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I bought this for my basement-

I bought this for my basement-
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For anyone living in northern Illinois, we have a discount store called HOBO and I picked this up for $69.99.  I will need to assemble it.

I've been shopping for plants and I did actually buy quite a few and I have one more order to place. Most will be sent to me this spring but some may come too early so I needed a place for them where I could keep the humidity high and the cats out.

I was going to buy a cool air vaporizer for this little space and set it to low. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

There will be space to add oscillating fans.

I have already made one major mistake. I purchased 6 shop lights for this that were 4' long. If you look at the dimensions on the box, I should have purchased 3' shop lights. Oops.  

I have a metal halide to hang from the center support.  

Any suggestions?  I've got a few months before plants start coming.
 
Metal Hallide? Well, you won't be hurting for heat, that's for sure.
 
Make sure its vented and not too hot and humid! Hot and warm moist air could cause the bulb to shatter. Super warm surface plus cool, moist air equals bang!
 
Yeah, that does sound a little intense to me... why not just put the shop lights along the 60' dimension? You could stagger them to even out the distribution of light. And if you want it brighter, you could always add reflectors. If you're keen on the metal halide, maybe it would be good to put it outside of the greenhouse itself, so it doesn't contribute as much heat.
However, I'm still jealous.
~Joe
 
The shop lights I bought were 48" not 60", I've got the receipt and will return them. Placing them lengthwise as opposed to underneath each shelf would create sort of an access problem for me to water plants and such so probably best to just go back and try to find 36" shop lights and bulbs.  Do they exist?  Hope so.  I've got a few months before orders start shipping.  

So....... what do I do with that nice metal halide I made my husband pick up that I told him I just had to have?  Sounds as if I don't need it. Shhh, what he doesn't know won't hurt him.  I suspect I will find some use for it sooner or later so I'll set it aside for germinating seed next year. I already have plans for buying a round kiddie pool for the basement and I could hang that little halide over the top of that and it most certainly would warm things up!
 
Ah, I was thinking you'd be mounting the lights on top of the whole structure, not shelf-by-shelf... As for the halide, just hang it above or behind the greenhouse, a few inches away so it doesn't heat the plastic too much. And yeah, they do have 3' shoplights. They aren't as easy to find as 2' or 4' models, but I know they're readily available online.
~Joe
 
I was thinking of buying something similar, and setting it up in my garage. One question, would the high humidity be a problem for fluorescent shoplights? Could it be a fire danger (water and electricity) or are we only looking at decreased life to the fixture due to corosion?
 
Speaking of vaporizer, while at Home Depot, a husband and wife came up to my cashier station to check out.The wife asked me if we sold vaprizers. Totally deadpan, I asked, "Is this for producing humidity or eliminating humans?" She had a blank stare, but her husband cracked a smile.
 
I would have been the wife with the blank stare.  My husband always accuses me of being brain dead.  That would have gone right over the top of my head as I would have been thinking... poor man, must be in need of a break.

Hi brisco, consider a cool air humidifier. They have small models where the output is adjustable. Just use distilled water.  I'd be more concerned about fungus at high humidity levels than I would the risk of fire.
 
  • #10
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Jim, you should have told them which aisles both were on just for future reference.
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  • #11
[b said:
Quote[/b] (jimscott @ Jan. 29 2005,8:39)]Speaking of vaporizer, while at Home Depot, a husband and wife came up to my cashier station to check out.The wife asked me if we sold vaprizers. Totally deadpan, I asked, "Is this for producing humidity or eliminating humans?" She had a blank stare, but her husband cracked a smile.
smile_n_32.gif
 
  • #12
Hey Jim can I get some of them vaporizers?? lol

You can get 3' fluorescent fixtures but they are not common and both the fixtures and bulbs are expensive. It would be easier to place 2 - 2' fixtures side by side but staggered to cover the whole 3'

How many watts is the metal halide? Placing it outside above the structure would probably light the top shelves nicely. Could also look into some compact fluorescent bulbs inside some clipon incandescent reflector units.. 2 lighting each shelf.
Tony
 
  • #13
Hi Tony! I found the 3' fixtures but they are $23 a piece. I have a need for 6.  If I can find 12 of the 2' fixtures and overlap them for less than $138 I just might do that and besides which, it would be more light.  The 4' fixtures I picked up were only $8 a piece.  Ugh, too good to be true and shame they were a foot too long.  And, the 3' bulbs are considerably more expensive just like you said. Looks as if my basement bargain wasn't really a bargain.

Specifically what do you mean by this, "Could also look into some compact fluorescent bulbs inside some clipon incandescent reflector units.. 2 lighting each shelf"? Can I just go to Home Depot and ask for these items and any guy in the department will be able to show me what they are?  

The metal halide is 400 watts.  It isn't as large as the other one I have so I thought it would be ok in there. It will be fine for next year to hang over a kiddie pool to germinate seed in so the money isn't wasted.
 
  • #14
I think it would be a good idea to hang the metal halide over the structure. Less chance of it coming into contact with high humidity.
 
  • #15
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Tony Paroubek @ Jan. 30 2005,12:01)]Hey Jim can I get some of them vaporizers?? lol
Comic relief interlude: Um... which kind are you looking for?
smile_k_ani_32.gif
 
  • #16
Silly you Jim! Tony must have children like us. He wants the kind that vaproizes children!
 
  • #17
Oy vey!
 
  • #18
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  • #19
Looks like Steve wants one of dem dare extra special vaporizers too!
 
  • #20
you're going to want to mount a halide alittle more then "a few inches" away. More like 1 to 3 feet depending on the wattage of the MH.
 
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