What Is A Carbon Filter and How Does It Work for Grow Room?

Growing cannabis indoors accompanies an enormous amount of benefits. You will have full control over temperature, humidity, water, and lighting. Adding Carbon Filters for grow rooms will you one more advantage.

Such control over your growing space will empower you to maintain your plant health, get better yields, and keep bacteria and other harmful components at bay.

Notwithstanding, growing indoors comes with its own sets of drawbacks, as well. Things can get super smelly. You may become acclimated to the charming odor, just to be reminded of the intensity of the terpenes while having visitors over. While uncovering loved ones to the aroma of cannabis probably won’t be an issue, nosey neighbors can be a bit of a bummer.

You can keep your indoor growing activity fully concealed by removing the skunky smells from the place. One of the ways you can do it is by investing in a carbon filter. You must be wondering what a carbon filter is and how it helps in avoiding this issue. Well, we are here to help you out with it.

What is a carbon filter?

carbon filters for grow room

Carbon filters play a significant part in any indoor growing area. Besides growing tents, these tools are also found in air conditioners and heaters, where they help to catch pollutants while allowing the clean air to go through.

With regards to growing cannabis, the “toxins” in the discussion are fragrant terpenes. Even though these atoms decide the taste and impacts of the weed, they also release a powerful smell!

These filters include layers of activated carbon, a type of carbon treated to feature tiny, low-volume pores. These tiny openings limitlessly increase the surface area of the filter, which gives them more space for compound responses and filtration to happen.

What are the benefits of using carbon filters for grow rooms?

A few of the many benefits of carbon filters are discussed below.

Controls Odor

A carbon filter works effectively in clearing the contaminants to present all around, and this is very useful if you have a grow room. With the use of a carbon filter, it becomes a lot easier to manage the smell in your grow room.

Growing plants in your room would likewise imply that you need to use composts, pesticides, and supplements. These things are important for the growth of your plants indoors.

Be that as it may, it could also make the foul smells circle through the air inside your room. Whenever left unabated, this foul smell can turn out to be very strong, enough to spread toxins through the air.

A carbon filter is made of “active” carbon. This is the kind of carbon that is oxygen-treated. Since it comprises of very permeable charcoal that lets air go through it, the odor is also trapped. Accordingly, that foul smell can not escape since the carbon filter is fit for retaining most of the smell.

Ozone retention

Ozone is the fundamental contributor to the smog that is predominant in cities. On the off chance that you have plants in your room, ozone can also cause damage to it.

Having a lot of ozone is not recommended for your plants also. Shockingly, ozone build-up can happen so quickly, particularly if you have plants inside. Accordingly, the need to have a carbon filter indoors is high.

Wipes out Airborne Pathogens

It is also significant for the process involved with removing the chemicals, compounds, and airborne bacteria that are known to either cause hindered growth in your plants or kill them.

The ventilation provided via carbon air filters will help in removing the airborne pathogens from your grow room. Hence, your plants’ health will not be affected.

Helps in ventilation

If your air carbon filter also comes with a fan, it will keep your plants well ventilated. If you have a DIY Carbon Filter, you might have to install it with a fan.

The plenitude of airflow is also useful in controlling the temperature of the prompt environment of the plants. It is also great for the improvement of the air quality too.

Great ventilation is vital for growing rooms since it allows more cool and natural air to come in while keeping warm air out.

Having a carbon air filter in your grow room will increase your odds of getting high-quality yields. In any case, remember that the nature of your plants will also rely upon numerous different factors, for example, the compost being used and the nature of your seedlings.

In any case, when you have a carbon air filter, you will be one step ahead towards getting great quality plants.

Kinds of Carbon Filters for Grow Room

Air filtration in grow tents can be possible in different ways. With respect to growing tent sizes, the number of plants, ventilation systems, and budget, the choice of grow tent filters is made.

For grow rooms, we can segregate air filters as indicated by a couple of viewpoints:

  • Filtration medium
  • Fan-filter combo
  • Width of filters

Let us discuss this in a bit more detail.

