I've done a few grows using CFLs and I'm ready to step it up to a HPS grow now. Unfortunatly I'm having a hard time finding info for my growing situation. I have a home-made grow box that is 2'x2' and 4' tall. I've never had a heat problem with CFLs but I'm a little nervous about it getting too hot when I switch to a HPS. The box is in my bedroom and it would be pretty hard or impossible to set it up to vent outside the room. I also can't really find what exact size I should get for my growspace. I've seen guides that say everything from 150W to 400W for my size. So which size would you reccomend? I've also seen ballasts that have a dimmer so you can adjust from 400 to 250 or other wattages. Are these reliable or are you really just wasting the light that way? Thanks!
[quote name='"BeastBuds"']I've done a few grows using CFLs and I'm ready to step it up to a HPS grow now. Unfortunatly I'm having a hard time finding info for my growing situation. I have a home-made grow box that is 2'x2' and 4' tall. I've never had a heat problem with CFLs but I'm a little nervous about it getting too hot when I switch to a HPS. The box is in my bedroom and it would be pretty hard or impossible to set it up to vent outside the room. I also can't really find what exact size I should get for my growspace. I've seen guides that say everything from 150W to 400W for my size. So which size would you reccomend? I've also seen ballasts that have a dimmer so you can adjust from 400 to 250 or other wattages. Are these reliable or are you really just wasting the light that way? Thanks![/quote] I've seen the similar set up but in a 4x2x5 using a 400w set up and even pushed to a 600w with great results with temps averaging in the 80's. With a constant negative pressure and proper ventilation you won't have issues.
The digital ballasts are reliable. A lot of people here have been using them for years. I for one am new to the indoor grow scene myself and I'm currently using a lumatek digital ballast that is powering a 400 watt hps but it is switchable to lower wattage. Can you at least vent the cabinet into your room? Do you have control of the temperature in your room as well? You don't have to waste anything as far as light either you can buy the specific wattage bulb you need like 250,400,600, etc. I think its really going to depend how cool you can keep that space as to what kind of lights youll want to use.
I have it vented in the room now with a fan blowing out at the top through a carbon filter I built, and an intake at the bottom. The room can get hot sometimes in the summer but lately temps have been nice and cool. When I move I hope to have a little bigger grow space so I'd like to get something I'll still be able to use in a bigger area so I'm thinking the switchable ballast sounds like a good idea for me
Go with a 400 watt switchable ballast, it well give you more than enough light in that small space. Also when you upgrade to a larger room, you can throw in a MH bulb and use it for your veg room. Also it will give you plenty of practice dealing with heat, which comes in very useful when you start using the 1000 watters.
I did a 2x3 with a 600w adjustable..had to turn it down to 450 in the summer..80-82 in the summer and 78-80 in the winter
BB, I wouldnt recommend going beyond 250W for your 2X2X4 grow box. A 400/250 switchable like lowd recommended would give future flexibility. SunSystems makes a handy little 150W HPS system with integrated ballast & reflector that you might try as a first grow. It's only $90 & quite handy to keep around. You could cut out an opening in the top of your grow box to mount this & not give up any head room at the end of your grow. 2X2 is stretching its coverage, but heat would be most manageable of any of these options. And you can keep it for making beans later. A man can never have too many lights!!!