I appreciate all input. At this point in my life, I need simple.

A small fan is easily purchased locally and can provide the weak circulation that is need. Should be easier to mount that the big single poled thing I have now....and with only 20 square feet of room, it will be tight. I am not going to be using CO2 for this grow anyway.

Off to buy more parts tomorrow.

Thank-you.
Grassy

Hey grassy, Ive read all these comments of pushing heat down and blowing warm air down and wonder why that would be a problem.

See we install ceiling fans in our living rooms why... to blow heat down onto you? No! Its to have an even temp in the whole room at all levels. The same applies to your grow room, if you can have one temp in your room from top to bottom its a better enviorment to grow and easier on your equipment.

What ive have done is I took off the stands completely leaving just the cage and fan, I then put 4 hooks into the ceiling then installed a fish net to cradle the fan(kinda like a hamoc). I have it blowing up thus circulating the whole room but not blowing directly onto the girls.

I have installed 2 24" SS 3 speed high velocity fans this way and without any other floor fans all my leaves are always moving.

My room is the same temp from top to bottom now without all them cords and fans on the floor. The key to heat is air exchange.

IMO

Hey Grassy,

Here are a few topics from one of your previous post that I wish to address (hopefully) for your benefit as well as any that might be following along.


I hope that squirrel fan (squirrel cage blower?) is in the same room as your grow and exhausts to the outside. If so, and you have close neighbors, at some point you may have to consider a carbon filter for odor control. Of course, if you have a permit to grow, forget the filter. It's cool (pun intended) that your grow is in the basement.

I'm glad you're reading up "on how to control the speed of a fan" and you are correct about the "resistance causes heat" thingy (though friction also causes heat in a motor). Without getting too technical, your three speed motor is actually three motors in one, each with a different number of windings, each winding being wound with a different size wire. I just want you to have the fan set at the proper speed (usually high), and used with the proper variable speed controller.

Being in a basement can cause high humidity levels, especially on or after a rainy day, and I would suggest you get one of these digital humidity and temperature monitors as mold and mildew, love high humidity. I just bought one and it's a nice, inexpensive little unit that shows current levels as well as the previous twenty four hour highest and lowest levels for both temperature and humidity. This will show you if you will need a dehumidifier for your basement. It's the least expensive unit I could find and if you don't have a Walmart close, can be shipped to your home. In my case, I found the humidity was too low, which spider mites love, so I purchased a humidifier.

As to Sir Ganga's thoughts on air temperature stratification, I agree that we humans use ceiling fans to break up this condition. Ceiling fans are reversible so as to pull cooler air from the floor during the summer and push warm air down during the winter, in the center of the room (where most activities take place) with the opposite happening against the walls (where little activity take place), though I have seen fan installers install them and run them in the incorrect direction for the season.

Where I disagree with Sir Ganga is his reason for doing so vs. your reason for doing so, as you have stated "The reason we use a fan is... to keep the air circulating so mildew, mold and rot doesn't move in..." I know that Sir Ganga uses four tons of A/C in his grow and you do not. I also know that Sir Ganga uses active bulb cooling (Re: BEGINNING A NEW ERA!) but know (from previous conservations) that you plan to use passive cooling for yours.

So, let the heat do it's thing and rise and exhaust it with your blower and get a thermometer/hydrometer to get an idea of what conditions you'll be dealing with.

That's all for now folks and best regards to all following this thread,

52.

Um...just to clarify my response earlier, when fans are discussed I think of air flow across the plants, i.e. to both strengthen stems and provide fresh air/CO2. I wasn't thinking along the lines of room air quality or temp control.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it

I've got a couple I've made but all fans won't work with them and the motor can overheat. If it won't work you can tell if you run the fan and throttle it back it will make a knocking sound.

Buy the dimmer made to go in the wall. Buy the metal box, some extension cord and a set of plugs and wire it all up. All to code and you can just hang it on a hook anywhere.

Same thing with a baseboard heater thermostat to control a little heater. Way better than trusting the control on the heater. Keeps temps nice and even.

If the fan is too strong and the dimmer won't work you can just cover up part of the back with duct tape to restrict the air flow for a low-bux fix.

Buy the dimmer made to go in the wall. Buy the metal box, some extension cord and a set of plugs and wire it all up. All to code and you can just hang it on a hook anywhere.

Yes, I was thinking about keeping this unit mobil so to speak....with both male/female plugs so I wouldn't have to cut into the fan's chord and I could put it in a place where I could monitor it closely for the first while.

Thanx
Grassy