Durofoam grow room temperature compared to ambient?

[Seb]

My basement is around 62F / 17C (+-2). Using a grow tent and LED lighting did not get the temps to a reasonable level. I have seen several rooms made from Durofoam. How much above ambient is a durofoam grow room likely to run if it is not a sealed room? What has been the experience of people in sealed & ventilated grow rooms made from insulating materials?

Ideally I would vent outside and have the LED provide the heat for the room. I have a spiderfarmer SE 7000 and plenty of room to build a Durofoam room. I want to avoid additional heating as much as possible. Electricity cost is insane around here and I want to avoid wasting energy if I can.

I have moved out of the basement for now but that is not going to be tolerated by my "government" much longer which I find understandable...

Thanks

 

[Pipecarver]

My basement is around 62F / 17C (+-2). Using a grow tent and LED lighting did not get the temps to a reasonable level. I have seen several rooms made from Durofoam. How much above ambient is a durofoam grow room likely to run if it is not a sealed room? What has been the experience of people in sealed & ventilated grow rooms made from insulating materials?

Ideally I would vent outside and have the LED provide the heat for the room. I have a spiderfarmer SE 7000 and plenty of room to build a Durofoam room. I want to avoid additional heating as much as possible. Electricity cost is insane around here and I want to avoid wasting energy if I can.

I have moved out of the basement for now but that is not going to be tolerated by my "government" much longer which I find understandable...

Thanks

I don't know much about durofoam but my led lights don't put out near enough heat to get my plants into a comfortable range in my cold 68f basement. I run T5 fluorescent in veg because the fixtures put out more heat than my led's do. I also add a 150 watt heat lamp on a dimmer switch to add more heat through the coldest days above my lights......

in my 5x5 flowering tent with 2 SE3000 + a sf600 I have to add a heater even in an insulated basement to bring my 70f house temps up to a happy 78f for my plants......

 

[Seb]

I don't know much about durofoam but my led lights don't put out near enough heat to get my plants into a comfortable range in my cold 68f basement. I run T5 fluorescent in veg because the fixtures put out more heat than my led's do. I also add a 150 watt heat lamp on a dimmer switch to add more heat through the coldest days above my lights......

in my 5x5 flowering tent with 2 SE3000 + a sf600 I have to add a heater even in an insulated basement to bring my 70f house temps up to a happy 78f for my plants......

Interesting. Are you growing in tents? Durofoam (or similar) should make a pretty big difference compared to a tent.

 

[Max]

I don't know much about durofoam but my led lights don't put out near enough heat to get my plants into a comfortable range in my cold 68f basement. I run T5 fluorescent in veg because the fixtures put out more heat than my led's do. I also add a 150 watt heat lamp on a dimmer switch to add more heat through the coldest days above my lights......

in my 5x5 flowering tent with 2 SE3000 + a sf600 I have to add a heater even in an insulated basement to bring my 70f house temps up to a happy 78f for my plants......

I couldn’t grow without insulation or the added heater..I’d have to go back to hps but still lights out I’d have to run the finned heater.

that could b your answer Seb..run hps through winter and change back to led for summer.few do it..

 

[Pipecarver]

Interesting. Are you growing in tents? Durofoam (or similar) should make a pretty big difference compared to a tent.

In tents with led lights and with hps I use panda plastic & wood framed 4 - 5x5' panels to surround my plants. I only flower with my hps and in the winter I like to let the temps drop at night to bring out the colours in my plants.....it'll get down to 64f at night without issues

 

[Scotty 420]

Interesting. Are you growing in tents? Durofoam (or similar) should make a pretty big difference compared to a tent.

That's going to depend on how much you're venting out. The fact that heat won't travel through the walls as fast becomes irrelevant if you are pulling in enough air from the surrounding room. It's like insulating your house with super high R-value insulation & then opening all the windows & running an attic fan & expecting the insulation to keep it warm

 

[Pipecarver]

That's going to depend on how much you're venting out. The fact that heat won't travel through the walls as fast becomes irrelevant if you are pulling in enough air from the surrounding room. It's like insulating your house with super high R-value insulation & then opening all the windows & running an attic fan & expecting the insulation to keep it warm

I go to passive intake air and I turn my exhaust fan down as low as it'll go...as long as I'm moving air through my tents my plants are happy. I did get some bud rot when my exhaust duct separated from the tent and I wasn't getting any outward flow of air for months I guess until I saw what happened and fixed it......even with fans there was no exhaust and I guess that a created dead air space

 

[Anthem275]

My basement is around 62F / 17C (+-2). Using a grow tent and LED lighting did not get the temps to a reasonable level. I have seen several rooms made from Durofoam. How much above ambient is a durofoam grow room likely to run if it is not a sealed room? What has been the experience of people in sealed & ventilated grow rooms made from insulating materials?

Ideally I would vent outside and have the LED provide the heat for the room. I have a spiderfarmer SE 7000 and plenty of room to build a Durofoam room. I want to avoid additional heating as much as possible. Electricity cost is insane around here and I want to avoid wasting energy if I can.

I have moved out of the basement for now but that is not going to be tolerated by my "government" much longer which I find understandable...

