Our first indoor system

So we got tired of wrestling around with all those CFL's and decided to go for an actual Lighting system for a change. We just ordered an ipower 400w system which came with 2 bulbs (hps/mh), a timer, ballast, and mounting hooks. Never used anything bigger than a 250w hps before. How close can I put it to my plants without burning them? The grow space is a 3 x 3 section of my closet covered in emergency blanket and white drop cloth on the floor. How much will my electrical bill go up if i run it 12 hrs a day? Thanks in advance for your replies

I have the same ballast and bulbs and I try to keep it about a foot away

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depends on temps of your room and how ventilated it is.

did you get a gullwing hood or cooltube/airhood?

Like im running my tent in my basement which is cool now due to winter here and i dont even need the tube hooked up and my light is about 8" away. I alway do the hand test. if you can keep your hand there then your plants should be okay. I have a fan blowing across the air between light and plants as well which helps along with a carbon scrubber and inline.

400w = 20-30$ a month to run, just the light. depends how much per kw/h your electricity is.

Thanks for the replies guys / It's an 18" Gull- Wing reflector, and my space is about a square meter (3x3') and it 5' tall. During the winter, it stays cool up there so I'm hoping to get away using no extra ventilation (or maybe a very small fan). Trying to keep all costs down as much as possible. Probably going to run the Lamp on 1/2 power (200w) for the 1-st couple of weeks and use the metal halide bulb. Soon as I see pistils I will change over to my Super HPS bulb and start feeding them earth juice Bloom I recently picked up. Will update periodically -

i use a 6" clip on fan from walmart on the open end of the gull-wing reflector. the fan is blowing on the light and the exhaust port is right at the other end of the bulb to quickly xhaust as much heat as possible. able to get about 8 inches from the bulb with this method. otherwise 12-14 inches would be my recommendation

BeastGrow said:

i use a 6" clip on fan from walmart on the open end of the gull-wing reflector. the fan is blowing on the light and the exhaust port is right at the other end of the bulb to quickly xhaust as much heat as possible. able to get about 8 inches from the bulb with this method. otherwise 12-14 inches would be my recommendation

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Thanks bro, I like that idea. Will probably get that clip-on fan for my set-up also

Run that bitch at full power. Uses less energy then most TVs and shit. Maybe 20$ a month to run fans and shit for 12hrs. Depends your cost of electricity. As far as how close I would go anything past 10" on bare bulb. Just keep air constantly moving...

Also make sure you don't forget a carbon scrubber!!

LoL giggles, Well they need to come out of their tiny box Asap- The HID should arrive in 2 days so hopefully I can have shit set-up by then. Have 6 established plants + 2 new seedlings (sleestack skunk freebies). Anyway, been feeding fish emulsion for 14 days now and they are starting to Explode in growth. The lamp should arrive just in time to save the day Included are 2 bulbs (MH/Super HPS). I am thinking of going with the MH until I see pistils, then I will switch to HPS bulb and use some Earth Juice - Bloom formula. Here are the girls today, in the germination box, under a 65w CFL. Need to transplant most of them sooner than later :

Ok.. for some reason I can't upload the pic / will try another time -

You can run a 400 close to your canopy.



My canopy is a tad closer than planned, but it works. Make sure to have a fan blowing at the light.

Topped at the 4th node, my girls are about to overgrow the germination box. The 65w CFL will keep them happy for the next 3-4 days until our HID lamp arrives. Starting 4 more seeds today- (Afghani & Hindu Kush), for a total of 12 plants (6 feminized).

Bud Tipps said:

You can run a 400 close to your canopy.

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My canopy is a tad closer than planned, but it works. Make sure to have a fan blowing at the light.

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Wow, I can't believe your bud isn't getting burned being so close to that lamp. Kudos to your grow

indicat33 said:

Wow, I can't believe your bud isn't getting burned being so close to that lamp. Kudos to your grow

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Thanks, it is running a bit close.

Your plants are looking healthy, is that a warm spectrum cfl bulb you have them under? It looks like it from the pics.

I keep the 600w Mh bulb pretty close but when I switch to hps I have to raise it to keep my canopy Temps from getting too high. It's a bare bulb with no tube so i give it a good 16 inches+ from the top of the canopy in the 3x3 tent... I've only seen like a $10-20 dollar a month change in the bill running it 24/7

These are about 10" from the bare 600w MH with no signs of heat stress but the surrounding room is pretty cold so my temps are around the high 70s with Mh running and low 80s with the hps

I'm surprised you don't need better ventilation than just a clip on fan for the 400w lamp. I'm using a 600 and need my 6" inline fan on full blast with 2x fans blowing around. Seriously, get a carbon scrubber and inline fan if you have heat issues.

Bud Tipps said:

Thanks, it is running a bit close.

Your plants are looking healthy, is that a warm spectrum cfl bulb you have them under? It looks like it from the pics.

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Thanks bro, yeah that's a 65w 2700K CFL in there. Ideally, I would prefer a spectrum better for vegging, but I'm working with what I have. Should get my 400w system tomorrow (hopefully)

S13hitman said:

I'm surprised you don't need better ventilation than just a clip on fan for the 400w lamp. I'm using a 600 and need my 6" inline fan on full blast with 2x fans blowing around. Seriously, get a carbon scrubber and inline fan if you have heat issues.

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the clip on fan blowing across the bulb in to the exhaust (which is about 140 CFM fan) and through a carbon scrubber

Our 400w system has arrived ! ~ Just transplanted, vegging under the MH bulb. I pointed the ballast towards the plants and the fan blows on them, creating a subtle breeze.

The girls, a couple of days ago. They have grown since, but you get the idea. Switched over to HPS bulb 3 days ago. The tallest shoots are showing pistils already.

With a cool tube you could have it preatty close id say about 6inches.