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Spongiform
Some Cow
Registered: 07/10/10
Posts: 18
Last seen: 10 years, 11 months
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Planning Stage for a Grow Closet
#444692 - 07/10/10 10:11 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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I'm in the planning stage for building a new house (log cabin style) and want to include a relatively small stealth grow closet.
Here's a rough draft of the second floor plans.
The closet will be roughly 2 feet deep by 8 feet wide (located in the top left of the pic)
How many plants will that accommodate and is it deep enough?
I plan to install lighting, ventilation, some sort of reflective paper and all that jazz.
I'm going to completely enclose it (stealth purposes) with plywood and convert the two middle pieces (4x8 sections) into doors via hinges, then conceal the hinges.
Unless there's a good reason not to, I'd like to use an aeroponic system.
My main question is - is this enough space work and what should I do with the space?
I'd appreciate any tips/ideas/feedback/suggestions.
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fungi
.
Registered: 05/03/10
Posts: 168
Loc: Silicon Sizzle, CA USA
Last seen: 14 years, 2 months
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Re: Planning Stage for a Grow Closet [Re: Spongiform]
#444793 - 07/11/10 03:56 AM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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My closet is 2x5. I'm using it as a veg area. 2x anything is weird with a light. HPS and MH lights normally do a square area. So even if u put a light in the middle, it might not reach the ends well. I recommend two lights, each covering half the area. Two 400 watt units would be enough.
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DieselB
High Watt Closet
Registered: 02/10/10
Posts: 1,156
Last seen: 9 years, 8 months
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Re: Planning Stage for a Grow Closet [Re: fungi]
#444950 - 07/11/10 03:05 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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My closet is about 25"x60" and I can comfortably fit 7-8 plants, I also run twin 600s in there.
-------------------- If you ain't smokin' dro, you're smokin' reggie.
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Spongiform
Some Cow
Registered: 07/10/10
Posts: 18
Last seen: 10 years, 11 months
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Re: Planning Stage for a Grow Closet [Re: DieselB]
#445083 - 07/11/10 10:28 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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Should I divide it into 2 spaces, one for veg and one for flowering or just do it all in one room?
I suppose, as long as 2x8 is enough space to grow in I could wait till I'm actually building it and work out the finer details. I just wanted to make sure it was enough :-D
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fungi
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Registered: 05/03/10
Posts: 168
Loc: Silicon Sizzle, CA USA
Last seen: 14 years, 2 months
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Re: Planning Stage for a Grow Closet [Re: Spongiform]
#445296 - 07/12/10 11:55 AM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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You could use the closet for flowering then get a small area for clones? It really depends on where you live; medical states has access to clones easily. If that is the case you don't really need a separate veg area. You can just buy some clones, then veg for a month or two then flower.
You could put small grow tent somewhere else for veg and clones or some makeshift box or something. Or do what you said and split the closet. Separate veg and flower areas is a lot of fun though; I know why you are interested in that.
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DieselB
High Watt Closet
Registered: 02/10/10
Posts: 1,156
Last seen: 9 years, 8 months
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Re: Planning Stage for a Grow Closet [Re: fungi]
#445688 - 07/12/10 10:47 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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I would keep it simple to start, no need to spend extra money on two seperate areas yet. Setup one area, get growing and feel it out, see how it goes, then if you decide to be serious about it, you can add in a veg area.
You aren't gonna need the reflective paper(mylar), you can just use a flat white paint, its only about 10% difference in reflectivity. Not worth the extra money spent on the mylar if you ask me.
-------------------- If you ain't smokin' dro, you're smokin' reggie.
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PapaKush
Peaceful Warrior
Registered: 08/16/09
Posts: 72
Loc: Ontario, Canada
Last seen: 14 years, 2 months
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Re: Planning Stage for a Grow Closet [Re: DieselB]
#453987 - 08/01/10 03:09 PM (14 years, 3 months ago) |
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If you haven't started building yet, and your plan is to incorporate this into the building structure, it would be much wiser to give yourself more space to work with. Also, the placement of this hide-a-way could be better placed beside the long closet shortening your rec room.
