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By Jeeper
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Posts:  405
Joined:  Sun Jul 01, 2018 3:47 am
#317669
I wasn't sure where to post this as we have grow lists but this is a grow space...

I live in a duplex with my wife where the bedrooms are on the second floor. This is the guest room and I am using a 48"x74"x24" 6 shelf unit. I am currently using T8 lighting but will be experimenting with LED in the near future.
While the shelves are bare, it's only because I just set it up! This shelving with be housing both my beginning CP collection but also my (read wife's) Orchids as well. This room does not have any A/C or heating to it year round so I will be monitoring the plants closly. Currently the room temp high is 90°f and night low is about 75°f. Humidity travels 55-70%. Lights are approximately 6-7" above the rims of the pots.
IMG_20180705_195432230.jpg
IMG_20180705_195432230.jpg (2.51 MiB) Viewed 5250 times
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By Jeeper
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Posts:  405
Joined:  Sun Jul 01, 2018 3:47 am
#318688
So I'm adding a 'highland' chamber to one of my lower shelves, at least to acclimate my incoming heli and neps. I was looking at this and was wondering if someone has used something similar for their Chambers?

https://www.amazon.com/KKmoon-Thermoele ... 6NQ5GQM4ZV

I know some of you use the peltiers but this also incorpoates a water block. Was thinking of reversing the power leads and using it to chill the water in the bottom of my chamber... Thoughts?
By Hungry Plants
Posts:  1134
Joined:  Mon Nov 28, 2016 2:41 am
#318689
Great idea, however, I think the fans are going to me too small. The bigger the fans the more it will cool. That is why a Peltier has a big fan and a small one. The faster you can get rid of the heat the colder the cold side gets.
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By Jeeper
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Posts:  405
Joined:  Sun Jul 01, 2018 3:47 am
#318690
Hungry Plants wrote:Great idea, however, I think the fans are going to me too small. The bigger the fans the more it will cool. That is why a Peltier has a big fan and a small one. The faster you can get rid of the heat the colder the cold side gets.
Your absolutely right. I just posted that example as it showed everything in one picture. I will probably build my own version, just wanted to know if someone has tried it this way before, cooling the water vs. cooling the air in the chamber.
By iamjacksplants
Posts:  591
Joined:  Tue Aug 11, 2015 11:13 am
#320522
Hey Jeeper, how's it goin?

I have not personally done that method [cooling water as opposed to air] but I spoke with a fellow grower at the LACPS meeting this weekend who does use chilled water for his Heliamphora. I didn't pick his brain because my system is totally different and I think I'm getting better temps than him but I did do a little poking just out of curiosity and I think this may be helpful for you just as some idea for how the method works. He said -

Daytime the water temp is set for 65F which keeps the air temp below 76F. Nighttime the water temp is set for 48F which keeps air temps around 55F. He has a 75 gallon tank with what sounded like 3 to 5 inches of water at the bottom at all times. He uses a 3/4hp aquarium chiller - "The kind you drop right into the water not the circulating one" he says. He also has a Mist King setup that uses the chilled water as the reservoir. I don't recall what intervals it is set to mist at but I got the impression that between the mister and the fans there is chilled mist blowing around in there more often than not.

All that said, I hate to be a naysayer BUT, I just can't see that unit in the link you posted generating enough cooling power to give you more than a couple degrees - especially with the ambient temps you mentioned. So if it's true highland temps you are seeking I really don't expect you will find them with that unit. Cooling systems seem straight forward on the surface, but it is never as simple as it sounds and the is no cheap/easy/quick fix.

Just my personal opinion, but you would probably be best off with the old Jeff Shafer chest freezer method. If you're not familiar -
http://legacy.carnivorousplants.org/cpn ... p20_23.pdf

Your biggest obstacle is going to be your ambient temps. The chest freezer already has sufficient insulation to make that a nonissue. Cut a hole in the lid for lights or replace it with a glass lid etc., Day/Night thermostat, a computer fan or two and probably a sonic fogger for humidity unless you prefer the "standing water-raised floor" method. Boom. Done.

