I've always wondered about this as well. I have my veg. area in the corner of a much
larger room and same with my flowering room. I feel like I'm wasting light also - it just makes sense to me that light bouncing around in a smaller area would be a more efficient use of the light. I've been reluctant to enclose it however because I get decent yields with my setup now and I have no heat issues. I usually hit a pound (yes, "about a pound") per 600 but I've never hit a GPW. If I knew that an enclosure would help me reach that milestone I'd do it but I guess I'm just too lazy to try it unless I'm certain I'll see a noticeable benefit.
If you can see the bulb from the sides (usually the case from at least one side with a basic hood) without the view being blocked by plants/leaves you're losing enough light to likely lose weight too. I used to hammer on the issue in these forums, never seen people grow in corners of rooms till I joined international forums.
I don't think it by itself will make
the 5 oz difference between 600gr and about a pound, but I do think the difference is large enough to pay back for any material used to box it in and In addition to the reflection, it does offer several other advantages:
- Exhausts capacity should match light + space
- It allows the humid air to be extracted through ducting to a window to outside,, while sucking more dry air out the room itself (air goes from room, closet, outside not molding up the room when you grow in the same space for years)
- Filter more efficiently (closet only)
- You can access the room without disturbing the climate in the closet (seems like a small issue but it's best to keep a closet/tent closed as much as possible, I used to have a mailbox like hole to peak inside without opening the door.)
- You can add a filter to the intake to prevent dust, pet hairs, bugs, etc from entering the closet and sticking to buds.
<--air sock.
- If you're in a corner already, you only need two walls