Should I Use an Inline Carbon Filter for Grow Room or Not?
It’s common sense that plants inside the grow room need grow lights to survive and flourish, but have you put as much thought into the air circulation? The truth is - your plants also need great ventilation to exchange the air inside and outside. Otherwise, you are likely to face horrible odor in the grow tent.
Luckily for all growers, an inline fan with carbon filter could be an effective and easy combo to achieve great air circulation for your grow tent. In the following article, we’re going to take a closer look at inline fans, and carbon filters, and see if they really work in the grow room.
Table of Contents
What Is an Inline Carbon Filter
An inline carbon filter, generally paired with inline fans, is a crucial component in grow tent setups that are used to control and eliminate odors produced by plants, especially aromatic plants. Without an inline fan spinning, it’s barely possible to get the carbon filters to work and get rid of the stink odors. That’s why you can often see inline fans equipped with carbon filters while browning through accessories from Spider Farmer.
How Carbon Filter for Grow Tent Works
In case you are wondering how this whole thing processes, here it is. Activated carbon filters consist of small bits of carbon, usually in granular or powdered block form, which have been treated to be extremely porous. This treatment increases their surface area, allowing them to adsorb a vast amount of compounds from the air passing through.
As the air is drawn through the carbon filter by an inline fan, organic compounds, and odors bind to the surface of the carbon particles, thereby cleaning the air of these contaminants. That’s how an inline fan with carbon filters helps keep your grow tents odor-free.
5 Reasons You Should Use a Carbon Filter for Grow Tent
If you are still keeping it doubt, here are 5 reasons why inline fans with carbon filters are essential for any serious grow operation:
Improved Air Quality: The air isn't always as clean as you might believe. Carbon filters play a pivotal role in screening out contaminants before they reach your plants. While the aroma of growing plants can be pleasant at times, most people prefer not to have their homes smelling like a full-fledged grow operation. Inline fans paired with carbon filters can significantly reduce or even eliminate these odors.
Better Air Circulation: As a big part of the grow room ventilation system, the inline fans with carbon filters for the grow room ensure fresh air is continually introduced while stale air is expelled, promoting a healthy growing environment.
Temperature Control: Lights generate heat. While a moderate amount of heat in your grow room can be beneficial, excessive heat can harm your plants. An inline fan combined with a filtration system offers effective temperature regulation. For comprehensive grow room temp and humidity management, check this guide: What Is the Ideal Grow Room Temp & Humidity for Indoor Plants
Humidity Control: Excessive humidity can lead to mold, while insufficient humidity can result in dry and withering plants. Whether you want to increase the grow room humidity or decrease the humidity, an inline fan helps regulate and balance the humidity in your grow room.
Maintaining Optimal CO2 Levels: CO2 can enhance plant growth and boost yields during specific stages of plant growth. An efficient circulation system aids in sustaining ideal CO2 concentrations.
Choose the Right Carbon Filter for Your Grow Room
Before making the purchase, you should first understand the CFM. By calculating your CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute), you get to know the volume of air your grow space encompasses and the requisite airflow for peak plant health. Here's a step-by-step guide to determining your CFM:
- Grow Room Volume: Measure the length, width, and height of your grow room and multiply these dimensions. The result gives you your foundational CFM.
- Ducting Curves: Bends in ducting can restrict airflow. For each 90° curve in your system, enhance your CFM calculation by an additional 20%.
- Air Flow Circulation: Superior inline fans are designed to refresh all the air in your grow space roughly every minute, though this can vary based on room size.
- Carbon Filters: Every carbon filter introduced can impact airflow. Therefore, increase your CFM by 25% for each filter you incorporate.
- Insulation: Stellar insulation can retain desired conditions efficiently. If your grow room is well-insulated, there's no need to adjust the CFM based on this factor.
- Heat and Light: High-powered lights generate heat. For every 1000W of light in your setup, bolster your CFM by 10%.
Let’s showcase an example here. Say, if you are having a 4x4 grow tent with a 1000W LED grow light. By adding all these factors together:
- Base CFM = 104
- Ducting Curves = 42
- Carbon Filter = 26
- Heat and Light = 10
- Total CFM = 182
You’ll need an inline fan with at least 182 CFM carbon filter for the grow room. What are the best picks in the market?
Manage Grow Room Airflow with Spider Farmer
Spider Farmer has long been recognized as a leader in indoor gardening solutions, and their ventilation products are no exception. Take, for example, their Spider Farmer 6 Inch 402 CFM Inline Duct Fan.
This kit is meticulously designed to meet the high standards of contemporary growers. It boasts a powerful inline duct fan that can move up to 402 CFM of air, coupled with a temperature and humidity controller, ensuring your grow room environment remains stable. The included carbon filter ensures clean, odor-free air, while the 32 feet of ducting provides flexibility in setup.
Similarly, the 4-inch 205CFM Inline Fan with Carbon Filter offers a more compact solution without compromising on efficiency. Perfect for smaller grow tents, these kits bring together the best in ventilation technology, ensuring that even in reduced spaces, your plants receive the optimal environment for growth.
