I just went out today and bought some insulated duct for my light. It is really hot, so this should help cool it down. It has an R rating of 6. I also bought some insulating foil/foam tape that is like 1/8" thick, 12" wide and 15'long. It has an R rating of 3. I am going to insulate the outside of my hood. The sides are a bit warm, so I am hoping this will help.
Thanks for the tip on the fan Unity. So I should blow the air through the hood and out instead of sucking it through is what you are saying right? I am going to try and get a can fan for my light here in the next week or so. I think with the insulated duct, the reflector being insulated, and a larger fan, I should be fine with my temps.
Last night the high was 92degrees from the thermometer on the wall. I was looking on a website and it said 80-92 degrees is perfect for Co2. This was regular horticulture website not a pot site, I think its pretty reliable. Its also going to start cooling down outside because its getting closer to sept. It will be nice when the days stop hitting 100degrees, even though my lights don't come on until 8:30pm.
You know, I was looking at my set up again and noticed that the only reason I decided to push instead of pull through the light was that I was going to use my 600W cooltube which has a very arodynamic design. With my Xtra-sun it might be better to suck through it due to the turbulence that the design will create. I even removed some of my light bulb support in order to get better airflow. Bogles the mind why they would block my exhaust from the light with a big ass light bulb support
.
I use a 6" Fantech rated at 260cfm @ 2" static. It sucks about 130 W, which is the trade off you make for static
, but it gets the job done
Good move on the hood, insulating it!! I did the same on mine, I used the leftover duct insulation, it's r6. I also taped where the glass meets the housing, so the light exhaust doesn't suck out my co2,lol.
BTW, my ambient temps are 76 degrees, my light is cooled, insulated to the max, my space is sealed and without the ac my temps would shoot up to about 103 degrees. I think that without ac we are doomed in a sealed environment.
Unity