How effective are cooltubes???

I am about to buy the Home Box XXL in a month or so. The dimensions for those of you who are not familiar are approxiamately 4x8x7. I want to use a 1000w cooltube light from High Tech Garden Supply. Will the cooltube, which is 6 inches in diameter by the way, keep my grow area cool enough if I use a 300cfm exaust fan to suck hot air from the reflector using ducting?

Also, my Home Box will be in my basement which is about 22x22 feet. Will I need to suck in fresh air from outside or will there be a sufficient amout of fresh air in my basement so long as I open the window like once a day?

i dont know the answer to that but am interested because im looking at buying a cooltube too.

1000W HPS light inside of a cool tube will be a very tight fit, and if you put it into a tent you will need to make sure you have excellent air exhaust and circulation. These things get very very hot even with 60°F air flowing around it the entire time it's on. You will likely need to duct some cold AC air in around the plants while the light is running. Good luck.

Thanks for the advice growtech. The cooltube is already preassembled for the 1000w hps though. The AC would push my budget over the $2,000 limit. Hopefully just sucking in air from outside will be good enough. My room will be ready to go by February and the outside air will be about 50F in the daytime where I live.

I only have a 400 watt hps that I use for flowering. This game is won in the planning stages. I have my room in my basement also and temps and humidity have been a challenge. Things got so much better for me when I went to an air cooled reflector. I cut a 4" hole near the floor of the room for the intake of the duct work and a 4" hole near the ceiling for the exhaust. I got a 6" duct booster fan/motor that pushes 250 cfm and hooked it up in the exhaust duct. It pulls fresh air in from outside the room, pulls it through the sealed light fixture and then out the exhaust duct which also dumps outside of the room. Since it is a sealed system, there is no odor problem.

This is excellent news Tommy. I really appreciate it. Do you have your exaust fan on a timed schedule or does it run constantly?

Higher Education said:

This is excellent news Tommy. I really appreciate it. Do you have your exaust fan on a timed schedule or does it run constantly?

Click to expand...

you will be fine with a 1000 watt light inside a tent in a 22 x 22 room, and you will not need a 300cfm fan for it either. I installed a 1000watt light in a cool tube with 6" ducting, even put an extra 180 degree bend in it for a light block, and the fan is a cheap axial fan I bought at Menards for less than $30.00. I have mine on a timer, it starts at the same time as the light and runs 15 minutes after the light shuts off.
The exhaust system for your tent is a seperate issue, you need to be able to replace the co2 depleted air in your tent with 'fresh air'. If your tent is in a 22x22 room, you would be able to make your intake passive as long as you exhaust the stale air out of the building. Figure the cubic feet of your enclosed area and plan on exchanging that volume of air every 3-5 minutes. Any flow restrictions, bends, carbon scrubbers etc. must be taken into account when sizing the exhaust fan, that is the one that you want to make sure is a better quality fan or a larger duct, for your size a 6" line would work just dandy with that 300cfm you have?, remember if smell is an issue, you want to create a slight negative pressure, a little more pull out than in or your air will take the path of least resistance and go out the intake.
Don't forget to allow for an oscillating fan to keep he air stirred up and you will have completed your air handling system. VV

I run a 600w in a cool tube with 300cfm fan in a 3x3x7 room. works great. i think no matter what the room i would cool tube the light. just makes sense to me... way easier to control temps. The exhaust blows into the main room where i have my closet. havent had a problem. good luck man!

I heard HTG is the walmart of hydro stores... ever look at http://cheaphydroponics.com

Thanks for the advice VV. Same to you H8 and I will definately check out that website.

I got a 1000 a hps in a cool tube temps in the 4x4x6 room never goes over 80 f with no other exaust fan on. I use co2 so I needed an air tight room. I have an exaust that turns on when temps go to high.

You will be happy with a cooltube, just make sure you have a dedicated fan for it, and that you are blowing/pushing cool air, not sucking/drawing hot air...

I have a 600 HPS in a 36"x20"x54" tent with zero issues...

Check...

Gypsy...

Thanks Gypsy. That is a helpful illustration.

Sure thing man... I got it from one of RIU's most read worthy thread...

Al B. FAQt

It is a long one at over 1800 posts, but the wealth of info is amazing...

Best of luck...

Gypsy...