6x 400 watt HPS vs 4x 600 watt HPS Genesis Bulbs?

Electricity consumption being the issue. I was adding up wattage and looking for threads to answer whether or not running 'six' 400 watt HPS Genesis bulbs in dial a watt Lumatek Ballast with Block Buster hoods to get wider coverage for the same amount of electricity consumption as 'four' 600 watt HPS Genesis bulbs on the same setup.
I know that the 400 watt bulbs won't get the penetration as 600 watters but I figured they'd run a lot cooler and I could hang them really close with EVEN light distribution across the floor instead of having slightly shaded areas with just four 600's. Also I've noticed that most places are not selling the Lumateks anymore so I was curious if the Solis Tek dial a watt Digital Ballast were worth the money? Thanks in advance.
Cheers.

There won't be much difference in heat output since 2400 watts = 2400 watts, but the 600 W HPS bulbs put out more light energy than 400, since they are the most efficient bulbs made.
In effect you will have the same temps, but smaller yield due to switching over to less efficient lights.

what footprint were you thinking? because that is the million dollar question so to speak.

i would go 4x 600w all day but if you have a larger area you will ultimately get bigger yields from the 6x400w as you will have a bigger canopy and whatever way you look at it; more green = more green.

ghb said:

what footprint were you thinking? because that is the million dollar question so to speak.

i would go 4x 600w all day but if you have a larger area you will ultimately get bigger yields from the 6x400w as you will have a bigger canopy and whatever way you look at it; more green = more green.

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Lol, you got that right! My canopy is 12ft x 20ft. I'd like to not go over 2400 watts or around that area. I know that 400 watts doesn't have the penetration like a 600 but if I held them lower I'd probably be where I am now since I'm having to hold the 600's up higher to spread out the coverage. Thanks for the reply mate.

your canopy is 12x20 or your grow space is 12x20? because that would be a huge canopy for that much lighting.

ghb said:

your canopy is 12x20 or your grow space is 12x20? because that would be a huge canopy for that much lighting.

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Lol sorry, I've got 12x20 ft of grow space that can be used.

I agree with ghb -- it depends on your style of growing -- but either way, you'll probably get fairly equal results.

and would you rather do a lot of work and have a lot of plants and get maximum harvests per year which will in the end be giving you more end product. or would you rather grow less plants do less work and whilst losing overall production in the long term you will gain it in the short term with bigger yields due to having used more vertical space in the grow?

a few other bits of info would be useful too, such as if you have mother plants/veg facilities or if you want to grow multi strain or perpetual etc.