It's Getting to be That Time of the Year Again...

Indoor growers, it's getting hot outside.  Read this article we wrote last year for some helpful tips to have a successful indoor summer season:

http://thegrowroom.blogspot.com/2013/06/indoor-gardening-in-summer.html

Products we Love: 8" Max Fan HO - Variable Speed

The majority of companies that make in-line fans have a serious void in their product line-up.  Most 8" in-line fans push somewhere between 700-750 CFM (cubic feet per minute) and most 10" in-line fans push 750-795 CFM.  12" in-line fans typically start at 1100 CFM.  So what do you do if your airflow needs fall into the 800-950 CFM range?  You can always use a 12" in-line fan with a fan speed adjuster (an inexpensive add-on that can really help you dial in your airflow), but sometimes space is limited and doesn't allow for the use of multiple reducers (12"-10", 10"-8", etc.).  

To solve that problem, Max Fan has made an 8" in-line fan with a built-in variable speed feature:  Speed 1 - 750 CFM, Speed 2 - 850 CFM, Speed 3 - 932 CFM.  It is a powerful fan that surprisingly runs very quietly and has a 5 year warranty.  

Another great product from the same manufacturer is Max Duct, a high quality ducting featuring triple foil laminate, covered in white UV resistant PVC.  Since this ducting is so heavy-duty, it 100% reusable.  It comes in a variety of sizes (4"-20" diameters), in 25' rolls with two hose clamps.  If you're setting up a new ventilation system, it is a must-have.

Mention this blog entry and get 10% off on these products until June 1st.

New Product: Phresh In-line Carbon Filters

The traditional carbon filters that we've all been using for years had one main limitation: you couldn't run them in-line.  This was especially a disadvantage when running air-cooled lights.  The proper way to air-cool your lights is to Blow air through them with an in-line fan and ducting, rather than Sucking air through them.  This is to protect the motors of your in-line fans and also to limit the amount of negative pressure in your ductwork so you're not drawing air out of the growing environment through your lights.  That way, you're not losing much Co2 if you are enriching your environment with it, and also so that the air leaving your lights is clean and free of odors/particulates from your growing environment.  Unfortunately, air-cooled lights are only sealed SO well.  Even if you are blowing, not sucking, and you tape the edges around the glass and where the ducting and flanges meet with duct/aluminum tape, you will still pick up some air from the room anyway.  In the past, your options were to exhaust your lights into another space/box and filter that air, or to use Ozone Generators which have their own risks and downsides (the biggest one being the main purpose of the unit: to transform oxygen into ozone, something that we and the plants shouldn't breathe).

We first saw Phresh Filters' In-Line Carbon Filter at the Colorado Maximum Yield trade show in April, 2011, so we've been waiting patiently (or not-so-patiently) for over a year for these to finally hit the market.  Now that they're available and we have them and have tried them ourselves, our two main questions have been answered:

- They can be run either way, by blowing or sucking the air through them.

- The flange on one side is slightly smaller than the other side to accomodate ducting (the larger side was designed for the fan) but you can use it however you want.

We received our first shipment of them last week and we're currently stocking the 6" and 8" sizes at both stores (the 10" and 12" are available for special order) but, depending on the demand, we might begin stocking all sizes.