gill_za
Never Knows Best
Grow shelf evolution
Dear All,
Gaining the inspiration from threads created by TheFury and Av8tor I have decided to start improving my Freestanding Wire shelf that I got from Lowes a while ago to be a better grow place for my little collection.
Here is how it looked like before with some ad-hoc PC fans "mounted":
Both Lowes and HomeDepot have the foil covered foam sheets like this one both sides of which are reflective (one side is clean, the other has bunch of writing on it). The sheets are 96"x48" (my shelf is 74"x48"x18") so two were purchased. I have jotted down the dimensions of the pieces I will need (two 70"x19" for sides and two 70"x24" for the back panel) and cut them out in the store (asked for the knife and drywall Tee Square right in the store and borrowed it from one of the employees)
So after everything was measured, cut out, brought home and cut again (holes for the fans ) the final look:
NOTE* some of the pics below are taken during the initial attempt to enclose the shelves with the foam sheets. Since then changes have been made and a layer of weather strips were added to provide extra space around the shelf to accommodate the slightly broader than 4' light fixtures, and potentially isolate one shelf from another for the future.
5/8" round weather strips added to the perimeter of all shelf planes (except front)
Sorry about the dirty floor
Ones the weather strips are mounted side panels are attached. Foil tape started running out, so a regular clear tape was used instead.
Now there is no gap between the panel and the weather stripping.
Pardon my excessive use of tape I got a bit carried away. There is really no need for it since the panels are securely attached to the stands.
Side with fans, two 80mm fans per each shelf, 3 grow shelves, only 2 used (old but looks the same):
Front view (old, will be changed):
To be updated
Additionally I purchased the cheapest blinds I could find and installed them onto the top most shelf using 4 cable ties
Front top view with 47"x64" blinds mounted
To be updated
Blinds down
To be updated
Side view blinds down
To be updated
-Since this shelf is set up in the first floor right now, previously when all the lights were on, even with my window shades down, from the outside my apartment looked like I have a space ship parked there. Something like that but from outside
For ventilation I am using 80mm PC case fans that I bought from newegg several years ago on sale. For the power supply I am using the one from a burned out router that drives the fans at 5V and can provide up to 2A of current. Each fan requires 12V and 0.18A to run at full speed but since they are voltage driven and at full speed will blow my plants away 5V is more than enough. All fans are connected in parallel to make sure that they all get the same voltage across and current is equally divided.
I did not even have to do much soldering (except connecting PSU to a fan connector ). If someone is interested I can later expand this post and show how fans were connected.
Materials
Shelf: Lowes Real Organized 74"H x 48"W x 18"D Steel Freestanding Shelving Unit - 79.97
Fixtures: 2x per shelf Utilitech 48" 2-Light Utility Fluorescent Shoplight - 4x 19.98
Lamps: 2x6500K 2x5000K per shelf of GE 2-Pack 32-Watt T8 48" Fluorescent Light Bulbs - 4x 7.67
Reflective panels: 2 of Dow 1/2" x 8' x 4' R-3.3 Polyisocyanurate Rigid Foam Insulated Sheathing - 2x 11.98
Window Blind: Basic Blindz 48"W x 64"L White Vinyl Mini Blind - 12.96
Aluminum adhesive tape: Nashua Multi-Purpose Foil Tape - 7.42
Fans: 6x 80mm - 24.47 for 6 (with shipping)
Power Supply: 6V 2A
Timer: Utilitech Digital 8-Outlet Power Strip Timer - 19.98
round weather strips: Thermwell Products 5/8 in. x 20 ft. Polyurethane Caulk Saver - 5x 3.97
Total cost: 299.21...
Update: 07Nov2011
Panels were removed. Round 5/8" weather stripping was added to line the shelves (to add the space for fixtures and isolate the shelves). Panels were remounted. Post updated. More pics added and more will be added.
Conclusion: Although this setup looks nice IMO, it takes way to much time, effort and resources to setup shelves in such a way. The better, quicker and cheaper way would be to wrap the constructed shelf using double layer mylar foil like this or this. To mount the fan, foam panel could be inserted in between the shelf stands on each shelf with fans in it.