It’s worth mentioning that all carbon filters require a periodical replacement, as they can get really messy after times of use. To save you effort, Spider Farmer also prepares individual carbon filters that can be refilled anytime you want. Check the inline fans with carbon filters in the carousel below and add one or two to your cart!
Spider Farmer 4 Inch/6 Inch Air Carbon Filter Odor Control for Inline Ducting Fan
Spider Farmer® 6-Inch 402 CFM Inline Fan Kits with Speed Controller, Carbon Filter & Ducting Combo
Spider Farmer® 6-Inch Inline Fan Kits 402CFM with Smart Controller Carbon Filter & Ducting Combo
Spider Farmer®4-Inch 205CFM Inline Fan with Smart Controller, Carbon Filter & Ducting Combo
Conclusion
So, let’s get back to the topic - does the carbon filter for grow room really work? Absolutely! Inline fans paired with carbon filters emerge as an essential duo to ensure the air your plants breathe is fresh, free from contaminants, and has the right balance of temperature and humidity. With renowned brands like Spider Farmer offering top-tier ventilation solutions, equipping your grow space with the best tools has never been easier.
FAQs about Carbon Filter for Grow Tent
- Should the carbon filter be in or out of the grow tent?
Most growers prefer to place the carbon filter inside the grow tent. Having the filter inside ensures that the air being pulled by the fan passes through the filter first, capturing odors and contaminants before they exit the tent. What’s more, it makes use of the vertical space within the tent, which might otherwise go unused.
- Can I use a grow tent without a carbon filter?
Yes, you can use a grow tent without a carbon filter, but the strong odors that plants produce can make you suffer, especially during the flowering stage. The air quality is also an issue. However, if the odor and air quality aren't major concerns for you, or if you have other means of addressing them, then you might opt to run your grow tent without a carbon filter.
- How long does a carbon filter last in a grow tent?
If you have a high frequency of use, the carbon filter loses its potency after 3 months in general. However, the actual lifespan of a carbon filter depends on various factors such as the quality of the filter, the frequency of use, the level of contaminants in the air, and the environment outside the tent.
Interesting facts. Had no idea!
I have the Sf-4000 and the SE-3000 LED lights and i absolutely love them! Would love to add another to the set up! One love to all! Happy holidays!
Can’t wait to upgrade to an actual inline fan from multiple fans and venting by opening my tent but hey we all start somewhere right! Lol converting from open rooms to tents is the most interesting and fun process but it’s been step by step investments. If I could go back this would have been the initial knowing what I know now
I just purchased a full 3×3 kit with fan and SE3000 a few months ago. I have tried without all this stuff years ago and there is no comparison. I was fortunate to be able to get the whole setup at once. It was hard to put out the initial investment but It’s been worth it. Just work on adding what you can when you can. Even purchasing the full kit, I was still shocked at all the little extra things I’ve needed/wanted along the way that I never really considered. You always want more. Now that I am setup pretty good I’m still always wanting to add something else to make the process more turnkey/automated to save time and energy. Even small chores like watering are more work than you think they are.
Just don’t forget that you still need (depend on the size of the tent) at least one and probably 2 circulation fans. I raise orchids and it’s necessary to make sure they get strong breezes. But circulation and ventilation are two different things. Ventilation removes stale air and brings in fresh air necessary for photosynthesis. Circulation keeps leaves moving to help prevent burning, keeps spores from settling and for many plants they require strong breezes to help them stay strong. For orchids plants like vanda they really prefer to be kept slight movement, in fact most orchids want their leaves kept moving mimicking jungle environments high up in the trees. Lower to the ground they dint get as much air movement but high up where many orchids grow, they get lots of air. Even those that grow on rocks on mountains, they get lots of air flowing over them.
Thanks for your help. Rose!
Happy Easter love Boobaru22
I would like to try a tent!
I would only use a carbon filter if I lived in a Urban area.
Thanks
They work great once the temps go up!
Sweet fan!
Spider Farms SF1000 light does wonders and I really thought inline fans and carbon filters were just extras till now
Spider Farmer Lights are awesome hoping the tent will be just as good!
This is an absolute must for any tent!! The digital controller will change your life and leave you wondering why you didn’t buy it sooner!!
Once I added inline fan, my temps and humidity were easy to control.
now i want one, very cool
now i want one, very nice
Very good read.
Happy easter everyone
Every peoduxt used from spiderfarner as been great.
Happy Easter Spider Farmily!
I have the temp/humidity inline fan with a carbon filter as my exhaust, and a speed controlled inline fan with carbon filter to push clean air in.
Unzipping the tent makes it obvious the carbon filters do a great job removing odours.
I would be happy with using just speed controlled fans as I find I get the environmental options I’m after using just the speed settings.
Either fan is an improvement over a “dumb” fan.
I’m hoping my growing prowess is up to making the best use of the SF setup I have, a
2×4 tent with the sf 2000.
Happy growing all.
Very good read on the inline fans thank you for the knowledge.
Can the grow tent be placed in a small closet? With inlune fan.
Of course, the grow tent can be placed in the closet
Absolutely!! Designed for stealth or to show off, depending on your style! Happy Growing!!
Best light for a 2by4 tent for personal enjoyment