Help with light & exhaust fan decision please (+ rep for help)

Ok...I will give +rep for anyone who can offer their experience/opinions on what to do for my next grow!

Cliff Notes:
Cabinet 24" x 36" x 54"
300CFM or 540CFM
400w HPS w/ cooltube or 600w HPS w/cooltube
Setup: Carbon Filter to cooltube, cooltube to exhaust fan! Need one exhaust fan to keep light cool, and pull air out of cabinet. Will be using 1 or 2 100cfm intake fans (haven't decided yet)


Full Story:

My cabinet is 24" Deep 36" Wide 54" Tall

The cabinet is in a closet that has 8' ceilings, it's about 4' deep, and about 12' wide!

Using 210 watts of t5's for my first time around I was able to keep temps under 75 degrees using a simple pc fan for an intake & exhaust.

I'm ready to upgrade to a nice s&p inline fan (link to s&p fans Soler & Palau Commercial Centrifugal, Axial, Propeller, Exhaust and Supply Fans - Soler and Palau - HVACQuick.com) I'm looking at the TD-150 which is about 300cfm or the TD-200 which is about 540cfm.

On www.htgsupply.com I can purchase the following:

400w Digital Ballast & Cooltube for $266
or
600w Digital Ballast & Cooltube for $280

Only a $14 difference for nearly double the lumens!!!!

Here is my main concern though! Ok...The closet my cabinet is in has 2 ways to get in. One door on one end, and 2 of those folding doors on the other end. So the closet is nowhere near airtight. Yet there is no ac/heat running into this room so it's always hotter/colder then the rest of the house. I do have the ability to open the doors from time to time to let some heat/ac get in the room if need by, but this wasn't necessary with the t5's.

I'd love to use 600w but I don't want to run into a nightmare with the whole closet getting hot as can be so it won't matter how much air I suck back in. I DO NOT HAVE THE OPTION TO PULL FRESH AIR INTO THE CABINET. I can only intake the air that is in the closet. We will be moving into a new house down the road, and I can't go cutting to exhaust out of the closet, or to pull fresh air into the cabinet now. So this is what I'm stuck with.

I will however buy a portable ac unit to put in the closet is it because an issue over the summer. I would prefer not to if possible though! Considering the t5's wouldn't get the temp in the cabinet about 75 during summer I'm guessing with a cooltube on the 400w HPS I wouldn't get temps above 90? This is my guess! That's me hoping since the closet isn't air tight a lot of that hot air will disapate out of the closet.


Alrighty.....First of thanks for reading if you made is this far, and thank you in advance for any advise, opinions, etc, etc.

<3


Oh if it matters I plan on growing Violator Kush. This plant doesn't grow very tall.

No replies?

Come on folks help me out =O


purdy please!

Personally I would go for the 600w, as that's the most efficient lumens/watt ratio of an HPS. I run a 600 in a DIY cooltube with a 240cfm fan, temps 75-85 in an insulated growspace. I am able to keep the light 4" from the tops of the plants without problems. I think a 540cfm fan could be overkill, but that depends on your ambient temps, in the uk it almost never gets above 80!
Intake fans are unneccesary, just have a decent exhaust and a passive intake, this helps you mantain slight negative pressure which will always pull fresh air into your growspace. If you have an intake fan which is less than or equal to your exhaust, it places a restriction on the exhaust fan, meaning it never works to its full potential. If your intake is larger than the exhaust, it will create a positive pressure in the growspace, leading to leaks. Just make sure you have an oscillating fan to circulate air around your growspace, this also makes your plants stems grow stronger, due to being moved around by the air.
Also you should have your fan pulling air through the cooltube, and blowing through the carbon filter for best results. Hope this helps!

600w is nice but its very big for your space. I use a 400w for a 4x3x8 cab and its more than enough. You can probably use something smaller than 400w for that space. You will not have negative pressure due to your cab not being sealed well so your carbon filter connected to your exhaust fan will pull fresh air thru the cracks and doors.
Also your cab is inside another closet that will pull thru the hot air you are producing. So look at something smaller like a 250w.

Hope this helps

The more opinions I hear the further away from making a decision I get =O

I think a 400w hps in a cooltube with a 300cfm fan will be enough cooling & plenty of light for the space...

in my head i dont think exhausting all that heat from the bulb will create enough heat to make a huge closet of that size get above 90 degrees. at least i hope not!

i personally think the 600w

Do any of you think exhausting the 600w into the closet could cause the closet to heat over 90 degrees? I mean the closet is huge about 4' deep, 8' tall ceilings, and about 15' across. Quite a huge room, but i hear these lights are hot =O

*bump* more opinions please! =]

so your going --> filter/light/fan/ hole in door --->
?

p.s.
htg rawks.
it takes me 3 days to get stuff.
i order on mon. and its here on wed.
i love that place.

I had a similar space. Use the 600.

Go Filter - light - fan.

As long as you have no air leaks it will work well with a passive, but I couldn't keep mine air tight so i used a 160cfm fan for an intake.

blacksnow said:

Do any of you think exhausting the 600w into the closet could cause the closet to heat over 90 degrees? I mean the closet is huge about 4' deep, 8' tall ceilings, and about 15' across. Quite a huge room, but i hear these lights are hot =O

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The lights get pretty warm, but if you got that much space to vent into I can't see you running into temp issues as long as you got plenty of airflow through the growspace.
If needs be you could run your light cycle at night to take advantage of the lower temps, and keep your box temps more constant.

Hairy Bob said:

The lights get pretty warm, but if you got that much space to vent into I can't see you running into temp issues as long as you got plenty of airflow through the growspace.
If needs be you could run your light cycle at night to take advantage of the lower temps, and keep your box temps more constant.

Click to expand...

Ya I have been running light cycle @ night and will do same once lights get upgraded....