Hi, I have been growing hydroponically for some time but always just used fans to move air around (not ideal I know). I have been reading about how important ventilation is and started to plan.
I bought an inline fan which I was planning to use for exhaust. Was going to use passive intake.
If I exhaust outdoors and use passive intake, in the winter, will I not just be exhausting warm air and eventually making my basement lose all my heat?
I don’t really have any heat issues as I use LEDs but I need fresh air.
Summer is not an issue but in winter that might be costly.
That’s a good idea…in an ideal situation, I would also intake from outside then cold air in an cold air out without affecting the rest of my house but pulling air from outside isn’t easy in my setup. Exhaust is easy because I have piping already setup to exhaust my central vac (prior owner setup).
There should be a balance of how much cold air your bringing in, it should never make your basement cold as it will negatively affect the plants. The warm air exhaust should only be used to blow out air that has already been heated by your light ect. The idea is to balance the heat your setup is creating with the amount of cold air intake and warm air exhaust. If your looking purely at air circulation with no heat issue you can pull from inside your house and exhaust it elsewhere in the house. I use a combination of both methods depending on the outdoor temps
I built a 'closet about 3 x 6 feet. My basement is humid so I thought exhausting outside would be beneficial. I have a couple of small fans oscillating and a dehumidifier.
Heat is not really an issue for me…just humid, stagnant air.
I figured if I only exhaust in the house, I’m only circulating humid air.
I was only thinking that if I exhaust outside with only passive intake, then warm air is going out and then air needs to be replaced which I assume would eventually be pulled from outside via negative pressure. Great in summer …not in winter.
I see what you’re saying. That’s a tough one, at least for my knowledge. I exchange the air just from the basement, but I seem to get enough circulation through the house that stagnant air isn’t really an issue. Do you have any vents in the basement. Not sure where you’re from so I’m just assuming Central HVAC?
I think your going to have to work out something like slymer suggested to switch from exhausting outside in summer to recirculating atleast some of the air in winter. I’m not sure if your looking for CO2 or dry air or both?
I would put a reducer of sorts for the intake portion so it doesn’t fill the room in winter. A very small hole with the proper wind direction and it will fill your room with cold air. Keep a very close eye when temp changes.
Put screening over any opening to the outside coming in, or you’ll get bugs! Moths and crickets chasing your light.
Well I hooked it up to vent outside for the time being. The fan has 8 speed settings so I can fool with that.
And even though it’s an exhaust, I still put screen (just in case lol)
I think recirculating air in the winter is a useable idea as the air is pretty dry anyways.
I’m only looking to circulate air and reduce humidity really…not planning any CO2 (as my grow area is far from air tight)
I went a little crazy in my basement growing weed, jalapeno peppers, strawberries, lettuce and kale, all hydroponically. Didn’t realize how much humidity that would create.
The dehumidifier can produce roughly 3.41 BTU/watt while it’s running on its highest setting, combined with the rest of your equipment at 3.41 BTU/watt it can help heat the house slightly in winter and take some pressure off your HVAC. Good call on the screen iv’e heard of people having squirrels ect climb into their furnace from the exhaust pipe and die in there. Smells brutal after a while.
