Need opinions on lighting for a 4x4 tent (I’m on a budget currently).

[iHarvest]

Hello everyone. First and foremost, thanks for taking the time to read my post.

I’ll give everyone a breakdown of my current setup and what I’m moving into.. I’ve never actually used a tent, I have always used a spare room for my setups. I currently have a 400w mh/hps ballast/reflector. I recently moved and my only options are A) a closet grow (which I don’t want to do cause the wife wants her closet for obvious reasons) or B) get a tent and a new light that won’t put off as much heat. So B it is. I’m going to run a 4x4 tent with a 6” exhaust fan and for now, use passive intake until I’m able to get another fan. With that said, let’s get to the topic at hand.

Let me first start by saying I’m on a budget currently (150-200 max). I know this isn’t a lot, but it’s what I have extra to drop on a light right now. I do plan to invest more into my lighting for better lighting and better results but for now I need something that will hopefully at least compare to my 400w hps. My ladies are ready to flower and but I need something that will run cooler. I’ve been doing a lot of research on LEDs lately for the simple fact that they won’t get as hot as my hps. I’m a believer in HID lights because it’s all I’ve ever used and I know how to get the results I want with them. Anyway... upon researching led, cob and qb came up. Both sound like they have their benefits, qb being better from what I hear, but I don’t feel like I have he funds (or knowledge to put them together) in the time frame that I need my lighting. Therefor, I feel something already assembled would be best temporarily. And this is where I need opinions. I know a lot of you guys and gals have experience with leds and such, so will you all please point me in the right direction as far as what brand/light I should go for that’s in my price range? I’m a firm believer that spectrum (having enough red, and not too much yellow/green, along with having UV and IR), and par output is important.

I’ve been looking at the King Plus seriies, maybe 1200/1500w (I know this is a marketing gimmick, not true wattage, but I’m hoping it may balance out with my 400w hps), but I’m not sure if this is my best bet, having never used LEDs. And I’m not certain that those lights have heatsinks.

I’ll stop my rant here and let you all chime in. I’ll be actively watching my thread and will reply as soon as I can to any replies. Thanks!

 

[Thegermling]

I’ve been looking at the King Plus seriies, maybe 1200/1500w (I know this is a marketing gimmick, not true wattage, but I’m hoping it may balance out with my 400w hps), but I’m not sure if this is my best bet, having never used LEDs. And I’m not certain that those lights have heatsinks.

Another newbie was in your shoes and wanted that exact light. Look what we told him...https://www.rollitup.org/t/light-decision.979067/page-16#post-14580081
Also do not buy "blurples" like the king light. You can get an auto cob at https://cobshop.net/ for $135 but it only covers a 2x2 area. Id say skip a grow until you can scrounge up money. Just use your hps man. Trust me im saving you alot of BS.

 

[Banana444]

When it comes to led, keep reading about it and dont be in a hurry bit i recommend to build your own lights. Kits can make it more simple (no drilling and and tapping) and are ussually a good value vs learning to drill and tap and match your leds, driver and heatsink. Going from most recent to past tech quantum boards are whats up but not to be discounted from, cxb3590, vero29, cxa3590, cxa3070, which are all great cob leds. If you already have a 400w hps, they dont run that hot, maybe look at how are you cooling it. A box fan pointed directly at a 400w hps with an exhaust fan removing hot air will keep it only about 5-10 degrees above ambient temperature.

 

[iHarvest]

Thank you both for your replies.

@Thegermling, I’m currently reading that post. There’s a lot of arguing there but I’m getting through it all. Thanks for the link.

@Banana444, I haven’t spent a great deal of time reading up on QB’s, simply because I don’t feel I currently have the budget to flower a 4x4 area. Am I correct on this?

As for not cooling the area properly, well, I haven’t tried to cool my tent down with my hps yet, as I’m just now about to order my tent and exhaust fan. Typically I had no issue with the heat because I was using a room for my setup and I had a standup, “portable” ac to cool my area. It worked very well, but, I won’t have enough space or a way to put it inside my tent due to the exhaust on it needing to be connected to a window. But here’s an idea, let me know what you all think of this.. if I were to just run my 400w hps, could I get away with that if I had my ac running in the room the tent is in? Would passive intake be enough to keep it cool, if I had a couple fans inside the tent? Or would I need an extra fan for intake to make that work? If I could just use my hps, I’d have more to spend on another fan and (if needed) a bigger tent for extra space for fans and such. But then again I don’t want too much extra space because I’d only be running a 400w light. & thanks for your input.