Thanks

There are a few challenges you seem to be facing. If you are exhausting out the grow area to the outside, it is going to be really hard for the LED light to put out enough heat to keep up with the loss associated with trying to warm the incoming air. The foam products are really good insulators. I am not familiar with the durafoam product. I do know polystyrene is a good insulator. 2" would be a great insulator. Also polyurethane has an even higher insulating value per inch of thickness.
My first thought was to run the room sealed but then you are going to need AC this I know. Maybe consider using an intake and exhaust electric damper to control the temperature. You just have to find the balance and it will change as the outside temperature and light increases.
I think I would probably stay with a tent and find the proper amount of intake and exhaust to operate without AC or heating.

 

[steamroller]

My room is foil faced foam @ 2inches on all sides,
6 LEDS make AC necessary in summer and heat in the winter when lights out.

 

[Stoneyluv]

i also grow in my basement, and it's fairly cool year round. i'm not insulated but one thing i did to help was my fresh air intakes are on the celling to pull in the warmest air i can.

 

[Seb]

Thanks for your input.

My room is foil faced foam @ 2inches on all sides,
6 LEDS make AC necessary in summer and heat in the winter when lights out.

Are you running sealed rooms?

My idea was to make the ceiling from mylar and have the foam boards on a frame that I can lift up if temps get too high. That way the grow room is still closed but can radiate a lot of heat. Hopefully that way I don't need an AC. I assume that is for a sealed room though because like Scotty said, I couldn't have too much air exchange without loosing the heat. But less ventilation would increase humidity.

I am trying to figure out this balancing act of heating, insulation, AC and dehumidifier using the fewest possible resources. I was under the impression high temps would be my biggest issue but that has not been the case. On the contrary. My tent is now in a pretty hot room with lights on at night which works well but long term I want to figure out how to grow in the basement.

 

[Seb]

There are a few challenges you seem to be facing. If you are exhausting out the grow area to the outside, it is going to be really hard for the LED light to put out enough heat to keep up with the loss associated with trying to warm the incoming air. The foam products are really good insulators. I am not familiar with the durafoam product. I do know polystyrene is a good insulator. 2" would be a great insulator. Also polyurethane has an even higher insulating value per inch of thickness.
My first thought was to run the room sealed but then you are going to need AC this I know. Maybe consider using an intake and exhaust electric damper to control the temperature. You just have to find the balance and it will change as the outside temperature and light increases.
I think I would probably stay with a tent and find the proper amount of intake and exhaust to operate without AC or heating.

My problem is more the lower than higher temps and possibly humidity. I am more likely to need heating and dehumidification in the basement. I live in a house mostly made of wood and the basement is well insulated so the climate is good but the basement a little too cold.

 

[Seb]

That's going to depend on how much you're venting out. The fact that heat won't travel through the walls as fast becomes irrelevant if you are pulling in enough air from the surrounding room. It's like insulating your house with super high R-value insulation & then opening all the windows & running an attic fan & expecting the insulation to keep it warm

I guess I am trying to figure out how much I can open the windows and still have decent temperatures and humidity for a given level of insulation. It looks like I will need heating in the basement. I could heat the basement using a gas burner that way I get heat and CO2. But a burner that can be automated is expensive, even more so in Europe, as far as I can tell.

 

[Rootsruler]

Durofoam and a heater. That should solve your problem.

If you want to go with heating and CO2 at the same time I would look at a tankless natural gas water heater. You can vent the exhaust from the heater into the room and it will inject heat and CO2 into your space. You can regulate temp by venting faster or slower but this will also vent CO2.

If you want to get fancy you can set up radiant floor heaters for the hot water created by the water heater to go somewhere through recirculation and dissipate more heat into the room.

 

[Anthem275]

My problem is more the lower than higher temps and possibly humidity. I am more likely to need heating and dehumidification in the basement. I live in a house mostly made of wood and the basement is well insulated so the climate is good but the basement a little too cold.

Yes that would lend itself to using a mechanical damper system as mentioned. Allowing air to stay in the tent longer before evacuating the air to the outside. A dehu is also going to create heat (BTU's)

 

[Pipecarver]

Yes that would lend itself to using a mechanical damper system as mentioned. Allowing air to stay in the tent longer before evacuating the air to the outside. A dehu is also going to create heat (BTU's)

A timer can work if you can figure out the intervals needed like 5 min on 5 off......1 min on 5 off.....ect. for exhaust fans

 

[steamroller]

Not sure what you can get where you are but I use an LG heater/AC unit all in one that was less than $500us.
I run the AC in warmer times and the lights do well for heat in colder times. I use the unit for heat mostly when lights are off after October [ in midstate NY].
My room has AC infinity dual 6 inch fans for fresh air that never turns on since the AC regulates temp and a single 8 inch ACI that is set for humidity levels only.
Not sealed but at this point very little fresh air exchange.
As the season changes soon I will allow the 2 6 inch inputs to cool the room when the air they draw is appropriate.
The room is passive/ not sealed but regulated
Until flower I strive for little difference between lights on/off temperature.
Once switched to flower I will widen the difference.