CFL Operating Temperatures? or Bad Wiring? - First Grow

Hi all, I have a question for all you CFL growers... How hot do your CFL's get? I keep seeing everyone say how they DON'T get hot, but I can barely touch mine. Literally cannot put my finger on it for more than a split second. The temp inside my growbox is over 96F and I'm looking for ways to take the temp down about 15 degrees. I'm running 8 CFL's (Mixed daylight and soft white) on a 4 socket bathroom vanity light bar with a Y splitter in each socket. Can it be my wiring or the amount of bulbs on one plug? The light fixture said it was made for "G" type globe bulbs, but the home depot woman said any bulbs would work in it. I have an extra large PC fan blowing around inside, an intake towards the top of the box, which is really just a standard cpu fan. No dedicated exaust, just some unfinished holes for now. The box size is 2' high x 2' wide by 1'5" deep, not much I know but it's gonna be a 12/12 from seed grow, and a possible box upgrade in the near future. If anyone has any other recommendations I would appreciate some advice. I have researched for months and now I'm ready to do this.



The girls are resting on top of random things to raise them closer to the CFL's... Both fan's are 12v capable, but only had a 6v plug for the small fan and a 9v plug for the large. To be honest I didn't think of it til typing this out, but still any other opinions would be appreciated.



Could this be reading the temperature inaccurately since this was made for aquariums? Any specific thermometers I should be looking at?



It's been through some a longer than expected germination since I didn't have the grow box ready in time, it had all screwy hours since I've been modding the box constantly, it went through heat and is still going through it... Not sure if I wanna give up on em yet, still may wanna see how they start growin, if they look weak I'll germ a few more, their just bagseed, it's only my first grow.

YOU GUYS ROCK!

Nothing? I'm mostly looking to see if my CL's are running too hot, since their hot to the touch....

way to small area man. u need more space for ventilation. b/c theres nothing going in and out just moving around.

deff need air exchange(trading new air for old) think about it you are just moving that 150f plus heat from those bulbs round and round with no source of cool air ! get one of those fans pulling in fresh air and one sucking out heat near the top!

i run 20 cfls the ones on the side with the fan never get over 100f the ones without a fan blowing run around 150-170f with my infrared thermometer. you can get any old weather thermo if you think yours is not accurate?

i think once you get some air movin you will be fine

hope this helps

I thought 3 feet tall would be plenty for a 12/12 from seed? Hmm, no matter, a new closet is on it's way : )...... Well what about the CFL's? Is it normal for them to be too hot to touch?

i think 3 feet will be ok! 12/12 from seed is cool i have three going now all are girls too!

Thanks Wink!!!! As I said, the wattage on the plugs adapter needs to be upped, I need to install an exaust fan where the intake fan is now, and relocate the intake fan from it's current location to the bottom of the grow area to maximize circulation. Got it so far!! Now are my CFL's gonna explode on me? Or is it normal for them to be hot? LOL.. I love this forum, just for the record. This buds for you!

Wow! Your grow DOES sound nice, 20 CFL's definitely shortens the gap between HPS and a CFL plant growth... Did you veg em for a week or so first on straight 6500k lights? Do you think I'll still have to LST or something? Do you? How tall do your plants grow with the whole 12/12 from seed deal? I can ask questions all day lol.

in a regular lamp they get almost as hot as a regular 60 watt incandes. bulb so yeah if your not blowing air on them they do get hot but a lil wind will really cool them down . oh and as long as the wire running to the lights is nothot/soft your fine. i run all 20 bulbs off 1 extension cord and it stays very cool to the touch. also feel the outlet your plugged into it should not even be warm. it should be as cool as the wall.

i ran 6 26w cfls and now my 150hps is cooler than they were! cfls are hot

my big plants were vegged for about 2 months under 8 cfls but the three new girls were 12/12 right from the paper towel. i topped them all above the third real leaf set to promote more colas instead of 1 big one

the difference is even with a fan on it the 150hps still gets around 400f dangerous in a small space unless its sealed in a cool tube or somethin...the cfls will max out around 160 for the 24 watters i hear the bigger ones get hotter???

Kingb420 said:

i ran 6 26w cfls and now my 150hps is cooler than they were! cfls are hot

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IT IS!!! Man, I love you dude! lol, I'm a very thorough person, and although it's gonna be my first grow, I'm hoping to harvest something satisfactory, so I research my ass off... My plug is definitely cool as anything around it, no temp difference... I may relocate the power strip outside of the box, but I should be receiving a new closet tomorrow which should be perfect. So I'll make sure to PM you a link when I get a grow journal goin!! Thanks again for all the help!

let me know if i can help more!

Cut a hole in ur ceiling and slip a cheap exhaust fan in there and wire it to your light power source. Hot air will go into ur attic and cool air will come in from beneath the door. When the lights are off ur fan can go to rest.


Good luck...


out.

Off topic but..

I swear why do ppl use imageshack? I get tired of all the stupid popups when u click a pic.. photobucket is way better imho.