What's your setup?

I know that some people like to show off what they’ve got going on. Let’s see some pride in your work!

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Ok, Just to start things off… I’ll show some pictures of my facility that I’m building. To start, I’d like to mention that I’m a state licensed recreational grower in the State of Alaska. I’m currently expecting my license to go active in mid January. In the meantime, I’m completing the building, and getting everything setup. I will share a layout floor plan of the facility and then some pictures of the site prep, concrete pour, erecting the building, and wood frame out.

The bldg is 26ft x 24ft with a peak height of 13ft 6Inches. The building is all steel (12 gauge) construction and self supporting with a snow load rating of 170 lbs/per sq. ft. Floor to ceiling dual sided vapor barrier insulation (6"). The electrical service is a 400 amp meter base (320 Amp Continuous Rated), with two 200 Amp Panelboards. I have 6 tons of Air Conditioning (Two 3 Ton Single Zone Mini-Splits), CO2 Burner, Dehumidifier, Water Chiller, RDWC Hydroponic system, and 24 vertical hanging 1000 watt HPS lights with Digital ballasts. RO water Filtration system and a rainwater catchment reservoir (It rains alot here). Another 4000 watts of MH Vertical lighting (veg rm).

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Nice setup - and I love your logo too. Who did the design work for that @garymorgan ?

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Thanks @nicholas ! My wife is a graphic designer, and she created our logo. The theme was a tattoo style design of a Cannabis Leaf using objects and animals that are around us in Southeast Alaska (Eagle, Ravens, Crab, Boats, Mosquitos, Kayaks, etc…)

She nailed it! :slight_smile: I’m very happy with the Logo. The name of the Company (Moog Droog) is Welsh slang for Marijuana and my last name (Morgan) is Welsh. I decided it was kind of catchy and something people would recognize as we try to brand our product.

My wife will be designing logo wear and custom packaging design for our business, to further our brand development. Hats, Shirts, Grinders, Stash Jars etc…

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That’s great to have that talent in the family, as it were :slight_smile: It did remind me of a tattoo when I saw it, so that makes total sense. Feel free to post any of your swag and designs on here for others to see and get inspiration from. I have friend who is from Wales so I’ll have to try out the Moog Droog slang on him.

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Loved that image of the 6 phases of a project. I can relate.

I’m liking these pictures of the setup. Keep them coming as the project progresses.

As a heads up, I think you may run into issues with the amount of AC you have vs. how much lighting and other equipment you will have in the area. You’re calculating each 1000w light at 3,000 BTU non-aircooled with no other items factored in. Then again, it may be so cold up there that it won’t be an issue. I know down in WA, OR, and CA we’d rate about 50% more AC for that size project.

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Love the pictures of the stages of your build! Look great.

Hey Nate!
Thanks for the heads up about the AC. It’s definitely a bit light for 24k watts of lights and a CO2 Burner. One thing i didn’t mention is that I will likely run my ballasts at 75% until I can add a little more AC. My first grow will take place January through March so the ambient outside temp should be pretty cold. It’s 20 degrees F right now with a few inches of snow on the ground.

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Yes, good thing you have dimmable 1000w light fixtures. That should help for making sure you don’t run into any risks. What fixtures are you using? Anything with control that will automatically dim the lights down, or will you have to do it manually? May be worth getting some type of alert system in case of issues. Last thing you want is one of your AC’s to go out and your inventory go from enjoying a nice humid, carribean day to an oven. Maybe look into something like an iPonic 600 and connect it to a router so you can set alerts and check environmental conditions from anywhere.

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I’m using vertical lighting for the first couple grows. I wanted to start with LED grow lights but construction budgets have a way of doubling and hidden licensing costs keep popping up. I decided vertical lighting was the way to go for now, but I plan to switch to LED as soon as I get a few harvests under my belt.

The Iponic system looks very nice. Plug and Play. One advantage I have is that I’m an electrician who’s specialized in control and automation technology. I’ll be using a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) to control everything. It’s basically much like the Iponic 600 controller, but I’ll be programming everything myself. There are many advantages to PLC’s, but one of them is that I can data-log everything. I’ll be able to save every value for each device that’s controlled as well as the time interval of each reading. I can also change any setting remotely or have it warn me by internet or cell phone. Best of all if something goes wrong I know how to troubleshoot and fix it. :sunglasses:

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@garymorgan I imagine there are quite a few growers who would be keen on getting your expertise for those controllers. Has anybody asked you?

PLC’s are used in all modern manufacturing processes and most industrial businesses. Many complex HVAC systems incorporate PLC’s and Variable Frequency Drives (VFD’s-an electric motor that you can speed up or slow down) It’s proven technology and very adaptable and expandable. I’d be surprised if some of the larger grow facilities aren’t using PLC’s to automate their facilities. My skills are pretty common in the electrical business. I work for an electric utility, and we use PLC’s extensively throughout our generation and transmission facilities. Our system is monitored using a SCADA system which is a windows type interface that controls groups of PLC’s in different locations. We can remotely control or operate switches, valves, diesel or hydro generators etc… While I can program simple tasks, there are people out there that are expert automation programmers. (They have little propellers on top of their hats I like to say). If anyone is interested in this technology they should look up a local automation and controls company and start that conversation. It’s not the cheapest route, but if you’re wanting to design a fairly large grow or manufacturing facility it’s the only way to go.

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