hanging heavy lights using anchors?

What kind of support anchors do i use if i can't find my studs in the ceiling? How much weight will they hold?

good question!

i wouldn't trust ceiling panels to hold the weight of a hood, what you can do is find your stud in the wall, in or near the center of the room and run a 2x4 from wall to wall at ceiling level, tying into the wall studs with nails or screws, then hang your light to that with a big screw in hook. Not worth a fire to try and use anchors, though they may work. A 2x4 is like $3-4

drewestes2010 said:

What kind of support anchors do i use if i can't find my studs in the ceiling? How much weight will they hold?

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drew...I’ve seen too many failed anchors rated to support up to 100 lbs. in the ceilings. Do everything you can to locate a ceiling stud (joist) or frame up support studs along the wall from floor to ceiling and run a wood beam across. You want to be mounting the hardware into wood.

Should this light fixture fall, three things will happen. 1) it will kill your plants 2) it will electrocute anything close by 3) it will start a fire

I have built several homes and I offer my advice to save you headaches and danger down the road.

I agree with the others, and alternative is to find a thick piece of plywood, anchor this up with as many fittings as you can, 1 in each corner 1 on each side and a few in the centre, then attach the hood to this instead. If you can, buy some no nails as well just for added support, this method will spread the load over a greater space and thus decrease pressure on the anchors.
In my opinion you may still be better finding a stud, but in the worst case that will do the job.
Stocky