Honestly Sara, I've went through so many different ways of arranging the filter and fan, different rooms etc... I wanted to do different benchmark testing before hand( exhaust same room, exhausting outside, fan/filter in tent or outside tent). First, I had the phresh filter with the fan inside which took up too much vertical space, and ran a little hotter than I liked. The 4" Vortex fan definitely generates heat as well, so my temps were holding right around 84 and sometimes 86 degrees F. This isn't acceptable since my house is kept at 76 during the day and 77 at night(CH&A). 10 degrees above ambient/room temperature is horrible. I'm detail oriented so here it goes. I finally decided to put my 2x2x5 tent in my laundry room. I already had the exhaust vent for the dryer, so I went to Home D and bought a 4" Y adapter and spliced into existing outlet. Perfect, now I'm at least exhausting outside and not recirculating my intake Air from my house/AC. Keep in mind, I'm in CA(the capital), so the temps are 95 - 100 outside currently so I expect the temps to drop when fall/winter comes around. Back on track, so I also decided to put just the filter in the tent, and the fan on top of the tent. The Secret Jardin is VERY sturdy so no issues. I wrapped the Vortex in an old sweater and piled clothes and such to disguise the fan and tubing. It's not completely stealth or anything, but the sweater and such did help with some of the noise, definitely noticeable change. I'm prop 215 so I don't necessarily need it completely quiet. This change alone, with the exhaust outside thru dryer vent, I run 79-82 degrees consistently. I turn off my Mars 400 from 1pm to 8pm. I can run it during the day, but it's cooler at night, and it also keeps me away during the dark period to do other life things. Light comes on from 8pm to 1pm. During the night when it's cooler, holds 79 degrees(81 most of the time) which is lovely. Also, putting the Vortex on the outside of the tent, cleared up more vertical space which is a huge plus for me. I was really worried about the head room when they really start to take off. The Mars 400 DOES generate heat, but very manageable heat, nowhere near HPS(used to have a 4 1k HPS setup with a friend so I know about heat issues). So I Put the filter on the right hand side to a short piece of 4" ducting to the fan. I have a 6" clip on fan blowing directly on the light which helps tremendously. I have another 6" clip on oscillating fan when they get bigger and need more circulation. I also propped the seedlings up on the Mars 400 box(thanks Sara, Recycle,Reduce, Reuse
right near the intake hole, which is on the left side which draws fresh air across the tent. My seedlings aren't even a week old, and starting the second set of true leaves. Every time I check them, there BIGGER. I know this post isn't directly on topic, but what the heck, I don't mind sharing my experience. This site has helped me decide on LED's, time to return the favor.