NEEEEEED HID OPINION!

Ok here is the deal.....below is a picture of my 3' tall cabinet and the 250w hps system i am considering buying...I have this idea where what i will do is cut a square in the top of the cabinet so that my HPS reflector can fit snug right over the hole....the ballast will be at the top of the closet on a shelf about 3 feet above the growbox....i have two fans 120mm computer fans already installed in the box one at the base of the plants and the other at the top of the box....not comming out the top but on the back at the top....NOW if the light is not in the box and I have a fan bowing on it all day plus the two fans inside the growbox and remote ballast do you think this will take care of the heat issues...i am also considering a t5 setup for flowering....i really wanna get a good yield so i can grow take a couple months off and than start another when i need it....im just growing for myself and one friend who has helped me out with beans. Also would using a 150watt setup be better...please experienced HID users give me your opinion....ive never used HID and dont know how much heat i must deal with....i could probably even manage to get the ballast out of the closet...

what i never get is why people buy little boxes if they don't plan to make them concealable; since your light will be sticking out it's hardly inconspicuous :)

imho: go on craigslist and search furniture for "armoire, cabinet, and wardrobe" you can usually find something great, and hopefully bigger than that

otherwise, i think you're idea makes sense

i plan on getting one of those 6 ft tall double door cabs...but for right now this is all i got!

A nice array of cfls will get you a respectable yield. Ph'ing and feeding your plants right goes along way toward a respectable yield as well. And if you scrog, or LST your plants, that will increase your yields also. HIDs definitely rock the shit though, just need proper ventilation. If you plan on getting a six foot cab eventually, you may want to get something more powerful than a 250w.

i aready have a shitload of cfl's the problem is yes they do not emit as much heat as a HPS bulb but the problem is when you have 8-10 of them emmiting almost 300w the combined heat of all the lamps and attached ballasts creates a problem too....i think one hps bulb at the top would be better than 8 - 10 surrounding my plants with heat. Also im just growing for myself so i really dont need alot, i will never sell any of my yield...only gifts to one VERY close friend. i think 250 watts in a 6 ft cab would be perfect for me I just need to find the right cabinet and start collecting an array of hydro gadgets over time....I almost enjoy the growing as a hobbie as much as the smoking...wait not really but i have realized i love growing and just wanna get a stealthy cab put together over time.....the cab I have now is really just to get started with but when i get a six footer I wanna still use he 250 with a cool tube setup.....two site DWC bucket and a cloning, propogation shelf on top with my cfl's....thats the long term plan!

if the reflector has a glass or you place a piece of glass between the reflector and the cab, and the ballast will be outside the cab you should take care of most of your heat issues.
would really need to know the depth and width of the cab to even suggest what size light you should use the height is rather useless info.

First off the heat to light ratio is worse for cfls, and you wont get the same amount of lumens per watt. Plus they cant be air cooled. The reflector you are showing is air-coolable so you should either run a 6" duct fan through it (cheap and loud) or a centrifugal fan (more expensive and quiet). Do that and you'll be able to stick you balls against the reflector glass with no prob (wouldn't recommend this). That digi ballast will emit minimal minimal heat with a 250. As far as sticking the reflector on the top of the cab, just watch out for light leaks, and dont start a fire!! If I were to put the reflector on the top the of cab I would be sure to air cool it. Good luck and peace

As long as you can keep the heat under control you could probably use a 250w. But for a cab like that if you aren't sure if you can control heat I would seriously just use some CFL's. If you can get over 150w's with CFL's without the heat issue then why waste your money on that expensive HID?

People with who use cfls swear by them. the rest of who understand the lumens to watt ratio, and that nothing compares to HIDs are getting better bud. end of discussion. Cfls are for seedlings and my ceiling lights.

well i was going to get a t5 for this cab but a t5 will cost me about 130 plus bulbs so im looking at 150ish at least not counting tax and shipping for bulbs cause my hydro shop doesnt have bloom bulbs....the 250 set up will be a round 300 total. plus the yeild will be much better.....i do agree that yes cfl's can produce some awesome results but I still gotta deal with the heat srrounding my plant AND heating up my water temps, since i wun a DWC setup......This box is a POS it already has light leaks....but it is in a closet that is not facing any windows or anything like that...also behind a locked door at all times when im not home....noone comes in my house unlesss i know they are their and noone sees the cab exept for my best friend.....thats why im gonna get rid of this shit cab, get a 6 footer and outfit the shit out of it over the summer...ill get some pics when I start the evolution of my 6 footer...and i know ou are absolutly right about lumens to watt.....My set up was using about 280watts in and producing 17000lumens over a 2 plant DWC...use a HPS get 27000+, will penetrate the canopy and will probably produce less heat probles for my set up when vented properly.....seems obvios to go with the HPS!

It would take a LOT more than 8-10 cfls to equal the heat that an HID puts out. If you are going to air cool it then you are ok. Don't even think about an HID in your closet without a cooling system. ;)

i will deffinately vent the HPS i knowit generates heat but compared to the heat of my plant surrounded with 280 watts.....it was getting warm inmy cab and without cooling the water res I was looking at temps in the mid 70's...i will veg with the cfl's that I have and when im ready to flower in about 6 weeks I will most likely have myy 6 footer and have a fan venting this hood out the back....

That sounds good. You will be amazed at how much heat these lights put out even if the ballast is somewhere else. There simply is no comparison imo. (Also no comparison to their ability to give you a good yield.) :thumbsup:

how many CFM's should I have venting this hood in the 6 footer? I really am gonna make a kick ass cabinet throughout the summer so make any recommendations for a 250 watt hps in one of these...
72" H 36"wide 18" deep
also if i get a tan colored one will that help with heat, will the black finish hold in heat more. The inside wil be totally covered with mylar...

Well i have a 1kw and a 177 cfm inline fan pulling the exhaust air from the hood. It works great but I wouldn't dare run it w/out the fan. I doubt you'd need that much for a 250....but you'll definitely need something. You should look into cool tubes if you don't have a reflector already. Those things rock and you can get them pretty close to your plants for better results.

i might just go the cool tube route....they are expensive but are pretty awesome.......i havent vented a light like this cause ive never owned one so with a cooltube would i need 2 fans attached...one on one end pulling fresh air through and another at the other exhausting....or just one pushing the air through the tube?

also i could use a recommendation for standard ventalation of the cabinet so the plants get frech oxygen.....i want this cab to be COMPLETELY STEALTH....NO LIGHT NO SOUND.....Im gonna use a DWC....the air pump i have is very quiet so that sno problem but im gonna need some quiet effeicient fans. i also plan to put a small filter on the back of the cabinet for odors. I saw one guy who used computer fans atached to pvc pipes to puch fresh air in and exaust it out the top but the pvs were bent so i would immagine this would make every vent lessefficient...i imagine they were bent so that light wouldnot escape.

Well I looked into cool tubes awhile back and except for the fact that I already have a good reflector I would definitely spend the money for one in the future. If you get one good fan that would be all you need (a GOOD fan) and you want it to pull the old hot air out, not pushing cool air in.

As far as the rest of the ventilation I really don't know....I have never grown in a cab setup...just a spare bedroom so I will leave that one for someone with better experience on that.

Good luck. :)

thanks for the advice....when i start modifying my cabinet ill start a thread like a grow log....It should be pretty kick ass by the time its done....i plan on getting a permanent EC,PH,TeMp display for the res and all that kind of stuff.........thanks again im off to bed peace