Hey there, Looking for suggestions around wether to go with a 600 or 400 hps/mh setup for my grow tent....just trying to decide on what to go with and starting to purchase everything.....Either way the bulb itself will likely be in an air-cooled reflector, 4 individual bubble buckets in a 35" X 35" X 78" grow tent. I am definetley going with a MH for veg and HPS for flower, and am a little concerned about temperature (specifically nutrient solution) in the tent. I know that the 600 is optimal for lumens, but the 400 would be a better option to keep the temperature lower......THOUGHTS??????
I have a tent with nearly identical dimensions, and my 600W isn't a terrible challenge to keep cool. I have mine in a closet, with an exhaust vent into a neighboring hallway away from the door. If I can manage to keep ambient room temps where the closet is located to 23C or lower, my tent never heats beyond 32C with the exhaust fan at 70% and a portable desk fan pointed upward at the cool tube, hopefully blowing heat away from the canopy. I can consume much less electricity and create much less noise by just switching it down to 400W, though, should the heat ever become an issue.
I would go with the 600w...6" fan on a speedster and as long as you duct the exhaust into another room or w/e heat shouldn't be any issue. If you are really concerned wrap your buckets in Mylar or panda poly, water should stay well within spec's.
600 for sure! Run an aircool enclosed hood and you'll be good. You will have bigger denser colas the more light you can get to your plants, as long as everything else stays in check. Adding co2 will also allow your plants to thrive in higher temps and higher light levels
Looking to do a similar grow and it seems the 400w would be perfect. If you have to run more equip or introduce more techniques to keep the plants cool. It makes sense to run the 400w closer with a little training for light penetration. IMO