430w hps cooltube, square feet question! - HELP!!!

[stelthy]

Hi I have no idea about how to work out the square feet of my grow cupboard, its 180cm tall, 80cm wide and 50cm deep, "MY ACTUAL GROWING SPACE IS 95cm TALL x 80cm WIDE x 50cm DEEP" I am wanting to do a 430w HPS/MH grow with a dual input digital ballast, and have it in a cool tube, In the grow space I will have in this order, an odor sock, the cooltube+430w HPS,(The ballast will sit outside the grow space), perferated ducting, an in line 5" systemair fan (sucking out), and out side the grow space a small amount of perferated ducting attached to a small carbon 'can filter', the whole cupboard is lined with diamond mylar so as to avoid 'hot-spots', and I have fresh air being pulled in via a speed controlled cpu fan from a boarded up chimney, the things I'am worried about are as follows:- 1) light burn... is this to much light for the size of my mylar covered grow space? 2) what kinda temps would I expect in the grow room with this set up,will the cool tube take away all the heat? as I need to keep it as close to 26oc as possible!? and 3) the expelled heat+smell is being blown out through a small carbon fan filter...but into my room, not vented outside, smell is not a problem because I have an ONA block right next to the can filter, but how much heat will the grow cupboard expel into my room? the ambiant temp of my room is 17oc (winter) and 25oc (summer) please help me ASAP, as I am coming to the end of my LED/CFL experiment and need to know wether to buy a 430w hps, 400w hps or a 250w hps??? I can post a couple of pics of the cupboard, ignore the light fixtures as they will be changed asap but to give you an idea of size etc, I want competition sized buds off my next grow I have all the nuits I need already, am using the hydroponic DWC setup 2 pots/plants 2 bubblers, I only have space to grow 1 or 2 plants at a time, depending on strain and genetics, PLEASE HELP ME ASAP many thanks STELTHY

 

[stelthy]

Sorry for the sideward pic I took it ages ago when I dint know how to rotate lol, oh well..... its the only one tho,ps my other can filter is hidden behind the black speakers! I have a few more pics brb - STELTHY

 

[stelthy]

Ok so this is inside, ignore the reflector! and the extracter system - will be changed accordingy, I was passivly drawing air in from the vents at the back, but airflow was not good, so I have since put a CPU controlled fan on the bottom left, with a vent cover bringing in cold fresh air from my boarded up chimney and taped over the old vents with silver duct. tape. - STELTHY

 

[jawbrodt]

I can help you with the light output question....that's about 4 square feet you're covering, which is a rather small area for 50,000+ lumens. But, as long as you keep the light about 20" above the canopy, you won't have to worry about having too much light. You should even be able to go a little lower than that, but try a further distance first before you bring it down much further.

As far as the other questions....I grow with open reflectors, and have never grown ina cabinet, so I'd just be guessing if i offered opinions in those areas. With the light....I have a light meter and know what kind of output those 430's have, so you should be good to go with the light info.

 

[stelthy]

I will still be using the same nuits. as they work wonders, and I still have loads of them left! - STELTHY

 

[stelthy]

so does 30" sound about right for a fully grown fem, thats ready to be chopped? - STELTHY

MY ACTUAL GROWING SPACE IS 95cm TALL x 80cm WIDE x 50cm DEEP its fully lined with diamond MYLAR, Has fresh cold air being sucked in via a speed controlled cpu fan,from a boarded up chimney, Would I get results simerlar to a 430w HPS/MH grow covering 6+ plants with a 250w HPS/MH in a much smaller but highly reflective place covering just 1 or 2 plants? and given the height of the room 95cm with all the ducting and the cooltube etc above that height how close can i get the 250w or the 430w cooltube to the canopy?? Please write soon as I need to buy either a 250 watt setup or a 400w+ setup, what will give me the best results given my dimensions? Many thanks - STELTHY

 

[Johnou833]

I have a 400w in a 1x1x2M tent (about 3.5ft sq) and its pretty much perfect, A 600w would be overkill IMO.
Daft question maybe.. Can I use a 430W bulb on a 400w ballast?

 

[stelthy]

I have a 400w in a 1x1x2M tent (about 3.5ft sq) and its pretty much perfect, A 600w would be overkill IMO.
Daft question maybe.. Can I use a 430W bulb on a 400w ballast?

To be honest I don't know lol, I only found out about the 430s the other day but hopefully some one else can put a post on here and answer that for you ps do you use a cool tube? and how close can you get your 400 to your canopy? - STELTHY

 

[Johnou833]

No I dont use a cooltube, Light is usually about 14-15" away. A fan blowing strait at the lights helps a lot.

 

[jawbrodt]

Can I use a 430W bulb on a 400w ballast?

I was wondering that, myself. Since I've never seen a 430 watt ballast, I figure a regular 400 watt ballast must be what the 430 bulbs are designed for. They might work the ballast a little harder, so it would likely shorten the life of the ballast, but it must not be too significant or we would be hearing complaints from users of those bulbs. I'm going to try them someday, and see how they work out. I don't really mind if I lose 10% of the ballast's life, as long as I get at least 10% more light output.

Anybody ever use those bulbs before? Happy with them?