As Per Filtering Medium:

Carbon Air Filter

Generally helpful and most effective grow room air filters are made of carbon beds—activated carbon filter beds, to be precise.

For making the filters inside, charcoal is chemically and thermally treated and converted into activated carbon.

One of the properties of activated carbon is that they contain a lot of pores. Resultantly, the surface area reaches out to 2000-4000 m2 in every gram of activated carbon to draw dust and malodorous particles onto it.

Non-Carbon Air Filter

There are a couple of different filters where non-carbon parts like particulate cabin air filters are used, all things being equal. Even though carbon filters are more expensive than this, particulate cabin filters are less effective.

For example, particulate cabin air filters can remove the residue control, as it were. Yet, activated carbon filters take all that particulate filters do, just like the smell and exhaust fumes.

In case you do not have the space to get a carbon filter, you might have a go at putting the carbon filter outside of it.

As Per Filter-Fan Combination

Carbon Filters Only

These are very similar to solo carbon filters that you might want to have as a replacement for your present ones.

While getting such performance filters for your system, remember to coordinate with the CFM rating, the sizes, the flanges, and the dimensions (both length and measurement).

Be that as it may, make a point to get a model with a pre-filter equipped with it.

Carbon Filter-Fan Combo

For most growers, a filter-fan combo is an ideal choice. The adjustment and installment require an insignificant effort, as the fan and the filter are meant to be equipped with each other.

With many models, there are speed regulator devices and rope holders with the fan-filter pair. You can consider such combos as the 360-degree ventilation is a solution for any grow system.

With Respect To Diameter

4″ Carbon Filters

Four inches carbon filters are with the tiniest opening size. They come with CFM ratings of around 150-250 CFM. Also, such filters are great for 4×4, 4×7, or 4×8 tents, where you can grow 4-6 plants (ScrOG style).

6″ Carbon Filters

Carbon filters with a 6″ diameter can extract air at around 400CFM rate. At the point when you need to equip just a single carbon filet in your 8×8 or 10×8 grow room, this is the one that you must go for.

8″ Carbon Filters

Eight inches filters are more appropriate for grow rooms instead of small or medium-sized grow tents. They come with a CFM rating of around 600-700 CFM, and they can be very suitable for grow rooms of 12×12 size.

10″ Carbon Filters

10″ carbon filters are the bigger adaptations of 8″ models. Given an air extraction speed of 1100-1200 CFM, growers are bound to adhere to these models.

12″ Carbon Filters

This is the biggest sort of carbon filter of all. Usually, when you need super-effective air extraction at a rate of 1400+ CFM, these are the ones you need to go for.

How Does A Carbon Filter Work in A Grow Room?

Carbon filters are impressive combaters with regards to battling allergens, bacteria, toxins, and smells.

Be that as it may, how do they work?

Indeed, as the name states, there are layers of activated carbon beds (charcoal) in every carbon filter. The carbon particles give a surface area that is loaded with pores. Every gram of activated carbon has 3000 m2 of such surface.

This process is done by infusing hot air or steam into the charcoal. That makes a grid of pores in the carbon. Accordingly, the surface area is vastly expanded.

As we mentioned earlier, a solitary gram of activated carbon can have many square meters of interior surface area.

The nature of this surface loaded with pores is to draw in contaminations and allergens from the close by air. The cycle is called ‘Adsorption’ (not Absorption).

Through this cycle, the carbon bed will retain different natural chemicals (gas, dust).

As a final product, contaminants and smell-creating gas atoms are trapped onto the outer layer of the activated carbon (charcoal) bed. Moreover, what you get is a contamination-free, scent-free grow tent.

Carbon Filter CFM Calculator for Different Grow Tent Size

In this section of the article, we will figure out how to calculate the right size (capacity) of carbon filters for grow room(Growing Tents). Also, we need you to be super careful when it comes to the calculations that we are going to do.

Stage 1: Determine Your Grow Tent Air Volume

Most importantly, decide the complete volume of the grow tent. It will tell you how much air is there in the tent/room at a given point in time.

