Here is my closet set up from start to finish

[maryjanenewbie]

gutted this closet out and put electrical outlets, flat white paint, ceramic tile, new baseboard and door trim, 8" shelving, 4oow MHL, 6" exaust with inline fan exausting into attic, timers and fans. Can you think of anything I forgot?

 

[dirtyolsouth]

Hi,

It looks like a great setup so far. I do have some ideas for you from another closet grower. You may end up taking the intake ventilation duct off of your light and let the fan pull air from the hood's intake. If it pulls warm air from light level in the closet directly without the piece of duct it will operate more efficiently and keep your closet cooler. The key to keeping a closet cool is having an inline fan strong enough to pull enough air from the room into the closet through passive intakes under and around the door etc...

Do you have an odor control plan? I highly suggest getting a good size carbon filter. You can operate it on it's own with another fan or if your inline fan is adequate you can put it inline and the air exhausting into your attic will be scrubbed of any odor. That's what I do and it works great. I can't smell a thing up there but that musty, dusty attic insulation smell.

If your tile floor is all sealed up with grout you're more than likely good to go but I like to put a double layer of panda film with the white side up on the floor of my grow room to not only protect from inevitable spills (MANY spills in my 15 years of this hobby) but also to add an additional reflective surface to the floor and it brightens things up a noticeable amount. When I used to do hydro years ago a double layer of panda film or visqueen saved the floor many times from mishaps with timers and knocked over buckets. When I tear down a grow room it's nice to see the carpet and pad haven't been ruined by getting saturated and/or moldy.

I suggest that you take the bulb out of the regular closet fixture to avoid any dark period disturbances, especially if the switch is outside the closet. Either that or tape the switch in the OFF position. I've built a room inside of a room many times for growing and sometimes the room's ceiling light fixture is in the grow space and someone out of habit, me included... will instinctively flip the light switch on and forget about it until you notice that i's been on for a week and your plants are re-vegging!

I grow in a 2x4x8 closet and I use a 630cfm Eclipse inline fan. It has enough suction to pull air first through a 40 lb. carbon filter and then my cool tube reflector with a 1K and temps stay around 75º if I keep the bedroom around 72º which requires a/c in the hot and muggy summers here.

Happy Growing!

 

[maryjanenewbie]

I wanted to pull air from the lower part of the closet and near the bottom of the door to try and keep cooler air into hood. I did a test run for 4 hrs and it worked great i could keep my hands on top of hood and it was just a little warm not hot. I live in the so cal desert where the temp out side is currently hitting 110. I vented into the attic and I run a large swap cooler with "up ducts" through out the house and it exausts towards an empty lot next to my house. We allways have a mild to, at times, stong wind so I'm not real concerned with smell, but we'll see when I get to flowering!

 

[dirtyolsouth]

Cool... just keep in mind that if temps get too hot you can try removing that piece of duct to see how it does over a 12 hour or longer day period. That style of conventional hood does build up a fair amount of heat the longer the light is on and it will radiate into the upper part of the closet. I had to go with a cool tube design in my closet to bring down the temps but every grow room has it's own quirks and you'll soon discover any that your space has.

One other thing that will help is once you get your lights at desired plant height try to keep any unnecessary dips in your ductwork as the drag will slow down your air flow considerably. Even if you keep the length of duct on your reflector's intake you may want to remove the curves and pull the air from floor level straight below the reflector's intake. This will also help increase air flow.

Good Luck!

I edited my previous post to include a couple other thoughts too...

 

[PencilHead]

Lowe's sells 4' x 8' sheets of plastic that are about 1/32th" thick--it's about the thickness of a cheap notebook cover. I have tile on my floor like you and I used the thicker plastic because panda on the floor is a pain in the ***, and can be essential in you busting your ***. Cut the plastic to size and use Fastape on the edges to hold it down and to keep bugs from getting under it. Works great.

 

[ArtVandolay]

...Can you think of anything I forgot?

Yes, the :watchplant:. What are you going to grow?

 

[PencilHead]

Can you think of anything I forgot?

A green incadescent for that overhead fixture.

 

[maryjanenewbie]

I have some fem Northen Lights for my first grow. Started a grown journal

 

[Budders Keeper]

One thing to consider...venting all that warm humid air into your attic couldcause mold/mildew problems that will essentially destroy your home if left unchecked. Major $ to remove. A friend grew this way for a couple years without checking his attic, and it was covered in black stuff when he finally went up there. It was a rental but last I heard the landlord was triing to sue him since the "dump truck" left the vent hole in the ceiling when he moved out. Nice closet and I wish you the greenest of luck!

 

[maryjanenewbie]

Thanks for that thought Budders. I have a Master Cool venting up into the attic already and haven't had any problems thus far. Its very dry most of the year hear in So Cal desert. The Aug and Sept are the monsoon season. I will definitely check the attic for mold growth though, Thanks