Is a 300cfm duct booster enough for a 600HPS w/ enclosed hood?

Hey guys, Im currently running a 500w CFL grow but am going to upgrade to a double tent setup and the new flower tent will be a 600W HPS in a extra large enclosed hood setup. The tents are 2x4x5. I currently run the same 300CFM duct booster in the CFL tent, and temps are fine if ambient is fine (no a/c , but I will grow in winter months and lights on at night) so I can have pretty cool ambient/passive intake air.

Im curious if this duct booster will be enough to keep the HPS in check if connected to the enclosed reflector aswell. Ive never had or been around a 6" "REAL" exhaust fan. Im not a huge fan of how expensive, large supposedly loud the fans are. The duct booster is quiet, and I already have 3 of them. But if it just wont cut it even remotely, let me hear it.

Cheers

Hmm maybe someone with booster experience will chime in but I would guess probably not. I've got a 550 cfm vortex, best investment I made for growing. It's not so much the fan that's loud but the movement of air that I hear. Toss on a speed control and it's not bad.

I was under the impression duct boosters were loud and not the other way around..but idk, only ever used inline. But anyway, with cool intake I'm fine with a 190CFM inline exhaust fan in my 3x3x7 tent with a 600w going. During the summer(80-95's outdoor) my tent in my basement she was running hot around 90 degrees though. Winter weather bringing the ambient down is fine on temps though. So I would think 300CFM would be fine, really a matter of geting the light set up and seeing for yourself. You are using a smaller tent so can't really compare to me. Only way anyone else can judge is by comparing to their own personal setup which is different for everyone. I'd say you are safe to try it out though, maybe make sure its a weekend or day your home to make sure things dont get too hot to quickly though.

I've got to agree... you are in the try it and see area with 300 cfm...

Anon Emaus said:

I was under the impression duct boosters were loud and not the other way around..but idk, only ever used inline. But anyway, with cool intake I'm fine with a 190CFM inline exhaust fan in my 3x3x7 tent with a 600w going. During the summer(80-95's outdoor) my tent in my basement she was running hot around 90 degrees though.

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I dont know if its the brand of duct fan I own, a Suncourt 6", but it is extremely quiet, I can hear it if Im listening for it in the room when its on full speed, makes the same level of noise my cloning cabinet has with 3 3" pc fans running, but it doesnt produce much sound like Ive heard the 6" inline fans make, where it sounds like a hair dryer on low speed. Id say the booster fan is less than half as loud. But for a good chunk of money Im sure some top of the line, noise barrier style inline fan could probably be much better, and change the air over in my entire house.

To be honest $140-200 for a great fan shipped is a little tough to swallow for my small 2 x 4' operation. I may dim the ballast 25% or even 50% if the temps do become out of hand. But my yield may suffer alot if that has to happen everyday, my ambient temps are sky high in summer unfortunately

No. You will need an inline fan for that kind of setup. Also 400 watts is more than enough for that space.

Does an XXL hood even fit in a 2x4?

I did wedge my blockbuster into a 3x3 for a while but it was too tight honestly. It is good to understand what is the right tool for the job so to speak.

Only a modest 20" deep XL hood, not XXL lol

I can dim the 600hps bulb with the digital ballast, but I think the 600 is perfect give and take size for a 2x4. 8sq feet, about 80,000 lumen. 10k per sq ft.

Im right on the middle of the fence if Im going to need to an inline fan. I'll likely run the booster since I have it already and can wire it to atleast test in a half hour. But the daily temps for this time of year are about 15C day 8c night. Extraction would be much more necessary when a 35C summer hot spell comes along though, never felt the canopy on an enclosed cooled hood 600 HPS so I dont know what to expect. My first setup was/is 400 watts of T5 46" bulbs and the canopy gets hot keeping the lights close. But it is 14 bulbs spaced less than 1.5" apart on one fixture also in a 2x4, and needs a stronger oscilatting fan.

I have good oscilating fans for the HPS tent canopy and under the scrog, as there will be more height with the bigger plants that are already vegged (which just gave me a great idea) Why am I not raising my pots off the ground when the plants are small and vegging so I can get the fans in under the srog aswell... typing the thought process in my head aparently

Blew my own mind

600 watt light is better even though 400 will do the six is more efficient for the small difference in electric I'd go with the six every time. They sell good inline for like eighty bucks on Amazon..i hate Amazon they are shady af but can't pass on that price

It is not all about how much light. It is more about making a happy environment. I use 600 watt blockbuster hoods. But they are working much better in my open room than they did in my 3x3.

I could control the heat. But not so much the intensity. It stresses and even bleaches the leaves.

In my 4x4 it was good. But I think 1000w would have been a bitch.

Again. Just trying to help. If you can make it work well and be happy I would be all for it. Good luck.