Or....you can go off the deep end like I did and build your own system from scratch. The only real advantage to that is you can have a grow space that looks like this -
My highland/intermediate/lowland chamber 7/26/18
My highland/intermediate/lowland chamber 7/26/18
enclosure07261801.JPG (1.96 MiB) Viewed 5051 times
as opposed to this -
freezer01.jpg
freezer01.jpg (22.34 KiB) Viewed 5051 times
Oh and I have highland temps (76F-50F) on one side, intermediate (85F-58F) in the middle and lowland (94F-68F) on the far side. The chest freezer method is one "zone".

You are standing at the edge of a very deep rabbit hole...GOOD LUCK!

Happy growing,
-@.
By SinJin
Posts:  36
Joined:  Wed Aug 14, 2013 10:18 am
#320555
I have had experience using beefy peltiers and fans to cool a small enclosure. Nothing more than a 50gal terrarium though.
I loaded it up with insulation and mylar. I had two t8 lights located above the tank with an acrylic lid consisting of two layers with a .75 inch air gap between them.
Best lows I could get with that setup was 65 on a cold day.
With that said, I was able to grow Hamatas and Helis quite well in there.

Here's the peltier I used to do the cooling to give you an idea of the peltier, heatsink, and fan size i was using. I didn't use a water block, I just pulled the hot air away from the hot side and recirculated air through the cold side with powerful fans. Unfortunately the company I purchased this from is no longer in business and I can't seem to find any identifying information without pulling it apart.
Image

I just recently followed EdenCP's tutorial for a HL chamber pretty closely, I'd recommend giving it a good read as he covers some neat methods of maintaining temps.
http://edencps.com/highland-nepenthes-chamber/

I wish I could be of more help regarding the chest freezer idea, I have yet to try it but I've seen videos done by BradsGreenhouse regarding such and they're quite informative.
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By iamjacksplants
Posts:  591
Joined:  Tue Aug 11, 2015 11:13 am
#320566
That's a really good build guide. I used it and this one for mine which is sort of a hybrid between a few methods but is progressively evolving more towards this one -

https://www.terraforums.com/forums/gree ... amber.html

I have also used a mini fridge mated up to the enclosure with a computer fan in a hole in the wall between the two and a bunch of water bottles for thermal mass in the fridge. A smaller hole in the adjacent corner with a smaller fan to pull air into the fridge. It worked well for intermediate temps for over a year. I then upgraded to a chest freezer to pump the air through in the hopes of getting some true highland temps. That got me as low as 50F no problem and would surely go lower if needed. It did however produce large quantities of water as a byproduct from stripping the humidity from the enclosure and freezing and then thawing with each nights cooling operation. Upwards of a gallon each day! So instead of building a catch basin with a re-circulation and filtration system to manage/reuse the water I opted to swap out the baffles and thermal mass for a reservoir and submersible pump. Another benefit to that configuration is the circulation fan can operate independent of the cooling cycle. Before, with the air flowing through the freezer I would have needed additional fans to circulate the air when the cooling system was not engaged. That thread is here, however I haven't updated it since just before the modification I just mentioned.

highland-system-t32775.html

I hope some of this helps, or gives you a crazy idea of your own to try.

Good luck and happy growing,
-@.
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By Jeeper
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Posts:  405
Joined:  Sun Jul 01, 2018 3:47 am
#320602
Folks, you're all amazing and the links posted just as well!

I'm a technology education teacher so you guys just created a monster in terms of projects I'm going to try. Cool thing is, I teach some engineering classes so I'm thinking one of the projects will be a 'climate' chamber to test some of this stuff...
By iamjacksplants
Posts:  591
Joined:  Tue Aug 11, 2015 11:13 am
#321018
That's awesome! Please post pictures and info on this climate chamber you speak of, and progress with your project!

Happy growing,
-@.
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