Well, I'm about 85% finished with my rebuild, and besides being way over budget, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm still waiting on one of my ballasts, but I've got 5 up and running in my main tent. They are BRIGHT! The plants are a little fazed after the t-5's, but nothing too serious. I'll be using a C/G for veg in the future, so hopefully this won't be an ongoing thing. I actually want to raise the working platform in the main tent a bit more for clearance on my intake ducting, but I'll wait for the plants to adjust. I also have a bit more electrical work to do, but parts are on order, so it will have to wait till monday or tuesday. I'm also going to up the duct size from 6" to 8" on my 6" intake fans. I'm already using 8" ducting for my 6" exhaust fans, and it made a HUGE difference in noise levels. By no means is this system "quiet", but is more like the hum of computer servers, less like the roar of jet turbines. The real trick is dampening out the higher pitch noises. I wrap the fans in memory foam, which helps quite a bit.
On the heat issue. At this moment, the air entering the tent is 70F, the exiting air is 76F, and the temp 2' under the lamps(my intended final headroom) is 77F. I estimate my air movement at ~600cfm. This would put the btu's at ~800/lamp. Pretty much right in the middle. Mind you these aren't laboratory measurement, but they're reasonably close. I'm trying to find my anemometer to get more precise measurements. Keep in mind, I am running the ballasts inside the tent. I'll have to run my a/c during the warmer days, especially with all 6, but I'd already planned on that. As soon as I switch to flower, I'll run from sundown to sunup to minimize the need for a/c. Once summer hits, the a/c will have to run 24/7, but I should still be OK.
On the heat issue. At this moment, the air entering the tent is 70F, the exiting air is 76F, and the temp 2' under the lamps(my intended final headroom) is 77F. I estimate my air movement at ~600cfm. This would put the btu's at ~800/lamp. Pretty much right in the middle. Mind you these aren't laboratory measurement, but they're reasonably close. I'm trying to find my anemometer to get more precise measurements. Keep in mind, I am running the ballasts inside the tent. I'll have to run my a/c during the warmer days, especially with all 6, but I'd already planned on that. As soon as I switch to flower, I'll run from sundown to sunup to minimize the need for a/c. Once summer hits, the a/c will have to run 24/7, but I should still be OK.