I look forward to hearing the responses I get about the above question also!

 

[Chunky Stool]

Have you checked craigslist?
A good 600w digital ballast is around $50 so you should be able to get a complete rig plus a new bulb for $100.
One 600w should be enough for a 4X4, but if you wanted a little more light, you could dim it to 400 and run both lights together (800w total). You could even run mixed spectrum with MH + HPS.

 

[iHarvest]

Have you checked craigslist?
A good 600w digital ballast is around $50 so you should be able to get a complete rig plus a new bulb for $100.
One 600w should be enough for a 4X4, but if you wanted a little more light, you could dim it to 400 and run both lights together (800w total). You could even run mixed spectrum with MH + HPS.

No, I haven’t. I’d like to get my tent setup going first to be sure I can handle the heat in an enclosed area before adding even more light/heat. This may be a viable option in a month or so, when I see how the setup is going and when I’ll have note $ to invest. I do appreciate the idea though!

 

[Bud.]

+1 for what Chunky said.

I’d pick up a used 400 or 600 and run it along with the light you already have.

A decent 6” will suck the heat out of that tent no problem depending on how you set it up

Where is the tent going to be? Can you vent to outside or a different room?

 

[iHarvest]

+1 for what Chunky said.

I’d pick up a used 400 or 600 and run it along with the light you already have.

A decent 6” will suck the heat out of that tent no problem depending on how you set it up

Where is the tent going to be? Can you vent to outside or a different room?

Is a Vivosun 6” fan decent? It would be their 4x4 tent as well. This is what I could fit into my budget while also buying a light. I could however get something better if I don’t need to buy a light right now.

The exhaust will be blowing the hot air into a bedroom. Blowing it into another room or outside isn’t currently an option. With that said, I’m not worried about the heat in the bedroom as I can just use my ac to cool that down if needed (or just open a window).

 

[iHarvest]

Is a Vivosun 6” fan decent? It would be their 4x4 tent as well. This is what I could fit into my budget while also buying a light. I could however get something better if I don’t need to buy a light right now.

The exhaust will be blowing the hot air into a bedroom. Blowing it into another room or outside isn’t currently an option. With that said, I’m not worried about the heat in the bedroom as I can just use my ac to cool that down if needed (or just open a window).

For the record, it would be their carbon filter too. Is this a wise or poor choice in fan/filter?

 

[Bud.]

I have a vivosun filter it works fine. I can’t see their fan being too bad I’m sure it’ll move air.

And if you can cool the room the tent is in it’ll be smooth sailing.

 

[iHarvest]

I have a vivosun filter it works fine. I can’t see their fan being too bad I’m sure it’ll move air.

And if you can cool the room the tent is in it’ll be smooth sailing.

That’s reassuring because I need the filter to do it’s job. Do you have their 16” or 18”? And do you have their prefilter on it?

In your opinion, should I go with a 5x5 (or something else) instead of the 4x4? I’ll be flowering 6 ladies in 5 gal pots in the tent. I just want to be sure I’ll have enough room for my fans.

 

[Bud.]

That’s reassuring because I need the filter to do it’s job. Do you have their 16” or 18”? And do you have their prefilter on it?

In your opinion, should I go with a 5x5 (or something else) instead of the 4x4? I’ll be flowering 6 ladies in 5 gal pots in the tent. I just want to be sure I’ll have enough room for my fans.

I just have the 4” inlet 12” one.

If you have the room I’d go with the 5x5. It’s nice to have some space in there for fans and moving pots around to water, etc

My tent is also vivosun. They’re not the best. They have light leaks around some of the seams and the vent/window covers are creased out of the box so light leaks there too. I’d patch those up if the room is gonna be bright during lights off. My room is pitch black, no windows, so I haven’t bothered.

 

[iHarvest]

I just have the 4” inlet 12” one.

If you have the room I’d go with the 5x5. It’s nice to have some space in there for fans and moving pots around to water, etc

My tent is also vivosun. They’re not the best. They have light leaks around some of the seams and the vent/window covers are creased out of the box so light leaks there too. I’d patch those up if the room is gonna be bright during lights off. My room is pitch black, no windows, so I haven’t bothered.

