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whats your prefered heating method for cold weather(lofties)?

e4ian

e4ian

Member
siftedunity said:
yes man im contemplaiting this at the moment. i dont think i have light leaks so thats good. the main issue is the low humming noise from the fans/extractor. bout a 1500w oil rad so il see how that goes. when it finally gets here.

another day of rain today. its gotta run out at some point?
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I recently changed my 5" fan for an 8" because of a 2nd light.
Bad move even with the growroom windows locked shut and insulation on the ducting the noise could still be heard outside.
I live in a garage-linked detached house.If NOW folk had there heating on alot OK but they havnt,so no chance cus the noise outside sounds like a boiler/heating system and maybe/probably a bit odd to the discerning ear!
Inside it sounded like you were approaching an airstrip BIG NOISE !
you had to smileeeee :biggrin: NO f*****g chance.
 
VerdantGreen

VerdantGreen

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my loft grow is actually a cabinet-in-the -loft grow and i duct air up from the house as its always at a better temp (cool in summer and warm in winter)... but to handle the cold nights etc in winter, i made a box that the air gets ducted through, and in this box i put a couple of tube heaters, so that the air gets warmed up before it gets pumped into the grow. this has worked very well for me and im sure the idea could be scaled up for bigger loft grows..

VG
 
e4ian

e4ian

Member
roll it large said:
the cotton wool is for the snoring missus

hardly any noise here and i got 4 fans on the go

2x 6" rvk l1
1 6" rvka1
1 td150 silent (which is the loudest lol)

you wouldnt believe how efficient acaustic ducting is till you try it

peace
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Yes acoustic ducting i second that.
Inside the noise was reduced greatly with that but the noise was still there outside.I found that very surprising.My neighbours are only a garage width away! ummed and arrrd for a time but decieded,no chance.For saftey of course,only be a matter of time if i did..


In fact i have the fan/filter in question for sale.
8" rvk style fan ,rhino filter,about 2m of acoustic ducting,clamp,etc
Used for 5 week on 12/12 only. !

must tell you this,now back to a 5" i got a systemair rvk and Rhino Filter with clips and a few mtr's of ducting + delivery for abit under 130 quid im sure,good deal i thought. the filter amazed me,mann so light.

8" is so pissin big. lol ,feel much SAFER now.
 
e4ian

e4ian

Member
VerdantGreen said:
my loft grow is actually a cabinet-in-the -loft grow and i duct air up from the house as its always at a better temp (cool in summer and warm in winter)... but to handle the cold nights etc in winter, i made a box that the air gets ducted through, and in this box i put a couple of tube heaters, so that the air gets warmed up before it gets pumped into the grow. this has worked very well for me and im sure the idea could be scaled up for bigger loft grows..

VG
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Good idea. :)
 
Y

yasm

New member
Alright lads, Im a new member to this site.
My loft room is made from 80mm kingspan, all joints filled with expanding foam, lined with thermawrap(double layer on top) then Mylar over that for good measure. I don't think temps are ever gonna be ideal in a loft bug you've gotta make the best of what you got I think. Air is constantly pumped in from bathroom which is nice and warm in winter and cooler than ambient loft temps in summer so it's not so bad. Everything is hung on bungee cords, this keeps the noise down somewhat, the vibrations at any rate which account for the majority of the noise, acoustic ducting does minimise the whooshing noise is say. My only prob is my ducting just runs to the eaves and not into the chimney which I'd prefer. This is my next job tbh, just not confident really in knocking bricks out of something I know little about. And maybe encouraging a mould problem??? Will have to see :biggrin:
 
siftedunity

siftedunity

cant re Member
Veteran
VerdantGreen said:
my loft grow is actually a cabinet-in-the -loft grow and i duct air up from the house as its always at a better temp (cool in summer and warm in winter)... but to handle the cold nights etc in winter, i made a box that the air gets ducted through, and in this box i put a couple of tube heaters, so that the air gets warmed up before it gets pumped into the grow. this has worked very well for me and im sure the idea could be scaled up for bigger loft grows..

VG
Click to expand...

im glad the idea worked for you but that wouldnt work with my setup. ive used tube heaters before they are shit. and the fact your growing in a cabinet makes it alot easier to keep temps stable, when you are using a whole loft, its alot of space to warm up and tube heaters wont even touch it. come novemeber you may aswell be growing outside its that cold.

ive basically solved my problem by cutting off the areas i dont use and filling everything between the roof and the grow room walls with insulation. on top of this ive put fan speed controllers on all my fans so that they keep the leaves moving but they are not blowing heat from the lights away from the plants. ive also added the oil filled radiator which is on a thermostat all night and for any chilly parts of the day. so im maintaining 25c all the time minimum which seems to be working fine. that in mind, my thermometer is in a cool spot. im working with it. i feel happy now that im back in control of it but ive got about 8 weeks left to battle it and im sure it will get much much colder soon...

root development is definately been sloer but hopefully that will speed back up again with the better temps.:woohoo:
 
S

speedemon

I use those B&Q Oil filled rads on ET05 temperature sockets set at 19c to come on if it drops below, they never fail to disappoint.
 
