Light hood vs Cool Tube??

High RIU,
I am curious about temp control in a tent with a cool tube vs a rectangular hood.

Does a cool tube cause less heat inside a tent because it's has smaller surface area or because it draws the air straight across the bulb?

Or is it a combination of both?
(That's what I assume )
If I switch to a cool tube what kind of temp change should I see?

My setup is a 3x3x6 tent with 400 watts HPS plus T5's on each side.

My current temps are 79-81, I run a 6" 400 CFM fan pulling thru my current hood.

I have a 600 watt setup also and I would stuff it in if I could keep the temps low enough.

Iv been considering the same thing. From what iv heard If you cool them with their own fan and ducting system it will drop the temps a fair bit. Iv not done it myself but been on the topic and reading a few days now. The guy in my shop said they collect dust so need cleaning a fair bit to keep the light intense. I beleive the cool huds cover more area than the tubes tho. I think if you where keeping the same amount of lights youd lose lumens but if you added a 600 and cooled all your lights surely you would benefit from that kind of extra light in the grow space? If i go for them myself il be hooking them up to their own fan sucking cool air right across the bulbs.

Think i read somewehere the temps can drop upto 5 to 6 degrees with cooled lights. reading and experience are two very diffrent things tho!

Cooling wise as long as there both hooked up to a decent inline fan there pretty equal. Where there not equal is the amount of light a good hood puts out compared to a cool tube. Most hoods on the market that arent generic knock offs put out 30% more light then a cool tube. Get a hood, i recommend sunlight supplies hood like the blockbuster. I ran a couple cool tubes stationary and on light movers and they dont compare to a well made hood.

I am waiting to buy a Larger tent, I have a Sunlight Hood but it's small.

I was hoping that I had made the best choice when I chose a hood over a cool tube.

The bulb is horizontal, I got a light meter and I have a hot spot under the base of the bulb.

I now tilt the hood to balance the lumens as much as possible.

When I have a Larger Tent in the Future I will buy a hood with a vertical bulb and use my 600 watt.

My hood has 4" inlets and I have to use a transition to 6" to attach my fan.

Any buddy run these Binary Or cool tube and reflector in one ? Does it cool better or does the light bounce off the reflector and back thru the tube before it gets to the canopy ?

Specifications:

• Product: 6" Binary Air Cooled Reflector
• Manufacturer: Horizon Reflectors
• Measures 25" x 18" x 11"
• 6" diameter integrated fittings (flanges) on both ends
• Highest quality German reflective specular aluminum (95% Reflective)
• Excellent uniform light output
• Tempered glass
• Includes light socket and 15' cord
• Standard universal type cord connector
• Designed to exact standards for Indoor Gardening
• Maximum airflow over bulb, minimizing heat in growing area
• Compatible with Magnetic and Digital Ballasts
• Accepts all sizes MH and HPS bulbs
• Completely sealed (Airtight) for maximum airflow over bulb
• Ships fully assembled

The best of both worlds has arrived. The 6" Horizon Binary reflector combines the cooling power of a sun tube reflector with the reflective surface of an air cooled reflector. The built in 6" tempered glass tube allows air to flow directly to where ventilation is needed most, the bulb, as opposed to being needlessly pumped throughout the entire reflector. This allows you to connect ductwork to vent air from outside your grow, pass the air over the bulb, and vent the air back outside your grow room. Not only does it allow you to maximize cooling and ventilation, but it also helps you to minimalize your energy bill by making it easier to control the climate of your grow room.

This reflector was manufactured using polished and textured German Aluminum which boasts a reflective rating of 95%. This assures that most of the light generated ends up on your grow with minimal dispersion. Another bonus of the Binary reflector is a more uniform light pattern. Due to the convex construction of the inside, each section of your grow will get an equal amount of pure light.

The Binary Reflector comes with an industrial 15' lamp cord and socket which is compatible will all size HPS/MH bulbs. The connector is the standard Universal Type. A reflector this size is most often paired with a 600W or 1000W HPS or MH bulb. A 600W bulb will typically cover between 16 and 25 square feet. 1000W will cover between 25 and 36 square feet. Cool running and highest quality construction make this reflector one of the best values in the industry.

