Greenhouse cooling (misters are my idea at the moment)

What’s the difference between this one and the one I posted? I can’t figure it out lol

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This is a swamp cooler, squirrel wheel inside with a motor and belt hooked to it and a water pump the keeps a constant flow of water to the Aspen pads on the 3 sides of air intake


Intake is on bottom back of greenhouse and exhaust is a small 1x2 panel I left out the top so the forced air shoves up and out. It can be 115 out and the plants aren’t even bothered.

Helps to get a good early start on the season in a hot summer area so the plants can get a nice canopy of leaves to shade the roots by the time the heat comes. If you get a late start and need root protection I’d highly suggest these

Don’t do misters, that raw water droplets just gonna put ur plants and structure at risk for mold and rot, swamp cooler adds the needed moisture and in a dry hot area can drop temps 20-30 degrees, the big thing with having the greenhouse effect is having that heavy exchange of fresh cooler air forcing the heat out

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Honestly I’m too stoned to parse the specs against each other but one seems like it does more and is newer? IDK but I think you posted the better one and it does heating and cooling instead of just two heating plugs? One of them has a wider environmental operating range

@AzSeaindooin420 seems like that would work great…. But I don’t have any of that stuff or know how to assemble it. Seems like a box with three evaporator pads…. Vents to attach them to… a motorized fan…. Water pump…. Something to get the water from the pump to the pads semi evenly….

Basically this? I’d need to acquire all the parts and that sounds expensive lol. But may work towards that. Not sure I’ll be able to accomplish that this year :confused:

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All you have to do is wet a filter pad on your air inlet. Certainly doesn’t have to be complicated, any more than your mister setup.

Look at the Portacool. Same concept, simpler implementation.

You can literally spray water on a cooler pad, and have your inlet air forces through it

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I guess where I’m not clear on this is …… 1. how do I wet the pad. I’m not home for the vast majority of the hottest part of the day. 2. Does it lower air intake volume? 3. Will pads be getting clogged with dirt and bugs or whatever?

I’m totally open to the idea, just not confident on implementing it :grin: I basically thought of the mister/flogger idea based on the cooling effects I’ve noticed in various outdoor venues that have used it, so seemed pretty cheap and easy. But if the pad idea works until I can build an actual swamp cooler I’m very interested.

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@Ghgrower check out this video on a DIY greenhouse cooling pad.

There are many videos for cooling pads, this is one I just happened to watch a couple months ago.

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You can wet the pad with your mister setup - and get rid of the primary risk of directly wetting your plants.

You are looking for evaporative cooler pads, google them. They are often made of wood strings, plastic fabric mesh or cardboard. Normally, they are pumped with circulating water from a reservoir, but you could just spray them with your mister when you need cooling action.

Here’s the least invasive way to implement this if I understand your setup, pardon my ‘I was held back in kindergarten’ diagram

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@FieldEffect here is my inlet setup.

It’s in a “main walkway” so wouldn’t want it too bulky but willing to have it be a little inconvenient lol

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What’s your exhaust setup look like? If you have the capability to pull negative pressure in the greenhouse the “pads” would just go on the inlets and get sprayed by water.

I like the solution presented in the video @Kgrim posted

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I plan on watching video later tonight when I can focus on it…… have grandkids running all over right now lol

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Watering hose storage right now lol

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I think you’d be fine introducing the cooler pads on those inlets.

The cooler pads are optimized for minimal air restriction but maximum water-air contact area.

Love your build BTW, I’d like to make my own someday. It’s hot here so I’d design the entire exhaust setup around a commercial swamp cooler or a homebrew equivalent using a master cool cardboard pad.

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I think I may in future convert to a swamp cooler setup. Just not sure my budget this year can handle it. I’m tearing down a garage and putting up a pole barn plus new furnace and central air. Lol so a lot on my plate this year.

So…. Use the same setup as I was planning already…. Just move the misters to wet the pads based on temp in the GH… gets too hot, soak the pads… …

Can I “over wet” the pads?

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You can’t really over-wet them, no. It would just saturate the pads and run off the bottom. Normally there’s a hose streaming water over them to keep them saturated, that’s all an evaporative (aka swamp) cooler is. You are effectively turning your greenhouse into the interior of one.

The real deal is just a support for those pads with a recirculating reservoir to conserve the drainage and ensure pad saturation. Usually dead simple, $20 water pump and some hoses to the top of the pads, squirrel cage air blower and a float valve so you only consume the water that gets evaporated. The technology is as simple as it gets, but it works :slightly_smiling_face:

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I guess now my only problem is…. If I’m using my inlet vents, they are so low that I don’t know what kind of reservoir I’d be able to use… there’s not much room under the inlets.

Nah, don’t over complicate it and look on the used market, very common people pull good units down from their homes in an upgrade to central air, I got mine for 75 bucks complete and put new pads($6 each x 3) also put in a new water pump for 40 and a new belt for 7 bucks, motor is most expensive at 100 so make sure that works above all when shopping used,

The water line spool is less than 10 and there’s and adapter that u can get for 10 that let’s u hook onto the water line and still have a normal hose outlet, parts are cheap for these things

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@AzSeaindooin420 im sure I’m over complicating it lol :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: but just unfamiliar so just asking questions lol

The big benefit to these units I should add isn’t just cooling the space, it’s the forced air shoving the greenhouse heat out and an assload of fresh air exchange, the plants absolutely love and thrive from it, ur not just blowing around the same stagnant air, ur getting the good(ish) stuff from mother earth

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