This is my new brute Space Bucket! Here are its characteristics.
LIGHTING CONFIGURATION
I used a power strip with
CFL bulbs plugged into it. I mounted the power strip inside a very handy groove in the lid and secured it with four zip ties. I'm using 4
CFL bulbs for the moment but I'm planning to upgrade my lighting to use two 300W (132W actual draw) MarsHydro LED lights instead. Once the power strip is secured in place, poke a hole about an inch in diameter for the power strip's plug and cable to fit through and pull them through. I also plugged the LED power supply into that same power strip so all the lights go on and off at once - feed the power plug for the LED power supply through the same hole as the power strip's plug so everything's organized. Open the lid and find where the intake fan is. Choose one of the top corners of the fan hole and place the plug end of the LED strip at that corner, that's where the power plug will travel outside the bucket to plug in. When you start laying down the LED strip, spiral it upwards, not downwards. If you go downwards, you'll go over the fan. You should only be able to fit about 2-3 full coils out of a 5m strip inside a 32 gallon barrel. I ordered two LED strips, I may install the second one if temps are low or something.
REFLECTIVE LINING
This was a pain in the ass. Mylar emergency blankets are really light and easy to crumple, so you gotta take this part slow to avoid tearing the blanket unnecessarily. With the lid off, start placing down strips of double-sided tape all along the inside walls. You don't need to cover every single square inch, just make sure the lining will stay up. Also, the mylar doesn't need to be perfectly flat when it's installed...if you can make it work, godspeed...but after 15 min of trying to figure it out, I just crudely taped up the lining in all its imperfection and it works well enough. I also placed a small sheet of mylar on the bottom of the barrel.
FINAL TOUCHES
Once everything is in place, secure the fans and wire them together along with a length of electrical wire. Connect all the fans to that length of electrical wire so you only need one plug to turn them all on. When all is said and done, you'll only need to plug in the power strip and the fan power supply, two outlets max (less if you use a second power strip!). Use your best cable management skills if you so desire, it makes everything look a lot cleaner!
