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

[Harry Lime]

Go at it gently mate and hopefully nothing will fall down the chimney. Remember though, if the people downstairs are using it you'll get smoke/fumes in your place. Get a piece of ply wood or similar bigger then the hole you plan to make. Fit it to the chimney wall over the spot where you're going to make the hole with screws and rawl plugs. Take it off, cut a hole in the ply and fit a duct spigot into it. Make your hole in the wall then fit the board over it. Bang the duct onto the spigot and you're good to go.
Hope I don't come over like teaching grandma to suck eggs!

 

[Iffy-Caradoc]

Chimney

Chimney

Just checked my options and there are three chimneys.

The first is inside my flat, it goes directly from the boiler trough the wall and dont have access to it.

The second is a central chimney, made of brick, I have easy access but I'm a little scared to get 3-4 blocks away because I live on the 2nd floor and I dont want rubbish to fall to my neighbors, I also dont know if they use this chimney or not.

The third chimney - here I have no idea what it is. it goes through my flat but nothing connects to it, it may from iron tube. I saw on Google maps that every house in my area have this type of chimney.

The options are:
1) try to work really really carefully and get three blocks from the main chimney.
2) build a new chimney - just take out one roof tile and fix a small chimney from B&Q/homebase

I think that I will go with the first option.

will try to take pics later today to show you what Im talking about.

You're on the right track there fella, do it like your bustin out of prison! How well do you know them downstairs? You could call in to have a look at the fireplace. Tell em anything, you spilt a load of water, you cleaned up but were worried it might have come through - any old shit. Be charming & you do it easy. Just a quick look is all you need. If it's an open fire, you gotta know to leave it alone. Mostly anything else is cool but if you're not real careful & drop even a small lump of mortar down there while breaking thro, it could give the game away.
Best of luck whatever you decide mate.
Stay safe

 

[siftedunity]

Just checked my options and there are three chimneys.

The first is inside my flat, it goes directly from the boiler trough the wall and dont have access to it.

The second is a central chimney, made of brick, I have easy access but I'm a little scared to get 3-4 blocks away because I live on the 2nd floor and I dont want rubbish to fall to my neighbors, I also dont know if they use this chimney or not.

The third chimney - here I have no idea what it is. it goes through my flat but nothing connects to it, it may from iron tube. I saw on Google maps that every house in my area have this type of chimney.

The options are:
1) try to work really really carefully and get three blocks from the main chimney.
2) build a new chimney - just take out one roof tile and fix a small chimney from B&Q/homebase

I think that I will go with the first option.

will try to take pics later today to show you what Im talking about.

in my opinion even if no one else if using the chimney, make sure your not venting smells into other buildings and obviously be carefull that you are keeping things safe for your neighbours. i wouldnt be drilling holes in a communal chimney or even if i lived in a flat but thats my opinon only.

 

[siftedunity]

Yeah I suppose your right mate, I spent over £1300 prepping my loft. I got a bit anal about it but I do sleep better at night. Even if I'm deluding myself about the 'covertness' of my room, it makes me feel better. I've even fitted a fan into the space in the apex over the room, incase it got warm up there. It's set on a sensor and so far it hasn't tripped in. I'm running all Cooltubes now, which really reduce the amount of heat that builds up at the apex. Happy days!
Stay safe

yup obviously the more you can afford to spend on things the better quality it is. do remember that a fan doesnt actually cool a room it just moves the air around. if anything it may actually add heat to the room.
your lucky really as i thing a room withing the loft is a far better option.
although if i were you i would insulate the grow room and then insulate the rafters that way you have less chance of any heat signature as supposed to stripping it down.
its winter which is my issue

Wickes 2" polystyrene tongue and groove boards work, my igloo was the last roof in the street to melt the snow. Almost sus in it's stealthiness... Exhaust, took 4 bricks out of the chimney stack with a cold chisel [easy to put back right too] ... so when the Helipigs passed over 20x a night chasing TWOC'ing Hoodierats, they saw nothing at all, 5x 400w in a tiny cottage loft.

Plumbing in a water feed and also drain up there costs £20 to do and is priceless in terms of work saved.

yup mate i did see those things on wickes website. next year i might kit out the whole loft. its a big job and il do it in the new year. but yup its the rafters which are the main issue.

 

[roll it large]

that's how mines vented too for added stealth works a treat

I need to work on the water feed tho I'm using a r.o feed pipe for my water takes 25mins to do 100 litres

peace

 

[VerdantGreen]

the chimney should have separate flues for upstairs and downstairs fireplaces - so if you can work out which is which you can exhaust into the correct one.

 

[LEX-UK]

If central heating has been installed in flats i would think the chimneys arnt being used.. do u have the old gas fires installed still?

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

yup obviously the more you can afford to spend on things the better quality it is. do remember that a fan doesnt actually cool a room it just moves the air around. if anything it may actually add heat to the room.
your lucky really as i thing a room withing the loft is a far better option.
although if i were you i would insulate the grow room and then insulate the rafters that way you have less chance of any heat signature as supposed to stripping it down.
its winter which is my issue


yup mate i did see those things on wickes website. next year i might kit out the whole loft. its a big job and il do it in the new year. but yup its the rafters which are the main issue.

You would not believe how easy it is to build with that tongue and groove polystyrene, I was very happy to see Bauhaus her in Spain sell the same thing. Use a bread knife [saw type] or Stanley to cut it, then Liquid Nail to glue the whole schebang together. Screws with large washers and 2" x 1" baton help with making framework. I recently made a friend a custom air ducting channel out of this, works perfectly. With my Igloo I made the whole thing sealed, then with a kitchen knife, cut the door in, bigger outside than in, all the way round, like a Submarine door. Cutting at a 45 degree angle, sandwiched wood baton made a good seal, Liquid Nail smeared on exposed surfaces make it much tougher, you do not bash it to bits while working up there.

