I am thinking of bulding a five bucket, DWC set up in a room 11'x11' wide. They will obviously not take up the whole room, but will most likely take up an area of 5'x5'. I plan on building a frame to put around the buckets and cover it with mylar, so that I will end up with an area enclosed with the reflective material. The room is not heated, but can be ventilated. I live in Maine, and winter is coming up, and in the summertime, air conditioning can be put in the room. I am wondering what the best lighting solution would be. I was thinking about getting a 1000 watt light with a dimmable ballast and an Adjust-A-Wing reflector with their SuperSpreader. Is this worth it? Their website makes it seem like you can get this sort of light closer than most others, but I DO like the idea of having something that I can air cool. If it is in an area with air circulating constantly, or in a basement, is heat going to be a problem? If I have a fan blowing over the light, will this help? Would it be wise not to get such a powerful light? I am trying to figure out the most efficient way to light my plants. I would like them to get as much quality light as possible, of course. I have not set anything up yet, I would like to get the opinion of people much more knowledgable than myself before I do anything.
I would go with an air cooled light hood with a fan hooked upto it, it will run cooler then a non air cooled Adjust-A-Wing.
If you can handle the heat through air conditioning or low ambient temps all year round, then go with adjust-a-wings. They are one of the most efficient reflectors out there and it has a really even light spread.
It has been suggested to me that I get two 600 watt lamps with air-cooled hoods and have one MH bulb and one HPS bulb. What is the opinion on that?
600 watt digital ballasts are the most efficient ballasts per watt of electricity used per lumen of light generated. Using two of them with 1 MH and 1 HPS bulb will give you both spectrums of light simulating early to mid grow season light conditions outside. In the early to mid part of the outdoor grow season there is more blue light spectrum then red and vice versa in the later part of the growing season when plants start to flower. Also two light hoods not far apart will help increase light to the outer areas of the grow beyond the light foot print. Below is a link to the hood I just upgraded to for my upcomming DWC set up that I`m currently putting together. http://goodhydro.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=33
Open hoods deliver more at harvest if you can control temps. Should be easy in Maine. Get the adjust a wing. Best reflector on the market, if you don't grow vertically. Best of luck