Hi there - I’m the midst of getting back to growing… been about 20 years!
I’m doing a small scale grow - 36” x 24” tent in a cabinet I’m building (48” x 30” x 82”).
No issues with lighting or ventilation - my biggest issue is how to safely heat the tent to maintain 18C minimum in winter.
The cabinet is located in my unheated garage - which concievable will see consistent -10-15c temps in the winter.
I’ll be using an HPS lamp so heat will be there during lights on (likely sufficient to maintain proper temps), however at lights off I’ll need a safe constant source of heat.
I’ve looked at various resistive heat options and am fairly certain my best course of action will be a baseboard heater (maybe 500w) mounted vertically. While not a fast source of heat it is safe from a clearances perspective as typically most high intensity fan driven heat needs 3’ of clearance in front of it.
Just wanted to bend some ears in this community - seems like a pretty inventive lot hang out here and I’d love to hear opinions!
Hi bro, you can get those tube heaters you clamp to a piece of wood that nowadays can also come with an inbuilt thermostat. In your case though you’d need quite a few of them eh. You can also maybe run your extraction on a timer so the heat get’s a chance to build up a bit. Insulation under the tent can help big time too, even cardboard works well if nothing else is around but you probably know this stuff already. Good luck with the grow
I think I know the heaters you mention - will have to give them a look.
Cab will be insulated with 1” styrofoam on all sides and elevated off the concrete floor. I have an inkbird stc-308 for heating and cooling control so good there.
I am in Missouri. I am growing in a open air ventilated attic. I use a box fan combined with a space heater that is 20$. I can achieve 80 degrees with the leds on. 60 degrees off. That’s when its 30 outside. Its 73 max when its below 15 degrees with lights on but I am researching innovative ways to insulate.
I think the baseboard heater - with a small circulating fan - will work great. I might be tempted to add another 1" of insulation, but you have to balance that with getting rid of the heat when the lights are on.
Pretty far. I was in your shoes about 4 months ago. Starting up from a break of well over a decade. Had two runs of autos so far and they have not disappointed. Some are better than others. Look in my profile for a crop king autos grow log if you feel like it.
I am facing some cold considerations too. Also north of 49 but in the frase valley of BC so not so cold, maybe 0 to -5C. I have two separate ventilation systems. One is for the air cooled hoods, on thermostats, and the other one is a really slow air exchange, maybe one volume of each space every 5 minutes, for fresh air. The temps are pretty good during lights on. During lights off it would take at least the same power to keep the temps, so I let them drop to 16C.
When it gets colder, I will probably shut off the air exchange fan during lights off, but if the humidity gets too high will need to run a dehumidifier. Which would also heat a little bit.
There is no super-easy way to grow in a garage in Canada, unless you got the whole thing lit up.
Man bot try a radiant heater there thermostat controlled and has 2 selections 300 watt or 800 and use minimal power once heated up! Under a hundred bucks worth a try
Dog heat mat. Ya gota keep in mind in that kinda environment you’ll be able to heat the air but the ground will still be cold af. Or lift the plants up on milk crates and make sure warm air gets under
I really like the idea of running autos through winter so that’s what i’m doing this year. The shorter dark period means less additional heating and the plants spend less time in the dark with the usual high humidity issues
… electric blanket over the tent? might be unsafe 
dunno
