How to Cool a Grow Tent

Temperatures are essential in the growth of plants. And just like any other condition in your growing area, they need to be kept at an optimum level. Overheating will harm your plants. You won’t get the yields you would expect. 

When the temperature rises, your plants lose a lot of water. Photosynthesis is also affected, leading to plant yellowing. 

But this shouldn’t be the case. There are simple techniques you can apply and cool down the temperatures in your grow tent. 

In this article, we will share with you the best techniques to cool down temperatures in the grow tents. 

Let’s dive in. 

Simple Techniques to Cool A Grow Tent

Beating the temperatures in the grow tent can be challenging. However, the following simple techniques will ensure that your grow tent temperatures are well controlled. Apply them, and you will see the difference it will make. 

• Air Condition the Grow Tent

Air-condition is important. There is nothing that will cool your grow tent and combat heat during hot weather as much as a well-functioning air conditioner. 

An air conditioner will help in dealing with the heat that builds up from electronics, pumps, lights, and also heats from nature. First, consider the size of your grow tent and buy an air conditioner that will work effectively with it.

Once you understand your grow room size, temperatures, and seasonal outdoor temperatures, then you can go ahead and buy an AC unit that will condition your air. 

Best Air Conditioner to Buy For Your Grow Tent 

AC’s are the best air conditioners you can ever find in the market. Basically, they come with 3 categories – portable, slit, and window AC. They all vary in size, use, features, and price. 

So, if you have a small grow tent, a portable AC will do a perfect job. But if the grow tent has a large space, you will need a split AC. 

Pick either of the following AC’s from Amazon and install them to start cooling your grow tent. Buy an AC that matches the size of your grow tent. 

LG LP0817WSR (Perfect for small grow tents)

• Perfect for a small-sized grow tent
• Covers a 150 Square feet space
• Has an excellent performance

Midea Portable Conditioner (For Medium grow tent)

• Perfect for small to medium grow tents
• Can cover a space of up to 300 Square feet
• Excellent and efficient air conditioning performance

Whynter ARC-14S (Perfect for large grow tents)

• It covers a space of 500 Square feet
• Excellent performance
• 14,000 BTU rating

• Control the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in the Grow Tent

Carbon dioxide is pretty much important for photosynthesis. It can also help you keep the temperatures lower than normal. However, its usage can be tricky. 

So, when temperatures rise, supplying carbon dioxide to your grow tent cools it down. 

How to control CO2 in your grow tent

All you need is a CO2 feeder connected into your grow tent. This will ensure that the grow tent is supplied with enough carbon dioxide that keeps the temperatures at the required level. 

Buy Opticlimate – a multipurpose Cooler

This is a unique kit that comes with different solutions for growers. Its an air-con with CO2 feeder, air filter, and a dehumidifier. Once you buy it, it will regulate temperatures, CO2, humidity, and filter your air. 

You can get Opticlimate Pro 2 from amazon. If you are looking for a device that will give you the best out of your grow tent, buy an install it today.

• Ventilate Your Grow Tent

Ventilation is the most important factor that will directly impact on your room temperatures. A proper airflow ensures that warm air is driven out and cool temperatures supplied in the grow tent. 

Without adequate airflow, the grow tent will be very hot. The heat generated inside the grow tent will accumulate in your grow tent. 

How to ventilate your Grow tent

Ensure there is a regulated and proper airflow inside your grow room. To achieve this, you can use grow room fans. Alternatively, you can use oscillating fans and extractors fans. 

However, in this case, we will recommend growing fans. They are inline fans. With them, you won’t have to worry about airflow anymore. 

To Condition Your Air Buy AC Infinity Cloudline S6 (Our Top Pick) 

AC Infinity Cloudline S6 gives a combination of silence and power. With its performance power and quietness, it makes it to the top of our list. It’s the best and quietest tent fan you can ever find in the market. 

Even when the fan is running at the highest power setting, it’s extremely quiet. 

