Is 1000 watts overkill?

My setup is going to be as follows:

cabinet dimensions h72" x w36" x d18"
10 plant drip and aeroponic irrigation dwc
GrowBright 4" Inline Fan & Elf Carbon Filter capable of 170 cfm

My question is if whether or not 1000 watts is worth the energy? It will heat the cab quickly and in turn flip the switch to my thermostat set exhaust fan. It will in turn constantly be turming it on/off. Is it advantageous to go to that extreme or should I stick with 400 or 600 system? Cost isnt a problem for either one of these. An example of my cab is below.

A 1000W light for that space is overkill, but you will grow a lot of huge buds. The light will penetrate the plants like no other. I grew in a C13 cabinet (same size) from Home Depot and the big key is venting the heat out which I found was a task especially during the summer months, that was with a 250W MH. Temps were constantly around 87-90 with the light on, but the strain (Pot Of Gold) loved it. Keep it ventilated and you won't be disappointed.

What I did was mount the exhaust fan inside at the top and cut passive intakes on the bottom with a fan blowing 24x7 inside. The bulb was mounted horizontally with the ballast on top.Worked great besides the fact that I needed a higher cfm exhaust. I'll draw a picture.

Here is the drawing done in paint, hope it makes sense.

air cool the lights and you will be fine

Yeah thats similar to the setup i have in mind. I am somewhat modeling mine off the cool cab from sunlight sheds. I took out some stuff I don't need (14 plants are too much I think) and added some beneficial stuff. Higher watt lighting etc and with good genetics and all I came up 500 bucks cheaper. Shipping and all. You gotta love tax return time. I have had this in mind since october. I plan putting two 4" intakes at the bottom with draft blockers/dampers so no light or air escapes when the ventialtion fan is off. Homemade co2 so dont wanna let too much escape. The top foot or so of the cabinet is gonna be clone chamber so the fan will be exiting horizontally right out my bedroom window (incognito of course). I can't wait to get it going. I've done months and months of reading. I was gonna go real high tech with sog but decided to KISS. Just gonna let time do the work and go with scrog. I will be makin a journal so watch for it. hehe. Thanks for the input though. Anyone else out there with some experience with 1000 watts in this kinda space? I am hoping to not burn down my apt. building hehe.

LoudBlunts said:

air cool the lights and you will be fine

Click to expand...

So I get a cool tube reflector and seal the ducts off to two ventholes? Do I need to vent this to the filter to pull air across it? I am trying to visualize this.

1000 watts in that small of space ? thats way way overkill

250 - 400 is adequate for shorter plants 600 watt max your fan better be top notch

Does this look like a setup that would keep up?
Click here for inline fan A, and here for inline fan B
But like you said ABUDSMOKER I could just be over doing this one. if I use a 600 watt system I could cut down on electricity costs for the fan B and it's inital cost. I could also save money on electricity with lower watt lamp and it's initial cost as well. I just don't wanna cut corners and cut yield thats all. I'm not sure yrt. Anyone else got some input? It would be much appreciated. Not to denounce your input Abudsmoker, I just want to hear from some more peeops and see if anyone has luck with these system setups etc. Thanks everyone. Nothin but love.

That's a good design my man...fan B is the exact one I had cooling my whole cab and it did a good job. Yeah temps were a little high, but it worked. My brother ran a 400W in his with an exhaust just like fan A...his temps were around 75-79.

Just remember bigger light = bigger exhaust + bigger buds!

I would say 400 watt would be perfect!

my set up I very similar to yours. 1000w hps, 250 cfm 6in inline duct fan this is used for exhaust on the reflector. blowing out the top of the shower. right now I have two computer fans rigged to a 4" vent blowing cool air in to the reflector from a window I leave open. I am going to buy another inline duct fan to replace the computer fans, and move the vent from window to my ac duct in the summer.

I have noticed that if you use the metal vent instead of flex vent. you get better exhaust. less resistance better air flow.
my thermometer records the high and low temps of the day it says 71 low 84 high.


View attachment 69280 View attachment 69281


here better yet check out my grow journal

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/48855-first-grow-pics-need-advice.html

its my first grow so i am still tweaking it. and taking advice.

thx for the input everyone. I decided I will be goin with a 400 hps/mh system for first time around. Log results and improve on them with the investment of 1000 watts next time round. I will be starting from seed with God Bud feminized. Under MH 24 hrs for 4 - 6 weeks (depending on the size at that time) then, 12 hrs HPS for 8-9 weeks. From what I have read, God Bud really slows in height during flowering so I am gonna veg a bit extra (upto half of maximum height available). I can't wait. My check should hit my account Friday and then it'll be gone. But itll be fun to grow these ladies - toatally worth it.

Nooooooooooooo. Get a 600 watt man. It's the most efficient of all 3. A 600 watt can put out up to 95k lumens while a 400 can only put up to 54k (these are both maxes, but as you can see 200 watts makes a big difference.) I've also heard from a very very knowledgeable grower that the 600 watt is like 72% efficient or something, which is the highest among the 400/600/1000 watts. That's not to say you wouldn't get bigger buds with the 1000watt but it will cost a significant amount more per month, isn't as efficient, and is overkill IMO for a cab. If you can properly vent a 600...I'd definitely go with that.

And focus on less plants grown right. People always want to grow as many plants as they can fit in a space, but you have to understand that each plant is going to need individual care, and if you aren't willing to properly take care of say 15 plants...it will hurt you in the end. If you take perfect care of 3 plants in the area you have, you can pull a great yield out of any of the 400/600/1000. Good luck!

I kinda figured the 600 is the most efficient because of what I have read. It is quite apparent in cost as well. They seem to be the same if not more than the 1k in some circles. Like I said earlier: I am modeling off of the cool cab by sunlight sheds but I am only growing ten plants so the have more room and light available. Any more than that I think would cause problems.

edit: I might just go with the 600 instead of the 1000 seems all good

I recently asked a similar question to htg. My space was 2x3x8 and they said i may be able to pull off a 600. But i had only asked them 400 or 600. I think i am going to end up with the 4 just cause i dont want to buy the 6 and find out its too hot. So i would think 1000 is way too much. But I am interested on how it turns out.

When will you know how well it works?

yes bro! go 600 conversion and if you want your heat gone you go with the inline fan thats 440cfm.I have a cab just like yours and my temps are around 76 to 80. I can put my hand right on the glass,like its not even on.I think they recomend thr 400 .but I went with the 600.so if you boost your light you should boost your fan.you will be able to blow the heat further too.

Hopefully in the next couple weeks. I am ordering Friday and then itll be a couple weeks for everything to arrive. If you subscribe to this thread I will be putting my journal link in my signature so keep an eye out itll be fun.

Hey man...here's an example to check out.

A question on the third pic. There has breen conflicting input on the airflow of the ventilation filter. It seems most peopl choose to pull out and through the filter from within then through the fan. It seems to me you have the fan pusshing from the fan through the filter. I am still unsure about this. Hopefully I can call customer service on mine.

And 600's will up your electric bill by like $30?