R

RudeDog

Active member
Veteran
Great thread. Not growing in a loft but I've just bought a Hotbox greenhouse heater for me greenhouse. 2.7kw with thermostat, bought on ebay dirt cheap, just got to replace the switch.

Perhaps one of these would suit a loft as in the summer the element can be turned off and used just as a fan.
 
siftedunity

siftedunity

cant re Member
Veteran
speedemon said:
I use those B&Q Oil filled rads on ET05 temperature sockets set at 19c to come on if it drops below, they never fail to disappoint.
Click to expand...

yes man i saw the link to the plug in thermostats you left on another thread and i didnt even know they existed. the really are the dogs bollox though such a cheap and easy way to dial in a room. it would be handy for keeping temps high if you use co2 aswell.

RudeDog said:
Great thread. Not growing in a loft but I've just bought a Hotbox greenhouse heater for me greenhouse. 2.7kw with thermostat, bought on ebay dirt cheap, just got to replace the switch.

Perhaps one of these would suit a loft as in the summer the element can be turned off and used just as a fan.
Click to expand...

yeah sounds cool man. im not sure how a hotbox works? does it have an open heated element like a fan heater? if it has id be scared to use it in the loft incase i burnt the roof down. ive even used extreme precaution with the oil filled radiator and clamped it to the floor so that it cant tip over etc. ive noticed it does seem to dry the air out and lower the humidity a bit but its not bad by any means.
 
VerdantGreen

VerdantGreen

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siftedunity said:
im glad the idea worked for you but that wouldnt work with my setup. ive used tube heaters before they are shit. and the fact your growing in a cabinet makes it alot easier to keep temps stable, when you are using a whole loft, its alot of space to warm up and tube heaters wont even touch it. come novemeber you may aswell be growing outside its that cold.

ive basically solved my problem by cutting off the areas i dont use and filling everything between the roof and the grow room walls with insulation. on top of this ive put fan speed controllers on all my fans so that they keep the leaves moving but they are not blowing heat from the lights away from the plants. ive also added the oil filled radiator which is on a thermostat all night and for any chilly parts of the day. so im maintaining 25c all the time minimum which seems to be working fine. that in mind, my thermometer is in a cool spot. im working with it. i feel happy now that im back in control of it but ive got about 8 weeks left to battle it and im sure it will get much much colder soon...

root development is definately been sloer but hopefully that will speed back up again with the better temps.:woohoo:
Click to expand...

i definitely agree that, first things first, you've got to insulate the grow area (i insulated one end of the loft and made a room to put my cabinet in)
but also we turn our heating off at night and the temps in the house go down to around 10 C - and you dont want to be pumping really cold air into the grow, so having a way to heat it up before it goes in is useful, because the box that the heaters are in is quite small, it makes a big difference to the temp of the air... usually i only have one turned on but the other goes on when it gets really cold

i agree about the fan speed controllers (i actually have one of those temp controlled ruck fans) imo they are one of the best things you can do to improve your grow enviroment

VG
 
siftedunity

siftedunity

cant re Member
Veteran
thats really cool. ive heard of the temp control fans they sound interesting.

i think in the loft insulation is the key to maintaining warmth and sustaining decent temps. i do understand that you vent in at night so you dont want cool air in there.

mines kind of the oppisite, ive got lights on in the day, so ive got the central heating on, so im pulling warm air in, so with that and the lights, ballasts the ambient temperatures are reasonable. but still on the low side. there was still a chill before i sorted out the insulation.
so i added the radiator, and leave that on in the day on a lower setting, if it rains in the daytime i turn it up.
so im happy with that at the moment.
night time all im relying on is the insulation and the heater which i put on to a higher setting at night.

at night im ok with having lower temps as long as it isnt fucking them up, in the day time i like high temps because thats when i feed and obviously i want them to utilize the light and nutes as good as they can. im gonna be finished flowering at the end of november. im pretty sure ive got the worst of the cold to come but im glad its at the end of the grow compeared to the start. i generally think they take more of a beating in the last few week plus they have put on alot of there weight by then.
 
EddieShoestring

EddieShoestring

Florist
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i agree with Verdant G-duct your intake up from the house below the loft. It is not as much hassle as you might think-a neat cut in the corner of the ceiling with a plastic vent cover from a hardware shop make a neat and inconspicuous job

good luck
e
 
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