So I’ve been checking lights out Hps specifically .
400 watts
*Initial lumen: 55,000 lumens
*Color Temperature: 2,100K watts
Or a 600 watt HPS light offering a little more than above?
I am trying to cover a 4x4x80 grow tent, with about 8 to 10 sq ft of plants. I just need an amazing light, without going over 300 dollars… I thought I had a light but turns out it was more like a gimmick…
I recommend going with the 600. They are the most efficient of the HID’s (except maybe cmh lights , not sure) I use the 600 MH for veg and the HPS flower.
600 watt HID is perfect for a 4x4 tent. Just be sure you get an air-cooled fixture. growershouse has a nice package that includes an XtraSun reflector, and a Quantum ballast for $250.
I use a HID, girls love it. Vivosun has a great package on Amazon.
I think I would avoid that package. @SKORPION found that the Vivosun HID fixture ran hot(plus they tried to play dirty pool with his review), and when I look at it, one reason is pretty clear: It does not have a large enough plenum. Having an adequate volume of air around the heat source is key to cooling. It also doesn’t have enough angle changes on the backside to distribute the light to my liking. I also don’t like their knockoff of a Quantum ballast.
It is $75 cheaper @DDGreenRay but personally I would pay extra for the brand name stuff.
Definitely invest in a cool tube and like a 440 cfm fan. Would be my recommendation but you may never have that problem. Your indoor conditions affect the situation. Me and at @Zee had hids at the same time and he didn’t have the issues I did so you never know.
i know you have a good inline fan already right? If not, that needs to be factored into the cost. So a 350 - 400 dollar light jumps in price due to the exhaust fan etc. Should have a good inline anyway but…
Hard to beat the bang for the buck of the 600 watt HPS/MH but definitely need an air-cooled hood and a 400cfm exhaust fan and to actually run that exhaust to somewhere else, preferably outside or attic.
3 months of use, and not 1 issue. I also have their tent. I like them. Plus backed by Amazon, can’t go wrong IMO.
Definitely, mine exhaust outside.
Yep, exhausting to the outside makes all the difference, got to get that heat out of the room, not just out of the tent.
I have an air conditioner in my grow room so the heat isnt an issue, it filters all the heat outside, and maintains a temp of 76 in the tent with a humid level of 33 to 43 depending. I do see what you’re saying when you say the back shades an area. I did buy the 600 vivosun . A bulb came unpackaged properly and broken, so they’re sending new. If I asked you what a plenum and the ballast is… I’m so new these words are foreign to me. Basically the parts are a little cheaper made? I see all the letters, abbreviations for light building and I feel like I’m in a different time zone. .
My fan is a standing ac unit in the tent. It works great. And can be changed to a humidifier and just a fan. It also filters the heat outside via tube…
Think of a car stereo. If you wanted some nice subs. You would need a amplifier to boost power to run it. In lighting to run a high wattage light you also need to boost power so that amplifier is called a ballast or driver.
Thank you.
A plenum is the air space inside the fixture, surrounding the bulb. The larger the plenum, the more volume of air, the more air to absorb heat and carry it out. There’s a bit more science to it than that, but that’s the gist of it.
The ballast is just the power supply. Again, there’s more to it than that (it changes the voltage, and with certain lights it changes the frequency), but that’s the gist of it.