WIsh I had the depth for tents that size. Mine is in a low height upper level room that has a peaked roof. So if I wanted a 3x3 it could only be about 40" tall. I turn the 2x4x5 side ways . Think of a low ceiling with this shape ^ . 60" height I should have enough room to keep the light 15" away from the canopy and still have a decent yielding 2.5' - 3' tall srog screen setup

The duct fun I believe can move enough air and cool the light, but not with the "intensity" of air flow the inlines seem to have, which probably would make a measureable difference in running the tent slightly cooler, but listening to the fan or it giving away the grow location to every visitor you had over is a big negative to me. I wish growing in my particaular garage was possible to be stealthy, alot cooler to begin with even in summer in there, but to cold in winter and poor at best insulation

kermit2692 said:

600 watt light is better even though 400 will do the six is more efficient for the small difference in electric I'd go with the six every time. They sell good inline for like eighty bucks on Amazon..i hate Amazon they are shady af but can't pass on that price

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Have a specific Model? The cheapest decent looking quality one is the Ventech VT 6" on my dull canadian version of amazon, for $110 shipped. 440cfm. But I do already own a fan speed controller

https://www.amazon.ca/VenTech-VT-IF-6-Inline-Duct/dp/B004YXDQZU/ref=sr_1_30?ie=UTF8&qid=1475854217&sr=8-30&keywords=6"+duct+fan

Morriston55 said:

WIsh I had the depth for tents that size. Mine is in a low height upper level room that has a peaked roof. So if I wanted a 3x3 it could only be about 40" tall. I turn the 2x4x5 side ways . Think of a low ceiling with this shape ^ . 60" height I should have enough room to keep the light 15" away from the canopy and still have a decent yielding 2.5' - 3' tall srog screen setup

The duct fun I believe can move enough air and cool the light, but not with the "intensity" of air flow the inlines seem to have, which probably would make a measureable difference in running the tent slightly cooler, but listening to the fan or it giving away the grow location to every visitor you had over is a big negative to me. I wish growing in my particaular garage was possible to be stealthy, alot cooler to begin with even in summer in there, but to cold in winter and poor at best insulation

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I would use t-5's in your situation. I need 18" to 2 feet clearance for my lamps or quality suffers.

Since I have both T5 and HPS at my disposal. I'll likely compare. I can veg and flower with either. Ive got 4100 and 2900 for the CFL fixture, and 600MH and 600HPS for the hid fixture. But I have 2 tents and a clone/seedling cabinet. I currently have some plants that have been veggin a while but had some troubles, and am ready to flip them to flower. And Ive got 5 autos in seedling stage currently that will benefit that hps aswell

Morriston55 said:

Since I have both T5 and HPS at my disposal. I'll likely compare. I can veg and flower with either. Ive got 4100 and 2900 for the CFL fixture, and 600MH and 600HPS for the hid fixture. But I have 2 tents and a clone/seedling cabinet. I currently have some plants that have been veggin a while but had some troubles, and am ready to flip them to flower. And Ive got 5 autos in seedling stage currently that will benefit that hps aswell

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Cool! I am interested in the difference.

Morriston55 said:

Have a specific Model? The cheapest decent looking quality one is the Ventech VT 6" on my dull canadian version of amazon, for $110 shipped. 440cfm. But I do already own a fan speed controller

https://www.amazon.ca/VenTech-VT-IF-6-Inline-Duct/dp/B004YXDQZU/ref=sr_1_30?ie=UTF8&qid=1475854217&sr=8-30&keywords=6"+duct+fan

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https://www.amazon.com/Hurricane-435-CFM-Inline-6-Inch/dp/B006Z1JLY4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475925360&sr=8-1&keywords=Hurricane+inline+fan

Works great for me. Powerful and cheap.

In case you can't open the link or something on us Amazon it's a hurricane and it's selling for 88usd brand new.

MichiganMedGrower said:

No. You will need an inline fan for that kind of setup. Also 400 watts is more than enough for that space.

Does an XXL hood even fit in a 2x4?

I did wedge my blockbuster into a 3x3 for a while but it was too tight honestly. It is good to understand what is the right tool for the job so to speak.

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Why will the duct booster not work?

Budley Doright said:

Why will the duct booster not work?

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FWIW I burned through 2 "boosters" in no time flat, first one days, second one hours.

I don't think the cheap ones like to be on a speed controller.

Wised up and bought this one which has been running 75% of the time for 3+ years on a rheostat.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002JQ14F8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

In this case cheap was no bargain at all

I use duct boosters a lot but never with speed control and they work great for boosting ducts, but yes they can be fairly loud.

Without a filter you should be able to get away with it. I ran a 600w using only a 260cfm booster fan in the middle of summer (relentless 30+ every day) and it was fine. As you mentioned if room ambient is in check you don't need many cfm's to remove the heat that the light generates. It's only when you attach a filter to it that you'll run into heat/extraction issues without a proper inline fan.

You'll most likely need to run the booster fan at 100% though. Then they can get noisy (mine sounds like a jet engine running at pace... lol ).