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How Much Cooler is 1K vs Two 600 Watters?

soundman

soundman

Member
I have a 5 x 5 tent and run two 600 watts. It gets too warm for me but works. I want perfection. I just bought a 12K BTU portable AC and dont think it will cut it.

Would one 1k HPS be much cooler than two 600's? I like the coverage of the 600's and worry one 600 is not enough for a 5 x 5. Even when the tent is not full corner to corner.

Ideas? A window unit is kinda too unstealthy with a neighbor and meter reader. Plus I will get rain on that window from sept thru rest of year.

This is driving my anxiety and racing mind crazy.
 
D

DocTim420

The Doctor is OUT and has moved on...
Can you run air through the reflectors? I found in my setup, just running outside night air through the lights dropped the ambient temps around 7-10 degrees Fahrenheit.

Yes it took a bit of work/investment to run the 6" ducting, elbows, build filter boxes, not to mention selecting the best fan to pull the cool night air through the system efficiently. But this old fucker discovered years ago that a little investment in the front-end...usually pays great dividends at the back-end.

In fact, my AC cycles off sometimes during the winter; it seems the cool night time air chills the lamps and reflector so well, the ambient temp in the flower drops to 79 degrees all by itself. The AC cycles on for about 10-15 mins each hour....sweet! Ahh, but that luck disappears during spring & summer...lol.
 
soundman

soundman

Member
bigganjabud said:
I run hps+l.e.d bro works for me

What extract you running?
Click to expand...


Thanks for the reply. I need to upgrade to 6" extraction. I upgraded 400 watt systems to 600 watt when I lived in CA. My house had killer ac and I could keep things cool easy. I ran a 4" vortex on each hood vented to attic. I had one lower CFM 6" on one of the intakes. Worked great.

I am looking at a Craigslist add for a 6" reflector and fan. Limited funds right now.

Running a test without tent on frame and no fans on lights. So far I can hold 73 degrees on a cooler day outside. I will run my lights at night so its a fair comparison. If temps stay down I will put on tent and add fans to vent to lung room instead of attic, like I usually do. See what happens.

A few decades of growing but always had nice environment conditions.
 
soundman

soundman

Member
DocTim420 said:
Can you run air through the reflectors? I found in my setup, just running outside night air through the lights dropped the ambient temps around 7-10 degrees Fahrenheit.

Yes it took a bit of work/investment to run the 6" ducting, elbows, build filter boxes, not to mention selecting the best fan to pull the cool night air through the system efficiently. But this old fucker discovered years ago that a little investment in the front-end...usually pays great dividends at the back-end.

In fact, my AC cycles off sometimes during the winter; it seems the cool night time air chills the lamps and reflector so well, the ambient temp in the flower drops to 79 degrees all by itself. The AC cycles on for about 10-15 mins each hour....sweet! Ahh, but that luck disappears during spring & summer...lol.
Click to expand...


See post above for more info. I can keep my room at 82 - 84 in winter. I think I need to upgrade to 6 inch fans for summer early fall. I just have some killer genetics to run this time and want perfection in my room.
 
soundman

soundman

Member
Tent is up exhausting to lung room. Lets see if the portable 12K BTU can keep up. So far 74 degrees. Fingers crossed. If not I can try intake to hoods from lung room too. Baby steps. Stressed for the day.
 
D

DocTim420

The Doctor is OUT and has moved on...
soundman said:
See post above for more info. I can keep my room at 82 - 84 in winter. I think I need to upgrade to 6 inch fans for summer early fall. I just have some killer genetics to run this time and want perfection in my room.
Click to expand...

If it were me, then I would invest the $ to setup a 6" duct system + fan and use 6"->4" reducer to connect to the existing 4" reflector. Then pickup a new 6" reflector with the next stack of cash. If you keep the reducers "pristine", I bet you can return them for a refund or store credit at a later date. Just don't skimp on the fan. Cheapos will be loud and go out after awhile (maybe due to the warm air???).

The trick is....imo, to bring in cold night air from the outside. I was able to modify my eaves under my roof to create "stealth" intakes...but then I own my home too. But you get the idea. Sometimes a drop of 10 degrees is all the difference between a "great" vs an "ok" harvest.

Good luck man!
 
soundman

soundman

Member
DocTim420 said:
If it were me, then I would invest the $ to setup a 6" duct system + fan and use 6"->4" reducer to connect to the existing 4" reflector. Then pickup a new 6" reflector with the next stack of cash. If you keep the reducers "pristine", I bet you can return them for a refund or store credit at a later date. Just don't skimp on the fan. Cheapos will be loud and go out after awhile (maybe due to the warm air???).

The trick is....imo, to bring in cold night air from the outside. I was able to modify my eaves under my roof to create "stealth" intakes...but then I own my home too. But you get the idea. Sometimes a drop of 10 degrees is all the difference between a "great" vs an "ok" harvest.

