Fans

[Rootsruler]

Question.....what difference is there in environmental control and plant health having a 10 speed, automatically controlled air circulator vs. a manually speed controlled oscillating fan? Do differing wind speeds make a difference? In my larger grows I've used wall mounted Hurricane 16" fans that oscillate but are manually speed controlled and haven't had any issues as far as final product performance. Of course, until now, there haven't really been automatically speed controlled fans so I have no basis in comparison. Just wondering what a controllable fan does in the scheme of things?

 

[Pipecarver]

Question.....what difference is there in environmental control and plant health having a 10 speed, automatically controlled air circulator vs. a manually speed controlled oscillating fan? Do differing wind speeds make a difference? In my larger grows I've used wall mounted Hurricane 16" fans that oscillate but are manually speed controlled and haven't had any issues as far as final product performance. Of course, until now, there haven't really been automatically speed controlled fans so I have no basis in comparison. Just wondering what a controllable fan does in the scheme of things?

For me I just want the wind making the leaves lightly dance and no dead spots in the tent. I normally hang 2 above the light, one on the floor osculating over the pots and another 1 or 2 osculating over/ through the canopy

 

[Max]

I think multible speeds would benefit if you have a bigger space…i only use low in my 5x5.that’s with a 2 speed 6’..i cant use my 6 near my seedlings though.I gather 1st speed would work okay on seedlings .

 

[2Bad]

For me I just want the wind making the leaves lightly dance and no dead spots in the tent. I normally hang 2 above the light, one on the floor osculating over the pots and another 1 or 2 osculating over/ through the canopy

do you use plastic pots?

 

[Pipecarver]

do you use plastic pots?

In my 3x3 I have a 5 gal fabric in my 5x5 I have plastic auto pots....I haven't changed the amount of fans blowing with plastic or fabric...with high humidity in the summer months I need air movement above all else 24/7

 

[Rootsruler]

For me I just want the wind making the leaves lightly dance and no dead spots in the tent. I normally hang 2 above the light, one on the floor osculating over the pots and another 1 or 2 osculating over/ through the canopy

I understand the process. My question is what is the worth of having a 10 speed, automatically controlled air circulator vs. a manually speed controlled oscillating fan. In other words, why have 10 speeds? Do plants benefit from varying degrees of wind speed? I understand if the manually controlled one on it's lowest setting is to much for the size tent you have but then the solution is a smaller fan.

In particular the ACI fans. They look to be pretty rugged but for the price I can buy the Honeywell fans I like and get just as much usage out of them. The only difference would be the 10 fan speed settings and the fact that the controller can control the speed of the fan. How does that automatic speed control benefit the plants?

I used a Honeywell Turbo Force fan these last couple grows and I really like them. I've gone through enough fans to know a good one when I see it and the Honeywell seems to be well made and very sturdy especially having to run constantly which seems to be where most fans go south. I really like ACI's gear and it has certainly made regulating environment much easier but I don't see the advantage to spending that much on a fan when I can get one that is just as reliable for half the price if I'm not connecting it to the controller. If durability gets left out of the equation then the only difference would be in the automated speed control. What is the advantage that brings vs. a set speed control if both fans oscillate?

 

[Amnesia]

How does that automatic speed control benefit the plants?

I'm not sure it does. I don't use that feature. My ACI fans aren't connected to a controller, so they're essentially manual at this point. The 10 fan speed settings can be nice to have, even if only one speed is used at a time.

There may be an advantage to using the controller that I haven't explored yet. That is using VPD as a trigger. Maybe dynamically controlling the fan speed might be helpful. I can't say much more about that, though. I haven't tried using VPD yet.

especially having to run constantly which seems to be where most fans go south.

Controllers can put fans on an intermittent-use cycle. Supposedly, that helps fans last longer. I've run mine on a cycle that's 50 minutes on and 10 minutes off. It's hard to say how much that matters.

 

[GrowHobo]

I saw somewhere the oscillating ac infinity fans aren’t meant to be run 24/7. Ahh here it was. For the price it just doesn’t seem worth it. 3 speeds is plenty for me. I’ve read quite a few bad reviews on them.

 

[tobh]

personally i think oscillation is more for human comfort than for plant benefits. Not to mention, when you run an oscillating fan 24/7 the oscillator will give out fairly quickly.

the way i set up the fans in my tent is to create a vortex, of sorts. One on each corner, each staggered slightly higher than the other, and pointed at the wall 90 degrees to the right.


The reason I do this is based on an article i read (and cannot find for the life of me) that said something along the lines of doing it this way facilitates moving fresh air from the intake up throughout the canopy and also helps move heat out the exhaust. I also run a 12" fan under the canopy, typically perpendicular to where the intake air is coming from since I run an intake fan. I don't think it really matters the direction of the 12", though, since the air is gonna hit a wall and work its way up anyways.

TL;DR: goal is to have no stagnant air creating microclimates and harboring bad stuff. Create a lot of turbulence, ideally in some kind of uniform direction (to reference laminar flow and the Reynold's Number: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laminar_flow) and you'll avoid that exact situation.

EDIT: made a diagram and the form editor took all my whitespace out, so no mo diagram.