The silence of the fan is due to the Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) controlled Direct Current Motor. When the fan is running at maximum speed, it makes sounds of 32dBA. These are too low. You will hardly notice the fan when it’s running. 

When you think about power consumption, this motor makes less power than standard AC-motors. For ease of use and airflow control, the fan comes with eight different speeds and adjustable power settings. 

If you are in a more restricted area, you don’t have to worry. The fan uses dual hydrodynamic and stator blade. 

The fan is perfect for a mid-sized grow tent. It achieves an airflow of 351 CFM.

Key Features

• Ideal strength for a mid-size room
• The variable setting for efficient power consumption 
• Extremely quiet

  Give your Grow Tent a Perfect Structure

If you get the structure of your to grow tent right, you won’t have to worry about rising temperatures being generated from your space. 

Start by limiting the number of crops or plants in your tent. An overcrowded tent isn’t ideal at all. Many plants will produce much oxygen and reduce carbon dioxide levels in your grow tent. As a result, you will experience more temperatures. 

Another technique is to use small pots when planting. These would reduce evaporation and as a result, control the humidity of your grow tent. This, in turn, reduces the chances of overheating as they keep the plants healthy. 

The aim is to ensure that your grow tent is planned in a manner that doesn’t encourage overheating in your grow tent. 

• Use Lights at Night Only in Your Grow Tent

At night, the temperatures are cooler than day time. The grow room lights produce some heat when they are running. 

However, you should never make a mistake of running the lights during the day. Especially in summer, the temperatures in your grow room are extremely high. Adding more temperatures will increase it more and cause some harm to your crops. 

So, if you have to use lights in your grow room, use them at night. This will reduce the temperature build-up from your grow room lighting system. 

• Install a Light Mover in Your Grow Tent

As we have mentioned, lights produce some heat when they are running. For effectiveness in your grow tent, you need to have the light movers to distribute the light adequately in your grow room. 

A good light mover will spread the light uniformly – you won’t have hot spots in your grow tent. 

Apart from regulating the temperatures, the light mover will help manage your lighting resources. You won’t need any additional lighting system in your grow tent. All parts of your grow tent will be supplied with sufficient light. 

• Raise the Grow Room Lights

Your lights shouldn’t be installed directly to the plants. This will be harmful. So, to prevent the direct heat from your lights, raise them high. 

If possible, let the lights be at the ceiling of your lighting system. This should be done when installing the lights. However, if the lights are already installed, raise them up. It will give temporary heat control over your grow tent. 

• Install Cooled Lights: Air- and Water-Cooled Lights

By now, you are aware that lights produce some heat that is experienced in the grow room. To get the best out of your tent, install cooled lights. 

There are both air- and water-cooled lights. 

Air-cooled lights use extraction fans to pass air over the lamp continuously. This exhausts the warm air out of the grow tent through the inline fan ducting. 

Air-cooled lights are connected to duct lines. 

If you want more cooled lighting, go for water lights. They are built with a water reservoir and pump. If done properly, the cooled light might play the role of an air conditioning unit. 

It’s more efficient to cool the lights with water as compared to the air. For effectiveness, place the cooling unit close to the plant canopy. 

Chillers: Best Coolers to Buy for Your Tent

Chillers are designed to absorb extra heat that builds up in a grow tent. There are also two types of chillers – water-cooled and air-cooled chillers. And as mentioned, water coolers have a better performance than air coolers. But this doesn’t mean air coolers are ineffective. 

You can buy either of the following chillers and install them in your grow tent. These chillers do not only cool lighting heat but also deal with all other heat accumulated in your grow tent. 

JBJ Aquarium Arctica Titanium Chiller

• Digital temperature controller
• Ease of installation
• Advanced water chiller

Hydrofarm Active Aqua Chiller 

• Digital control system
• Automatic turn off in case of a power surge
• Effective in cooling your grow tent

  Control the Humidity in Your Grow Tent

Another reason why you will have much heat in your grow tent is humidity. Low humidity raises temperatures in a to grow tent. And as you raise the humidity, the temperatures go down. 

