Inside or outside intake air?

[Smallgrow]

I’d like to hear what people think about where your intake air should come from and why?

When I started growing my local grow store owner , who I think was an experienced grower for a couple decades, told me to bring in outside air not air from in my house. Back then I had CMH lighting so heat was a problem and it made sense. It is certainly a challenge with huge swings in temp and humidity using fresh outside air especially here in central Ontario we go +30 to -30 C throughout the year.
I don’t have a way to measure but I suspect co2 levels are higher inside then out, typically they are.

discusss …..😁

[golfnrl]

Hi Smallgrow. I grow in two tents inside a lung room. My lung room (spare BR) is on it's on zone, Air exchange happens when when the HVAC system for the lung room cycles. I control the temps and humidity in the lung room. Ex. If the lung room is 74 the tents will be about 6 degrees warmer. I've read the articles about drawing/exhausting fresh outside air. My tents draw/exhaust into the lung room. I have not had a problem with fresh air. I have had heat problems but that was because I did not understand how to remove and control it. I don't have a way to test the Co2 either, but I'm happy with the quality and quantity of my yields. So I guess I do not subscribe to the theory that fresh air must come from outside. I'm considering mounting my exhaust fans outside the tent just for space purposes. There's a debate about that as well. My understanding is cannabis likes fresh air and a gentle breeze, where it comes from seems to be immaterial. Just my .02.

[Smallgrow]

I would Definitely like a lung room set up, it’s the best way to go IMO, regardless of where the air comes from. I just don’t want to give up more space in the room my tent is in.
I may try it for my winter run (the coldest of my cycles) and see what happens. If it makes a big difference I may give in to the space issue.
I have a 3x3x6 lung room for my drying set up and that seems to be big enough to basically work

[kIlL3rZd3LuX3]

I have a window a/c unit in my room that the tent is in, I leave the flap on the bottom of the tent open and I put 6 inch diameter exhaust fan to exhaust the heated air into my living room area, (helps save on heat too since it warms the air). If you are going to get air from outside, you most definitely want to filter it before it gets into your tent or else you are inviting all kinds of issues, (mold, pests, pollen, etc.) into your grow room.

[Smallgrow]

I’m growing mostly in winter so bugs , pollen, etc haven’t been a problem. I do have a bug screen and rodent screen installed on my intake mind you, but not a real “filter”

[kIlL3rZd3LuX3]

Then you should be fine then until the spring time. When spring hits, you most definitely want to throw a filter on there! Cannabis pollen from male plants can travel 10 miles and even more and chances are you aren't the only one growing within 10 miles of your location.

[Smallgrow]

That is true

[Bluey]

My room is sealed to the outside except when I run the AC then have about a 5% air C/O. I don't filter that air but large pests/insects cannot enter that way. I was getting a bit of air C/O in the house which no doubt supplied it with a good dose of CO².

House CO² levels can be quite high, one grower here was getting 2000ppm in his house. Two to four times outside levels is not unusual.

I go sit in the room and meditate and that brings up CO². Often enjoy a smoke in there also.

Temps are very rarely below freezing here but daytime summer temps can fry plants.

[Smallgrow]

Wow 2000 is bonkers, you should not spend a lot of time in a space like that.
I’ll stick to killing brain cells with weed and liquor , at least that’s fun 😆

[Rootsruler]

I too believe a lung room is the easiest way to control a tent environment. I also use the home HVAC to control temp and humidity in the lung room. Home CO2 here never goes above 600 so if I want to run CO2 for bigger yields I'll have to seal off the tent and try and figure out how to cool it without exhausting it.

Unless you're filtering your air through a HEPA filter, I would use inside air rather than outside for the reasons already mentioned. Inside can also have it's own issues but way more controllable than outdoor air.

[Going2fast]

Always used inside air. I grow in a walk In closet. Comes in from the laundry room thru a HEPA filter. exhaust into the master bedroom thru a charcoal filter. If you're not doing a closed system CO2 is a waste of time for a small grow.