Cab grow, HPS vs CFL questions (heat)

i'm currently vegging 6 plants in 36''H x 22''L x 11.75''W cabinet under 4800 lumens of 6400K CFLs, probably gonna double that soon. my question is for flowering. im either gonna get another fixture and use at least 9600 lumens (140watts) of 2700K CFLs, or get a 150watt HPS light and fixture (16,000 lumens). the hps won't cost me that much more, so i really want to know how much hotter a 150watt hps would be opposed to 140 watts or possibly more of CFLs. also, the hps system has the ballast separate from the light fixture, to cut down on heat in the grow area (ballast accounts for 15% of heat is what it says). i can leave the front of the cabinet wide open to ventilate, since stealth isnt a big issue. do i absolutely need a fan running for hps or cfl (12/12 light cycle)? so is hps worth the extra heat? and how much hotter would it be compared to near equivalent wattage of CFLs? Thanks all.

I currently run a 150w HPS, (2'x2' and 4' above top of media, so about 3' above plants at moment with room to grow). Its not near as hot as you'd think that much light would be, prolly no hotter than your current setup and less than what you say you may be adding. I think you are gonna need more height to get the light above your plants, but depends on your grow style. I like to let mine grow up a bit, and bush out, less lst needed, and easier to pull out and seperate or maintain to me than a scrog would be. You are gonna have to work hard to keep them beneath the light in tight space or else raise the roof on that cab somehow. Having said all that you might be better off sticking to those cfls. The best scenario would prolly be to use the HPS and some of the blue spectrum cfls too.

thats my 2 cents but as usual not worth a penny.

I'd say as long as you can keep the door open and have a fan blowing on the plants then you'll be fine. I actually did this with my 400w hps... I had 1 plant in a 22.5in x 22.5in. x 67.5in. closet and used a huge axial fan to blow directly on the plant (and it pushed all the hot air out of the grow space).

Only thing is... when it comes time to turn the lights off, you'll have to somehow make sure the plant have total darkness. If you have to close your cabinet to do this, you better make sure to open it in the morning, otherwise those things might get cooked.

Look into Scrog... it'll help you get the most out of your space (and height restrictions) :thumbsup: