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Guest
At the time i first put this up no one replied so i deleted it; but i'm seeing some activity around the forum so i'm gonna lay it back out.
I'll probably be having a shed where i live soon. The shed will get the tin ripped off the top and side facing south and replaced with clear panels. The obvious answer is frosted; but it does mean a reduction in light; about 20%. And that 80% that comes in will bring a lot of light not in the photo - active spectrum, creating unwanted heat.
The more obvious solution is transparent panels; but that means people can see in easier; also, where i'm going, it's desert: it's going to be real hot, over a hundred a lot of the time.
Cooling it, i can do, to a point; i have a couple of those portable evaporative coolers, and currently i feed one of them with a 1/4" line, and have a float i put in by taking off the back and installing. It works real well; no complaints there.
However where i'll be it's hotter and i want to negate the heat inside the unit.
It's well known that you don't need anywhere near full spectrum light to grow; primarily just red.
Do any of you know of a case where someone has thinned red paint way down, and put it on transparent panels to make a red pass only filter, so that (1) people can't see inside, and (2) the heating up, inside is reduced by not admitting the other light?
The question of needing some other colored light is easily answered by just putting some tape on the panels, after a light scuff with some fine sandpaper; painting, then removing the tape, for some clear area that will admit full spectrum light; so that's obviously not a problem.
It seems with all the talk of l.e.d.s people understand spectrum requirements, but i haven't ever seen anyone using tinted panels; hence this thread to ask anyone familiar with it what they know.
Obviously as well, getting paint the right color, is no problem either.
I guess the main questions i'd have about it is, firstly, is it true that latex paint will work just as well as a solvent based paint; and is there any well known/documented reason, people DON'T use tinted panels.
Any reasonable discussion on it welcomed.
I'll probably be having a shed where i live soon. The shed will get the tin ripped off the top and side facing south and replaced with clear panels. The obvious answer is frosted; but it does mean a reduction in light; about 20%. And that 80% that comes in will bring a lot of light not in the photo - active spectrum, creating unwanted heat.
The more obvious solution is transparent panels; but that means people can see in easier; also, where i'm going, it's desert: it's going to be real hot, over a hundred a lot of the time.
Cooling it, i can do, to a point; i have a couple of those portable evaporative coolers, and currently i feed one of them with a 1/4" line, and have a float i put in by taking off the back and installing. It works real well; no complaints there.
However where i'll be it's hotter and i want to negate the heat inside the unit.
It's well known that you don't need anywhere near full spectrum light to grow; primarily just red.
Do any of you know of a case where someone has thinned red paint way down, and put it on transparent panels to make a red pass only filter, so that (1) people can't see inside, and (2) the heating up, inside is reduced by not admitting the other light?
The question of needing some other colored light is easily answered by just putting some tape on the panels, after a light scuff with some fine sandpaper; painting, then removing the tape, for some clear area that will admit full spectrum light; so that's obviously not a problem.
It seems with all the talk of l.e.d.s people understand spectrum requirements, but i haven't ever seen anyone using tinted panels; hence this thread to ask anyone familiar with it what they know.
Obviously as well, getting paint the right color, is no problem either.
I guess the main questions i'd have about it is, firstly, is it true that latex paint will work just as well as a solvent based paint; and is there any well known/documented reason, people DON'T use tinted panels.
Any reasonable discussion on it welcomed.
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