hazeway said:
And with the 250 watt cfl vs the 250 hps. The Hps will rock the cfl any day of the week. CFL`s lack the red and blue spectrum the plants require in flower, for veg you can get by, at a fraction of the cost.
Um. Just to quibble - CFL's have good spectral output - and the convenient 3k 5k 6.5k tiers makes setting up spectrally balanced light arrays pretty easy - but like you say this is great for rooting out clones and vegging but - flowering - not so much.
What CFL's lack is light intensity - and once you start stacking them together, they end up hotter and as expensive as a similar wattage HPS.
To the OP:
A 150w CFL (a real 150w CFL, not a 150w incandescent equivalent operating at 42w - like this - () puts down like 8000ish lumens depending on spectrum - maybe 8500 down at 3k.
A 150w HPS puts down nearly 20,000 lumens - at a better spectrum for flowering.
The thing is nearly 2.5x as bright for the same input power and a bit more heat signature.
jakesterjammin said:
You can get a 250w - HPS - Hydrolux 6" Cool Tube with a Lumatek ballast for $205!!
Personally I have always suggested getting a good name brand ballast over the ElCheapo ballasts...
In the long run you'll be MUCH better off...
Um. No thank you. I'd take a HTG branded ballast over an overpriced LumaCrap anyday.
Lumatek's are notoriously finicky and I know at least one shop around Denver that doesn't even carry them anymore after so many came back.
jonathanstrange said:
Cooling it's gonna be a bitch. I live in an apt. If I have to cut the ceiling I will. to the best of my knowledge it leads to a subfloor below the attic where no one lives.
To many variables to know for sure here - how the airflow will do once it is in . . . . you could probably get away with the single 250 if you leave ur closet door cracked . . . that seems like the easiest solution to me . . . but if you can get good airflow in that space TF is right - a 400 should be workable as well.
hazeway said:
Stick with sedate, I`ve read many of his threads and posts. A shout out to him as well, that dynamat on the cannon fan thread is stellar! Gonna hook that up next run because for me noise is always an issue hahaha!
Heh thanks man.
<----- Rep button is here :)
Check out Trichome Fan's thread on a DIY duct muffler - the two upgrades in concert really STFU out of those 'effin fans.