Progress with climate automation

[90Gizmo]

I'm using smart devices to control temp, humidity and room exhaust in my grow room. There's no programming code. I create "rules" like "if the tent temperature is less than 67 degrees then turn on the heater plug." You can see the results of that in the first picture during my lights out time 12:30 am to 6:30 am. The heater is outside the tent so you see a little lag in the result on the inside. The humidifier is inside the tent and it's result is very good and smooth. I could tell the humidifier was out of water looking at the chart (in bed this morning) so I added water to get out working again.

I don't have dehumidifiers or air conditioning working yet but won't need those until spring.

The room exhaust is mostly just a timer. I turn it on for a few hours in the morning and again in the afternoon to clear the aroma while my son is up and before he comes home. I can turn it on manually too in case I decide to smoke a doobie up there. I'm working on a compound rule that will exhaust outside of the humidity is too high *and* the inside humidity is less than the outdoor humidity... That won't be needed in the winter.

The lights, of course, are also on as timer and the tent exhaust is on as speed control so I can make it slower and quieter during sleeping hours.

Right now everything is off the shelf. What I don't like is that the sensors get sent to either Alexa or Tuya. I'm working on making it so it's controlled inside the house. For now it's super easy to change turn on and turn off settings which is good because being able to set the controls doesn't mean I know what to set the controls to. It's as learning curve in that regard.

[Bluey]

Automation is so awesome

All my PowerPoints and plugs in my grow are automated....these are either controlled via schedules and timers (lights and watering) or connected to the temp/RH sensor and now switch heating/ ac to control temps and humidity....ventilation on a timer but cuts if humidity goes too high.

i never have to increase humidity only decrease during flower

[90Gizmo]

Thanks Bluey. Here RH is mostly 35% sometimes %45 in the winter. I wish it were that in the summer. That vapor-point differential-thing sounds sensible to me. so 45% is okay for late flower. My intentions for summer is to use the meter squared drying tent as a small air handler room with the air conditioner in it. I'll let the ac unit control the temp in the air room and a duct fan to move the cool air to the grow tent as needed. I use an oversized filter to filter the warm air before the duct fan blows it into the grow room. I'll use the same setup in the summer to blow cool air into the grow room. My goal is to reduce energy costs. Because I don't expect them to go down or my income to go up.

Do you ever feel distanced from you plants because of the automation? I know I played with my first grow like they were new kittens. That was surely a large part of their problems. But now if the conditions are good I can go a whole day without even going into the grow room. (God, that sounds like the confession of an addict Anyway, I like to build things. That's how I got my nickname.

[3Berries]

I delay my temp/humidity control for 20-30 minutes after the lights come one to get the temp up. It's getting colder and taking longer. Plus the plant is getting bigger and I had to cut the light back. Getting down to 60F or so when the light are off. So that's the starting temp. I'm thinking of moving the exhaust fan to the bottom and pulling air in from the top.

[Going2fast]

Impressive. Need to get on that train.

[Mr.furley]

Anybody besides myself have a trolmaster hydro-x?

[3Berries]

Is that for Bass fishing?

[UndergroundFarmer]

I've got two Niwas in the 4x4 tents. I've had them about a year. For winter growing, one plug is of course lights, another is an AC Infinity exhaust fan mounted inside the tent and the third controls a small heater. I tell the Niwas that the fan is the dehumidifier. I use cheap Amazon personal space heaters that have no thermostat, just an on/off switch and a safety button that cuts power if the heater is knocked over. I ran it last summer but I'm not doing that again because running the AC to keep the grow room outside the tents around 72F and under 60% humidity was too expensive. I could set up another plug on each of them for a humidifier but it isn't necessary when plant respiration does the job for you while the exhaust fan is off.

[3Berries]

I have a little heater like that and use it right now. I use a digital timer that will maintain it's programming when off. This is plugged into the timer controlled light strip. But the heater is set to come on for only the first 15 minutes and is temperature controlled. Works like a charm once you know the terminal temp your lights will run up to. I have an analog clock on the same outlet to record how many actual minutes the heater runs.

I don't run the heater lights off and the air temp will get to the low 60Fs now. But have bucket heaters that keeps the soil at 72F this time around. I only use them in the cold times.

The current grow I lowered my temp so the humidity runs higher and the plant is taking care of itself humidity wise when the lights are on, one plant 3x3x5' at 11 weeks. No misting added. I limit the RH to 75% with the lights off. The fan will cycle a three or four times an hour.

[Bluey]

90Gizmo Don't let your humidity go too low. Even for late flower 35%RH is low. I wouldn't go any lower than 45%RH late flower...and that's of a night. Of a day no lower than 50%....keeping under 55% should ensure a mould free outcome if you're not spraying your flowers.....ewww.
To get humidity up I'd just hang a wet towel in your grow room...it's cheaper than a humidifier and works great. I then spray the towel when it dries out....
I don't feel at all removed from the room. The automation works a treat 99% of the time..power glitches are the only issue sometimes. I check on them twice a day as I'm currently manually feeding and I need to train mine quite a bit to get even placement as I mainline them and I end up with a blanket of green...if I don't train enough the colas all end up at different heights during flower which is not a huge deal but reduces yields.
Installing a Dimplex 50ltr dehumidifier in a few weeks.....mould be gone!

[changeofpace2014]

if adding ac and dehumidifier it might be a good idea to run them on separate circuit. In my case I had to run a separate circuit just for the tent.

[90Gizmo]

Well your automation could make sure dehumidifier and AC don't run at the same time... I wouldn't think that they need to but I'm not there.