HPS or CFL into closet?

Hey. I've got a closet grow with 8 small cfls and it is sooo annoying. I want 1 or 2 bigger lamps better.
Im poor and I cant buy a good LED light (would prefer though). Something like Galaxyhydro UFO 130w lamps looks great, but shipping to europe costs like lamp itself. I can't find any of those in europe.
So I have a dilemma, do I buy a 250w cfl or 250w hps. I grow in closet and ventilating it with 2 computer case fans. Would HPS create too much heat? Any othher suggestions? Thanks in advance

youre probably not going to be able to ventilate a HPS with computer fans..get some of those beasty big ass CFLs until you can go outside the closet..then get like a 600w.lol
depends what the cubic feet of the closet is and what the cfm is of (lol) the computer fans

I agree with desr stick with a cfl I have a 200 watt cfl 2700k and that sits nicely at 27.2c all day long I'm too in a closet grow but I use a 4" exhaust with filter and have 1 6ft pedastal fan and a little 6" desk fan I have just put my 600 hps in there and get 32c when lights are on I was told by the hydro shop that's fine as long as it doesn't get much warmer than that my plants are loving the heat and light but they do get thirsty lol but yeah back to your situation buy a cfl mine cost £35.00 but I already had the fitting and the reflector

Stick with cfls just get the Mack daddy cfl if you dont want a bunch of lil ones

wattage said:

Hey. I've got a closet grow with 8 small cfls and it is sooo annoying. I want 1 or 2 bigger lamps better.
Im poor and I cant buy a good LED light (would prefer though). Something like Galaxyhydro UFO 130w lamps looks great, but shipping to europe costs like lamp itself. I can't find any of those in europe.
So I have a dilemma, do I buy a 250w cfl or 250w hps. I grow in closet and ventilating it with 2 computer case fans. Would HPS create too much heat? Any othher suggestions? Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

If you only want to change the lighting then go for a bigger cfl. If you have a bit more cash and time to play about you could invest in a mini cooltube with 250w hps and give it its own fan to cool it. This would be a smart investment in terms of efficiency.

I agree that more vent power may be needed for hps, but I disagree with getting a high wattage cfl. the higher wattage cfls are much lessnefficient than smaller ones. personally I wouldnt go any higher than 42 watt cfls, just get more of them. high output t5 lighting may be a reasonable option for you as well.
also those big cfls (I have a 125w one) get pretty hot by themselves anyway. at least for what they put off in my opinion.

I use 200 cfl for vegg and 600 hps for flowering it works a treat. Best off with cfl to vegg you put it closer to your plant and more forgiving with heat

caveman117 said:

I agree that more vent power may be needed for hps, but I disagree with getting a high wattage cfl. the higher wattage cfls are much lessnefficient than smaller ones. personally I wouldnt go any higher than 42 watt cfls, just get more of them. high output t5 lighting may be a reasonable option for you as well.
also those big cfls (I have a 125w one) get pretty hot by themselves anyway. at least for what they put off in my opinion.

Click to expand...

T5 gives better results but the ballasts are hotter than hell in small spaces.

Thinking cfls me mate. I'm doing very well with them. Not the small ones i don't like them at min. Here's a picture off one of my baby's...... all done with big cfls in a closet

T5, like was said. Heats not bad. I'm running a 20" box fan, for my400w t5 setup. Gets 75f in closeted, but doors wide open

caveman117 said:

I agree that more vent power may be needed for hps, but I disagree with getting a high wattage cfl. the higher wattage cfls are much lessnefficient than smaller ones. personally I wouldnt go any higher than 42 watt cfls, just get more of them. high output t5 lighting may be a reasonable option for you as well.
also those big cfls (I have a 125w one) get pretty hot by themselves anyway. at least for what they put off in my opinion.

Click to expand...

The bulbs he's using is much more efficient then the spiral cfl's. If he's used spiral bulbs instead, he'd use around 20 watts more for the same output.


To the OP,if you get a 250/400hps, make sure to get an air cooled hood if you are already having heat issues. A 250w HPS will give off more heat than the 200 cfl but you will have 2-3x more output at the cost of just 65-70 more watts.