When it comes to the industry of growing cannabis, you want to ensure that your plants get everything they need. HVAC is a critical part of the grow room setup. It can help regulate temperature and humidity, which makes it easier to maintain the ideal conditions for growing healthy plants.
Here’s an A-Z Guide for HVAC Terms When Researching Grow Rooms:
A) Airflow: The amount of air that moves through your grow room is called airflow. Airflow is measured in cubic feet per minute (CFM). If you want to know how much CFM you need, it depends on the size of your room, your plants, and how many fans you have in the room.
B) Blower: The blower helps distribute air throughout your grow space by pushing it from one side of the room to another. The more powerful the blower, the better it will circulate air throughout your grow area.
C) Carbon Dioxide: Carbon dioxide (CO2 is an essential component for plant growth and health.
CO2 is one of the most important parts of growing plants indoors. It helps them breathe and live, so you must monitor your CO2 levels.
D) Dehumidifier: A dehumidifier is an air conditioner that removes excess moisture from the air. It’s used in grow rooms to prevent mold, mildew, and other fungi from growing.
It’s essential to keep your grow room dry because excess moisture can cause plants to rot or get moldy.
E) Energy Efficiency: Energy efficiency is one of the most important aspects of HVAC for grow rooms. It’s also one of the easiest ways to save money on your power bill and reduce your carbon footprint. As a grower, you want to ensure your energy cost is as low as possible. To do that, you must ensure your HVAC system is energy efficient. A good HVAC system will save money and help regulate the temperature of your grow room.
F) Filter: An air filter cleans the air in your grow room by trapping dust, pollen, and other particles. The filter can clean out particles that could cause an allergy or infection in your plants or yourself. You can buy them at any hardware store or online.
G) Grow Room; The Right Sized Grow Room AC for your needs: When it comes to the air conditioning needs of your grow room, you want to ensure you’re getting the best AC for the job. The first thing you should consider when buying an air conditioner for your grow room is how large it is. You don’t want to buy an AC that is too large or too small for your space. If you purchase an AC that’s too small, it won’t be able to cool down your entire grow room and will likely only cool parts at a time. On the other hand, buying an AC that’s too large will cost more money than necessary while using more energy consumption than necessary.
There are multiple ways to determine what size AC is right for your space. The best and most accurate way is to measure the square footage of your grow room with a tape measurer before buying from your HVAC company.
H) Humidity: Humidity measures the amount of water vapor in the air. Humidity is important for growing plants because it helps regulate climate control and prevents leaf burn. Humidity control is one of cannabis grower’s biggest challenge.
Think of your grow room as an ecosystem.
- Cannabis, the tropical plant
- Light
- CO2
- Humidity
The goal is to maintain a stable humidity level, so your plants and equipment don’t dry out or get damaged by excess moisture.
Humidity levels in grow rooms can vary widely depending on:
- Their size
- Whether they’re sealed or open to the outside environment
- What kind of material is used for walls and floors
Generally speaking, you’ll want to aim for a range between 40% and 60% humidity.
I) Indoor Grow Rooms: Indoor grow rooms are a great way to start cannabis cultivation. They allow you to control the temperature and humidity, which is crucial for getting the most out of your plants.
Grow lights are usually used in indoor grow rooms. These lights can be hung from the ceiling or placed on stands. Grow lights are important because they help plants grow by providing them with light energy.
You should be aware that some plants need more heat than others. Therefore, it’s important to know how much heat your grow room will hold and how much heat the cannabis plants need before choosing HVAC equipment for your grow room.
J) Join a Partnership with Your HVAC Company: HVAC is essential to the grow room and the environment. It has to be installed correctly to provide you with the best results. You will need to work with an HVAC company with experience installing HVAC systems for grow rooms. In addition, an HVAC professional can help with the amount of heat generated.
Joining a partnership with your HVAC company will allow you to focus on growing your plants while they monitor the maintenance.
K) Kilowatt-Hour (KW): This is the amount of electricity you use over the course of an hour in your grow room. If you’re looking for a new light for your grow room, it’s important to know how much energy that light uses per hour. For example, a 400W HPS lamp can use as much as 15 KW per hour, while a 600W HPS lamp may use as much as 20 KW per hour.
L) Low Voltage: Low voltage electricity is the type of electricity you use over the course of an hour for your grow room. It powers everything from lights to fans and heating systems and runs at a lower voltage than standard household power.
If you have a larger or more complex setup, you might use both standard, and low voltage electricity in your grow room. However, if you’re starting with a small operation and looking to save money, it’s often possible to get away with using low voltage.
M) MERV Concerns for Your Grow Room: Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) is a measurement of how well an air filter cleans the air. It’s also known as a “dust rating.” The higher the number, the more efficient the filter. When it comes to grow rooms, it’s important to choose filters with high MERV ratings because they keep your plants safe from harmful particles in the air.
N) NPK; Macronutrients: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K):
****NPK are the three main macronutrients that are needed for the cannabis plant. They are the building blocks of other compounds in the plant, like chlorophyll, amino acids, and proteins. They also help maintain a healthy root system.
Nitrogen: helps plants to produce chlorophyll and sugars. It also helps them grow big and green. This is why most growers use a lot of nitrogen in their soil or water.
Phosphorus: helps the plant to produce carbohydrates and proteins. It also helps them grow big and strong.
Potassium: helps the plant to produce sugars and starches, which give it energy for growth. It also helps regulate the amount of water it uses by ensuring its roots stay hydrated enough to take up water.
