I just ordered a little ceramic space heater off amazon to get the heat up in my tent as I’m seeing some slight symptoms of the low temps on my plant. I’m second guessing my purchase now though due to humidity. Current humidity has been between 55-63 or so. The heater should drop the RH some, but I don’t want to create a fire hazard just by having it in there. Anyone have advice on this?
That is definitely a concern. Space heater’s are great when needed but they pull a lot of power and definitely have a higher risk than anything in the garden. Do you have a screen shot or pic. Some are better than others and a pic could help out a lot. Cheers @grow
6 Likes
I have grown in what would be very cold conditions and it was fine. I’m too paranoid to put a heater in my tent.
And as mentioned electrical draw is a serious consideration.
9 Likes
This is the unit I picked up. I don’t have the space for something like a radiative heater, and I can’t really do a lung room type setup unfortunately. Thanks for any ideas/tips 
4 Likes
It does seem to have a lot of built-in safety features. Definitely makes this a safer unit. I would be concerned with what surface the heater would be sitting on. I would also not want to aim that directly into the garden maybe at backwall or something. Are you going to hook up to a controller? It would seem like sporadically running would be better.
2 Likes
Yeah… the little voice in my head that says ‘this is a stupid idea’ has been chirping at me. I don’t think it would be on for very long to get the heat up given my small tent size, but like… it seems like condensation on the element with that much current could be dangerous.
2 Likes
The plan was to run it on a controller that it would raise the temp to a set-point in the low 80s. I don’t have a ton of space in my tent either so that was a concern as well, picking where to point it and how to mount it properly.
2 Likes
There is heaters that are more function built for Gardens. Their cost is a lot higher than this unit. I would imagine that this unit would probably get a small amount of heat running in a short amount of time. Hopefully that’s all you would require. I would consider some kind of temporary attachment for safety. Definitely do some trial and air testing for the first week. I do think the overall temps on this are much lower than some other options and that’s probably good for your needs. Most of us have problems with the ballast for our lights heating up the garden. If your ballast is not in your tent, might wanna consider adding it. This will raise ambient with no other equipment. Probably only a few degrees though.
3 Likes
I totally forgot that I moved the LED driver outside the tent! I used to move it back and forth with the seasons but just got sick of dealing with the wires lol. I may start with that and see if it helps get the temps up some on its own. Thanks for your help!
4 Likes
I think if I slow down my Extraction fans. I probably get 4 or 5 degrees hotter from the ballast alone. Of course, this has more to do with the size of your ballast and the size of your tent.
2 Likes
It’s a tricky dance eh? I’m running an autoflower as well on 24/0 schedule so I’m running the intensity pretty low to begin with. And of course as the plant stretches I’m reducing intensity as well. Maybe it makes sense to start reducing the lights on hours and increasing the intensity to get higher daytime temps in the tent from the driver? I could adjust the exhaust down as well but I don’t want humidity to rise too much.
2 Likes
The only ones I’ve seen in a grow was called a milk house heater.
I have used the one you bought in a tent, camping in the middle of November.
I however never sleep well when camping with a heater on.
Good luck in your endeavors!!
3 Likes
I run an oil filled radiator type heater outside the tent in the lung room. Very safe design but a little big to put in a tent. I’ve had mine going for 7 years without issue.
10 Likes
500W is a lot of heat.
How are you planning on controlling that?
Something I used to do back when I was making wine for the family (I was working in a basement that got cold in the winter) was ‘tent’ over the glass secondaries with a plastic drop sheet and place a USB powered coffee warmer in the tent.
It added enough warmth to keep the yeast happy and productive.
Cheers
G
6 Likes
If it were me, I would add an Inkbird controller to turn the unit on and off as needed.
5 Likes
Grab a used old school light, two birds gettin stoned
3 Likes
I have one of those controllers for heat mats, rated up to 8A or 1000W. I actually cancelled the order for the heater after thinking a bit and seeing the replies. It’s definitely a risk putting a heater in that confined space, with the humidity, especially considering the tent is already in a closet. Just too many no-no ideas for me to ignore I think. I looked a bit harder at the symptoms I’m seeing and I think it’s actually just a slight/early magnesium deficiency. I amended the soil with Mg early in the grow, but because of the way I did it it’s slower release, and I definitely erred on the safe side with my dosage. I just watered in a few grams to see how she reacts so fingers crossed that does the trick. I’m still planning to move the driver into the tent, but I’ll need to de-dust it first and make sure there’s space for it inside the tent.
5 Likes
I use one of these on a inkbird controller in winter does alright just don’t leave ya mushroom bag sitting against it whoops lol
1 Like
I ran a space heater a few times. I put smoke alarms in the tent. Ran it off and on no more than 15 minutes on low heat. It is nerve racking. I don’t really recommend it. You could try cycling in new air less often or running an HPS system, covering the grow tent with blankets to insulate and putting rugs under the tent.
3 Likes