house, closed loop system ... well the windows are open depending on seasons.
 
Drop That Sound

Drop That Sound

Well-known member
If its in a private area, interchangeable roof panels & windows could be sweet. Clear polycarbonate green house panels for in the summer, and switch back to insulated for the winter.

Convert to green house mode when the heat wave comes.
 
Itsmychoice

Itsmychoice

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
My advice

My advice

Get a 600 bf spray insulation kit off eBay and use it insulate and seal the roof and walls most in the sun. Do two kits if you can. Put a ceiling in and run fixtures with remote ballasts. Put the ballasts in the attic space. Ventilate the attic space during the day, I like the hyper fans for this on a thermostat. Get a diy mini split. It will pay for itself in a few runs over a portable or window ac. Get a co2 burner and save up for a nice dehumidifier. I put foam board on the interior covered in panda film. Run 12 315 cmh and it will pay back quick.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top