@TWS i recently sold a Cool Sun to a buddy to replace a cool tube in his veg room. He runs 2 600Mh Digilux off cheap ipower ballast. The other hood is just like the one that you have pictured with the tube, China hood we call it. So hes got the Cool Sun and the China hood like you pictured. Well now hes buying a second Cool Sun because theres a noticeable difference in light footprint and overall brightness. Quality of the China hood is cheap and flimsy Dont fall for those cheap China made POS's....

I have a hood running 400w with a small inline 150mm connected to a digital thermostat. Charcoal filter is fitter to a 150mm axial controlled via an variac, also on a digital thermostat.

With the hood fan running by itself, the temperature inside the tent does rise and this alone cannot reach the setpoint of 24.5c 25.5c.

With the charcoal filter fan solely running, this is enough to control the setpoint. The hood fan is set to come on 1/2 a degree behind the charcoal fan. This set up holds the setpoint perfect - all day, every day.

Yes the hood does lower the temperature, even with no fan running, light on, the heat follows the ducting tube and out to the atmosphere, this heat would of been trapped inside the tent with the hood.

These look pretty cool, but I haven't heard about anyone's experience with them.

http://growershouse.com/saturn-8-grow-light-reflector

booms111 said:

@TWS i recently sold a Cool Sun to a buddy to replace a cool tube in his veg room. He runs 2 600Mh Digilux off cheap ipower ballast. The other hood is just like the one that you have pictured with the tube, China hood we call it. So hes got the Cool Sun and the China hood like you pictured. Well now hes buying a second Cool Sun because theres a noticeable difference in light footprint and overall brightness. Quality of the China hood is cheap and flimsy Dont fall for those cheap China made POS's....

Click to expand...

Thanks man, Im listening . Just wish I could get more reviews on them. Greeners choice doesn't review this type of hood. I think it all depends who makes the hood and the reflectivity percent of the material used inside of the hood along with design. We all know glass cuts down Par but I still wonder if it cools any better vs if or how much light has to bounce( lost light) thru the glass tube to the top of the reflector before it goes down vs a standard vented hood. I do believe in not buying cheap hoods or 85 % reflective hoods. To me a hood is just an oven that collects heat. If you can get or keep the heat off the metal of the hood and more of a straight shot thru your ducting you would cool more efficiently but at what cost ?

jcommerce said:

These look pretty cool, but I haven't heard about anyone's experience with them.

http://growershouse.com/saturn-8-grow-light-reflector

Click to expand...

Heres one from virtual sun. Apollo makes one too.



http://www.virtualsunhydroponics.com/virtual-sun-6-inch-grower-s-choice-reflective-hood

Called up my buddy for you TWS that has a virtual cooltube hood. He said the hood collects heat from the tube making it hotter then a normal air cooled hood, said the tube gets hotter then glass on a regular AC hood. He also believes comparing it to the 95% reflective Cool Sun that its only 86% reflective material. He also said that virtual use to claim there bulbs were way brighter then anybodies on the market and they were junk. He didnt have anything good to say about virtual as a company, he said the first hood showed up shattered and they hassled him to replace it, he bought the MH 600 kit.

Thank you sir. imma just gonna run regular hoods on my new 3 k room.

cool tubes are cooler . but the light spread sucks compared to flat or open hoods . to stay a lot cooler get tubes . if you have some room to play open hoods.

jcommerce said:

These look pretty cool, but I haven't heard about anyone's experience with them.

http://growershouse.com/saturn-8-grow-light-reflector

Click to expand...

I run 2 6 inch versions of these in a 10x5 tent.
Nice and cool with a awesome spread, I don't seem to notice any hotspots, though I only use 400w in each tube.
Here's a pic of my last grow running 2 400w mh bulbs.

I run those 1k apollo ctac's
pretty awesome imo