My TaoTronics is too much wattage (1500) and it keeps tripping my surge protector and shuts the whole system down.
Have to replace it anyways because I need a low wattage heater that I can hook up to my Inkbird controller. So am going to need one that has a dial.
I found this one. Read the reviews. They say it only will work if it a small area like a bathroom. Seems it might work for my 3 x 5 by 7ft tent? AND it’s 700 watts. BUT WOULD BE HAPPY WITH A LOWER ONE!
Any recommendations as usual much appreciated!
@blackthumbbetty @Bubblehead @Countryboyjvd1971 @GreenCoat @MattyBear @MoneyPit @SlowOldGuy @ Myfriendis410 @Covertgrower @Laurap @poundcake @Countryboyjvd1971
I have no idea which heater will work best for your situation, sorry. The oil filled great choice though if you’ll be leaving unattended.
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Home most of the time @dbrn32 so really not a problem with any heater that has turn on dial so I can connect the inkbird. thanks.
Ive ran heat lamps next to my intake before for heat just had the intake suck air right off them. Just an idea
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@Dutchem oil filled will work great. Not sure on the wattage.
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only plug expensive chit into the surge protector, lights and centrifugal fans.!
the small 1500w heater can easily be replaced if lightning hits your grow room.!
if your Inkbird controller is 15 or 20 amps it can handle the 1500w heater.
Wish i could help but my tent is in my bedroom so its always warm.
Problem is I don’t think I can hook up the Inkbird controller @SlowOldGuy because it has a digital push button to turn it on. I need one that has a switch. Novice here so I could be wrong but
@Beekeeper Today I put the Lesko heater outside the tent close to the bottom port opening. Set the temp to 70 degrees. Inside tent temps went to 72 F. Dropped the Lesko down to 68 F and now it’s holding at 65 F
Lights are out with only two small fans running. Exhaust hasn’t been coming on due to the Inkbird settings. Humidity still high since it has been raining here in the desert. Humidity staying between 50 RH to 55 RH. So all fine there too.
I did find this heater and it puts out 200 watt. It’s a mini heater used mainly for office workers. Might be enough to get my temps up into the 60’s I am hoping. Plus it has a switch so I can hook it up to my Inkbird in my 3 x5 by 7ft tent
https://www.amazon.com/Lasko-100-MyHeat-Personal-Heater/dp/B003XDTWN2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1549393052&sr=8-4&keywords=lasko+mini+heater
the heater has a thermostat built in, it does not need hooked up to a controller,
u said it is tripping the surge protector…
simply bypass the surge protector, plug everything else into it if u want, but not the heater.
any modern Humidifiers and Dehumidifiers should be self controlled also and does not need plugged into the Inkbird.
got any info/pics of that Inkbird controller.?
Yup realize it has a built in thermostat but I want to dial in exactly what my humidity should be during each faze of my grow @SlowOldGuy I have 2 Inkbird controllers. The IHC-200 controls humidity .The IHC-308 controls temp by controlling the exhaust fan.
not trying to be a dick, but i think u r running a humidifier on dual humidistats,
i think the Inkbird is measuring RH the same way the humidifier does…???
same with the heater, its own thermostat will work as good as the Inkbird,
maybe not quite as exact, but u need more/better equipment for exact.!!
precise, reliable equipment does not come from Amazon.!!!
i think u r making this way more complicated then it should be…???
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@SlowOldGuy Today I put both Inkbird controllers outside my tent. So much better and easier then having to peek in or open the tent to check the temps & humidity. So I am loving that. Probably shouldn’t have said exact. I think I have seen every video on the Inkbird and even though it’s on Amazon reviews say it’s just as good or better then ones that cost $100.00. With both controllers and outside the tent I can sleep better at night. .I do appreciate your input and help. Thanks
ps I just checked the controllers outside. Temp set at 72 degrees Humidity 51% same readings within one degree with 3 little RH/Temp gauges.inside the tent. Close enough for government work.
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My heater and ink Bird are working perfectly. I keep my heater inside the tent.
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When you say the surge protector keeps tripping, do you mean on a power strip, or the actual breaker in the breaker box?