Since you are planning this from the get go, and you want to keep it completely hidden, I would also suggest in depth planning for all your wiring and ducting, and instead of just putting up plywood I would frame a whole wall and insulate to dampen vibrations. I'm assuming you have a family by the layout of your house so 'funny noises' might be noticed by friends of the kids.
Spend the time and money to do this project right or in a year you're going to hate yourself for cutting corners.
If you decide to stick with the 2x8 space you've described I would make a 2x3 veg room and a 2x5 flower chamber. I would go with atleast 600w if your goal is a pound but with proper ventilation you could have a 1000w in there producing some monster aero buds SOG style.
Personally I don't use feminized seeds so I need to keep mothers alive. If you want to go from fem seed every time you don't need to keep a veg chamber at all and can throw 2 lights in the 2x8 space.
Also consider installing an electrical relay. It would be a shame for you to lose your new home because of energy spikes monitored by the power companies.
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Spongiform
Some Cow
Registered: 07/10/10
Posts: 18
Last seen: 10 years, 11 months
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Re: Planning Stage for a Grow Closet [Re: PapaKush]
#552933 - 05/03/11 10:20 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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My plans have changed wildly since I posted this. Mostly because I was doing this for my fiancée and that woman could serious smoke some weed.
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c99hunter
Registered: 12/12/10
Posts: 304
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Re: Planning Stage for a Grow Closet [Re: PapaKush]
#553001 - 05/04/11 01:36 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
PapaKush said: If you haven't started building yet, and your plan is to incorporate this into the building structure, it would be much wiser to give yourself more space to work with. Also, the placement of this hide-a-way could be better placed beside the long closet shortening your rec room.
Since you are planning this from the get go, and you want to keep it completely hidden, I would also suggest in depth planning for all your wiring and ducting, and instead of just putting up plywood I would frame a whole wall and insulate to dampen vibrations. I'm assuming you have a family by the layout of your house so 'funny noises' might be noticed by friends of the kids.
Spend the time and money to do this project right or in a year you're going to hate yourself for cutting corners.
If you decide to stick with the 2x8 space you've described I would make a 2x3 veg room and a 2x5 flower chamber. I would go with atleast 600w if your goal is a pound but with proper ventilation you could have a 1000w in there producing some monster aero buds SOG style.
Personally I don't use feminized seeds so I need to keep mothers alive. If you want to go from fem seed every time you don't need to keep a veg chamber at all and can throw 2 lights in the 2x8 space.
Also consider installing an electrical relay. It would be a shame for you to lose your new home because of energy spikes monitored by the power companies.
THAT'S Not gonna happen unless you're drawing a substantially large amount of electricity. A 400,600,1000, or even a combination of quite a few of those won't even make the electric company bat an eye, unless your stealing it.
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SpaceMonkey
Mind Pilot
Registered: 02/09/09
Posts: 3,471
Loc: Hawaiian Islands
Last seen: 4 years, 2 months
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Re: Planning Stage for a Grow Closet [Re: c99hunter]
#553003 - 05/04/11 01:53 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
c99hunter said:
Quote:
PapaKush said: If you haven't started building yet, and your plan is to incorporate this into the building structure, it would be much wiser to give yourself more space to work with. Also, the placement of this hide-a-way could be better placed beside the long closet shortening your rec room.
Since you are planning this from the get go, and you want to keep it completely hidden, I would also suggest in depth planning for all your wiring and ducting, and instead of just putting up plywood I would frame a whole wall and insulate to dampen vibrations. I'm assuming you have a family by the layout of your house so 'funny noises' might be noticed by friends of the kids.
Spend the time and money to do this project right or in a year you're going to hate yourself for cutting corners.
If you decide to stick with the 2x8 space you've described I would make a 2x3 veg room and a 2x5 flower chamber. I would go with atleast 600w if your goal is a pound but with proper ventilation you could have a 1000w in there producing some monster aero buds SOG style.
Personally I don't use feminized seeds so I need to keep mothers alive. If you want to go from fem seed every time you don't need to keep a veg chamber at all and can throw 2 lights in the 2x8 space.
Also consider installing an electrical relay. It would be a shame for you to lose your new home because of energy spikes monitored by the power companies.
THAT'S Not gonna happen unless you're drawing a substantially large amount of electricity. A 400,600,1000, or even a combination of quite a few of those won't even make the electric company bat an eye, unless your stealing it.
