is 250w mh too much?

[Scottyboycx]

i have a space 27"w x 17"d x 50"h. If my calculations are right this equates to 3.18 square feet?? will a 250w mh be ok in this space and will the heat be a major problem?

Thanks in advance!

 

[vinnythebat]

as long as you have good ventilation you should be fine.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Where's the box going to live? If it's in a locked attic, a locked basement or hidden bunker you can do it. If it's in a common area, a bedroom, den, garage, probably not. You'll have incredible heat buildup which means serious fans. A wimpy fan means serious noise. A serious fan, like a vortex, screams like a Saturn V at liftoff.

If you can lock it all away, the noise can be tamed but, anyone in the room with the fan will know it's there and ask why. With a 150 and smaller fan, the noise can be overpowered by a masking noise or pinned on a patsy like an aquarium.

I use a 250 in a 22x29x54 inch freezer but, a freezer is supposed to make noise.

 

[Iron_Lion]

I used a box too small for my 250 for my first few years of growing, I honestly think you get the most out of small wattage HID by having the proper watts per square foot.

I've got 2 250watt setups right now, one is a grow tent with 5 sq feet giving me a perfect 50 watts per sq foot. my other box is 250 watts 2 1/2 sq feet giving me 100 watts per sq foot. The difference between the 2 boxes is like night and day. the tent i can fit 8 3 gallon grow bags with LST'd plants. the small box i can only fit 4 3 gallon bags with lst'd plants. I will guaruntee you that the tent outproduce the box just based on plant numbers and total gallons of soil.

After many years of growing with a 250's I have to say I finally nailed it. The keys to being successful is 1. have as much plant material under the light as possible, 2. have proper distance from bud to light, 3 keep the air flowing and temps in check.

Look for watts per sq foot 50-62.5, anything over 100 is a waste of electricity. My small box will be retired as soon as my 600 comes in.

 

[Hawk]

....have proper distance from bud to light, ...

What do you consider proper distance for a 250w? thanks

 

[MapleLeaf]

no expert but id say with a 4" inline fan pulling air out and a small pc fan in the box, ud get plus 10ish degrees from the air comming in maybe.

ive got the same dimensions for my 250 hps, with a 6" inline fan on speed control. Ill be able to give you a defenit answer in a week or so.

 

[messn'n'gommin']

What do you consider proper distance for a 250w? thanks

This is a rough estimation for various HPS lamps.


I haven't found one for MH yet (but haven't really looked either) so this is just for a comparison. Get it as close as you can until a leaf is starting to show light bleaching or a slight burn and back it off some. Then try to keep it at about that height.

Hope this helps some.

Namaste, mess

 

[Scottyboycx]

maybe i shoulda wrote more about my setup.....the space is a wardrobe and i'll be using to keep mothers and start clones before shifting to my 400w hps flower room

at the moment i have a reptile flouro and 1 cfl but growth is quite slow.

 

[messn'n'gommin']

maybe i shoulda wrote more about my setup.....the space is a wardrobe and i'll be using to keep mothers and start clones before shifting to my 400w hps flower room

A 150w MH will cover most of your wardrobes sq/ft. But, a CMH is probably a better option for veg than a MH. Even then, you might want to consider flouro tubes as they can be overdriven and will be considerably cooler and cheaper to run.

at the moment i have a reptile flouro and 1 cfl but growth is quite slow.

The lizard light will do that. UV is a good addition for a grow, imho, but it is a bit hard on a plant and will, ultimately, hurt yield somewhat. Just my but, you might want to consider using it only during flower. Although, some would use it as much as they can right from the start, just a short time (say, one to four hours a day) at the beginning of flower and gradually increasing (up to most of the light cycle) as flowering progresses. If nothing else, at least a few hours a day for the last two weeks.

Hope I was of some help.

Namaste, mess

 

[Scottyboycx]

well i cant afford new lighting (already have the 250w)

 

[SweetIndica2]

Where's the box going to live? If it's in a locked attic, a locked basement or hidden bunker you can do it. If it's in a common area, a bedroom, den, garage, probably not. You'll have incredible heat buildup which means serious fans. A wimpy fan means serious noise. A serious fan, like a vortex, screams like a Saturn V at liftoff.

If you can lock it all away, the noise can be tamed but, anyone in the room with the fan will know it's there and ask why. With a 150 and smaller fan, the noise can be overpowered by a masking noise or pinned on a patsy like an aquarium.

I use a 250 in a 22x29x54 inch freezer but, a freezer is supposed to make noise.

I think you are exaggerating quite a bit. Fans aren't THAT loud. Even my Dayton 265 which is louder and produces more vibration than my 6" inline, can barely be heard in the next room over unless you get close to the wall.

