Indoor CFL grow, pictures attached

[austinhotunes]

I have this aluminum circular trash can and I lid that I can put on top. I have a 60 watt equiv. CFL hanging in side the can. I can adjust how far away the light is from the plant. I am worried that the plant will become overheated inside the aluminum can. Please help, and any suggestions are appreciated.

austinhotunes Reviewed by austinhotunes on 12-04-2010. Indoor CFL grow, pictures attached I have this aluminum circular trash can and I lid that I can put on top. I have a 60 watt equiv. CFL hanging in side the can. I can adjust how far away the light is from the plant. I am worried that the plant will become overheated inside the aluminum can. Please help, and any suggestions are appreciated. Rating: 5

[Lynhal]

I am worried that the plant will become overheated inside the aluminum can.

I believe you are correct. Aluminum is a conductor of heat, so unless you have a fantastic cooling/air exchange in that can I think it would heat up way too much.

I have never used that type of set up and I am curious about how it will work for you so please keep us posted! :smokin:

[austinhotunes]

Sounds good :thumbsup:

[hammerbutt]

Actually since aluminum is a conductor of heat it will transfer heat from inside to the outside cooler room temperature and should keep the interior cooler than a plastic can thats why heat sinks are made from aluminum. It could be a problem if the plant is touching the sides of the can though.

[austinhotunes]

I put a mini fan at the bottom of the can to keep the interior nice and cool. I also put the light closer to the plant. I'll put pictures of the plant itself in about a week.

[PhatJay]

I put a mini fan at the bottom of the can to keep the interior nice and cool. I also put the light closer to the plant. I'll put pictures of the plant itself in about a week.

It would be better to put the fan at the top as an extract fan and have a hole at the bottom for a passive intake. Hammerbutt is right about the aluminium, they use it for heatsinks and high quality pc cases for it's thermal dissipation properties.

You are also going to need a lot more light. 60w equivalent is around 12w actual? (better to quote actual wattages instead of equivalent). I wouldn't want to use less than 125w (actual wattage) per plant.