CFL closet major heat

Get a 100-150 watt HID.

My area is on 2nd floor so I'm not sure about floor pipes. Would I benefit from a portable ac unit?

bird mcbride said:

Get a 100-150 watt HID.

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He has heat problems with cfls so your advice is to get a even hotter hid...

TJ baba said:

My area is on 2nd floor so I'm not sure about floor pipes. Would I benefit from a portable ac unit?

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I'm sure I read somewhere a ac should only be used if you have a sealed area unless you have a sealed area...

I would get the 150w hid but I already tried a 400w hid and the ballast noise was an issue for me. Are 150w quieter? The only lighting I haven't tried then would be the single mogul e40 high wattage cfl setup. For the ac, I could easily cover up the passive intake and even the 20"x20" exhaust hole with panda film, making a sealed environment. But then i think that would eliminate any fresh air for the plant and I know they like that fresh air.

Plant looks more vibrant and responding positively in the new pvc tent even at 86 degrees it looks like it's doing okay but not optimal. I think the closet was too muggy because even at that same temp in the closet, the plant looked much worse

Is your house silent all the time?

THCBrain said:

Is your house silent all the time?

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No, but I feel like the noise from a ballast is unique and just screams "I'm growing pot!" especially when family members come upstairs every now and then. So I have to be nonchalant about the entire thing. The noise from this 20" box fan is probably about as loud as this op can be

I got rid of the 105w. Now I have x7 55w cfls (26,600 lumens), x3 40w (7920 lumens) and x4 23w (6400 lumens) for a total of 40,920 lumens on a little less than 10 sqft. I also added a 10" box fan intake at bottom so I will monitor the setup and post new temperature results.

TJ baba said:

Even with my new pvc tent, it's 85-86 with x4 55w and x1 105w. Large intake holes I'm sure are letting precious light escape. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong but hopefully I can make small improvements over time to help get temp down. I wanted to add a lot more lights but judging by temp right now I can't see how that will be possible.
What are everyone elses Avg temps in flowering tent? Thanks

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Make a light trap for your intake holes.

I set up my flowering lights today and am doing a test for temps. Right now 72°F ambient and 89 in the wardrobe. Yikes. Have not added the additional intakes yet. Going to hope I can get it down to 80. These lights are bright! Sorry for the bad photo. I will line my wardrobe with Mylar Monday...the Brown isn't very reflective...

So far, and after about 2.5 hours of run time, it's got up to 90 inside the flower tent. Hopefully plant can survive these conditions because I'm running out of ideas for a happy medium. I definitely will make light traps Idk how yet but I will search it. I turned off x4 55w to see if that lowers temp any. I will probably try to achieve the same lumens with lower watt light bulbs next, most likely tomorrow night and with mix of 23w and 40w

I made version 1 of a light trap out of a cigar box while watching some Top Gear. My lights are off now or I'd test it out. I did add another 3" intake hole, and will add one more tomorrow (battery on my drill got low). For some reason my place was actually like 76 degrees, not 72, so that played a role in how high the temp was. Let a little cool fresh air in, so it's a comfortable 70 now.

In an hour or two the lights will be back on and I can watch temps again. I also turned my circulation fan up to medium from low. Maybe it'll help a bit, maybe not.

TommyDuhCat said:

Let a little cool fresh air in, so it's a comfortable 70 now.

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70 in room sounds much better than 76 to me

My cfl got realy hot but I put an oscillating fan pointing directly at my lightbulb and it made them go from to hot to touch to cool enough to hold in my hand

I know its warm outside now but the temps will drop again and that will help a lot. Close the hrat vents to the room. Even crack a window and let cold air in.

I do that with mine. I let the room get into the low 60's.

TJ baba said:

Cfls are supposed to generate little to no heat so why is my closet temp Avg 88 degrees so wtf is going on here..... this is getting old fast I'm about to jump ship if I can't get the heat worked out. Any tips to save my plants

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Bro. CFL's put off a lot of heat. Like almost as much as HID. If your having heat issues might wanna find a good LED. I started out with CFL and it grows dank. But, it's a pain in the ass. I would go HID or LED if you have heat issues. The only reason I would go CFL again is cause they are easy to source and pretty cheap. Most CFL grow setups I've seen look like a fire hazard tho.

THCBrain said:

I'm sure I read somewhere a ac should only be used if you have a sealed area unless you have a sealed area...

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portable ac units don't work in a grow room ( just could not work a way to filter the hot air, you need the air hot straight out the window but it stinks of weed, pump the air in second room and filter the air but the room get very hot in a short time anless it a large room ), can I see the Split System working really well but you need a large setup to use one ( there not cheap to buy or run)

So even with the additional intake my temps are at 90 with all of the lights on. With the T5 off its only 85. I'm not sure how to go forward. My exhaust fan is rated for 65cfm (pretty weak, I know). So I am thinking of getting a more powerful exhaust fan for starters. Will that make enough of a difference? I'm not sure, but there's only 1 way to find out.

Hopefully I can manage the heat so I can run all of the lights. May have to get some LEDs or something. I'm also wondering if lining the walls with Mylar would help (doing that Tuesday morning instead of Monday). The Brown walls may be absorbing radiated heat, and keeping the room hot.

Mylar will def help you tommy, also a bigger fan would benefit you but I don't believe it necessary. I would recommend a Holmes 10" personal box fan, it is white 2 speed and on amazon for 19 usd. It's very quiet.

As for my setup, I have converted to all 42w (6@2700lums) and 23w (12@1700lums). That's 36,600 lumens on less than 10 sqft = 3,700 lumens per sqft. I'm at 84 MAX throughout first night, and my plant looks happy. Visible growth of at least 2 inches at the two tops since checked only after 7 hours worth of growth! That is amazing so I'm getting great results with the 42w and 23w mix all at 2700k. At this rate I will be able to add a 4th complete wire socket 4->1 like the rest soon.

I run 3 light socket wires from power strip each hanging from top pvc. Each wire socket has a 4->1 socket splitter. I use (x2) 2->1 splitters holding 23w in both sockets, and a 42w in remaining sockets for each 4->1 splitter.

I was speaking about a bigger exhaust fan. I have a Holmes 10" stationary fan in the room right now, but I feel my exhaust may be too weak. I threw my t5 on a separate timer from the rest of the lights, on a 1 hour cycle of 30 on, 30 off. Checking on max temps again soon.

Hopefully your right about the Mylar. Tuesday I'll add another intake, improve air flow to the blower/scrubber, and add the Mylar. Also, there is a good chance I will be ready to transplant on Tuesday. If I do, I'll flip to 12/12.