Question - Grow tent temperature

[NewbieGrower]

Howdy!

Another fun issue is temperature consistency. I live in a cold/humid area, and at nights the temperature inside the room drops quite considerably, inside the tent there's somewhat of a buffer so the fall is more gradual but it's still undesirable. I'm deciding between 24 hours constant lighting during the VEG phase, or 18-6 I'd like some advice on the merits of both, I've read a few articles but I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience with both and could offer insight. Obviously much of my heat is coming from the Light, with my ventilation system on it swings the temperature due to bringing in cold air, and pulling out warm. I've read the articles on GWE and there's some good advice about aiming to have the "night" periods in the middle of the day so it benefits from outside warmth/less impacted from outside chill, which I'm definitely going to heed, with that in mind...

Question 1: Do I need the ventilation system on constantly/is it viable to cycle it? Say 15 minutes off, X minutes on. As that would allow the temperature to normalize in-between cycles. Granted it's not healthy for the fan but that's somewhat of a lesser issue.

Question 2: (Somewhat unrelated) I've noticed when I pull hot air from my tent into the cold air of the night there's a visible mist of water vapor(Imagine breathing into cold air). It's somewhat hindering the stealth-ness of my grow, I imagine its much more significant on a thermal camera. I was thinking of fitting a diffuse(r) that forces the warm air through a cool medium to lesser the discharge. Thoughts?

Thanks guys

 

[Potted]

Question 1, would a small or larger heater (I don’t know what size space) moderate the temps between light and dark periods?
Question 2, I have ice cycles on my discharge outlet in my attic I put a container underneath to catch any water if it ever melts as discharged air cools
It creates condensation a defuser would make the water just gather in a different location. If u find a way please don’t keep it a secret.

 

[Chefbjy]

I feel it's best to let plants get that six hours of rest but some plans thrive on 24 hours of light. I'd see how well they are doing on 24 then give them a dark period where you won't lose too much heat.ie. Hottest part of the day maybe throw a space heater on the outside of the grow room to keep temps up. Don't know about question 2 I'd do research. I keep my ventilation running and fan during the dark period you always want fresh air for your plants. Also going in cold conditions myself in a tent with a space heater in the room outside the tent to keep it warm. So far so good. If they look like they're growing better with 18/6 after a week you should be able to tell.

 

[Canuck147]

When my plants are small, I run my fan for 15 minutes out of every 60. Later on I run it 15 on 15 off.

 

[Locrian99]

You might look into one of those ceramic bulbs they have for reptiles that just create heat but no light. You mentioned you have high humidity in your area, I know when I tried having my exhaust off in the dark period my humidity spiked, off and on might make it less of a problem but just something to keep an eye on.