Good info, thanks. I’ve never ran a tent before so my bad is this is a super noob question, but should I run an intake fan also? Or will the passive intake be enough? And if I should run the intake fan, would 6” be ideal for intake and outtake or would I need an 8” to exhaust a 5x5? I want to maintain negative pressure inside the tent no matter which route I go.

I feel like it’s more to learn up front running a tent compared to a room, but it’ll be easier once it’s set up.

 

[Bud.]

I think an 8” would be overkill but I’m not really sure. I have a 4” no-name fan in my 5x5 with a 1kW dimmed to 750. Passive intake, one large oscillating fan inside. Temps max out around 87 but usually hover around 80-83

I know a guy running 1kW in a 5x5 with Hurricane VTX400 4” fan and it works fine.

The vivosun 5x5 is about 167 cubic feet. You wanna be exhausting that much air every 1-2 minutes. If you keep your ducting straight and short you should be able to do it with a good 4”

Take this with a grain of salt hopefully someone else can chime in.

 

[Bud.]

Forgot to mention yea I do use the pre-filter. It stops a lot of dust and shit from getting into the actual filter. Works good.

 

[iHarvest]

I think an 8” would be overkill but I’m not really sure. I have a 4” no-name fan in my 5x5 with a 1kW dimmed to 750. Passive intake, one large oscillating fan inside. Temps max out around 87 but usually hover around 80-83

I know a guy running 1kW in a 5x5 with Hurricane VTX400 4” fan and it works fine.

The vivosun 5x5 is about 167 cubic feet. You wanna be exhausting that much air every 1-2 minutes. If you keep your ducting straight and short you should be able to do it with a good 4”

Take this with a grain of salt hopefully someone else can chime in.

Good shit man, thanks for all of your advice. And everyone else also. I’m going to start a new topic on my ventilation questions to see what others say (not that your advice didn’t help, cuz it did). Though at this point I feel like I can pull it off with some trial and error, I just want to hear all opinions I can before I make my purchase which will be very soon. Take it easy Bud.

 

[Bud.]

Good shit man, thanks for all of your advice. And everyone else also. I’m going to start a new topic on my ventilation questions to see what others say (not that your advice didn’t help, cuz it did). Though at this point I feel like I can pull it off with some trial and error, I just want to hear all opinions I can before I make my purchase which will be very soon. Take it easy Bud.

Good idea. I’ll be tuning in to that thread. I need to upgrade my fan. I want to see what people have to say. Leaning towards the hurricane 4” but we’ll see.

 

[Chunky Stool]

Good info, thanks. I’ve never ran a tent before so my bad is this is a super noob question, but should I run an intake fan also? Or will the passive intake be enough? And if I should run the intake fan, would 6” be ideal for intake and outtake or would I need an 8” to exhaust a 5x5? I want to maintain negative pressure inside the tent no matter which route I go.

I feel like it’s more to learn up front running a tent compared to a room, but it’ll be easier once it’s set up.

I used an Apollo 5X5 for a couple of years and it worked fine. But there were definitely light leaks.
I'm not convinced that small light leaks really matter. Hell I had a HUGE light leak in my current room (long story) and didn't see a single hermie. There were 3 strains and none of them had issues.
It may come down to the fact that I don't stress my plants with nutrient deficiencies while they are flowering.
And I don't overfeed by giving them a shitload of phosphorous.
Oops... got a little sidetracked.
A 6" fan works great in a 5X5. An intake fan isn't necessary.
The hardest part will be getting the carbon filter to fit with the lights. Smaller reflectors are better if you run multiple lights.
The cheap little bat wings are my favorite.
Good luck!

 

[Skoal]

Another newbie was in your shoes and wanted that exact light. Look what we told him...https://www.rollitup.org/t/light-decision.979067/page-16#post-14580081
Also do not buy "blurples" like the king light. You can get an auto cob at https://cobshop.net/ for $135 but it only covers a 2x2 area. Id say skip a grow until you can scrounge up money. Just use your hps man. Trust me im saving you alot of BS.

How many watts are those Auto Cobs? Since you mentioned them I’m contemplating getting a 2 pack.

 

[Bud.]

How many watts are those Auto Cobs? Since you mentioned them I’m contemplating getting a 2 pack.

I’m pretty sure they’re 55 watts

The description on the website is worded a little funky “a true 150 watt HPS and LED replacement”

A true replacement for 150 watts not a true 150 watts