Temperature advice

[Shed-Grower]

Hi all, it's been a while since I last posted on here and I've set up in my spear room now. I haven't started any plants yet as I'm trying to get my environment right first.

 

My set up is:

2.4m x 1.2m x 2m tent

2x LED's

6" EC extraction fan with a fan speed controller (moves 800m³ per hour)

3x air movement fans (2 small ones clipped to the bars on either side of the tent and 1x medium sized oscillating fan on the floor in the middle of the tent.

Passive intake through the 4 flaps on the tent which I've opened

A couple of hygrometers so I can keep an eye in the environment.

 

At this time of year, the room that the tent is in is around between 16c and 21c depending on the time of day and how long the tent has been running for. I have one hygrometer probe on the back wall of the tent in the middle (behind and above the fan) about 2ft off the floor which reads around 33c. Another hygrometer probe is hanging down from the tent ceiling in to the middle of the tent, above the lights, which is reading around 29c. My fan speed controller probe is dangling down in the middle of the tent next to the second hygrometer probe, which is also reading around 29c (above the lights). My fan speed controller is set to 25c but the temp doesn't seem to be coming down.

 

My question is, other than adding an active in take and bringing the cold air in from outside, is there anything else I can do to cool the tent down? Have I hung my probes in the right place to get the best reading? I understand that I should run my lights at night to help with the temps, which I intend to do, but last night the minimum temp that I achieved was 31c on the back wall and 28c hanging down in the middle of the tent above the lights.

 

I feel like bringing the cold air in from outside will take things the other way and it will be too cold in the tent. Is there such a thing as the fan speed controller which works with the in take fan and slows down the intake as the temps start to drop? I've see gas do a balancer that balances the intake and extraction fans but would that work with my current gas ec fan controller or I would need to I get rid of my current fan controller and swap it with this balancer? 

 

Any advice on how to achieve better temps, preferably automated, would be a massive help! 

 

Thanks

Shed grower (now in the house

 

 

[Shumroom]

Hiya shed grower. 

 

I run a GAS Enviro V2 (bells and whistles included) and a GAS EC5,

2 separate areas. 

 

 

The Enviro V2 can control heaters or humidifiers etc,

it has a light/temperature/humidity sensor, 

so it can control the fan speed at different levels depending on the situation. 

 

 

The EC5 is a combination fan speed controller and balancer, 

It does not monitor humidity or know if the lights are on or off. 

 

There are lots of other options out there. 

 

Good luck getting the set up right. 

 

Atb 

 

 

 

[Shumroom]

I meant to ask what lights you have? 

 

Atb 

 

 

 

[MindSoup]

Welcome back mate.

 

That seems pretty strange TBH, by this time of year most people are having to take measures to keep temperatures up . 

 

My only ideas are 

 

1 maybe you're extraction fan isn't big enough 

 

2 probably not but maybe your extracted air is finding its way back into the room? 

 

Other than more air exchange I can't really see what else you could do. Like you say adding an intake fan would be a good shout. Not sure about the Enviro kit but if you just wanted a simple off and on function for the fan then there's plenty of generic thermostatic controllers that would do that (inkbird for example). You could leave the existing passive intake as it is and have the fan on a different hole cutting in and out as and when it's needed. 

 

 

I'd be worried about what it will be like come summer though, something seems odd for it to be that high at this time of year.

Edited November 27, 2022 by MindSoup

[JonDaMon]

I’m with @MindSoup on this one. 
 

After reading your post @Shed-Grower it doesn’t say where your exhaust air is being dumped?

 

are you dumping into your spare room that already has the tent in it?

 

 

[Shed-Grower]

Thank for your advice @shumroom was planning on getting an inkbird humidity controller so if I was to get the gas enviro then I wouldn't need the inkbird. I'm just wondering tho, I've had a quick look at it and it says you can run ac and ec fans together. Would that use up one of the ports for the humidifier/dehumidifier or does the ec fan plug in to the ac connector on the controller?

 

@mindsoup, I'm going to sort an active intake for the summer to bring cooler air in. Its quiet shaded at the back of my house so hopefully won't be too bad.. hopefully.. I just didn't want to do it over the winter as I'm thinking it will cost less to cool than it will to heat!

 

@jondamon my exhaust duct is going through a hole in my cieling and then about 3 meters into the loft and hanging on one of the purlins in the roof. The loft is pretty draughty so I'm thinking the old air won't hang about in there.. the temperature in the room where my tent is, today, is 20c and it goes up to 21c when I turn my lights on. I'd of thought this would be enough to keep things in the tent a bit cooler than 30c? 

 

I'm wondering if it has anything to do with where I've hung my probes? One probe is hanging down in the middle of the tent, about 6 inches above the lights but in between the 2 lights, not directly above them.. and the other probe is on the back wall about 2ft up but there isn't any shade there so maybe it's the heat from the lights that's making the one in the middle of the tent show as being hot and possibly the heat from the lights which is making the one on the back wall hot?

 

Would it be a good idea to move the probe from the middle of the tent, and hang it a couple of foot below the lights, still in between the lights, but inside an open box to create a bit of shade for it? I'm trying to recreate shade at canopy hight? Or would having it inside an open box create insulation and stop the probe giving an accurate reading? Idk what to do for the best 

 

Shed grower (now in the house)

 

 

[Shumroom]

There's a big price difference between an Inkbird and an Enviro V2

 

But different equipment suits different environments. 

 

I'd been growing and saving up for quite a while for the upgrade to LEDs so I decided to go with the GAS controllers. 

 

 

The AC fans would plug into the regular plug sockets on the Enviro V2 at the top of the controller. 

 

You also get 2 other plug sockets to be set up as heat or dehumidifier or humidity or a/c(exit 1 + 2). 

 

EC fans only require to be plugged into the small round connectors near the cable exit port. 

 

Atb 

 

 

 

[JonDaMon]

@Shed-Grower

 

i never like probes being completely in view of lights. 
 

but that being said if you haven’t got any plants in there yet you won’t have any shade to put your probe into. 
 

 

I like to keep my probe for my fan controller just out of direct light even though IR heat is less likely with LED’s. 
 

take one of your probes or gauges and hang it on the side wall of your tent and report back the temps. 
 

If the temps are under 23C at the side wall I would say you’re getting radiant heat heating up the probe. 
 

your exhaust setup sounds like it’s exhausting away from the room. 
 

 

next question would be what LED’s are you running and what wattage?

 

 

[MindSoup]

2 hours ago, Shed-Grower said:

One probe is hanging down in the middle of the tent, about 6 inches above the lights

 

Temps above the lights will be a lot higher than anywhere else in the tent (unless you have fans blowing over them of course) 

 

I'd put one peobe against a wall about half way up to the lights and one slap bam in the middle of the tent and see what they read after that. Unless you've got a ridiculous amount of LEDs in there then to me the only explanation is incorrect sensor placement.