250w vs 400w MH/HPS

Hey guys, i'm a long time reader but a first time poster. I'm about to start my first closet grow and I was was wondering which light i should get? Saturday im taking a drive down to the HTGSupply store to pick up one or the other. My closet is 2'x3'x8'. It stays around 70-75F with a RH of 50%. The only real ventilation i have is the door being proped open and a fan blowing inside, is that enough? Do you think the 400w would be too hot for this area?

Yeah it will be hot especially in the summer if the closet is on the upper floor. I basically have a bit bigger of a closet (longer) with a 400 hps and before I put in my exhaust fan temps with just a circulating fan and the door open would get to 85-89 at times when it was hot outside. If you use the 250 it will be a bit cooler but really you should look into setting up an exhaust for temp and safety reasons (smell).

If you are availible most of the day I would look into CFL growing for a little space like that. they dont produce much heat but you have to get them really close to the plant for maxiumum lumens. if not I use a 250 watt hps my room is much larger. you also have to keep in mind strain height cause a 400 watt hps needs to be farther away then the 250 cause of heat, I have a light guide dude here View attachment 1159450 more wattage = more yield is what ive heard

In my opinion i always have one fan blowin across the top of the canopy so I can get my lights closer - the closer the better, just dont get too close. always have some fresh air comin in - the door may suffice ... not sure.

I rate go for the 400w and im sure if u modify that closet u can manage to keep down temps...ur plants will really appreciate the extra lumens

I failed to mention that i'll also be picking up some ONA Gel for the smell. Will that be sufficient for for 2 plants? They're bagseeds so who knows how smelly they will get. And my girlfriend is working on a better job and once that goes through we may be moving so i would like to get a light that would give me room to expand but won't damage my plants in this size of a closet.

well i had to wait a week to go down to the store but i was looking at LED lights and i was wondering if a 90W LED UFO would be efficient enough to grow 2 plants?

i'd choose a 250w hps over that any day. i also don't know too much about LEDs but that seems like it would be enough for one plant

Heres the link for HTG's UFO:

http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=52466

Under features it says "Uses only 90 watts but has the output equal to a 400 watt High Pressure Sodium System!"

oh shit, that's crazy. go for it then if you want to try it, i've seen some grows under LEDs and they looked good, but really, not great compared to HPS.

the heat factor is a huge plus though, as is the efficiency.

yeah thats what i was thinking, im going to talk to the guy at the store and get his input. Thank you for your help!

LED's sure sounds cool but when you see how well they penetrate the canopy of your plants compared to a MH/HPS, it doesn't even compare. Most LED's only get through the first 3 inches or so of canopy where as a HID will get sites below your canopy. Remember, you're not in the business to conserve energy, you're trying to grow big fat nugs...which means you need the wattage.