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Cfl or hps?

Mr.furley

Mr.furley

New member
Okay so here's the scenario, I found this little website and boy is it loaded with information, decided to try the CFL deal and wow did it ever work. Now I've got this great idea that I'd rather use HID lights, 400 watt to be exact dimmable, digital. Put her in and fired up today and due to the environment 48x32x48 box (only 2 fans for circulation and ventilation) she got 90 Plus degrees at the top of the plants fast and I can't have that . I can maintain a temperature of 78 only on the 200 watt setting I was running 73 with 9x23w cfl's. So my question would be if you had a choice of running 200 true watts of CFL or 200 of HPS, which way would you go at this stage? How bad is it to run the 400 watt bulb down at 200? Should I just change back? I'm two weeks into 12/12 and would love the 400w but without a complete environmental box rebuild it's not going to happen right now. Let me have it, Thanks in advance
 
Why not get a aircooled hood and vent the heat.

In any case. A lights efficiency is determined by how much energy in the form of "electricity" can be turned into light. Energy that is not turned into light is lost in the form of heat. HPS is more efficient than CFL. This means at the same wattage the fluorescent will produce less light and convert that energy into extra heat.
 
I do have a aircooled hood but haven't got a inline fan....ect, yet. Didn't need more then a small fan for the cfl,

Even though the hps lamp is running a hotter temp the lumens are higher at the same wattage then the cfls. Make sense. Any thoughts on the dimming down?
Thanks Danofdanger.
 
The efficiency does go down as you reduce the wattage, though the efficiency should be better than CFL's still.
95 is my absolute max for veg, you def want lower for flower. If you can invest in a inline fan that might be a option. Otherwise prioritize your temps.
 
That was my thoughts on the hps big flower explosion. The cfl and low stress training was surprisingly amazing, and like always I put the cart in front of the horse or the light before the fan. It's my new priority.
Thank for your response.
 
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