Mini fridge light setup

I am currently designing a grow box using a mini fridge and i'm seeking advice from someone who has done something similar. I plan on using a new 48" tall double door fridge. I will be removing the existing thermostat and replacing them with digital one so i can keep my temp around 75°f. Ill be cutting the separator to make it all open. I want to keep the box air tight so i can add co2 injection with ppm reading system. I'm completely lost on what i should do with lights. I have a dozen 1200w LED grow lights from past grows which are to big for this set up. Ive been looking into 250w hps lights and smaller led lights. Ive never used hps lights in the past so im not sure if the cooling system for the fridge can handle a non ducted system. Duct work isnt a option for me.

COB lights will be your best bet. More energy put into usable light.

Nugachino said:

COB lights will be your best bet. More energy put into usable light.

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Do you suggest a certain brand? I've never used cob lights. I've been leaning towards led. Mine run at 105°f . I could always cut a hole on the top of the fridge and use a gasket and homemade bracket to seal the light to the fridge. Id only get heat from the glass of the led which the fridge can handle.

Cree, Citizen, Bridgelux... Something like that. Your leds should suffice. But these makers almost garuntee better harvest.

Higher photon flux density.

This route sounds promising. Ive done a little research on building my own light system using bridgelux vero 29 COBs. I guess i need to just jump in all the way and figure out everything i need. Ive seen amazing results from them. Thanks a lot for the advice!

http://www.cutter.com.au/categories.php?cat=MAU5+KITS

Heres some options.

I grow in small spaces too. I've had to learn what lights to use to get somewhere with the limited space I've got.

Though I've only got a higher end blurple light. I'd rather one of these cobs.

Nugachino said:

I grow in small spaces too. I've had to learn what lights to use to get somewhere with the limited space I've got.

Though I've only got a higher end blurple light. I'd rather one of these cobs.

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Thanks a lot for that link! That saved me a bunch of time. Im thinking 2 vero 29s for veg then changing up the spectrum and using 4, three on top and one on the side. Power efficient controllable heat pocket size mini suns Moster bubs I'm stoked! Ill post pictures once complete.

Glad you like it bro. There are others out there to buy from. But, I've found this place (cutter) to be the most straight forward to search and match things up.

I'm personally looking at the Vero 18 kit. Ideally I would've liked a 4000k setup. But, 3500k is apparently better for the flowering stage. And still gives great over all growth.

I would go the Vero 29 kit. But that's twice the power I'd need.


Don't know if you've read this anywhere. But, it's a good idea to have between 30 and 50w per square foot of floor space you wish to light. You can do up to 80w per sq ft. But anymore than that. And all you're doing is wasting juice.

Thing is. Plants like lots of light. But, if you give them too much. They can bleach and lose potency. Or worse still. End up being burnt and dying from it.

Nugachino said:

Glad you like it bro. There are others out there to buy from. But, I've found this place (cutter) to be the most straight forward to search and match things up.

I'm personally looking at the Vero 18 kit. Ideally I would've liked a 4000k setup. But, 3500k is apparently better for the flowering stage. And still gives great over all growth.

I would go the Vero 29 kit. But that's twice the power I'd need.


Don't know if you've read this anywhere. But, it's a good idea to have between 30 and 50w per square foot of floor space you wish to light. You can do up to 80w per sq ft. But anymore than that. And all you're doing is wasting juice.

Thing is. Plants like lots of light. But, if you give them too much. They can bleach and lose potency. Or worse still. End up being burnt and dying from it.

Click to expand...

WOW just realized they were running at 90w. The only down fall with the vero 18 is the spectrum selection. With all my research and experience ive found 2700k is perfect for flowering and 6400k for veg. Vero 18 only offers a 3000k and a 3500k that ive found. The 3000k would work great for flowering but it doenst look like i can use the vero 18 to reach my blue. The vero 29 comes in a 5500k. Maybe run 2 vero 29 5500k on a 200w then switch over to 4 vero 18 3000k on a 250w. What do you think?

It's honestly up to you what you get.

Every time I've said I want a 4000k kit (due to even red and blue output). I always seem to get told to go with the 3500k. Because it has more red in it.

Your blues run the veg side mostly. And reds run the flowering. It should be fine to use a light that's more reddish. As long as it has about 35% blue in it.

Reds also make plants stretch more. The addition of that little bit of blue is supposed to not only help with the vegetation. But also to inhibit plants getting super lanky.

For the personal sized grows I've done in the last decade a 250w hps had been my work horse and supplies what I need with a little for my close friends to enjoy. I've used it in a slightly larger box than you have (around 3x2 footprint, 4-5ft tall range) and very good ventilation is a must. I've run a 150cfm inline fan and it keeps the temp about 10f above room temp. without being able to have any ducting you'll need to see if you can squeeze in a sufficiently large fan to pull air thru your rig. I'd suspect you won't have enough room for everything fit inside that fridge. a full size fridge though, yes.

I have no experience with LED but it might be your best route to keep things in a suitable temp range.

with even basic skills (hps here, from my experience) you should have no problem getting a few ounces each run and once your technique gets refined for that setup 5-7oz is well within reach. biggest issue aside from ventilation is finding the sweet spot of size to veg them before switching to flower. you don't want to be trimming them back mid flower. scrog them to maximize your space and yield.

is there any way you can build a stealth box to sit on top of the fridge to contain your fan and duct from the rear of the fridge?

good luck. I'd love to see how you end up building.