 

[FreezerBoy]

I think you are exaggerating quite a bit. Fans aren't THAT loud.

I think you have hearing problems. My Elicent (5-10dB quieter than the Vortex) was silenced with: muffler, fan isolation box, insulated duct, speed control, filter, all hidden under a pile of foam. It was STILL audible over a hundred feet away at my neighbors door across the street.

The only local that knows of my grow stepped in the garage and immediately scrunched his face asking, "What the HELL is that NOISE!?!"

If you can lock them up, or your visitors out, centrifugals can be tamed. But, make no mistake, they scream like banshees with their hair on fire.

 

[sx646522]

It's too bad you've already got the 250; what you really needed is a 150 in your space. Too much can be worse than not enough, IMO. A few PL-L's in a nice tight scrog would've been perfect, also...

If you can lock them up, or your visitors out, centrifugals can be tamed. But, make no mistake, they scream like banshees with their hair on fire.

Yep. Beware the banshee - especially if her name is Siouxsie.

-SX

 

[messn'n'gommin']

well i cant afford new lighting (already have the 250w)

My apologies, I did not mean to imply that what you had wouldn't work. I only meant that there were better options and not necessarily the only options. Certainly, you can use a 250w MH and yes you will have to contend with higher heat, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. You may have to raise it a bit more above the canopy and a good strong fan will take care of the rest. Still, Freezerboy's point on sound levels is the trade off for a higher CFM fan. If stealth is of a high priority you may have to reconsider that and was why I recommended flouro tubes as a viable option. An overdriven T-8 or T-12 will put out about as much heat and light as a T-5, more or less, but considerably less heat than a 250 MH. After that, if you find that the sound and heat levels from the 250 are getting to be more than a little trouble, CFL's are an option too.

Again, my apologies, I meant no offense.

Namaste, mess

 

[SweetIndica2]

I think you have hearing problems. My Elicent (5-10dB quieter than the Vortex) was silenced with: muffler, fan isolation box, insulated duct, speed control, filter, all hidden under a pile of foam. It was STILL audible over a hundred feet away at my neighbors door across the street.

The only local that knows of my grow stepped in the garage and immediately scrunched his face asking, "What the HELL is that NOISE!?!"

If you can lock them up, or your visitors out, centrifugals can be tamed. But, make no mistake, they scream like banshees with their hair on fire.

I actually have great hearing. I can usually hear the slightest noises. I admit, i may have been a little off on how loud they are, but i just hooked up my inline to do a test. I didn't have it hooked up to any filter or tubing, just sitting on a chair, so open flanges at full speed and i could hear it in my room but when in the room across the hall i couldn't hear it at all and it's only 5-10 feet further away from the grow room compared to my bedroom. It's only 30 feet from the growroom tops. With my duct tubing and filter it will be even quieter.

I have family that live RIGHT below the grow room. Keep in mind the growroom and the floor isn't even insulated and you can't even hear it when down there.

highly doubt you can hear an inline fan from 100 feet away, especially 100 feet away and inside a house.

I am using a Valueline 6 Inch 435CFM Inline fan btw incase you were wondering. It's very quiet, like other people have said that have the tried them, i can't imagine any other fan being that much quieter. I haven't compared it to Vortex, but the Valueline has no vibration what so ever and is damn quiet. You can hear a somewhat loud suction noise from the air sucking in, especially since like i said i had the flanges open but it's not THAT loud.

But, whatever. I'm not going to fight with you. No need to insult me. To each his own.

 

[Scottyboycx]

sxs646 theres no flowering going on in there its my veg/mom room flowering takes place under a 400w hps

messn no offense taken dude thanks for your input man

i know ur all pros and use all these fancy (expensive) equipment but would a couple of 6-8" pc fans blowing out of the top with a passive intake at the bottom handle the heat? i really am on a tight budget

Edit: the ballast wont be in the space just the bulb to cool

 

[Scottyboycx]

bump anyone?

 

[messn'n'gommin']

Without going over the numbers, the best I can say is...maybe, but it might not leave much margin for error. If you go that route, you might want to consider stacking two of the fans for each of two exhaust ports. Two exhaust ports, four fans. A dry run for several hour period will tell you a lot more.

Trust me, I fully understand a tight budget, but, fwiw, if you're handy, a Stanley blower and parts will run you about $50-$60US. You can check out Pontiac's ICMag DIY sticky for more details. There is a wealth of stuff there for budget conscious folks like you and me.

Namaste, mess

 

[Scottyboycx]

thanks messn but i'm not in the us and not seen that stanlery blower anywhere in uk

i'll try 2x 6" pc fans as outlets and use passive intakes see how it goes

Thanks again