Dear All,
Gaining the inspiration from threads created by TheFury and Av8tor I have decided to start improving my Freestanding Wire shelf that I got from Lowes a while ago to be a better grow place for my little collection.
Here is how it looked like before with some ad-hoc PC fans "mounted":
Both Lowes and HomeDepot have the foil covered foam sheets like this one both sides of which are reflective (one side is clean, the other has bunch of writing on it). The sheets are 96"x48" (my shelf is 74"x48"x18") so two were purchased. I have jotted down the dimensions of the pieces I will need (two 70"x19" for sides and two 70"x24" for the back panel) and cut them out in the store (asked for the knife and drywall Tee Square right in the store and borrowed it from one of the employees)
So after everything was measured, cut out, brought home and cut again (holes for the fans ) the final look:
NOTE* some of the pics below are taken during the initial attempt to enclose the shelves with the foam sheets. Since then changes have been made and a layer of weather strips were added to provide extra space around the shelf to accommodate the slightly broader than 4' light fixtures, and potentially isolate one shelf from another for the future.
5/8" round weather strips added to the perimeter of all shelf planes (except front)
Sorry about the dirty floor
Ones the weather strips are mounted side panels are attached. Foil tape started running out, so a regular clear tape was used instead.
Now there is no gap between the panel and the weather stripping.
Pardon my excessive use of tape I got a bit carried away. There is really no need for it since the panels are securely attached to the stands.
Side with fans, two 80mm fans per each shelf, 3 grow shelves, only 2 used (old but looks the same):
Front view (old, will be changed):
To be updated
Additionally I purchased the cheapest blinds I could find and installed them onto the top most shelf using 4 cable ties
Front top view with 47"x64" blinds mounted
To be updated
Blinds down
To be updated
Side view blinds down
To be updated
-Since this shelf is set up in the first floor right now, previously when all the lights were on, even with my window shades down, from the outside my apartment looked like I have a space ship parked there. Something like that but from outside
For ventilation I am using 80mm PC case fans that I bought from newegg several years ago on sale. For the power supply I am using the one from a burned out router that drives the fans at 5V and can provide up to 2A of current. Each fan requires 12V and 0.18A to run at full speed but since they are voltage driven and at full speed will blow my plants away 5V is more than enough. All fans are connected in parallel to make sure that they all get the same voltage across and current is equally divided.
I did not even have to do much soldering (except connecting PSU to a fan connector ). If someone is interested I can later expand this post and show how fans were connected.
Materials
Shelf: Lowes Real Organized 74"H x 48"W x 18"D Steel Freestanding Shelving Unit - 79.97
Fixtures: 2x per shelf Utilitech 48" 2-Light Utility Fluorescent Shoplight - 4x 19.98
Lamps: 2x6500K 2x5000K per shelf of GE 2-Pack 32-Watt T8 48" Fluorescent Light Bulbs - 4x 7.67
Reflective panels: 2 of Dow 1/2" x 8' x 4' R-3.3 Polyisocyanurate Rigid Foam Insulated Sheathing - 2x 11.98
Window Blind: Basic Blindz 48"W x 64"L White Vinyl Mini Blind - 12.96
Aluminum adhesive tape: Nashua Multi-Purpose Foil Tape - 7.42
Fans: 6x 80mm - 24.47 for 6 (with shipping)
Power Supply: 6V 2A
Timer: Utilitech Digital 8-Outlet Power Strip Timer - 19.98
round weather strips: Thermwell Products 5/8 in. x 20 ft. Polyurethane Caulk Saver - 5x 3.97
Total cost: 299.21...
Update: 07Nov2011
Panels were removed. Round 5/8" weather stripping was added to line the shelves (to add the space for fixtures and isolate the shelves). Panels were remounted. Post updated. More pics added and more will be added.
Conclusion: Although this setup looks nice IMO, it takes way to much time, effort and resources to setup shelves in such a way. The better, quicker and cheaper way would be to wrap the constructed shelf using double layer mylar foil like this or this. To mount the fan, foam panel could be inserted in between the shelf stands on each shelf with fans in it.
Last edited: