Flowering Station Questions - Venting/ Ballast/ Heat

Thanks so very much for stopping by and helping out a newbie with some of the tech questions that I have. All answers are much appreciatted as I am trying hard to learn all things concerning MMJ so that I can someday sustain, and help out other patients.

I have built a seperate cabinet that measures out 5 feet in width X 4 feet in depth X 6 feet in height. I plan on using half of this space for the flowering stage of growth, with the other half to be used to store the nutes, tools etc. The entire cabinet is lined with Black and While 2mm poly, excluding the (2) pressed-board doors in the front of the cab. The top (ceiling) of the half to be used as the flower stage, has 1/2 inch plywood. The other half at this time remains open.



As you can see by the attached picture, I have obtained a HTG Supply 150 Watt HPS Package. The reflector is the "Easy Cool 6" model. At this point, I have attached the ballast unit to the ceiling, and is appx 18 inches away from the reflector. At first I thought this was a good idea, but after seeing it up, I am having second thoughts ( worried about the amount of heat that the ballast unit emits ) and the closeness of the lighting unit.

(1) Any suggestions as to where I should place the ballast, or am I all set as to where it currently is located ?

(2) The entire room measures out at roughly 12 X 14 feet. After doing some extensive reading on RIU, I keep reading about heat emissions in the cab or room. Just how much in degrees are we talking here in general ? 10 degrees (F) ? or more ?

(3) It appears that I will have to run my output exhaust appx 12 feet from my cabinet. Can I use a ( U ) shape when I work in my flexible duct work? I have read some people state that one should keep all flexible duct works in a "as near as straight can be" style.

Again, thanks so very much for stopping by and helping out a newbie. All responses will be (+ Rep'd) and much appreciated by an MMJ patient.

Love and Peace

The MaineYankee

"Bump"

The MaineYankee

"Double Bump ?? "

The MaineYankee

1- best location of ballast will depend on temps.if you are in a cold basement, keeping the ballast in the cab is good but if your basement is finished & heated, you might want to keep it out of the cab so you dont need to cool as much.
2- the heat output will depend on the amount of lighting, a 150 watt light wont raise your room much but is only enough light for 1-2 plants in an area under 4 square feet.your box is 20 sq feet so if you plan on using 1/2 the box say a 3x3 area,you will want to step up to at least a 400 watt light.
3- each bend cuts your airflow so you can put as many bends as needed but you will need a bigger fan. 4-5 90 degree bends will cut a 400 cfm fan down to only 1-200 cfm. flexible ducting is worse than solid ducting so if you need 1 180 degree bend, consider getting 2 90s of metal ducting

Thamks Mr. MadCow for the answers. You made my mind at peace, as I can take your answers and go with them to finish that stage of the build.

Again, Thanks so very much