The formula is very easy.
Volume of grow tent= Length x Breadth x Height

Stage 2: Decide How Much Air to Extract In Every Minute (CFM)

Now that you have decided to choose how often you need to renew the entire air every hour. For smaller tents, it tends to be 40-60 times in an hour (once in each 1.5-1 minute). For bigger grow tents like 10×10, 8×8, 4×8, we lean toward it to be 30-20 times in an hour (once in each 2-3 minutes).

Suppose that we need to empty up our 10×10 grow tent air once at regular intervals. Thus, air volume to remove in each minute(CFM)-

Air volume to extract (for fan) in 1 minute= 800 cubic ft./3= 266 CFM

Thus, the fan needs to have the option to take the air out at a 266 CFM rate.

Stage 3: Calculate The Carbon Filter CFM

Now, it is time to decide the capacity of the carbon filter and the fan.

That being said, let us tell you that using a carbon filter on an extractor fan affects the fan’s effectiveness. To be precise, using a carbon filter reduces the fan’s effectiveness by about 25 per cent.

In this way, you need to furnish a carbon filter with a 25 per cent more CFM rating to allow the fan to remove the necessary measure of air at every minute.

In this way, the CFM rating of the carbon filter would be-

CFM Rating of Carbon Filter= 266 CFM x 1.25= 332.5 CFM

Things to keep in mind:

The air extraction frequency might change depending on the size of the tent and the kinds of plants.

The resistance of the carbon filter to the performance of the fan might differ depending on size, width, and connector type.

The resistance on the performance of the fan may also rely upon the length and material of ducting. For example, straight hard cast ducting of 25ft may lose 3 per cent of the CFM productivity of the fan.

The resistance on the performance of the fan may also rely upon the ducting point. For example, a 90-degree angle may cause a loss of about one to four per cent of the general efficiency.

Where and How to Use Carbon Filter in a Grow Room?

Most growers lean toward installing the carbon filters within the tent, where they can be fused with the ducting and the inline fans.

Nonetheless, if you have a small space to house a basic air filter, the carbon filter setup can be done outside as well.

In any case, taking into account that you are setting it up within the tent, here is how you can do it:

Stage 1: Take out the filter from the pack, put the pre-filter(if any) on it.

Stage 2: Place the filter on the exhaust alongside rope ratchets. Make sure to put the exhaust ducting, filter, and exhaust fan in one line.

Stage 3: Secure the connections with duct clasps. Make sure that the association is hermetically sealed.

Stage 4: Power the fan up and check for any leakage all through the way.

Lastly, let us take a look at how you can maintain your carbon filters to give them a longer life and help them work flawlessly.

Carbon Filter Maintenance:

Using Carbon filters for grow rooms can also be challenging sometimes. They are mechanical setups that play a significant part in the scent/contamination of the board. To keep them in their perfect condition, remember these maintenance tips:

Clean the Filter

Cleaning carbon filters is very important to make sure you are using them properly.

Initially, please remove it from grow room, and bring that into an open space. Move it vigorously to remove any caught dirt or residue within.

Now, spray some water on the carbon beds and immerse it into the water. Remember to blend the water in with a mild cleanser before putting the carbon filter in it.

Hold it under the water for 15 minutes, and take it out. After that, dry it under the sun or heat.

Do Not Use Carbon Filter Beyond

In case you are too serious about the smell of the room, you must never expect a carbon filter to do that until the end of time. Like every other device, it has a limited life expectancy. Also, it is recommended to replace the carbon filter from time to time.

Basic carbon filters last for about one to one and a half years.

However, you must always check the durability of the filter before buying it.

Vacuum and Dry Up

If you do not want to get through the hassle of cleaning the filter off every month, a vacuum cleaner can be another option.

Every alternate week, vacuum-clean the activated carbon beds to remove the excess carbon and residue particles. Before vacuum cleaning, remember to take the carbon bed out.

All of that being said, we hope this article turned out to be resourceful for you and now you know why you need carbon filters for grow room.

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