Would this be enough?

Hi all. I was doing a lot of looking and have come to the conclusion that CFLs are probably best for my growing purposes. Here's the deal. For ONE plant, to get a good size, say, 3-5 feet in height, would (5) 105 watt light bulbs; two 30K Spirals, and three 65K Spirals be enough?

I was going to do a bucket DWC system and run those CFLs above it. If I was feeling lucky I might go for two individual setups. Basically, for one plant, regardless of how many total are grown, if each plant has its own 5 gallon dwc bucket with 500 watts of CFLs above it, would that be adequate?

HPS/MH scare me. Needing fans to cool down the light itself is not something that sits too keenly with me.

I dunno, any thoughts?

Watts are watts. Watts=heat. Watts IS power dissipation.

Go by *real* watts not the 'equivalent' watts (ie: 26W of a CFL = 100W incandescent)

So if your total 'real' watts of CFl is, say, 200Watts, you are still behind the lumens of a 200W HPS/MH.


So...... Don't let the heat be a factor. Its all about light/lumens.
One needs to look at the output in light/lumens/lux vs power consumption (amps/watts/etc)

(I will fight tooth and nail with the light output ratings of the hardware store CFLs output vs incandescent. CLFS are behind. Every one I have tried so far is SO dim compared.)

So you would get more light from a 500W HPS/MH set up Over a 500W CFL/Floro set up.
(HPS seems to have the best bang-for-the-buck ratio on all fronts)

Ok, so...here is my next question. On the subject of venting exhaust from a HID light, is it possible to do so without venting OUTSIDE of the house? Example: grow room is adjacent to another room. grow room has no window. If everything is left open (ie: no tent/cabinet, etc) and I have some fans circulating air inside grow room and from other room, will this be sufficient or will I NEED NEED NEED to vent outside? Plan on using 400w - 600w light..havent fully decided yet.

oh. and uh, to throw this in there, about how much light will i need to do about 6 plants. probably no more than 4 feet a piece.

Why not? In the winter, its a great idea. Let the bulb/ballast help heat the house. In the summer, not a big prob either. Though I would use the intake and output from 2 different rooms if possible. That will help to even the heat load on the AC system and house.

twosmokingbarrels said:

Ok, so...here is my next question. On the subject of venting exhaust from a HID light, is it possible to do so without venting OUTSIDE of the house? Example: grow room is adjacent to another room. grow room has no window. If everything is left open (ie: no tent/cabinet, etc) and I have some fans circulating air inside grow room and from other room, will this be sufficient or will I NEED NEED NEED to vent outside? Plan on using 400w - 600w light..havent fully decided yet.

oh. and uh, to throw this in there, about how much light will i need to do about 6 plants. probably no more than 4 feet a piece.

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