Pretty basic question I'm getting ready to grow and want to know if I should get 4 x 1000 watt HPS lights or 2 x 1000 watt HPS and 2 x 600 watt LED Grow box: 8x4x6 ft 20 plants (amnesia haze)
2 1000 hps w. air cooled hoods! and whatever for a veg setup metal halides make em short and stout. better light spectrum while vegging!
Its a basic question, but the answer could be pretty complicated. 4 x 1000 watt in such a confined space, you would need a 8 inch exhaust minimum maybe even 10 inch. 2 x 1000 watt and 2 x 600 watt, would require the 8 inch exhaust. In all honesty, your best bet would he 4 x 600 watt mh/hps combo lights. 600 watt are more efficient in terms of lumens per watt. You could probably even do just fine with 3x 600 watt lights. But 4 would do even better. Either way, you would want to run the hoods in a straight line so there would be no bends in ducting, and use a 6 or 8 inch fan setup that is used strictly to cool the lights. Meaning no filter or anything. And the exhaust being blown to outdoors or the attic or something. And the you could use another exhaust fan, 4 or 6 inch with can filter to scrub the smell. IMHO, 4 x 1000 is way overkill for your space. Not to mention, on a 12/12 lights on, your looking at about 75 to 105 dollars per light on your electric bill. I'm talking us dollars, you can make the conversion to your currency if outside u.s... So you would be jumping your bill up anywhere from 350 to 420 dollars every month. That's a big jump. 4 x 600 would probably only be a 175 to 220 dollar jump on the bill. And that's not including fans or whatever. I also assume you will be growing in soil, based on your space and sating you will be growing 20 plants, probably in 1 or 3 gallon pots, you will absolutely need a dehumidifier. Even if going hydro, you will need one. On watering days , with 20 plants, your humidity is gonna be up there, and mid to late flowering, mold and mildew will thrive in that environment. So like I said, basic question that really can't be given a basic answer. There are many factors. But you would be better off with 600 waters and it would be a lot less easier on your wallet and to cool. Hope this helps.
the math adds up quick. I was just talking on another thread; someone was asking about a 600 hps for vegies. I have an indoor veggie garden I want to make it bigger.
2k of HID can get pretty warm. 4k, well... In my garden, there are two 5x10 flowering tents. One with 2x 1000w HPS and the other with 6x 600w HPS/ MH combo. They all run passive cooling. The tents get warm and have separate inline fan circuits and AC controlling their environment. I would have to agree with nuker on the LEDs. They make more sense. Thats why I am slowly making the switch to LED. I took down one of the 1000w and put up 1040w of LED. The heat dropped considerably. I also run LEDs in veg now, pretty stoked on their performance. View attachment 148853 -PG