Yes that's correct, Air Change/Minute, as opposed to /Hour as you usually see in AQ references and such.
The other thing I was really looking at when ballast shopping was avoiding the "Made in China", which can be very tricky to actually do. I have seen products that had a cover or sticker or something that was "Made in the USA" and was made only to cover up the "Made in China" labels.....that's legal.
I'm not trying to blindly say "I'm not buying anything from China!", that seems so unrealistic when people say that. I boycotted Harbor Freight but then I realized, it is the exact same wire brush I am getting at Advance, only half the price. Why pay a middle man when there is only one source anyway? There are just some things that you cannot buy unless it's made in China. Also, there are probably some products out there that the best place to get this is from China. LED's for example, there just aren't many places in the world that have the manufacturing experience as the Guangdong providence of China and as a result, 95% of every LED product you buy is elementally from Guangdong. The thing with Chinese manufacturing is you CAN get a good product from them, but you pay a premium for the attention and QC, and therefore your $200 retail items don't cost $.005usd/unit, like most other things commissioned for manufacture in China.
As far as dependability, the ONLY [digital] ballast I have ever had crap out on me was a NextGen (CAP), and they have since discontinued that particular model. The Nano's (CAP) I have, have the sequential start feature. First time the switch popped on 4 I was like "goddamnit........I've got 3 bad ballasts or bulbs......" haha.
So my shielding didn't work. I think if it had been wider with a lip it may have made more of a difference but my ΔT was only -5degF. Running 2 lights instead of 3 tells me that everything I did really amounted to squat. The floor intakes have some good v & V (Volume and Velocity) but I think what it feels like and what it actually is may be very different. The vents themselves are only 3.5" off the the concrete floor below the sub-floor, and the area is enclosed on the ends with framing. That means that the air that is getting through is just from cracks and seams and is likely very turbulent.
I am considering 1-2 options and may do both. I am considering boxing in a square duct from the side wall that goes to a 6" round 90° where the current vents are. This will give relatively unobstructed flow directly underneath the bulbs. Additionally, I think I may use some 6">8" reducers I have laying around to duct them to hang directly over the bulbs. This will work like people that have in exhaust piped right to the bulb but should, in theory, grab more air. The other end I will take to the outside of the carbon filter. It's times like this I really miss having an INLINE filter; that will come next.
I'll post pics, I see another all-nighter in my future! (I thought those were supposed to end after college??)
