Air cooled hood reflector or plain old parabolic reflector..?

for 600w HPS, I'm trying to decide if it is worth it to spend the extra $40 per light to get an air cooled hood instead of just a parabolic reflector... My problem is where I'm setting up I'm not sure if heat will be a problem or not...

How do the air cooled hoods with fans compare to just a light with reflector..? Pros and Cons?

If anyone could impart their wisdom on the matter or point me in the best direction to get information on this it would be greatly appreciated...

Your Friend Forever,

Shannon Alexander

air cooled u can put the light closer and the room temp is much lower cons are u might have to heat up room while through winter if you only have one light in that room/tent and it costs a bit more and a litle bit of work putting it together! id say get aircooled as u can put the light closer wich mean better yeild itll pay for its self

I love air cooled hoods and couldnt go back to standard open reflectors. I run two 600ws with large air cooled hoods in small grow cabs and my temps are sweet. Its much easier to control grow room temps when using air cooled hoods seeing as most of the heat issues in a grow is generated by the lamps, venting this heat straight out has an instant effect on temps in your grow space. Buy a quality hood that has no gaps and is sealed air tight and you'll be glad you did come summer time.

i had a hanging 600w hps + MH bulb, in a closet... maybe a fan with a 3ft diameter, big thing. and heat was there. i also had another fan just pushing air thru a carbon filter.

i think next time i spend the money, im doing the air cooled hood

I think this is the best thread I have ever started... Thank you guys... Rep all around... For everyone...

I use normal reflectors, if the heat ever gets too hot I just use simple methods of cooling the room down, I.e; set up a fan in there. Personally I don't think it'd be worth it spending the extra cash on each light.

i guess if you had the money why not those inline fans get pretty pricey though.

Cool tubes....it's even in the name! lol!

Personally I have seen about a "2-3 degrees" decrease in my temperature since moving to a cool tube. And a slight decrease in light distribution, overall I prefer to cool tube, but could easily live with out it at the moment. I have yet to use the tube in a vertical setup, which I think will offer a significant advantage in light distribution to my growing room.