That's not true. I had a 400 watt hps and about 2 months in we had the meter reader come and tell us he thought we may have an energy leak. He said our reading jumped from where it was to several times higher in a short period. Luckily we also had a small wood shop in the garage to blame it on. We never heard from them again. Our bill went from $180 give or take 20 bucks, to $320 and eventually up to $360 as a max. The max was from running machinery as well. But they do and will notice the jump. We ran the light at 24 hour cycle for veg
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Don't Mistake My Kindness For Weakness
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c99hunter
Registered: 12/12/10
Posts: 304
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Re: Planning Stage for a Grow Closet [Re: SpaceMonkey]
#553022 - 05/04/11 03:49 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
SpaceMonkey said:
Quote:
c99hunter said:
Quote:
PapaKush said: If you haven't started building yet, and your plan is to incorporate this into the building structure, it would be much wiser to give yourself more space to work with. Also, the placement of this hide-a-way could be better placed beside the long closet shortening your rec room.
Since you are planning this from the get go, and you want to keep it completely hidden, I would also suggest in depth planning for all your wiring and ducting, and instead of just putting up plywood I would frame a whole wall and insulate to dampen vibrations. I'm assuming you have a family by the layout of your house so 'funny noises' might be noticed by friends of the kids.
Spend the time and money to do this project right or in a year you're going to hate yourself for cutting corners.
If you decide to stick with the 2x8 space you've described I would make a 2x3 veg room and a 2x5 flower chamber. I would go with atleast 600w if your goal is a pound but with proper ventilation you could have a 1000w in there producing some monster aero buds SOG style.
Personally I don't use feminized seeds so I need to keep mothers alive. If you want to go from fem seed every time you don't need to keep a veg chamber at all and can throw 2 lights in the 2x8 space.
Also consider installing an electrical relay. It would be a shame for you to lose your new home because of energy spikes monitored by the power companies.
THAT'S Not gonna happen unless you're drawing a substantially large amount of electricity. A 400,600,1000, or even a combination of quite a few of those won't even make the electric company bat an eye, unless your stealing it.
That's not true. I had a 400 watt hps and about 2 months in we had the meter reader come and tell us he thought we may have an energy leak. He said our reading jumped from where it was to several times higher in a short period. Luckily we also had a small wood shop in the garage to blame it on. We never heard from them again. Our bill went from $180 give or take 20 bucks, to $320 and eventually up to $360 as a max. The max was from running machinery as well. But they do and will notice the jump. We ran the light at 24 hour cycle for veg
Some portable heaters run at 1000 watts, some computers run at around 400 watts, Some Televisions run up at 600 watts,microwaves at around 1200 watts . Your not gonna get busted by the cops because the electric company calls them and tells them your using a bunch of electricity just because they noticed a 100-1000 watt usage increase in your bill. It's not gonna happen. You could have installed a huge aquarium or started an indoor garden for legal plants, could have bought a deep freezer,new computer,new tv,new air conditioner,got a girlfriend that watches a lot more tv then you do, etc etc etc etc etc etc etc .
Your saying your bill DOUBLED from installing a 400 watt light?! So you were only consuming 400 watts of electric per day without the light? A refrigerator uses more then that! A 400 watt light for me on 24/7 only raised my bill a TOTAL of 20 dollars give or take a buck or two. It sure as shit didn't jump it up a few hundred.
Your bill going from 180 to 320 just from using a 400 watt 24/7 is OUTRAGEOUS and would imply that you were only using around 400 watts of electric per day BEFORE you installed the light, which is IMPOSSIBLE if you have a refrigerator,TV, and a light in your house not to mention your computer.
Your 400 watt light did NOT DOUBLE your usage at all, your meter reader was probably right and you probably did have a leak.
Edited by c99hunter (05/04/11 03:57 PM)
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Spongiform
Some Cow
Registered: 07/10/10
Posts: 18
Last seen: 10 years, 11 months
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Re: Planning Stage for a Grow Closet [Re: c99hunter]
#553024 - 05/04/11 04:03 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
Some portable heaters run at 1000 watts
Typically portable heaters run at 1500 watts on high.
http://www.amazon.com/Lasko-754200-Ceramic-Adjustable-Thermostat/dp/B000TKDQ5C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1304546219&sr=8-1
Pretty much everyone I looked at had like a 500-1500 adjustable range.
