New Room. 600w or 1000w?

[Cannabinoholic]

Just need a little bit of insight… I am currently building a new room in the basement. 9'x7' total floor space. Veg room will be 2.5'x4.5' and will be lit by a 4 bank HO T5 fixture. There will be a bit of space for a reso and nutes and all that other fun stuff. That leaves me with a 6.5x7 area for flowering. The total height of everything is 6.5'. I REALLY don't want to buy say 2 600s. Would you go with a 600 or a 1000. Or possibly think about making a smaller bud chamber?

Just wanted to say that you guys are brilliant. Thanks

 

[Cannabinoholic]

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ak-51]

I would go with a 1000 with a dimmable ballast. Stuff doesn't always call for the full glorious 1000 watts, when that's the case you can turn it down. That's a shitload of power to be sucking all the time anyway, it's nice to get a break on your power bill.

My last completed run was in a 5x5 tent with the canopy being approximately 4x4. It was a good size for the 1000w in my opinion. I think I could probably run up to 5x5 in canopy surface area and that would be good.

Yeah, dimmable 1000w is my vote.

 

[Cannabinoholic]

Thanks. Do the dimmable ballasts actually draw less current when you turn them down, or do they still pull 1000w?

 

[MIway]

Shit... I was thinkin about how to cram 2 1k's... say 2 large AAW's on a 3x6 footprint each... ;-)


Your height is the biggest concern @6.5'... basically means a whole bunch of short plants... go mid-sized & you'll hit the top. A 6 will let you work the height a bit more (not much say nother 6-10")... but I like 1k's.

 

[Cannabinoholic]

Yeah, I figure I'll most likely be finishing at say 2' − 2.5' tall if i go with a 1000w. Does that sound about right? I have been using a 400w for the past couple years and they just cannot penetrate a canopy. I could always do a scrog or some crap like that but they seem like a lot of work.

Would it be worth making my flower chamber a little smaller for better light distribution? Say down to a 5x5?

Does anybody know how the dimmable ballasts actually work?

 

[ak-51]

Does anybody know how the dimmable ballasts actually work?

I was about to say "of course they lower their electricity consumption!" before I realized that I really had no basis for that notion. I looked into it and found conflicting opinions on various other forums.

This video shows a lumatek ballast actually drawing more and less wattage as the levels are adjusted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyEBPSWakL4

I am also inclined to think that resistors are not a part of the dimming function. As far as I can remember, any time I have used a dimming switch that I knew to be resistor-based it was a smooth action with infinite levels. The dimmers on my ballasts have set levels and sharply change light levels a second or two after switching.

I wish I had a kill-a-watt here to check now.

 

[Cannabinoholic]

Interesting…

 

[Phaeton]

I live out in the woods and do not see a lot of other grows. But just looking at the numbers has me puzzled. 6.5' x 7' is 45 square feet. That is huge, 1000 watts comes to 22 watts per square foot, that is small. There will be a dramatic light falloff at the edges, a 6.5' ceiling and a single source light spreading sideways trying to reach over seems inadequate for how many plants can be stuffed into that much area.
I bring this up as I run 35 square feet, 10' ceiling, with 3000 watts and it is sufficient, less would not be. Perhaps I am overlooking something? I have 19 plants at the moment, and most of them do not fit in the center. Your room is 30% larger.

 

[supermanlives]

me i would buy 2 600s for sure.

 

[ThePizzaMan]

Go for the 1000, just make sure you have adequate cooling and air circulation. You can always use the 1000 for future grows when you expand. The 600 will just sit there..unless you get a switchable ballast which can handle MH as well as HPS..than you can throw that in your veg area for your moms when you upgrade later on.

 

[BadRabbit]

Just need a little bit of insight… I am currently building a new room in the basement. 9'x7' total floor space. Veg room will be 2.5'x4.5' and will be lit by a 4 bank HO T5 fixture. There will be a bit of space for a reso and nutes and all that other fun stuff. That leaves me with a 6.5x7 area for flowering. The total height of everything is 6.5'. I REALLY don't want to buy say 2 600s. Would you go with a 600 or a 1000. Or possibly think about making a smaller bud chamber?

Just wanted to say that you guys are brilliant. Thanks

Hey dude,

How much ventilation/cooling will you have working? That'll be a big factor.

If you have limited ventilation, you might want to go with a single 600. More power is definitely better though if your electric bill and ventilation can handle it.

All depends on your output goals (primo stash only, minor commercial, etc.) and how much cost/heat you can load in there.

best,
rabbit

 

[Hammerhead]

im also a 600 lover. There much more efficient the 1k's. I use 2 of them in a 10xx12 room. I use about 7x7 of that space with 2 600 hung vertical.

 

[Cannabinoholic]

Should i maybe take it down to a 5x5? I have a 6" ~400cfm fan pulling through cooltube, through carbon filter, then up the stack and out the house. Like I said earlier, I would like to NOT have 2 lights in my bud chamber. I would really not be opposed to making my bud chamber smaller for better light coverage.

 

[Cannabinoholic]

Good idea or not? That way if I was to expand I could just open the room back up and add more light, no? Would you go 1k or 600 in a 5x5 with above ventilation? Oh yeah, my basement sits at ~72f through the summer at ~60% humidity.

 

[dimodz]

would also advise you to first start by 600. can find the work more efficiently than by 1000

peace

D

 

[Groseph]

I would personally go with the 2 600w as your space is too wide for the 1000w to cover effectively. 1000w effectively covers a 4x4.

If you go with 2 600w make your plant footprint 3'x6' under the lights.. that'll give you a little 3' or so pathway to work.

Hell.. I would really go with 4 600w in that space. Would cover your entire flowering room 6.5'x7' damn near perfectly. Most efficient use of space, but you'd have to automate cuz you sure wouldnt be getting in there.

- -

That being said a single 1k would be fine.. cheaper to purchase..and cheaper to re-lamp. Just put your plants in a footprint of 4x4, 4x5, or 5x5.. not much more or your perimeter plants will soon be outgrown and in the shadows..


..

 

[Cannabinoholic]

I will probably go with the Lumitek dual 600w. Really don't want 2 lights but what the hell. It's not a problem with amperage or anything, just a personal thing i guess.

In the case of having 2 lights, would it be a better choice to split the bud chamber and just get a single 600w ballast and hook it to a relay? How would I vent that with a single fan? Just a T between the hoods and the filter?

 

[Groseph]

I wouldn't separate the flowering chamber..just run it as one 3x6 canopy.

I'd pull through a carbon .. push through your 2 lights (in a row) and out.

- -

I'd recommend individual ballasts instead of that dual.. I've seen a few of those dual 600w lumateks have issues with the small black switches they have on the end of them. A friend had 2 dual units and both of them had to be returned because the on/off switch on those units failed..those being the only lumateks with a on/off switch.. Keep in mind they are 240v only as well.

I think you'd be better off going with two dimmable quantum 600ws. In the event of a ballast failure you'd be better off with only 1 light going down vs. both of them if they are connected together.

I think with your low ceiling height you'll be happy with those sixers. They will be easier to keep cool and you gain the advantage of multiple illumination points.

 

[420ish]

look to go vertical!the digital electronic ballasts do draw less power when turned down.it is always nice to have space around your grow.i would think about doing a vertical scrog around the 1000 watter.look in the vertical forum.either way best luck with your new room!