Is my room big enough for my light?

Hey I am setting up for my grow. I got this 400 watt MH shop light w/bulb+ballast for a low price, I was wondering if my 1'8"x2'8"x8' closet is to small for this light. is it like gonna cause a freakin fire? I am thinking about just using cfl's instead and save this bigger light for when I find a bigger growin space.

Any help would be great.. Thanks

No it wont cause a fire u just need to make sure u have a fresh source of intake air to keep the room supplied with cool air.Also you will need a good exhaust fan and maybe a cool tube or air cooled reflector.I have a 400 hps in a 2.5x2.5x5 and my temps stay at 79f and 45 humidity.

wyteberrywidow said:

No it wont cause a fire u just need to make sure u have a fresh source of intake air to keep the room supplied with cool air.Also you will need a good exhaust fan and maybe a cool tube or air cooled reflector.I have a 400 hps in a 2.5x2.5x5 and my temps stay at 79f and 45 humidity.

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Do you use a cool tube?

A light that size in such a small space is going to need serious cooling. Not to say it can't be done, but prepare in advance to get rid of the heat that the light will generate.
If the light has the ballast built in it might be a good idea to convert it to a remote ballast (by removing the ballast and mounting it outside of the room, not buying another) just to remove a source of heat.

stumps said:

Do you use a cool tube?

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I use a euro reflector from htg supply.It was only 59 dollars with my 400 hps.

Don't know what that is. Will go check it out. by the time I built my diy cool tube I was in it about 60.00

Nice, there 86.00 now or close to that.

stumps said:

Nice, there 86.00 now or close to that.

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When u purchase a light u get a discount on the reflectors.

I got my 400w from them. 150.00 to my door. I haven't seen beter prices anywhere else.

Ok I will set up an exhaust system of some sort, and I think that relocating the ballast should be no problem, so I will try that.

If I just pointed a fan at the bulb and had it running when the light was, would this be enough to keep it cool? or would I need to have some tubing for the air to travel out of the space. my normal temp now is around 64 degrees w/o the light so it would be nice to get a little heat from it.

One more thing.. the light is currently hanging so it is pointed straight down with the upside down bowl like reflector it came with attached. would it be better to make another reflector that doesn't go completely around the bulb so that I can get better airflow?

Thanks for all the tips.

You have to make the hot air leave your grow area a cool tube helps because it pushes most of the light heat out before it enters the grow area.
Just get a vent above the light going out and a vent in. As low in the area as you can.

Ok I'm gonna try and make a cool tube, sounds pretty cool.. thanks

this is the one I did. kinda ugly but it works. found the glass on line. the rest at home depot. just used the 400w light and most every thing that came with it. the glass was a pain it 5.5 in. and the duct is 6" down to 4".
Just remember the beter the fan the cooler it is.

Would i have to vent a 400w if it was in a cooler basement temps in the 50s-60s with only a drop cloth seperating a 3x4x5 area. And also pretty new at the bigger light systems i used flour. in the past, but do i need to cool the balast, how hot does it get.

you need to vent the air. For heat and to get fresh air to the plants.

yeah but nothing is air tight there is only a drop cloth to trap light seperating area from basement. So there is plent of air maybe a small fan just to keep the breeze going wouldnt hurt but would i have to cool the lights or balast. Im just thinking about switching to that light and wanted to plan my attack and know what im up against.

Your plants will deplete the co2 in the air, converting it to oxygen. You need to replace that somehow. The simplest way is to expel warm air from the top of the grow area and allow cool air to be drawn in at the bottom.
HPS bulbs get HOT! My 600w gets so hot I can't get my hand closer than about 4" from the bare bulb before it hurts, when it's running I can keep my hand on the cooltube all day, but that heat is being taken away from the room. If you have a fan blowing air around but not actually removing it, you are creating a closed loop and the whole basement will gradually heat up.
Ballasts don't get as hot, but hot enough that most people will opt to have the ballast outside the growroom, since it makes temperatures easier to manage.
There should be a vent in your basement somewhere, just hook some ducting up to a fan so it sucks air from the grow area and blows it out, through a carbon filter if the vent leads anywhere that people might walk past. More air will find it's way in as fast as it's being extracted, so there's no need for an intake fan.
I would think you'll be ok on temps tbh, but your babies will want co2 or they'll not grow well.