The common cooling question

[Thyroyalgeek]

I swear I've posted this thread THREE times already, BUT IT'S NOT SHOWING UP! I will try once more. Let just start with what I'm doing this in, a 72" × 30" closet, with multiple fans, sunblaster led strips, diy tables and shelving, and a fog machine I've almost finished. My goal here is to cool this area anywhere between 10 - 20°, which as alot of you know, is much easier said than done. I've been doing a fair bit of research, and have looked at different means of cooling, with none of them very efficient. What I'm asking is does anyone know if you can cool anything larger than a terrarium without going broke?

[estación seca]

What temperatures do you have without cooling? The fog machine may lead to moisture/humidity damage of the walls, ceiling and carpet (if any.)

[Thyroyalgeek]

Temperature is generally around 73° degrees, give or take a degree or two. I don't think I specified enough, the cooling will only be at night, for the day night temperature difference a lot of Highlander plants and orchids require. Also, the fogging will only be on for small intervals throughout the day, or I could just keep a humidifier on nonstop (we have a few extra). The fogging won't be on constantly, as that really would mess a house up, I just want to keep humidity up a bit.

[estación seca]

I doubt you'll get lower than that without an air conditioner.

[Ray]

If your plant closet is closed, the RH will climb sufficiently just from evaporation from your plants and media. You are asking for serious mold trouble if you fog in there.

What is the day/night shift just from having the light fixtures turn off? That might be sufficient.

Have you looked into solid state (Peltier) cooling?

[Thyroyalgeek]

I've looked into peltiers, but am not really sure about them. Some people say they're great, and then some people don't, so I'm not sure about them. The lighting is led, and they don't really produce much heat while on. If evaporation will be enough to keep humidity up then I might not have to fog, even if it is for short intervals. I was just saying fog for 10 seconds every thirty minutes or so, maybe something like that. But I might not need it anyway.

[Ray]

All electrical light sources generate heat, but in LED's, it's in the driver, not the light emitter itself.

Have you measured your day & night temperatures and humidity? It sounds like you're trying to solve issues that may-, or may not even exist - as much fun at the project might be...

[Thyroyalgeek]

Thing is, I haven’t even bought the lights, those are the last things I have to get, but from my experience with all other leds, is that they really don’t affect temperatures much of a noticeable amount. Of course This time it could be different, and with my luck it probably is, but from what I’ve read I chose leds partially BECAUSE they have a lower general heat output. What I’m trying to do is provide an environment for cool-growing orchids, which come from cloud forests that experience drops in temperature at night, and I would rather have the environment ready BEFORE I get them than afterwards. Also, things don’t really
Change much at night (yes I’ve measured), but of course, that could change when I get the leds. This may be a dumb question, but is the the temperature drop itself important, or the fact that it goes down to 60/50 degrees?

[estación seca]

For touchy orchids like that I would most certainly set up all the equipment, and test, before buying any plants.

There are a lot of people on Orchid Board growing cloud forest plants in cooler areas of their homes. I think proper night temperatures are the most important factor, rather than how many degrees it drops. Many cloud forest plants tolerate surprisingly high daytime temperatures if nights are cool enough.

It is generally very expensive to maintain a cool area for cool plants in a warm house.

[rbarata]

I would love to grow Draculas but I simply can't due to high temps/low HR in summer.
I could try to setup an artificial environment but it would be too "fragile".

BTW, where do you live in the US? That's an important piece of info in this case.