I grow out on my unfinished sunporch. The half my tent is in is insulated and sheeted, the other is not, so, it gets just about as cold out there as it does outside. Not quite as bad, but cold. So far, it’s dropped as low as 18°F out and the tent has stayed around 68 at it’s coldest. I’m trying to help the electric bill here and figured this has to help the tent retain some heat. Can you see any other issues with it?
I just draped the insulation over the tent. I did open one of the bottom vents a little bit to help with airflow. I keep my inline fan on low all the time.
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Not if it works for you!
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That is ingenuity.
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Just in the few hours after I did it, the heater is turning on almost 15 minutes later than without, so it definitely makes a big difference.
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Except itching like hatis. 
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Flip it around, that way it acts as a vapor barrier as well…
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Your fans will pull air through the canvas and seams of your tent when negative pressure is achieved. You should ensure that there is adequate opening for air or your fans will have to work super hard, unecissarily. Last winter I pulled outside air to cool my tent, worked great. Strong wind may be an issue as winter progresses maybe block it somehow?
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Why not put the inline fan on the same timer as the lights so your not pulling that cold air in when the lights are off. You dont need that much air exchange. That way you retain some of the heat through the night
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Thank you! I never thought of that! I’ll see what I can do in the App.
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The sunporch is fully enclosed, so wind won’t be an issue. Being brand new to growing, I’m still working out the most effective methods on things. I can’t thank all you guys enough for all the great advise!
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A sunporch isnt exactly a room. Huge rooms require alot more enviromemtal control and loose light to unlit areas.
I have been growing in a tent for almost 3 years and no doom has presented itself.
You need enough to maintain propper humidity throughout the grow. This will get harder as flower sets in and the girls start kicking out that moisture. In flower my fans run near 24/7 to maintain lower humidity and I live in the 
. Heat retention will be important being outside in the winter but still gonna need to be able to vent humidity when necessary without dropping into sub par temps. As there is no heat to maintain those temps during lights out, nights will he difficult later on in the grow and as colder temps set in. A heater may be required.
Just food for thought.
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A heater or maybe heavy blankets would be better than insulation, I worry about your lungs growmie cuz the insulation. Its getting into the tent. With my tent in dark cold attic beams of light show the dust flow, tent is a like a magnet.
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I have a heater in the tent along with a humidifier. I’m just trying to keep the heat in the tent as much as I can. It’s been very effective so far. The heater runs 40-50% less and keeps that heat in with the insulation on the tent, so that should help with the power bill.
My 69 pro plus controller comes in in a few days, I’ll be able to put the humidifier on a humidity monitoring switch soon. That should help too.
As far as the insulation dust, I only need to lift it up and fold it on top of the tent to get in there to water or work with the plants, and I haven’t noticed any dust yet. I may get a piece of 1" foam insulation board to lean up against the front door at some point to keep from having to move the fiberglass at all.
Thanks again for all the helpful replies!
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For sure look into bud washing for harvest time.
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Awesome job. The army surplus store has wool Army blankets. Maybe hang some over the insulation. Breathable and will help hold in the heat.
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you would be a good example of a reason to turn your lights on at night and off during the day. best of luck
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I didn’t think about the dust. And I just finished insulation in a room and you only noticed the miniature pieces floating around in front of a light. I can see how you would not want that in the weed your smoking. Hmmm, You could maybe cut a piece of 3" foam insulation to fit the wall with the door in it. And pull it out each time you need to get in? Or prop it against the outside. That way you not disturbing the insulation.
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that is… different? but different is good, interesting. i like it. but doesnt the insulation cause high heat?
@Hershy420
Nope. Not at all! I’m in the midwest and it gets down in the low single digits for about a month at times here, so I need all the help I can get. The tent is in a partially finished sunporch. There are older windows in it and the walls on half of it aren’t insulated. The roof isnt either. It’s the only room in my house I haven’t gutted and remodeled yet. Even this week, it’s getting down to the high 20s at night and I’m seeing my heater kicking on about every 15 minutes at night. I went back to running my inline fan 24/7 on low due to the humidity in the tent building up on the walls. I didn’t like it, so I went back to how I was doing it first. I would change the light schedule to come on over night to help with heat, but, I work 3a - 3p most days and I want to be able to get into my girls while they’re awake. I’ll probably change it at some point when I can make it make more sense for my schedule.
When it gets down in the low single digits again, I’ll change it so I can keep the temp maintained in there. I have a 32x32 I got a hell of a deal on for Black Friday that I’m going to get up and running for my two photos until I chop my 3 autos, then, I’ll flip flop and move the 2 photos back to the large tent and dry in the smaller one so I can keep it cooler in there.
sounds very tedious to deal with. its truly great to see the creative minds at work making it work with what u got. very cool
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