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Beer Cooler Technology for HL Nepenthes

So I was thinking of how I wanted to build my new HL Nepenthes chambers and I came upon the idea of getting some 4 ft x 8 ft sheets of 2" thick insulation foam (very sturdy) and building a box from that leaving the tops and fronts open so I can add sliding glass doors and glass over the top. The foam can be glued with waterproof Amazing Goop to make it water tight and a permanent bond at the joins.

The whole structure could be sprayed white with Krylon Fusion to mask the material on the outside and add reflectivity to the inside. The air input holes can be cut with a hole saw drill bit easily enough.

So... I think my idea is sound but I'm sure I may be overlooking something. Does anyone have any input as to why I shouldn't try building a HL chamber from the closed cell pink panther foam from HD?
 
I can imagine it would get pretty warm in there. What lights will you be using? And depending on the fans you use you could lose all your humidity from that..
 
put an ajustable speed fan at top with an air supply vent at the bottom, with the adjustable fan you can hopefully find a happy median.
 
Actually the cool air is coming in from the window and then humidified with an ultrasonic humidifier (humidistat set at 80% RH) then going into the tank. Not trying to blow warmed air out of the chamber. Ideally incoming air 24/7 keeps it from ever getting warm to begin with. My old succulent shelf had an air duct that was similar to what I did previously for my HL chamber (minus the humidifier & humidistat) see the succulent air duct here.

The T5 HO lamps will be located outside the box with a fan cooling the space between the lids and the bulbs. It will essentially be the same as my old HL chamber which was made with 2 x 2 lumber frame and fiberglass tub surround paneling which served me well for years. I'm just interested in trying this foam as a new lightweight building material.
 
Wouldn't the Krylon paint dissolve the foam?
 
Aye indeed it does Monkey! I tested with some scrap pink foam and a quick blast of blue Krylon I found in the pantry.

Would have to try and acquire white foam, though I don't think it's closed cell. I think the white stuff is generally the old fashioned open cell "beady" Styrofoam - I hate that stuff!
 
Hey sweet that's exactly what I'm thinking of! Thanks for the link!

I went out looking tonight and found that Home Depot does sell the foil sided foam so I thought that would be nice to get some reflectivity inside the box and not have to use that beady white foam. Unless painted it never seems to stop loosing beads. Now I have to decide if I want to use 1/2" thick or 1" thick but hell for $15 for foam and $30 for glass panes I think it's worth an experiment anyway!
 
Well then, I've got the first attempt at a foam terrarium put together here ( 4 ft L x 2 ft W x 2ft H)
foamtank1.jpg


I still have to re-silicone the interior seams to ensure water tightness, cut the hole for the 90* duct elbow to bring in the cool humidified air and paint the front edges with white acrylic paint to make it a little nicer looking I don't know how this foil covered foam material will work out in 80-90% humidity and daily spraying long term. The foil seems very thin and flimsy less durable than tinfoil. It was only $16 for a 8 ft x 4 ft sheet big enough to build the tank, $10 worth of Amazing Goop glue, $32 for the front and top glass panes and around $4 for the sliding glass track. If this type of foam material doesn't work out I can reuse the glass on another tank of similar dimensions & front opening and only loose $30 in foam, plastic track and glue.
 
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