To deal with heat in your grow room, increase the relative humidity. This will cause the plants to exhale water vapor hence cooling the environment. 

Keep the moisture at 60% for young plants. For mature plants, ensure the moisture is at 40% or more. 

You can consider using a dehumidifier. It will regulate the humidity in your grow room. 

If you are looking for a humidifier that will serve you better, buy Frigidaire 50-Pint.

Frigidaire 50-Pint Key Features

• Protects your grow room from mildew and mold 
• Perfect for a room of up to 1000 sq. Ft.
• Eliminates bacteria from your grow room
• Lengthens the lifespan of your grow room

Buy the dehumidifier from Amazon and see the difference it will make in your grow room.

• Cool Your Grow Tent With Ice

It’s easy to cool your Grow tent with ice. The only thing you need to consider is the type of ice you would wish to use. Also, it’s important to note that you can’t use any ice to cool your Grow room.

This method of Grow tent cooling is only applicable to small spaces. For large Grow tent, it would require a lot of ice. This makes it difficult to cool them hence why it’s advisable to use an AC unit in such cases.

Types of Ice for Cooling Grow Tent

There are three different major types of ice required for cooling a Grow tent. They are; Dry Ice, salt ice, and normal ice.

• Normal Ice: This is the most basic ice used in cooling a Grow tent. A gallon of the ice will last for around 2-3 hours. It’s simply water that has been frozen.
• Dry Ice: This is an ice made of carbon dioxide. Unlike the normal ice, it doesn’t melt by itself. It only melts when fans are placed towards it. And when air blows over the ice, it evaporates into cool carbon dioxide. Dry ice is by so far the best for use in cooling a grow tent. It doesn’t lead to moisture build-up. With it, you don’t have to come back and start cleaning water from your Grow tent.
• Salt Ice: This is ice made with salty water. It lasts longer than the normal ice. The freezing temperatures of the ice are lowered. You can use seawater to make the salt ice for your Grow room.

Simple Procedure to Make Your Grow Tent Ice Chest

If you would wish to cool your grow room with ice, you need to have an ice chest. It will help you keep the ice in place to cool your Grow tent effectively. The good news is that you don’t have to buy the ice chest. You can easily make one for yourself.

The following are simple steps to make your Chest for a Grow Tent

• Step 1: Get a Box and Cut Two Holes On It
  Cut tow holes on the box to allow fresh air in. Make the first hole to be 4 inches and the other one 6 inches.The smaller hole purpose is to bring fresh air into the chest box and the other hole will blow cool air from the chest box. The holes should also be drilled on top of the box to allow enough space to hold ice in the box.
• Step 2: Connect the Box to Ducting
  Place ducting flange on the larger hole and connect it to an inline fan. The purpose of the fan and ducting is to blow the cool air to the grow room.
• Step 3: Fill Ice on the Chest Box
  Fill your box with ice cubes or any other size of ice. As we earlier mentioned, if you can find dry ice, it would be perfect. But if you can’t get the dry ice, go ahead and use salty ice. It will work better than normal ice.In the case when you use normal or salty ice, remember to remove the water in the chest box regularly and replace it with fresh ice.

Everything You Need to Make Your Chest Box

• A polystyrene icebox/container
• Small Fans
• Air Duct nose

Parting Shot

Grow tents can overheat. This is especially during the summer season or when you have several electronic running in your grow room. The effect of overheating are visible. But you don’t have to lose yields from your grow tent. 

However, with the simple techniques discussed in this article, you will cool your grow area. All you need to do is buy the right cooling appliances. The good news is that we have shared with you everything that you need – all available on Amazon. 

Check everything you need in your grow room. Buy them from Amazon, and your plants will thrive with favorable temperatures.