Questions about 1st cabinet

[jwtruth35]

****Warning****Extreme Noob****

Just needed to get that out of the way in case some of my questions are so stupid that they make you roll your eyes.

I'm getting ready to try my 1st cab and I am building it right into a small office that I am also getting ready to build as well.

I've been trying to figure out how to not put a hundred fans in and was hoping the newest idea would work.

The cab would be just under 8' tall, 4'wide and 3' deep. Flower space on top at 5' with a clone area on bottom at just under 2' with a space in the middle for ducting intake all the way from the bottom through the whole cabinet.

I was hoping 1 strong fan on top to pull everything through the air cooled hood, and an intake fan of smaller size on the bottom. I also want an oscillating on top though it seems it will have to be very small to fit. I'm going for extreme stealth due to kids in the house. They won't be allowed in the office, but I know how well kids listen sometimes.

At first I was set on the 600W HPS but I've been tossing around throwing a 1000W in there instead since I only want to buy this stuff once, besides the things that need to be replaced over time. Am I going for overkill? From what I read the 600W seems plenty. I'm always hearing "more light is better" but I don't want to spend the extra $$ for nothing. I also think the heat might be too much.

I will have carbon filter on intake and exhaust and was thinking some fluorescent for the bottom clones to keep everything cooler down there?

Any help is appreciated as I'm trying to get this started right after the first of the year and my head is spinning from all the reading. I have zero actual experience in actual growing and I know reading only goes so far.

Thanks in advance

Mark

 

[greenguy]

I would suggest just using the entire cab to veg and flower rather than seperating the space. You will want the sq footage in flower.

 

[OctoberDee]

How big will your cab be? If not too big then 600w might be more than enough. I'd recommend getting a digital ballast with adjustable wattage so you can dial it down if needed. I use a 400w light in a confined space and toyed with the idea of getting a 600w but it requires serious airflow to keep the temps down in a small space. The ambient air would have to be low and get pretty directly aimed at the bulb. If you could get a liquid cooled bulb setup you'd be able to get real small with it. If not the bulb is a furnace and will keep the cab super-hot and scorch your plants. You'd be good to have the air pulled out the top but you'll need a more direct air source. You won't need a thousand fans just a better airflow plan. Maybe fans drawing air directly into the cab flower area and toward the light then out the top as you've planned. Either way if you get a high intensity discharge light you're dealing with a lot of heat. Hope that helps...

 

[williamdodgett]

The only advice that I can offer (assuming this is in a house) is that you should work the ventilation through the ceiling. If the cab is already gonna be 8' then your already at the ceiling or close to it. I am a roofer so my first inclination is to tell you to work your exhaust through the roof. It is common to dryers vented in this fashion. As a matter of fact, most heat/gases are vented in this manner (i.e. hot water heater/furnace). It sounds like you are going to put some work into this cab so do it up right. It sounds like a lot trouble to do this, but it is easy. Grab a drill with a paddle bit and a sawsall to cut your holes in the ceiling and roof. Run the same kind of vent as you would use for a hot water heater to the top of the cab. Just flash it topside (on your roof) with standard HVAC pipe flashings. Look Im running a small cab with t5s and there is still heat. TRUST ME for this cab to work you need to vent the heat properly. Also venting air through your roof puts it up away from people. I'm not saying you wont need filtration, but hot air rises and will rise up and away from the house.

 

[williamdodgett]

Cab for HID lights

Here is what I was talking about. Oh, and if you cant vent straight up then you can get flexible stuff and vent out a louver on the side of your home or anywhere really.

 

[williamdodgett]

Yes, you are right GhostFace. Tents cost less time/money. The issue is stealth. If you have guests over and they see a cabinet they will think nothing strange. If they see a tent with light coming out the bottom you know they are gonna want to look inside.

 

[mikeb437]

I built a box using a t5-8 bulb setup. Worked great for veg and I'm into budding now. No need for anything too big as far as lights go. My t5's are a lot cooler and cost less to use. How many plants are you figuring on growing at a time? Thats a big question you need to answer,,

 

[jwtruth35]

Probably just going to flower two plants at a time