400w to much for apartment?

[dj00140]

Im gonna be doing my first grow in my apartment closet but i was wondering if i should Go with a 250w or 400w hps/mh combo. Would the 400w be suspicious?

And how much heat do these bulbs really produce, i have a pretty open closet and dont know if i need to invest in an air coolable system or even go with a 4 bulb T5 system supplemented with 4 cfl's on the side during flowering?.

dj00140 Reviewed by dj00140 on 02-20-2008. 400w to much for apartment? Im gonna be doing my first grow in my apartment closet but i was wondering if i should Go with a 250w or 400w hps/mh combo. Would the 400w be suspicious? And how much heat do these bulbs really produce, i have a pretty open closet and dont know if i need to invest in an air coolable system or even go with a 4 bulb T5 system supplemented with 4 cfl's on the side during flowering?. Rating: 5

[stinkyattic]

A 400HPS is not a lot of electricity considering that a TV or computer draws about that many watts.
You will have to consider removing heat from the space though. The lamp and exhaust should be considered a single entity- the size exhaust you need depends on the light and space. An open closet door only works during veg. During flower, you need too have a way to exchange air without allowing light to enter the space.
Consider buying a replacement closet door and modifying it for your purposes, and replacing the original closet door when you prepare to move out of the apartment.

[dj00140]

Alright stinky that sounds like a good idea i think i'll scratch the t5's and just invest in a good 400w mh/hps combo thats air coolable and worry about the heat once i get to flower.... :jointsmile:

[Dutch Pimp]

1. If your buy a digital ballast, test it for RF interference. If it interferes with your neighbor's TV/radio/cable/cell phone/etc....it could be a problem. Some digital ballasts are bad for that and the cable man can track it down, easy.

2. Growing in rental property?....bad ju-ju juana.

[M.B.A.]

I have a 400w HPS setup in a 4'x4'x6' box that I made for my babies and it's doin great

[psteve]

One 400W HPS should be just enough for a 3'x3' space.

[mushaboom]

in my experience, my 400 raised the temperature in my closet about 8 degrees. professional ventilation is always awesome and better but youd be fine even with a regular old oscillating fan moving the air around. in the winter its great because turning the light on doesnt even really raise the temperature if i leave a window cracked.
oh yea also, do you rent or own? because if you rent you should definitely make sure that you are the only one with keys and access to your apartment. maintenance guys can and will pop in randomly, and dont think they wont poke around if they smell or see something fishy. and dont forget about murphy's law.

anyways, i have a question kind of related to this now too. ive never used a digital ballast, but is it true that they dont take to voltage fluctuations very well and this can cause them to break?

[Dutch Pimp]

anyways, i have a question kind of related to this now too. ive never used a digital ballast, but is it true that they dont take to voltage fluctuations very well and this can cause them to break?

The answer to this is ...Yes.

[BlueDevil]

Growing in rental property?....bad ju-ju juana.

Quoted for complete and utter agreement.

You couldn't pay me enough to attempt a grow in a domicile where I didn't possess the sole means of access to it. That's a clusterfvck and an eviction waiting to happen IMO...


Good luck though...

[psteve]

Growing in rental property?....bad ju-ju juana.

Unless you're a licensed patient/grower in a medical marijuana state. :thumbsup: