How small a space can you squeeze a 400watter into?

J

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
I've got a dresser cab w/ the dimensions: 33.5" wide X 17" deep X 44.5" tall and I need some opinions here if I can fit a 400watt w/a cooltube if I ventilate it w/ a 6" vortex 275 CFM inline without having a heat issue? Ambient temp is 70 degrees F. I was going to do a 250 but i've heard that a 400w doesn't give off much more heat than a 250. I've never used a HID light before so i'm not familiar with how much heat i'll be dealing with yet.
 
I'd be interested to know the answer to this as well. I have a box that is 2 feet deep by 4 feet wide by 4 feet tall. Would running an air cooled reflector with the ballast remoted cause a ton of heat build-up? I'm vegging with about 300 watts of CFLs at the moment and my ambient temperature is between 70-84 degrees depending on the temperature in my garage. Now that it is getting colder I was thinking that a 400 watt should keep my ambient temp closer to 80.
 
im running a 600w hps with a air cooled hood, on a little over 5 square feet. somewhat over kill but it does have its advantages. just make sure you can keep it cool. ventilation is key. my cab stays around 75-80. i like having at least 100 watts per square foot no matter what kind of light, some might say its over kill but its just personal prefrence. ive done 50 w per square foot in the past and its just not enough for me personally and my plants seem to like it a lot. peace.
 
icemassa said:
im running a 600w hps with a air cooled hood, on a little over 5 square feet. somewhat over kill but it does have its advantages. just make sure you can keep it cool. ventilation is key. my cab stays around 75-80. i like having at least 100 watts per square foot no matter what kind of light, some might say its over kill but its just personal prefrence. ive done 50 w per square foot in the past and its just not enough for me personally and my plants seem to like it a lot. peace.
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What kind of fan do you use for ventilation?
I was thinking of using a 400w hps w/a 6" vortex 275 cfm & a home-made carbon scrubber. Think I could manage my heat issues w/this setup or bite the bullet & go with a 250?
 
I've been looking at getting this 400 watt kit off of eBay.

400 Lumatek Grow Light Air Cooled Kit 2 bulbs - eBay (item 270295941520 end time Nov-10-08 16:51:28 PST)

Nice Lumatek 400 watt digital ballast, a 400 watt MH and a 400 watt HPS bulb, and it comes with a air cooled reflector. I currently have a 130 CFM squirrel cage blower exhausting my grow box, and I was thinking I could make a flange to adapt some 6" ducting to pull cool air through one end of the hood, over the bulb, and into the blower. I was also thinking about fitting the non hose connected end of the reflector with a DIY carbon filter, because once I hit flowering I'm going to need one. This setup will be used to grow 3 or 4 plants, all of which are in 3 gallon pots. I think 4 is the max I can squeeze in using 3 gallon pots. Currently I am vegging under 300 watts of 6500k CFLs. I'm just wondering if I remote the Lumatek ballast outside the box and then rig the hood to have cabinet air pulled through it if I could manage the heat.
 
im just running a 6'' duct fan 265 cfm for exhaust. im gonna get a couple of those vortex fans once i move. ive heard good things about those fans. i do know that you shouldnt have your ballast inside of your cab. and if your lamp is a little too large for your cab it needs to be air cooled. if my lamp wasnt air cooled it would be like an oven. ive never owned a 400 watter before but i would have to imagine that it would be easier to cool than a 600 watter. i could easily use a 400 watt hps in my cab that just over 5 square feet. i do things a little differently than most people on these forums. i follow my own rules. most people would tell you to only run 6-8 plants under a 600watter and currently im running 18 under my 600w hps perpetually in basically a mini soil bed (earthbox). im basically running a perpetual, seed, mini sea of green with LST. its kinda complex but it works for me. it lets me harvest normally 5-8 fems every 4-5 weeks by using seed. i personally dont care for clones considering they are always the same. i get bored easily. not to mention my plants from seed normally produce more than my clones would with taking me a little shorter time to finish. ive been doing this a long time now and i guess im just kinda set in my ways. im soon to be running the C99 from joey weed seeds. it should produce a little more than what im running right now which is just a local strain called urban legend (50/50 indica/sativa) im not sure whats in it but, its some tangy dank all the same, better than most of all stains ive purchaced off the net, but im far from trying all, maybe one day. peace.
 
jonnynobody said:
I've got a dresser cab w/ the dimensions: 33.5" wide X 17" deep X 44.5" tall and I need some opinions here if I can fit a 400watt w/a cooltube if I ventilate it w/ a 6" vortex 275 CFM inline without having a heat issue? Ambient temp is 70 degrees F. I was going to do a 250 but i've heard that a 400w doesn't give off much more heat than a 250. I've never used a HID light before so i'm not familiar with how much heat i'll be dealing with yet.
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you can definitely fit a 400W, and you will have no heat problems at ALL...you only have about 14.5 cubic feet of space, so a fan that moves 275 cfm would cycle your cab's air 19x/min! (2-3x is recommended)...you actually might want to look into getting a less powerful fan.
 
paz840 said:
you can definitely fit a 400W, and you will have no heat problems at ALL...you only have about 14.5 cubic feet of space, so a fan that moves 275 cfm would cycle your cab's air 19x/min! (2-3x is recommended)...you actually might want to look into getting a less powerful fan.
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After hearing how well the vortex fans perform, I have decided to downgrade to the 4" model 172CFM...seems more appropriate and I don't want anymore fan noise than is needed. I'm tickled pink to put a 400 in there w/my scrog net. I plan to give my girls 6" vertical growth, then they hit the net :) Veggie cab directly above w/4 42W CFL's. Should I be venting this outside the closet or ya think I can manage by just venting to the other side of the closet. Eventually I know I may need to put a portable a/c in there...but it's winter now so no worries. I really cant imagine the ambient temp in my closet getting up to 85+ in the winter. Closet is about 9'tall x 6'long x 5'wide.
 
PhatDude said:
I've been looking at getting this 400 watt kit off of eBay.

400 Lumatek Grow Light Air Cooled Kit 2 bulbs - eBay (item 270295941520 end time Nov-10-08 16:51:28 PST)

Nice Lumatek 400 watt digital ballast, a 400 watt MH and a 400 watt HPS bulb, and it comes with a air cooled reflector. I currently have a 130 CFM squirrel cage blower exhausting my grow box, and I was thinking I could make a flange to adapt some 6" ducting to pull cool air through one end of the hood, over the bulb, and into the blower. I was also thinking about fitting the non hose connected end of the reflector with a DIY carbon filter, because once I hit flowering I'm going to need one. This setup will be used to grow 3 or 4 plants, all of which are in 3 gallon pots. I think 4 is the max I can squeeze in using 3 gallon pots. Currently I am vegging under 300 watts of 6500k CFLs. I'm just wondering if I remote the Lumatek ballast outside the box and then rig the hood to have cabinet air pulled through it if I could manage the heat.
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300W of cfl's? I'm sure you mean the 300w is the incadescent equivalent so you probably have like 2 42w CFL's or 4 23watters....anywho, if you're really using 300 real watts of cfl's, shelve that stuff & get a metal halide. More efficient and runs cooler. What are you dimensions on your flower cab? Can't say if that setup would work b/c you didn't mention what size space you're working in.
 
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