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DIY evaporative cooler set-up

Discussion in 'Growing Areas' started by Josh H, Sep 3, 2016.

  1. Sep 3, 2016 #1
    Josh H

    Josh H Member

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    Evaporative cooling set up.jpg

    I was asked by a fellow forum member to post about the evaporative cooling set-up I use for my cool grow tent. I've posted a jpg above as well as as pdf file with the schematic of the set-up. Feel free to ask any questions that aren't clear from the diagram.
     

    Attached Files:

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  2. Sep 3, 2016 #2
    jai

    jai Orchid addict

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    I love the idea. Very well thought out:clap:. What is the setup of your grow tent(pic of it in action maybe)?
     
  3. Sep 3, 2016 #3
    Josh H

    Josh H Member

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    The grow tent is a standard purchase zip up canvas grow tent with silver reflective surface on the inside. There are numerous variations on this theme available online from many sites (including Amazon.com, where I purchased mine). The tents have several round ports with purse string ties around the lip to create a seal for any vent tubing you put into or out of the tent. I have the evaporative air tubing attached to a vent port on the top of the tent so that cool air flows down over the plants. Inside the tent I have a DIY fogger set up along with several water-resistant CPU fans that run all day for air circulation. The fogger is on a timer that comes on 4-5 times a day for 15 minutes each time. I can try to get a photo of the tent, but it probably won't be clear from the photo how everything was set up.
     
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  4. Sep 3, 2016 #4
    goods

    goods Well-Known Member Supporting Member

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    Josh, what are your room parameters (min/max temp, ambient humidity) where the tent is housed and what are the resulting parameters within the tent? Do you run a dedicated A/C within the tent or is it fully cooled via the evaporative cooler?

    Thanks for posting!
     
  5. Sep 3, 2016 #5
    Josh H

    Josh H Member

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    The tent is in my basement which gets some A/C from the main house A/C but does not have any dedicated heating/cooling. The ambient room temps go down as low as 65F in summer evenings and probably a few degrees lower in the winter. Ambient room temp highs are never over 75F. Inside the tent the daytime highs can get to 78F but rarely higher due to ventilation fans and use of LED lighting. Summer evening lows are between 62-65F. In the winter the tent has a 55F/75F temp range.
     
  6. Sep 3, 2016 #6
    naoki

    naoki Well-Known Member

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    Thank you, Josh. If you don't mind and if it is not too much of trouble, can you tell us which models of pump, fan, and evaporative pads you are using? I probably can find them, but it would be a good start if you can tell me what you use.
     
  7. Sep 3, 2016 #7
    Ray

    Ray Orchid Iconoclast Supporting Member

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    It'll actually be more of a humidifier than cooler, as their intake and outlet are in the same space. Great idea, though!
     
  8. Sep 3, 2016 #8
    Josh H

    Josh H Member

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    Sure, no problem:

    Dial Duracool evaporative cooling pad

    VenTech VT DF-6 duct fan, 6", 240 CFM

    EcoPlus 396 gallon per hour (GPH) Submersible Pump

    When I looked back at the tubing, it turns out I was actually using 1/2 inch diameter tubing, not 3/4 inch as stated in my diagram. However, both would work assuming you had the correct size adapters for you pump and T-tube.

    With regards to your comment Ray, that would be true if the air outlet was going into the room. However, the cooled air is ducted into a separate closed space (the grow tent). The fact that I get measurable temperature differences of between 4-5 degrees from ambient room temps proves that it works.
     
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  9. Sep 3, 2016 #9
    naoki

    naoki Well-Known Member

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    Excellent! Thank you very much. One more question. How big is the tent? Is it around 4' W x 2' D x 5' H? I'm just trying to gauge the capacity of this system.
     
  10. Sep 3, 2016 #10
    Josh H

    Josh H Member

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    Yes, that is basically the size of the tent that I use for my cool growing plants.



    I have a larger tent for intermediate growers, but that is not on the cooling system, so I cannot speak to the capacity of the current system to cool a larger space.