Ocelaris,
Welcome back, and thanks, we can use all the help we can get. What do you think the benefits of that tube are versus a regular reflector/plate glass hood? When I checked out the MH's I noted that a lot of the heat was radiative, not just convective. It would be great if we could find a material that reflected or absorbed far-IR but let the near-IR, UV, and Vis pass.
Sputnick,
Yikes, where to start???
Sput, it's going in the cutout in my bedroom. It will provide light only a few hours a week, sort of light therapy for these dreary winters. So, not enough to worry about light loss.
The idea of bifolds was to allow us to keep the chamber relatively deep, without having to sacrifice depth to get the doors open. The bifolds should be store bought, say clear pine, mom wants this stained walnut and polyurethaned to match the woodwork in the basement. The outside front header and kickplate should also be clear pine but the rest can be whatever plywood and boards you want. It's probably not going to make it through the door so it only nees to be sturdy enough to pull out and clean behind.
The plexi (lexan, whatever) can be epoxied to long hinges or we can build a frame from angle-metal (Al). Attaching the mylar/blankets to the shade is a good idea, it will help strengthen the flimsy plastic. Again don't worry about light lost around the edges, although we'll definately need to lightproof the bifolds, that spongy stuff should do the trick. |