confused about ballasts & ventilation

I have been reading up on setting up a grow room so thet i can get as much info before I start.

I'm confused as to what ballasts are used for and if they are needed?

As this will be my first setup what is the most cost effective way of venting a room?

It all depends on how much space you have and how many plants you want to grow.

If your planning on growing a plant or two...then a CFL (Compact Flourscent Light) system would do just fine. You'll probably need around 100-200 watts of light to grow them nicely....but remember this....you can never have too much light! What you can have too much of is heat. It's very important to control the temps of your environment because heat stress can kill or hermie (create seeds) your plants. The advantage of CFL's is that they don't create much heat...so a ventilation system won't be necessary. Furthermore, a ballast is NOT required for CFL setups. A decent setup should cost you around $100 bucks.

Now if your planning on growing more than a couple plants, and you want decent bud, than your probably going to need a HPS (High Pressure Sodium) or MH (Metal Halide) Setup. These are the most popular setups amongst growers because they produce the best results. They're also very energy efficient. A 400 watt HPS light produces the same lumen output (light power) as 662 watts of CFL's. Since HPS and MH bulbs are not your "standard" sized bulbs, they require a special socket and ballast. By managing the amount of current in the electrical circuit, the ballast is used to control the power coming from your wall socket as it surges towards your bulb. IT IS ESSENTIAL! You can't run a HPS or MH bulb without one. But these high power and energy efficient lights come with a big cost.....heat. They produce alot of heat. The bulb and ballast produce enough heat to where a proper ventilation system is required on most setups that are 150 watts or more. If you have the funds, the space, and the desire....than a HPS or MH setup is definitely the best route. A decent setup will cost around $150 or more.

As far as ventilation systems go...it all depends on your temps. You'll always need a fan blowing fresh air into your grow room and you'll definitely need a fan blowing the hot air outside the grow room. After this, if your temps never rise above 84 F, than that's all you'll need. But if it ever rises above that, than you'll need to install an A/C system or inline duct fans. Most HPS and MH growers use reflectors that have "air cool fittings" so they can attach ducting. The ducting also needs an inline duct fan installed to suck the heat away from the light and blow it outside the grow room. Unfortunately, these inline duct systems can be very expensive...

Hope this helps!

Well said. the only thing I can add is "cooltube" with a hid setup. helps control the heat from the light.

will running just a cooltube with no ventilation hoses reap any benefits or is it a must to have air being sucked over the bulb and out of the room with an inline or otherwise?

The cool tube just helps with the heat from the light. The room still needs to be vented.

so unless I'm willing to put down on some hose and fans There's no point in buying the cooltube? Part of it is that my 400w hps is hanging vertically and I'd like to get it horizontal. Guess I have to do some pricing-out. What size can you get metal dryer vent tube in? 6"? The expensive part (from looking around) is the fans. Other thing I'm concerned about is having to drill a big hole for intake. My grow room options are the master-suites bathroom(4X4X6) or a closet that was outfitted for a stacked washer/dryer setup (3X2X6'6"). Both have exhaust venting but neither has an easy way of getting air in.

yes, a cooltube is supposed to be hooked up to venting to.....well....vent it. I'm pretty sure it comes in 6"

I diy'ed mine. It would have been cheeper to buy one. but it works great. I would go with the washer dryer area if you can leave a window open you could get plenty of fresh air in. you would still need for air to get into the area. but lots of ways to do that. The longer the window is open the beter and you don't need fresh air when the lights are off.

Washer dryer is my choice to, but only able to grow 6 plants and there is no window, it's for an apartment sized stacked set. Would still have to add a stealthy door and some form of air intake.

you could get a qp+ from 6 plants. thats about my grow.

Yah 6 good plants would be nice. I wanna go soilless but hear that is more finicky. Guess I'm working towards relocating. Prolly be down to 6 from ten just killing males.

lol I started 20 once and got 17 girls. I just started a dwc and it's being a pain. I need to re work my cloning system. cool the rez and who knows what else.

It seems to get outta hand quickly. Starts with random bag seed and the next thing you know you're hundreds in and growing (pun intended).

lol thats the truth.