alright in a pinch....need advice asap can you reduce a 6" to a 4" ?? I KNOW it's not preferred, but can you do it without ill effect on the fan etc? Got a 6" vortex fan running and the current exhuast is killing the humidity in the house (temps are fine) because I don't have an outside to dump the air. So what's my options? There's an old 4" dryer duct I can connect to but that's my only option. Just dumped 280 in a dehumidifier to my horror because it's the same amount of power as another light. So can I do this?? Is there anywhere I can find the real answer
You should be fine hooking it you drier vent. I don't have any scientific break down of cfm's or what not. But from what I do know you shouldn't have any problems
Nippie what's the 6" fan trying to cool? Or rather, what is the function of the fan - cooling a hood or air exchange or both? If it's air exchange only, do the cfm math on your space, then knock 25% off you're fan rating due to the reduction from 6-4". If you can still live with the exchange rate, you're fine. It'll stress the fan a little but so what - loose 6 months of the fan's 5 year life? If you are cooling a hood, then just be aware that you won't get the full force of the 6" fan reducing it to 4". I would do it as a stop-gap measure to give you time to figure out how to duct it properly tho. Coming into winter you can prob deal with some inefficiency but next summer you'll have to take cooling more seriously.
I got a 6". Vortex inline fan that i used with a 6" hooded light then ran a duct reducer after that light to a 4" hooded light then to a 4" can filter. Did this for over 5 years with no problem to fan. Hope that made sence. It is sort of the sucking side of the fan not the exaust part, i just realized you were talking about exaust on the push side of the fan. So not really sure.
I go from a 6 inch and exhaust through a 4 inch for the last 7 years. No real problems, even though I'm sure it does cause some back pressure.:redbong:
Before I switched to LED I had a 6" max fan cooling my hood that exhausted out my sewer vent which was 4". Ran that way for almost 3 years... As FF said... You loose cooling power and efficiency so you might need to watch your temps if the fan is used to cool
Going from 6" to 4" is cutting your volume in half. Seems a shame. Can't you vent into your ceiling rafters? Often, ceiling cavities can lead to HVAC raceways and can provide plenty of exhaust ventilation. It's all about the temperature. If the temps stay where you want them with the 4" reducer, it's no big deal (won't damage the fan, especially that nice Vortex fan). However, it does greatly reduce the air flow through the light. If you are running a 600w or less, it's probably won't be a problem. A 1000w light would show a big difference, IMO. Best thing to do is to try it. Let us know how it works.
Obviously lots of folks do it and have done it, including this gardener. The only drawback, as far as the fan is concerned, is the possibility of shortening the life of the fan. Had one cheaper fan go in less than a year doing a reduction. Methinks a higher quality fan would have performed far longer.
failure of the fan is my fear. I don't want a fire. But the humidity is terrible, it took a couple of weeks to build but hell the doors are swollen shut and its 80-85% RH in the place. Can't have that, just asking for mold, not only on the buds, but through out the house. Is there anything I should do before the reduction? IE a couple of 90s or something to help slow down the air? Or does that even matter It's just the hortilux 1k bulb. Temps are perfect, but the humidity is getting to be a real big issue
Failure in my case was slow bearing wear. The fan slowed down (became less efficient, garden temps rose) and started getting noisy. Replaced it with a quality fan and problem solved. Anytime you increase back pressure you're lessening the overall life of a fan. The question then becomes, by how much? Answer...it's variable depending on amount of backpressure vs quality of the fan motor/bearings. In most cases you'll have plenty of warning before complete failure if you're an attentive gardener.
I don't think you need to worry about that Vortex fan. 80%+ humidity is unacceptable. Not only will you [probably] get moldy buds, the plant's growth will slow way down. Dehumidifiers are nice but they do suck up a lot of power and they also generate a lot of heat. Certain months, I have humidity problems and I run the dehumidifier when the light is off, only. This helps keep the heat down and doesn't overload my circuit. Don't add elbows. That would make it worse. How about a second vent? How about cutting a 6" hole right next to the dryer vent? Is the 4" vent going out a window or through the wall? Just trying to toss out some options.
Thanks RR, my attentiveness depends on how much I smoked prior :roffl: but since others have done it I will go ahead with that option. Just sucks because I wanted a clear, clean, no interference option with the hortilux grow and didn't want other lights improve or change the results if that makes sense. Thought I had the perfect little space until this problem showed up. Hackerman, I could punch a 6" hole but it's a concrete wall and then I have issues of dust, etc getting stuff all messed up. That would be an option if the grows weren't active. The only plus I can see after dropping $280 is that I may use it to test some things. Maybe running 30% RH and seeing if it changes the trich devolopment. I would love to do it on the hortilux run, but I'm testing the MH for the last few weeks and I don't want a bunch of variables because then you don't know what was the cause and effect was. BTW, Lowes looked at me like I had three heads when I walked in and asked for a dehumidifer. They have humidifiers out right now because of winter. They kept asking me, you sure that's what you want, because you want to increase humidity in the winter. It's like just sell me what I want damn it and stop asking questions :roffl: they only had two options in stock so I went with the bigger just to dry things up quick like
How about enlarging the 4" hole to 6". Maybe a little easier than making a new 6". Still, concrete, what a nightmare to work with. How about the ceiling option?
can't do ceiling because then I'm just venting to different floor and fucking up flooring. My only real option I think is a reducer or killing my electric bill and using a dehumidifier
options: 1. Reducer and constrict airflow from a 6" fan. Shortens fan life. 2. Buy 4" exhaust fan. Cost $80-$100. 3. Run dehumidifier. Ongoing electric costs. Assume $30 a month. 4. Empty garden, cut 6" hole. Hassle. Most efficient for air movement. Take your pick.
How about this.... can you put a small 4" fan somewhere between the reducer and the outlet? This might help move the air through the 4" duct and ease pressure on the 6" incoming line. Does that make sense? LOL And....no, I don't think a 4" will cool you enough. I guess it depends on your room but in mine, my 6" barely cools my 1000w. My temps during my hottest months with lights on are usually 80-85F. That's about tops for me. Any hotter can lead to problems.
In a tent or closet? No. In a large room with one 1K light? Possibly. In a 105 cu/ft foot cab running a 600w HPS a 4" reduction on a 6" fan was barely adequate. A 1K would have been out of the question. You could up the efficiency by running a cooled hood or tubes. But even then, methinks a 1K lamp will simply be too much. Imho, An inline booster fan is pretty much worthless for our applications.
Winters coming , vent your lights upstairs. Cut in a 4x 10 90 degree floor register boot and tie into it. Or if you have a forced air furnace tap into an existing one. ARE those RH% numbers with lights on? If your just peeking in and looking at a min/max humidity Guage and seeing a high reading , it may be decieving. Hot air is able to hold more moisture. Right on lights out the room cools and humidity will briefly go skyhigh.
Annunaki, Those are the RH throughout the house:5eek: The entire house, all doors are swollen. Actually it's better today but only because dehumidifier is running. I'm taking door number 1 and venting through a reducer. Sucks but it's the most reasonable option at the moment. But if numerous others have done it it shouldn't be all that bad
