Light heat Exhaust Question

Gentlemen,
I'm very new to growing but I've been researching for a long time and learned a lot from you guys. I have a question about light/room exhaust and was hoping you guys could help me out.

Background
soil grow in 4wX2dX8h closet
400w convertible digi ballast
room intake and oscillating fans

I'm newb so I hope that's enough for now.

I just got my whole grow kit so nothing is set up yet. (see crappy mspaint attachment) I have a reflector with a 6" duct hole on each side and tempered glass for sealing the bulb.

My question is probably trivial but would it better to have the fan/duct connected as in the diagram (fan/duct on side of ballast socket) and leave the other 6" hole open to pull air from the room or switch the duct to the other side of the reflector and pull room air out by pulling it over the light/socket first?

Thanks a lot guys.

Correction. I realized my 6" inline was only 160 CFM but also says "250 cfm booster flow" which I have no idea as to what booster flow is.

I've always used the other opening for cold air intake...pulling air in from outside the room, then venting it out via the other duct opening. I guess it depends on your setup and room.

I see what you mean. I was hoping I could achieve sufficient cooling using only 1x intake pulling the whole room thru the light fixture.

BooleanCisco said:

I see what you mean. I was hoping I could achieve sufficient cooling using only 1x intake pulling the whole room thru the light fixture.

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looks good to me man i mean if you really wanted to you could get another inline fan so you can help speed up the air going past the bulb

I do mine the same way man... as your picture there.

it works good and keeps the room good and cool... Only thing is im using a 1000 watt light in mine.

BooleanCisco said:

I see what you mean. I was hoping I could achieve sufficient cooling using only 1x intake pulling the whole room thru the light fixture.

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You can..i just go a little fyrther and make it even cooler...drawing in air from your room can just be useless if it's just warm air...then your not effectively cooling your lights.

Thanks for the replies. I'm planning to put a 4" or 6" hole on the bottom of the door with an oscillating fan in front of it to blow fresh air into the canopy. I'm hoping that will address any heating issues not addressed with the light exhaust.

I'm going to try it pulling air from the socket side of the light and see if I have any trouble with temps. I'm hoping I won't but I can't be sure without running it for a few test runs. My bag seeds are soaking in water pre-germ so I have some time to test before blasting them with my T5 and 400w MH! I can't wait.

Also, if my numbers are correct my 160 cfm fan should cycle my 64 cubic foot room 2 1/2 times per minute. Is this sufficient for healthy co2 levels?

Agaian, thanks for the positive help guys!

BooleanCisco said:

Thanks for the replies. I'm planning to put a 4" or 6" hole on the bottom of the door with an oscillating fan in front of it to blow fresh air into the canopy. I'm hoping that will address any heating issues not addressed with the light exhaust.

I'm going to try it pulling air from the socket side of the light and see if I have any trouble with temps. I'm hoping I won't but I can't be sure without running it for a few test runs. My bag seeds are soaking in water pre-germ so I have some time to test before blasting them with my T5 and 400w MH! I can't wait.

Also, if my numbers are correct my 160 cfm fan should cycle my 64 cubic foot room 2 1/2 times per minute. Is this sufficient for healthy co2 levels?

Agaian, thanks for the positive help guys!

Click to expand...

No problem...sorry about not all your questions being answered.

Make sure to not put the seedlings unger the MH...it's too much light for the little guys, the T5's will be fine for the first week or two, then start using the HID's.

You should be getting plenty of Co2 into your room with that...it's when you start getting into bigger grow rooms where all the plants will starve the air of Co2, and you will need a substitute, just going and spending time next to your plants will be plenty Co2, since we inhale o2 and produce C02, plants do it in reverse...they breath Co2 and release o2.

No worries at all man, I appreciate your input. It's given me several good ideas.