My new Orchidarium

[Magnus A]

Hi Ross

Yes I agree with you that the big fans location is not optimal. I will take one small step at the time and see the result before I do the next. For now i use it for my phalaneopsis that have no problem with 26 degree Celsius.

The bottom is made from a floor tile in plastic, Bergo XL. They are perforated (enable air circulation) but very flexible so I made a supporting grid of teak wood.

About the active cooling it have to wait for quite some time, if a ever do it. I would like to have sub room temperature especially at night to grow cool growing miniatures.

/Magnus

[Ross]

I hear you on that! Basement is good for cool growing minis. I have to regulate temps 'cause the basement can get quite warm in summer if I don't. I just open windows and run fans at night to cool down temps and close windows and no fans during days. Works for me.

[bodaciousbonsai]

What did it cost in materials to make this? dragon argo sells made unit's at $1000-$2600. Wich I think is totally crazy, I have to say this unit you have built for yourself is hands down the best custom orchidairum I have seen. how much do you want for one 2' x 4' x 3'. lol! also, what have you considered for a cooling unit for this. I want to use a copper coiled tube wich you can buy from a brewing beer store, its called a beer chiller, and put it in a small fridge with a closed loop system drill two 3/8" in the top of fridge one for water in and one for water out. have a copper pan in the bottom of the orchidairum. I bet you would get a 30 plus degree drop in temps for night time. for mas. dracula. pleurothallis. the list goes on. have a house hold timer for the run times.

[Magnus A]

Hi bodaciousbonsai, even if I had the time to build one for you I do not think you would like to pay the shipment from Sweden! About cost it is quite expensive, the market in Sweden is very small for acrylic and Sweden is a small country so the price is high. I would say that only the cabinet costed me about 600 US dollar in material and I do not dare to count hours..... For the framing of the interior I used Teak for about 200 US dollar and I bought 2 sq. meter of epiweb. I could by less expensive wood but I like teak for it durability under wet condition. I have not seen mold on teak..... About light you have to find something in the US, I think the price is difficult to compare.
For cooling IF i decide to go the hole way I think I will by a small refrigerator and some ventilationtubing and circulating air between the refridgerator and the cabinet. To build in a cooling element into a finished cabinet I would not dare, I have seen it but the solution to circulate air seems mych easier. The "inventor" of epiweb builds orchidarium with cooling with air circulation, they look like this:

and can be bought at Dusk Tropic in Sweden

[bodaciousbonsai]

wow! ok i guess that would be better...thats a beauitful cabinet. to bad I cant read swedish! lol. anyways your set up is still nice.

[Magnus A]

For your knowledge it stated that everything is custom built after the costomers budget and demands on this deliscios cool-cabinet!

[Ross]

As for cooling, you could use Thermoelectric Modules or Standard TECs - In Stock or the equivilant. I have one in my cigar humidor and it works flawlessly.

[Magnus A]

Hi Ross
Thank you for reminding me of the peltier elements. I did look into this couple of month ago but I discarded this solution due to humidity problems, if I remembered corectly. The devises I looked on was only specified up to 70% relative humidity, I will need to operate between 75-100% relative humidity. I belive there could be a problem with ice build up on the cool side in the cabinet were the relative humidity will reach the dew point on cooling. Maybe it is possible to ventilate the cabinet before cooling....?
I was looking on this kind of devices http://www.supercool.se/catalogue/ca...p?mid=23&sid=8

[Ross]

Those look slick!

[CodiMN]

Magnus,
Way to go on your case! Great job!
Could you take a picture of the top of your orchidarium showing how you wired all the lights and how the lights are supported? I'm having a difficult time designing how I'm going to hide my cords! Thanks so much!
--Carolyn