Zlatokrt Posted November 3, 2011 Report Share Posted November 3, 2011 (edited) Hello, I live in a warm flat now and it would be impossible to keep highlanders here without any cooling unit. I keep them in the basement of my parents house, but the sundews did not grow well either. And since sundews are my favourites I built a small box with peltier cooling unit to have them with me. In principal, its just something like camping fridge with peltier module, but since i built it myself, the box was cheaper than the fridges i found on the internet. And of course, it was built for plant growing, so its proportions are adequate. And i must thank to all, who have built similar projects and posted them here as an ispiration Cooling module: approx. 30 W and the LED lights 12 W, all running at 12 V. Day: 22°C, thermostat on Night: 13 - 15°C, thermostat off and the cooling module runs with short pauses (timer) all night Space for plants: 24x24x17 cm (i believe, that peltier and led lights are good for such small application, but not for larger terrariums) I thought, this might help someone with building such thing, so I am posting a few photos and can write any experience I have. Adam Overwiev (the styrofoam box i got in our lab) The cooling unit (Peltier module with two aluminium radiators and two fans) Lights (12 CREE cool white chips and 6 CREE warm white plus 4 cheap warm white leds, which will be replaced soon by Osram leds with better spectrum) As you can see, it works. The plants look much better than before, most of them are growing in the box for about 3 months so far. Edited November 3, 2011 by Zlatokrt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moof Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 Interesting! But is the lighting sufficient? Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zlatokrt Posted November 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 So far yes, the plants grow well, although they are not coloured as nice as i would wish. That is why the osram leds will be added soon - i hope they will help a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulio. Posted November 5, 2011 Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 hi,very nice . i made the same,identical cooled terrarium with a peltier cooler .. my terrarium is 40x20x30 with a 50-60w of peltier, I can bring down the temperature about 9 C degrees but the lights are too hot (I've 24 w of t5 tube ) how ampere absorb your peltier ? I think your led'll be too les,you would need about 30 led as soon as I've free time I'll post some shot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulio. Posted November 5, 2011 Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 you shoul try to grow a nep,if it grow well it means the light is good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moof Posted November 6, 2011 Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 Please keep us updated with the lighting method. I am thinking about LEDs since a long time for a small setup, but I'm not convinced yet;) Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zlatokrt Posted November 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 Ok, i will :-) They are growing only under leds almost three monts, there is no other source of ligt. I think they would die, if the light would be bad. You just have to choose the right led type and it works. For small space, leds are the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulio. Posted November 6, 2011 Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 yes ,leds are the future for small box,they do not heat I seem to see you have only sundew,you should try to keep a plants who need much light (like hely) to see if the light is very well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zlatokrt Posted November 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 yes ,leds are the future for small box,they do not heat I seem to see you have only sundew,you should try to keep a plants who need much light (like hely) to see if the light is very well Well, i can give it a try, but according to my experience, sundews need as much light as heliamphoras. Moreover, most of my helis are too large to be placed in that small box... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zlatokrt Posted January 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2012 A small update: I have improved my cooling system, since i found a second hand "arctic freezer 7 PRO" with cooling capacity around 150 W - the peltier cooles much better than before. I thought i had a good heatsink, but now i see, that i was wrong. The efficiency increased a lot and i am thinking about making a larger box with more plants. Moreover, i can use more silent fans, which improved my wife`s opinion about this engine The plants you have already seen elsewhere - more leds (you were right Tulio!) improved their growth too. 6 modules were good, but 11 modules are much better Regards Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenofeden Posted January 30, 2012 Report Share Posted January 30, 2012 OMG that is some serious cooling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulio. Posted January 30, 2012 Report Share Posted January 30, 2012 yeah :) cool the hot side more than the cell works well :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel G Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 Phew, what i would give to have that sort of cooling. N. Villosa would be a doddle! Great work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Cornish Posted February 1, 2012 Report Share Posted February 1, 2012 That's dedication to your hobby........fantastic! You'll have to show us some photos of your plants inside and what temperature do you run it at? Regards Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile Posted February 1, 2012 Report Share Posted February 1, 2012 Do you use a temperature controller, or does the peltier cooler free run? I would have thought that if there was no temperature controller it would be difficult to balance it between the heating of the lights and cooling of the peltier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zlatokrt Posted February 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) Daniel: it is not that difficult to built one, if you are skilled in such things a little. But you have brought me to an idea. If i get a bigger box, i could place there my tiny N. argentii and getting some young N. villosa in the future wouldnt be bad too... Neil: thank you There is 21-22°C during the day and around 15°C during the night. The plants are here, they did not change a lot from the time i took those photos: plants EDIT Mobile: I use temperature controller, it keeps the day temps. During the night, the peltier runs with pauses controlled only by timer (15 minutes run, 30 minutes pause for most of the night, only for first two or three hours of the night it is reversed to cool the space faster). Edited February 1, 2012 by Zlatokrt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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