How to Choose the Right Size Fan for Your Grow
As an indoor grower, one thing you should never forget is the ventilation of your grow room. Many indoor growers fail to appreciate the importance of proper ventilation for their crops, resulting in poor returns for their hard work.
Whether you’re using a grow tent, cabinet room, or any other form of grow room, maintaining a stable environment is the surest way to reap big rewards and avoid things like mold or mildew that can ruin your entire crop.
Do I need to use an oscillating fan in my grow tent?
Certainly. Such a fan will keep the air circulating inside the tent, giving your plants a healthy environment to germinate, grow and bloom.
Fans also prevent the air inside the tent from getting too hot and stale. When the carbon dioxide level in the tent is too high, plants may become unsuitable to grow. Additionally, the extremely hot and humid conditions inside tents are detrimental to plants.
Therefore, electric fans must be installed in the planting tent to keep the environment cool and dry.
Features:
The ECO Farm fan’s reliable metal gear construction allows for silent operation. 18" diameter tough break resistant fan blade with 3 speed motor and 3 mode settings; extreme swing angle of 90 degrees. The most reliable maintenance-free wall fan on the market. Program precise fan motion patterns to suit any application. Lower noise than traditional inline fans. Ideal for homes, greenhouses, garages, workshops and other areas where a heavy duty portable vertical fan can be used. It is suitable for homes, greenhouses, garages, workshops and other areas with limited floor space.
AC Infinity Cloudray A6 Circulation EC Fan
Features:
The newly designed next-generation clip-on fan provides precise air circulation for all stages of plant growth. Utilize the cutting-edge EC motor with PWM control to access a wide range of fan speeds, from breeze to powerful airflow. Designed with an EC motor to provide precise air circulation for all stages of plant growth. Numerous 10 speeds, from gentle breeze for seedlings to strong airflow for flowering. The IP-44 rating is designed for use in growing environments and resists high humidity and heat.
Secret Jardin Monkey Fan 16W 7.5'’
Features:
Secret Jardin Monkey Fans are great for airflow and are resistant to the humid environment your grow room provides. This pole-mounted fan is designed for grow tents and rooms, making this clip-on fan ideal for moving air without taking up the space you need. The fan blades are surrounded by a metal grid that’s too small to reach with fingers. This Monkey Fan is designed for tents with pole lengths of 0.63–0.83 inches as well as PVC (commonly used to stretch lattice on canopies).
How to choose the right size fan for your grow
There are grow rooms of various sizes, each requiring a different amount of airflow for ventilation.
Exchanging the stale air inside with fresh air from outside the growing space is essential for optimal plant growth. This number is measured in CFM, or cubic feet per minute. Therefore, most units sold should clearly state what CFM they are designed to flow.
To find the amount of airflow your grow space needs, first find its volume in cubic feet. Multiply its length by its width and height. This will equal the volume of your grow space, and the required airflow will be equal to this number (in cubic feet per minute, or CFM).
Adding components such as ducting and carbon filters will reduce fan performance in your grow space, affecting the fan size you need.
In the case of ducting, the number and sharpness of its bends affects airflow resistance. This is because airflow reduces the farther it has to travel, so the straighter the pipe, the better.
The sharper the bend, the more efficiency drops; a 30° bend reduces airflow by 20%, while a 90° bend reduces airflow by 60%! Smoothing out any creases will also improve fan performance and airflow.
Conclusion
Oscillating fans are an excellent tool for all growers. Don’t overlook that you need air circulation within the tent, it is a crucial part to improving your grow.
Increasing circulation above your canopy will help you control temperatures — although this is no cure for high temperatures. Why oscillating fans are great is that they also oscillate so they cover more area than other types of fans. There are lots of fans on the market, though, and almost all of them will help your system, not just oscillating fans!
