Hey all! Im looking to change some things up with my garden, and move from a manual controlled climate setup to a more automated version.
Does anybody here have experience with any controllers that can automate ventialtion, humidfier (for veg/bloom only), temperature, and co2 levels and the equipment that goes along with it? Id like to use something like that with a 4x4x7 grow tent to start and if it suits my needs hopefully expand into something larger.
Any input is greatly appreciated!
Out of lights but thanks for tag.
Inkbird has a line of controllers that will do most of that. All available on amazon I think. Ac infinity makes fans that come with some automation features as well.
You can also do some pretty funky stuff with WiFi controllers, but I don’t have any experience with them.
@dbrn32 Thanks for the advice! Wifi controllers seem pretty interesting and would definitely be up my alley in what I want to try. Also, I apologize I guess I should have looked for a better category to throw this topic into.
And since I have ya here, if budget really wasn’t an issue for you for purchasing an LED (I’ve always used MH and HIDS, but I’d like to change over), would you recommend a SolarSystem 550 from California Light Works or would you have something else in mind?
If you want the whole commercial light feel and money was no object, I would probably hook up with chilled tech on something with their gen2 boards or fluence bioengineering has an absolutely smoking light coming out.
If you want the most amount of light for your money, horticulture lighting group, pacific light concepts, or timber grow lights all have good products that are solely focused on bringing big light at a reasonable price.
Thanks! I’m really liking the design and output of the SpyderX, and I think once I’m done getting everything together I’m going to order it. Once I finish a cycle with it , which may not be until Spring of 2019 I’ll give you a review of how well it worked!
It’s a nice light! You don’t want to wait for spydr 2?
I’m actually glad you said something! I completely overlooked the advertisement for it’s launch! I’ll probably end up waiting for it’s launch instead!
Ya, spydr x is a dope light. But the specs on the new one are looking ridiculous.
Do you know if they have a price estimate out yet? I couldn’t seem to find one
Haven’t seen anything. I’m sure not cheap though. People need to watch suggesting price isn’t an object to me lol.
@merlin44 knows about automaton 
Thanks for the tag @elheffe702…I think that @dbrn32 has you covered here with his suggestion to look at Inkbird and AC Infinity products. My system is made up of industrial automation equipment that I did not pay for. You would also need to know how to design and wire the system and then you would need to program it. This does not mean entering a few parameters and calling it good. Programming is done using “ladder logic” or one of several other languages.
If I had paid for the equipment that I have (just the controller and required modules) it would have cost nearly $3K. You would be able to purchase similar used/excess equipment on eBay if you know EXACTLY what you are looking for. This is not a cost effective solution unless you are going large scale commercial. On the smaller scales the commercial products that @dbrn32 mentioned are most cost effective.
The short answer is that fully automating a grow room is expensive and complicated.
I built my own sensors using the Arduino standard. I built a humidity/temperature sensor that sends data to a free IoT web app called Blynk. I can use Blynk to keep track of the humidity and temps in my tent. For the lights, I decided to go with Sonoff power outlets. They have an iPhone app that lets you set schedules and turn your lights on and off. The outlets also work with the Alexa smart home functionality, so I use them all over my house for other stuff too.
My version 2 of “automation” for the grow room will be to put up my own IOT server in my house and build my own app so I can combine the data from the Arduino sensors I made with the data from the Sonoff and use them to inform the other… i.e. if humidity gets too high, power on the humidifier.
A lot of this is difficult to do via just power management due to the prevalence of digital power switches that don’t cycle when the power to the unit cycles. People who have solved the “turning on and off heaters and air conditioners” via power management have had to look for older model units that have analog power switches.
There are systems out there that can do this, but IMHO they are priced out of range for the average home grower.
This is MAD interesting. 
For sure! You almost have to work on the stuff to get into what @merlin44 uses. It’s uber expensive, and requires quite a bit of training just to know what it is and how it works. Then programming it is a whole different set of skills you probably won’t pick up from a couple of YouTube videos.
The arduino stuff is fairly inexpensive, and not quite as technical. But still requires some knowledge and research to pick up.
For the average pothead, the inkbird controllers are plug and play and within the realm of “my wife could probably figure them out” lol. If looking for simple temp control the ac infinity fan pretty much comes with that. Hyperfan has a controller that will do that as well, but it’s not included.
I went with inkbird. Raspberry pi although an option unnecessary when inkbird is cheap.
I appreciate all the responses! I’m looking into all of them to see if I can get the setup right, which I’m pretty sure I will get it sooner or later