400w hps in my grow tent as a heater during the winter?

Anybody have success using a 400w hps in a fairly small grow tent (secret jardin dr60) as a heater? I live on the east coast and it has already started to get pretty cold. The closet the tent is placed in has a draft coming in from the outer room. My plan is to switch to the 400w hps at 12/12 and keep my lights on at night when the tent will be coldest. I was considering getting a 250w hps, but actually found that i could get the 400w for cheaper with a dimmable ballast. Is this a good plan of action? Also how effective is the dimmable ballast at keeping the temps down if i were to run the same set up in the summer at 50%?

Even with a draft though, your tent can't be getting THAT cold at night, Maybe it's 5-10 degrees colder than ambient temps? Your light should make up the differance even if it's vented and the fans on low.

But if your talking about running a 400w in that sized tent unvented, it'll raise your tents temps at LEAST 25 degrees, but most likely more

A lot of growers,myself included, flip-flop our lighting scedules as to utilize our growroom in combination with the weather to our advantage. By that I mean control the temperature. If you need your space warmer, or cooler during a specific time of day or season, use your equipment to control it.
One of the most important variables that you need to control as an indoor grower is temperature. Use your lights when YOU need to, the plants don't care what time it really is. Maybe you should consider a cool tube to give you more control when it's warmer versus dimming the ballast.

400W HPS will produce about 400W of heat.

Your train of thought is sound. It will save you money using your waste heat as a heater in the winter.

How you going to heat your tent when your lights are off?

thank you everyone, i think I'm gonna just go with the 250w and supplement with the heating mat if needed like vostock suggested. I rather keep this as simple as possible. will update with a grow journal in a few weeks.

East Coast said:

How you going to heat your tent when your lights are off?

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i plan on keeping the lights off during the day so hopefully heat won't be a issue because day time temps aren't that cold (yet)

keeping it simple for me would be, separate heater controlled by a digital thermostat. I think you would have too much temp swing from when lights are on to off without a heater.

dude i have been doing that for a while, i had a 150watt hps and it kept my grow room at a nice and cozy 78 degrees all thru the winter last year. i used to turn it on during the night and leave the plants to rest during the day. If it gets to cold just buy a cheap space heater. and if it gets to warm just open the tent up and let the cold air come thru