1000 watts used for an hour = Kilowatt-hour = kWh
How much that costs varies by location and often varies by time of day (peak and off-peak).
I think it's 5.6 cents per kWh where I just moved too.
So assuming you had a space heater on high running 24/7 (typically they will shut on/off due to the thermostat..)
1.5 x 24 = 36 kWh / Day
1080 kWh in a 30 day month.
$60.54 bump in your electrical bill that month.
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SpaceMonkey
Mind Pilot
Registered: 02/09/09
Posts: 3,471
Loc: Hawaiian Islands
Last seen: 4 years, 2 months
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Re: Planning Stage for a Grow Closet [Re: Spongiform]
#553048 - 05/04/11 06:08 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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I do not know all the details from that time. I do remember the conversation I had with the meter reader though. That was a suprise and never expected. Read about these things happening. Hawaii has high electric rates and usage rates. Hence the reason I am an outdoor grower! No leak other then maybe a faulty ballast. After the veg cycle the light was removed and we resumed our $200/ month bill.
You can run statistics by me all day, they mean nothing to me! It happened that's all there is too it.
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Don't Mistake My Kindness For Weakness
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c99hunter
Registered: 12/12/10
Posts: 304
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Re: Planning Stage for a Grow Closet [Re: Spongiform]
#553055 - 05/04/11 07:23 PM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
Spongiform said:
Quote:
Some portable heaters run at 1000 watts
Typically portable heaters run at 1500 watts on high.
http://www.amazon.com/Lasko-754200-Ceramic-Adjustable-Thermostat/dp/B000TKDQ5C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1304546219&sr=8-1
Pretty much everyone I looked at had like a 500-1500 adjustable range.
1000 watts used for an hour = Kilowatt-hour = kWh
How much that costs varies by location and often varies by time of day (peak and off-peak).
I think it's 5.6 cents per kWh where I just moved too.
So assuming you had a space heater on high running 24/7 (typically they will shut on/off due to the thermostat..)
1.5 x 24 = 36 kWh / Day
1080 kWh in a 30 day month.
$60.54 bump in your electrical bill that month.
Exactly So a 400 watt light would be roughly 20-25 dollars a month in that range. And if electric rates are high or higher then that in Hawaii that still doesn't account for the jump in consumption because a DOUBLED bill just by introducing a 400 watt lamp would imply that you were only consuming 400~ watts BEFORE the lamp was introduced.
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Tank333
Psychotic Hippie
Registered: 08/19/10
Posts: 1,241
Loc: Washington
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
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Re: Planning Stage for a Grow Closet [Re: c99hunter]
#553244 - 05/05/11 09:56 AM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Keel in mind though that there are "peak-hours" and "non-peak hours" that give you different kw/h rates on your electricity. Running a light 24/7 will hit all those hours, and end up being more than you originally calculated.
-------------------- My best run so far
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c99hunter
Registered: 12/12/10
Posts: 304
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Re: Planning Stage for a Grow Closet [Re: Tank333]
#553245 - 05/05/11 10:24 AM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
Tank333 said: Keel in mind though that there are "peak-hours" and "non-peak hours" that give you different kw/h rates on your electricity. Running a light 24/7 will hit all those hours, and end up being more than you originally calculated.
That's only in certain places tho correct? Cuz Im pretty sure that doesn't apply to where Im at or in Hawaii. Either way, a 400 watt ANYTHING is not going to double your electric bill unless you are only consuming 400 watts before the light was introduced. Which is pretty much impossible if your running a standard refrigerator, let alone other things like a computer and tv, etc etc.
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Tank333
Psychotic Hippie
Registered: 08/19/10
Posts: 1,241
Loc: Washington
Last seen: 4 years, 10 months
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Re: Planning Stage for a Grow Closet [Re: c99hunter]
#553537 - 05/06/11 11:45 AM (13 years, 6 months ago) |
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You know, I wouldn't know if its only in certain places or not... I've only ever had the electricity in my name once. Lol
-------------------- My best run so far
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