I use a 1500w oil radiator heater in my tent and it runs at 12.5 amps when it’s set to run at 1500w. I
Yes I meant the power strip. At the time I couldn’t remember what to call it. Old age setting in. Lol
I did set the heater outside and connected in to another power strip that I just run the 2 small fans off of and the humidifier. Problem I found that it got the tent too hot. Probably could have played with it more but when I set it at 68 degrees the tent went much higher, like into the 80"s. Why play with it when I can get a heater with a switch and control everything better and less effort for sure with my Inkbird. And my Inkbird I believe is good for up to 8/10 amps so the 1500 Watt heater may not even work?.
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I run mine on a straight extension cord from the wall and let the breaker box (20amp circuit) worry about it. I use smart plugs (Sonoff S31s) to manage power automation in my flower tent. Those plugs let you set up scenes with conditions - so I have a scene set up with the condition that if the lights are on, the heater is off, and if the lights are off, the heater is on. Mine has a simple analog dial thermostat (0-6 or something on the dial). I spent a day or so running it and adjusting it until I found the temp I wanted in the tent.
To relegate humidity and temperature together, I also run my fans on a cycle timer. I think right now I’m running them for 2 minutes on and 8 minutes off. If I want to lower humidity, I can increase the amount of time the fan is running. It will generally, with lights on, get to around 10% lower than the RH in my basement.
In the winter I run a console style whole house humidifier in my basement to try and keep the basement around 50% RH. In the summer I run a whole house dehumidifier in my basement to also keep the humidity around 50%.
In conjunction with the appliances outside the tent, I alternatively use a mister or a small dehumidifier in the tent if I need to get the RH a little more dialed in one way or another.
Unfortunately when you start messing around with one aspect of your environment, it has downstream affects on the other aspects.
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I do have the Century cycle timer just haven’t hooked it up yet. Only has a outlet for one fan though. Very useful info. Thank you so much. Seems like I probably should get another cycle timer. Oscillating fan maybe too. Wonder if they have a dual outlet cycle timer? Have to check that out too
And I just did a search on those smart plugs. Wasn’t familiar with them. Pretty cool and thanks again
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I have an automation set up planned. Among the things I have planned for it is temperature control. I will dim my lights based on the temperature. So if it does get too hot I can back them off a bit. I could add a heater control but it’s not needed in my case, but the cost to control a heater would be $0-10. I also plan to dim them based on CO2. While I am not supplementing CO2 I don’t really have to. Indoors the CO2 level will naturally be higher. My automation system will cost me around $120 initially, most of which is the CO2 monitor (~$80). The inkbird is $30 just for heating/cooling and the heating/cooling needs to be able to be default on while my system can control anything that is controllable with IR. That opens up many more things than the inkbird, however, my planned setup is entirely DIY.
Also, before anyone argues with me on the CO2 point, it would take over 100 plants getting natural sunlight to offset a single human. Outdoors is typically around 300 ppm while indoors is usually around 400-600+ ppm. That means you start out with a positive CO2 bias if you are growing in your living space and don’t have a sealed room. Yeah, the wind blows outside, but inside your HVAC will move air around too. My house can go so CO2 positive that I have to open windows as CO2 starts causing headaches around 900-1000 ppm. My house has nowhere near what anyone would consider “modern” insulation as it is over 100 years old. The CO2 meter is intended more as a cost saving measure, there’s a study available online that actual has the CO2-to-PPFD curve showing how much light cannabis can use based on how much CO2 is available. That means when less CO2 is available I can lower the lights to save money without sacrificing yield.
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@Dutchem I’m curious why you need to raise temps. Are you growing in a garage or something? If so, would it be practical to set up a loop to pull air from your house and then send it back in?
The one thing I enjoy right now about having my tent inside is at night I turn my thermostat down and as the tent is next to my bedroom the extra heat from the lights actually keeps the temps up. This will become an annoyance come summer, but we’ll see. I like to sleep in the cold, generally I prefer it at 70F when awake and 68F or less when trying to sleep. So in the summer I’ll probably set the thermostat to 68F as usual and have a small window AC in the same room as the tent to keep temps in range.
Anyway, if you would like help doing a custom setup I could try to help. You’d have to feel comfortable working with electronics (as in circuit boards, resistors, etc) and programming languages. I can help with the programming side since I can just give you code snippets but the electronics would be entirely on you, I could just tell you what to buy.
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