Good luck man!
Click to expand...

If needed I will do the whole upgrade. So far I am able to keep temps under 80 easy. measured close to lights. Hoods are cool to the touch. I will still take intake to hoods from lung room and add a 6" fan for added air exchange.

My setup as described before AC kicked ass. Just need AC. Last cro of GG4 I pulled 17 ounces off two plants. Temps were 82ish. I just dont want to wait until winter to grow my next run.

Then again I have a query into a craigslist add for a couple 6 inch hoods. Magnum XXXL's. 35.00 each. Not bad.

Thanks for you input. I appreciate it.
 
soundman

soundman

Member
I know Im talking to myself here some but thinking out loud can help.

The plan is to do what doc said. Those magnum reflectors are too big to run two in my tent. If 400 CFM from a 6 inch fan can move air through the 4 inch adapted up to 6 inch hood flanges I will run a 6 inch fan pulling through both hoods from lung room to lung room. I will add another 400 cfm fan to purely exhaust air from tent to lung room. I will use two 6 inch passive intakes at bottom of tent.

That sounds good to me. Any issues I dont foresee. I have a mind that wont quit obsessing even though I used my tent with good success here in WA already. Just want that perfection.

So far I can keep 78 degrees but its a cool day and the AC has to be running about non stop.

Thanks everyone. Done worrying.
 
soundman

soundman

Member
Ok. Sun hitting wall of bedroom. Temps up to 82 degrees with sensor hanging 18 or so inches under and in between lights.

I still wonder how much cooler a 1k is than two 600's. I think one 600 is pretty close temp wise to the 1ks.

Still cooler than my last two runs. Will do anything to get this better.
 
B

bigganjabud

OK sit down wait


OK so a 5x5 tent min I'd say is a max spec 6" plus a 600mm filter

And atleast a max spec 5" intake but that ain't my advice

Go

8"fan and filter out take/exhaust /top bit

6" fan highspec intake

1 x fan contriller

1 x 1000w hps

1-3 supplental leds
 
B

bigganjabud

PS any reflector that has flanges on should have fan and ducting to keep it cool
 
F

Floridian

Active member
Veteran
The size of your plants play a huge role in your decision,I definately agree with Tim on the upsizing of the fans,but how big are your finished flowering plants going to be?The temp difference between a 600 and a 1K are actually quite a bit,unless I've been lied to I only run 1K's but have friends with experience with both.If your finished plants are going to be 4 ft or larger I would probably go with the 1K fixture.I don't have tent experience either so I'm just making a statement about penetration mainly,ohh sounds kinky lol
 
zeke99

zeke99

Active member
soundman said:
Ok. Sun hitting wall of bedroom. Temps up to 82 degrees with sensor hanging 18 or so inches under and in between lights.

I still wonder how much cooler a 1k is than two 600's. I think one 600 is pretty close temp wise to the 1ks.

Still cooler than my last two runs. Will do anything to get this better.
Click to expand...

Before you buy new reflectors, have you considered bare bulb vertical?
 
Last edited:
zeke99

zeke99

Active member
Reaper said:
Theoretically, it should be about 20% cooler.
Click to expand...
I wonder if it's a non-linear relationship. I don't have a lot of experience growing in tents with different wattage bulbs. Or maybe it's a lack of HVAC knowledge/experience.

In other words, would a 600w bulb in a tent that was also 150% larger than a tent with a 400w (same type) bulb require a 50% higher (or higher or lower) CFM in-line fan rating in order to maintain a TDiff (within tent - ambient outside of tent, or in lung room) of say 5 degrees F for both tents?

My guess would be non-linear.
 
R

Reaper

Active member
I would guess very close to linear. An HVAC specialist would need to weigh in here. But people always calculate in a linear fashion here on IC when assessing their HVAC needs.
 
Chilly Willy

Chilly Willy

Member
Although at first this situation sounds like putting a square peg in a round hole there are some cool things in your advantage. Heat rises and you are already at the top of this structure, hence in that attic. The other is that you have cool air just below this attic in the bedroom below. What keeps bothering me though is the short height of the tent, and a Sativa under a big light.

Is it possible to put a false vent in the bedroom just below your tent, and put a fan on it to suck the AC inside your grow. It would be neat f you could pick the location of the tent in the attic where it sits under a vent pipe that goes through the roof. You could tap into this and place a vortex fan there. Of course you could make all these fans fun on timers. My other concern is the control of humidity, and Co2. I guess you could bring air from outside through the soffit like another suggested, and introduce humidity when it gets cold i winter by using one of those humidifiers they buy their kids when they get sick.

Is it possible you would just rather take up golfing instead. Better yet give us some more info, and let us inspire you so we make it to the smoke report with your grow.
 
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