For the chimney bricks, with neighbours below.... Firstly, safety, the big danger with Chimneys is Gas Fires, they give off fatal CO, Carbon Monoxide, personally I would "test" the chimney with one of those household warning strips, or the "Fire Detector" type, £10 up. If you block the chimney and stop the downstairs neighbours Gas Fire flue from exiting, you will likely kill yourself, them, or maybe both. none of this will help you grow great weed, so take great care.

Removing a few bricks, carefully, when they are out is not such a problem, if you do it on a stormy day, like now, most chimney owners will suspect nothing, you often get debris trickling down after a storm. Victorian/Edwardian houses tend to use Lime based mortars that are "crumbly" so are very easy to go digging around in.

First thing I put in, a Ply board to make a "bottom" and stop any further debris or noises going down... Then, "Phil's trick" .. get a 90 degree bend of 6" [or 8" if poss/needed] steel ducting. Put in a large strong bin bag. Pull bottom of binbag tight over the far end of the 90Deg elbow, put string, Duct Tape over the rim to create a tight "drum" of binbag. Cut out the tight drum part leaving free passage through the 6" Duct. Now you have the 90Deg elbow with a nice "skirt" Put the "top" part in and up, leaving the open end of the skirt visible and the end of the 90 sitting directly in to the chimney, teh other end pointing straight up. Now get the spray foam and spray inside the skirt, between bin bag and ducting. This keeps the [impossible to eradicate] foam away from the brickwork and properly secures your 90 degree bend in the chimney. When you move, this is roughly 1 Million times easier to remove, untraceably because you put the foam smeg in the bin bag. Many places you can use spray Foam, in a bag to contain it, it honestly saves so much hassle as well as making a very robust solution.

 

[siftedunity]

very interesting mate. im wondering can you duct into the central heating pipe that goes up from the heating system?

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

very interesting mate. im wondering can you duct into the central heating pipe that goes up from the heating system?

No, I think not... I am no expert on this, but have a great deal of respect for Carbon Monoxide, a very nasty silent killer, not to be messed with IMO. Central Heating with a pipe is Gas afaik, if you pumped in air halfway up the pipe, there has to be a very real risk of you pumping CO and/or MJ back into the house and probably killing someone. In my last UK 3 bed semi I ripped out my downstairs gas fire below the loft exhaust .. just to be sure it never got lit..

 

[speedemon]

As temperatures here are falling fast and my heaters are struggling as meant for smaller spaces, I have invested in one of these now http://www.diy.com/nav/rooms/heating-radiators/heaters/Blyss-1000W-Oscilating-Quartz-Heater-12448609

It works a treat and it oscilates as well which is handy.

 

[gonzo`]

i have one of these hanging from inside my tent, seems to be working pretty well so far.. but getting condensation on the sides of the tent.. any ideas on how to stop this?

http://www.progrow.co.uk/acatalog/info_4757.html

 

[speedemon]

i have one of these hanging from inside my tent, seems to be working pretty well so far.. but getting condensation on the sides of the tent.. any ideas on how to stop this?

http://www.progrow.co.uk/acatalog/info_4757.html

What about a dehumidifier mate?

 

[roll it large]

gonzo that's what I'm using mate and it seems to dry the air for me and reduce humidity
but my room is quite big with lots of ventilation

could the heater be too big for the tent?
maybe a small 500w oil rad would be better that's what I use in the 1.2mtr room 30quid from asda

peace

 

[Bud buster]

The oil filled wouldn't have the glowing element that might screw up the ladies also cover the light on the oilfilled with tape the dehumidifier adds some heat.

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

i have one of these hanging from inside my tent, seems to be working pretty well so far.. but getting condensation on the sides of the tent.. any ideas on how to stop this?

http://www.progrow.co.uk/acatalog/info_4757.html

Better air movement ?

If your heater is giving you patches of condensation, then the nice dry heat is not going around evenly, everywhere, so stick another fan in there, do not try to chase the problem with more kit [dehumidifier] ... look at the basic issue.

Imagine life for part of your crop near the condensation tent wall, for that to form, there is clearly not enough air movement there, so the buds in that area will be 'tarded by environmental conditions that are less than perfect, so, will certainly knock your yield and may well be the source of mould, rot, mildew.

 

[RudeDog]

As CC said, air movement. In me greenhouse this year I've installed an 18" fan and an electric fan heater. Inside of glass is completley dry and plants are mold free. Other years there would be permanant condensation and the plants would have to be chopped by now.

 

[nut]

one way i used to grow in the loft was use 2 grow rooms This worked perfect "NO"need for radiators (why waste electric on a radiator? when you can use the heat off another bulb?)

The both rooms were on 12/12 with the added bonus each room would get free C02 from what ever room was in the dark (we all know plants give off C02 at night right?)

The both rooms would be almost the same temperature day or night basically your mixing cold air with warm air through both rooms even though they are separate light/dark.

Things you need
3 extractor fans with enough ducting
2 tents or self build light tight rooms
The rest is what you should already have?

The idea is you use 2 extractor fans attached to air cooled hoods or you could get away with out using them but in my set up i used them you may or may not?

each room is on 12/12 the both 6" extractor fans stay on 24/7 each pulling air through the cool tubes one would be hot air the other cool air and each would blow that air in to the other room/ tent Thus both rooms would share hot and cool air from each room.

I would also use a 8" extractor fan on a "T" that would also go in to each tent that would vent both tents at the same time.

Ill upload a diagram of what i mean if you cant work out anything from my crap M$ paint I'm sorry lol

PS
hope this helps someone? it worked for me for years in the heat of summer or the cold of winter it was well worth the investment setting up once it was up and running.