I just want to let everyone know who is thinking of getting one of the booster fans, the way they rate the CFMs is different than the regular fan and they are not meant to pull or blow air through duct on their own.
With the booster fans, the CFMs that are listed is the "boosted" CFM. This is the amount of air that can pass through the fan before it becomes a restriction. It is not how many CFM the fan actually blows.
The "free air" CFM is the amount of air that the fans actually blow, and this is always way lower than the "boosted" CFM. These fans were made to ASSIST in pulling air through long duct runs, not be the fan pulling through the duct. They do not run well on their own. The pressure caused by pulling through the duct reduces the "free air" CFM significantly.
The more expensive inline fans will not lose their CFM ability like a booster fan will. They can pull through long duct runs and still keep their listed CFM. A booster fan will not do this. I have a 420cfm booster fan cooling my hood, and it barely blows compared to my 465cfm blower. Shit, my 130cfm computer fan blows harder than this fan.
When I first started growing, I didn't want to spend the money on an expensive fan, reflector, etc. After a few years, buying the cheaper items, trying to save a buck here and there, I figured out that it is just cheaper to spend a little more money in the beginning and get the quality product. There is no point spending $50 on a booster fan that you will be happy with for a couple of weeks, or maybe months, and then have to spend another $150 on a decent fan. Now you have spent $200 instead of just spending the $150 in the first place.
Save a little longer and get the quality product that you will be happy with for years to come.