I can't make up my mind of what type of lighting I need for my stealth grow. I keep leaning towards CFL's because of the low heat and semi-good yield, but they don't give as much yield as HPS. LED interests me because of the 0 heat, but I don't know which wattage I'd need or what brands are good. Heat is what I am most concerned about. My cab will be about 60in high x 36in wide x 18in deep. The cab is going to be in my room with me so I was concerned with the potential heat coming from this thing throughout the months. I'm open to either magnetic or digital ballast, I've heard pro's con's on both so if anyone has an experience and could help me out that would be great.
I have some bad news for you . CFL and LED do produce heat . It is less than HID but about the same as air cooled HID ( at least in my case ) . I can tell you from my personal experience that 125w CFL bulb ( actual wattage ) was heating up my tent (DR90 3x3x6)more than 600w air cooled HID light .600 w in aircooled reflector is heating up my tent by 12 or so degrees higher than room temperature .I also have 900w BLACK STAR it is heating up my tent by 12 or so degrees higher than room temperature but it emit heat towards sides and top ( trough the ventilation ports) vs HID all way around . So LED can be placed closer than HID light .
If you drawing air into your cab from your room and then venting back into the same room, HID will cause way too much heat. Eventually your room temp and cab temp will equalize or near enough to it. HID if you can vent the heat outdoors or into another room, otherwise you'll have to go CFL or LED.