O) Osmosis: Osmosis, or water absorption, is a common problem in grow rooms. This happens because the air inside your grow room is usually dry, and plants need water to survive.
The symptoms of issues with osmosis include:
- Drying out of leaves and stems
- Cracking of leaves and stems
- Brown spots on leaves
- Leaves falling off prematurely
This is why your HVAC system is essential in keeping growth cycles safe.
P) Pumps or Air Handler: An air handler is an appliance that pumps conditioned air throughout your grow room. It works by drawing in outside air through vents and bringing it into your grow room. These vents distribute throughout the space with fans and filters.
Q) Quality Control of Your HVAC System: Quality control in your grow room is essential to the health of your plants and the long-term viability of your business.
The following are some important things to keep in mind when maintaining your HVAC system:
- Check out the ductwork for leaks, cracks, and other damage regularly.
- Check for mold and mildew growth in your ducts.
- Make sure all air filters are clean and functioning properly.
R) Reading Your Programmable Thermometer: Growers must pay attention to the temperature control in their grow rooms. Too cold or hot air can hurt the plants by stressing them out and causing problems like nutrient deficiencies or poor growth. There are many different ways to monitor the temperature in your grow room.
A programmable thermometer is a great way to keep track of the temperature in your grow room. You can set it up to send alerts when the temperature rises or falls out of a certain range. You are then able to adjust it accordingly. Programmable thermostats are also helpful if multiple rooms need different temperatures. They are also helpful if you want to keep an eye on how each room performs independently!
S) System, HVAC: HVAC is a vital part of your grow room. It’s also one of the most expensive parts of the setup, but it doesn’t have to be!
An air conditioner cools down an area by removing heat inside a building. In a grow room, this means it will keep the temperature low enough so that no mold will grow. It would help if you took the time to understand what your HVAC system is capable of and how it works for your grow room.
There are several things you can discuss with your HVAC professional team:
- The size of your grow room
- Whether or not there are windows in your grow room
If you have a larger grow room, you should look into an HVAC system that includes ductwork and an exhaust fan. These types of systems are great because they help manage humidity levels in the room as well as temperature levels. They also help keep water out of the air, so it doesn’t cause mold or mildew growth in your room.
T) Temperature: You can’t just stick a thermometer in your grow room and expect it to stay at the right temperature. Temperature is a key factor in growing cannabis plants. However, it’s not as simple as just setting the thermostat and calling it a day!
Here’s what you need to know:
- The best range for temperature in a grow room is 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit (27-29 degrees Celsius). This range allows plants to thrive while minimizing risk of mold or disease.
U) Understanding Your HVAC System: In a grow room, the air is everything. It’s the gas that keeps your plants alive. It’s what allows your plants to breathe and grow. Unfortunately, it’s also the thing most likely to kill them if you don’t get it exactly right.
The goal of any good grow room is to control the temperature and humidity in a way that makes it possible for your plants to thrive and produce maximum yields. That’s where an HVAC system comes in. For cannabis growers, the HVAC industry helps maintain the perfect conditions for growing cannabis at all times. The HVAC system will help regardless of whether people are working in the room or not.
V) Ventilation System: The ventilation system is one of the most important parts of a grow room.
It provides:
- Air flow
- Removal of excess heat
- Removal of moisture
- Removal of too much CO2
If you’re growing cannabis in a grow room, you need a way to keep your plants breathing. That’s where ventilation comes in! It’s important to have a well-designed ventilation system. A grow room ventilation system will help prevent mold and mildew from forming on your plants’ leaves.
In a grow room, you’ll need an exhaust fan for your air conditioner and ductwork to ensure the air flows smoothly throughout the room. You’ll also want to ensure you have vents installed in your walls or ceiling to get fresh air into the space. This is especially important during the hot summer months when temperatures rise and humidity levels do too!
W) Wet Bulb: Wet bulb temperature measures the amount of moisture in the air. It is measured by taking the temperature at which a wet cloth is cooled to saturation or when it can’t hold any more water.
This measurement is important for growers because it helps them know how much humidity their grow room has and how much they need to add to keep it at the right level.
X) Xylem: Xylem is the vascular tissue that moves water and minerals from the roots of a plant to its leaves. If your grow room has been overwatered, you may notice that the xylem looks discolored and swollen. All the processes of indoor air quality (humidity, temperature) are essential and really come down to the HVAC system.
Y) Yield: Yield is the amount of product you get out of your grow room. It’s important to pay attention to yield when it comes to your indoor garden, because the more product you get, the better!
You can increase yield by ensuring your plants get what they need: water, nutrients, light, correct temperature and humidity, and correct CO2 levels.
Z) Zone: The term “zone” refers to an area within a building that has its own HVAC system.
There are typically two zones in a grow room:
- One for the plants
- One for the equipment
Having separate zones helps to keep the temperature and humidity of each area balanced, which is important for growing healthy plants. A zone is a temperature-controlled area within a grow room. A grower will typically have one or more zones in their grow room, depending on the size of their operation. Each zone can be set to its own temperature and humidity levels, allowing greater control of the growing environment.
How The Cooling Company Can Help
With the production of cannabis growing in the United States, The A-Z of HVAC for Grow Rooms is a great resource, but we’re sure you have questions! So we’ve got you covered! The Cooling Company can help you find the right equipment and install it, so you don’t have to worry about anything. We’ll also provide ongoing maintenance, so your system runs smoothly for years to come.
The Cooling Company offers flexible, affordable packages that can be customized based on your needs. We offer design services as well as installation and maintenance services. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help make your grow room a success!
