How hot with 400watt hps?

I just got a waterfarm system from a friend along with his 400 watt hps that I am in the process of hooking up.

My question is - how hot are these things? I ran it for about 10 minutes earlier and it was hot as hell in the closet (90º+) I'm using. The closet is roughly 3 deep x 8 high x 6 wide. It's in a spare bedroom for now until I build a 'room' in the basement but what is the best way to keep this thing cool? I'm going to try and vent it into the attic if possible and adding some fans soon as well.

In addition to how hot they are, how much should I expect to add to my monthly electric bill? We're paying roughly 8 cents per kilowatt hour or whatever it is now and with me just being laid off, I don't have too much extra money to blow so I'm thinking about just waiting.

Does anyone else here run this setup? If so, what are your thoughts?


Thanks in advance!

Those things are hot man. You w/o a doubt need air flow. Most people have air blowing in on one side of the hood and being pulled out thru the other side. Without airflow around that bulb you're looking at 90+

As far as calculating electricity use just Google "electricity usage calculator" or something. With a 400 running 24/0 @ .08 per KWH you'll pay about $25 per month.

Hope this helps.

BooleanCisco said:

Those things are hot man. You w/o a doubt need air flow. Most people have air blowing in on one side of the hood and being pulled out thru the other side. Without airflow around that bulb you're looking at 90+

As far as calculating electricity use just Google "electricity usage calculator" or something. With a 400 running 24/0 @ .08 per KWH you'll pay about $25 per month.

Hope this helps.

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Yeah I've seen some pictures of people running air ducts into and out of them but that's a bit much for my area and budget right now.

$25/mo Isn't as bad as I thought either.

Thank you very much for your help!

If you're not able to get temps below 85, just sell the HPS and buy some CFL's.

Cr8z13 said:

If you're not able to get temps below 85, just sell the HPS and buy some CFL's.

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Yeah that was my next choice. I'd actually prefer the CFL's.

I have some cheap grow lights from walmart but they aren't worth a damn, and I've got a few CFL's in the metal shop light looking things that I could possibly use but I'd imagine I need a lot more then two - some type of custom setup with a ton of 'em.

awm said:

Yeah that was my next choice. I'd actually prefer the CFL's.

I have some cheap grow lights from walmart but they aren't worth a damn, and I've got a few CFL's in the metal shop light looking things that I could possibly use but I'd imagine I need a lot more then two - some type of custom setup with a ton of 'em.

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What kind of HPS? Does it have the 6 inch fan ducts on the end? If So im lookin for one, if you sell