600W with supplemental T5's, or 1000W?

C

Calikron

Member
I'm looking to get a 5x5 tent, and am curious on opinions for lighting options. Would a 600w on a light mover with supplemental T5's horizontal under the canopy level be comparable to a 1000w on a light mover? During the summer heat would be an issue. The room will have an AC, but I would be trying to keep electrical costs down, so the less I have to run it the better.

Any opinions/experience? Assuming the both light setups will equal the same wattage (600w hid plus 400w worth of T5 vs the single 1000w hid).
 
justugh

justugh

Well-Known Member
Calikron said:
I'm looking to get a 5x5 tent, and am curious on opinions for lighting options. Would a 600w on a light mover with supplemental T5's horizontal under the canopy level be comparable to a 1000w on a light mover? During the summer heat would be an issue. The room will have an AC, but I would be trying to keep electrical costs down, so the less I have to run it the better.

Any opinions/experience? Assuming the both light setups will equal the same wattage (600w hid plus 400w worth of T5 vs the single 1000w hid).
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the answer is 1000w hid in a 5x5 tent
600w plus the t5s are not worth it just 1 1000w would be all the light u need to do it right and it would only be 1 source of heat in the tent

a good cool tube and overpowered fan your heat problems will be minimal
 
C

Calikron

Member
Ok, in regards to the 1000w, are there certain ballasts that are clearly better than others? In regards to longevity, heat, what have you?
 
Skunk Baxter

Skunk Baxter

Well-Known Member
I don't like light movers in general, but I especially wouldn't want one in a tent. Just that much more weight hanging from the top structure, and a few inches less headroom for your plants. I like the option of being able to raise my light as far as I need to, and hate being limited by the already-low ceiling in a tent.

If you're using a digital ballast, the amount of heat it adds to the room will be minimal. Just get the best ballast you can afford, and don't worry about which one is cooler.

Justugh's right - a cool tube and a monster fan will get rid of most of the heat from your light, but if you're living in a hot climate, you're going to want to vent the tent outside the room in which it is located. It saves a ton on the air conditioner bill, because you're not paying to cool the same air you just heated with your 1K HPS light. I just run my exhaust down the heat register, and pipe it out of the house through the heating system. I close up all the registers and cold-air returns in the summertime, and the exhaust just goes up the chimney because it has no place else to go. Obviously you want a good filter if you're venting outdoors, but you sound like the "do it right to the last detail" type anyway, so you've probably already planned on that anyway.
 
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