GROW BOX/CABINET ???

I have been lurking the site and reading as much as I can for quite a while. I had an unsuccessful grow, but I was very happy with the results using the LST method (3 plants, all male from bagseed.)
I used a stacked Rubbermaid container with 10 cfl's, changing the lights as required when going to flower. I am ready to upgrade a little and need advice. Any cabinets I use will be in a loft in my bedroom which is warmer than the rest of the house. This will be a soil grow with LST on all plants to help maximize yield, aiming towards a perpetual personal grow.

1. The heat from the cfl's was a problem I was able to manage, but it was a pain. Would a 4 bulb 2' T-5 in my veg cabinet put off less heat than the 10 cfl's? Dimensions are approx 3' wide x 2' deep x 3' high

2. My flower cabinet is going to be 4' wide x 2' deep x 4' high. I was thinking of putting a 4 bulb or 8 bulb 4' T-5 unit for flower, but would a 150-400w HPS work in this cabinet and would I be able to keep the heat down sufficiently? I know about the cool tube, but will it be enough?

Thanks in advance for all/any help.

I made a small bubble cloner (8 sites) to help me on my way to perpetuity. If I do an 8 plant SOG, would the flower cabinet need to be as large as I have planned, or can I scale it down? I really want to get this right the first time so I can concentrate on growing instead of upgrading/rebuilding. Thanks again.

That space sounds a little tight for 8 plants perhaps. I have a cabinet grow going with a 400w HPS (second link in my sig), cooltube, fan, and carbon filter. So if you get a good enough fan, you can run a 400 hps in there no problem. Same goes for your veg chamber, just gotta invest in some ventilation. Computer fans might be enough for the veg chamber.

Thanks for the input. I am definitely open to all help from the forum. I am pretty psyched right now, as a delivery from the Attitude is waiting for me - Violator Kush FEM, Thai Super Skunk (free), and a G13 Gigabud FEM.

I agree with bigtops, I did 6 in a 2x4x6.5 and they chocked it full at 15-20" tall. With gearing towards perpet and using LST, I would prob do 3-4 in the bloom cab that size. Allow them to veg/mature a lil more and they should still yeild the same if not more. I also have a 400 hps, tube and filter, I actually had to put a heater in the cab since the room it was in was 58-60 deg. You 4 sure should be able to maintain at least room temp with an HID up to a 400 with a centrif fan. It's all in the ventilation as BTF said. The veg chamber shouldn't be a prob with either T5 or cfl with a few small axial fans and vents in the proper place. Sound like you have a good grip on what you're doing:thumbsup:

Thanks for the advice cannakeeper. My beans arrived today, so I will be starting a grow log shortly.