Will a 600W HPS grow light be too hot for my 32"x32"x63" grow tent?

I currently have a 32" x 32" x 63" grow tent in my basement with 276W of CFLs. I am planning on growing 3 plants in 4.5 gallon pots and I don't think the CFLs are enough to grow what I'm looking for. I'm trying to decide on whether I should add the 400W or 600W MH/HPS grow light to my setup. The thing is, I'm not sure if the temps will be a problem.

The basement is pretty cool, even in the summer. Inside the tent with no lights or fans the temperature is about 62 - 68°F with a high humidity at around 80 - 85%.

When I turn all of the CFLs on, as well as my two intake fans & one exhaust fan, the temperature sits around 72°F with humidity around 65 - 72%.

for the 600, a cool tube and a 6" inline fan(always add a speed controller to the fan) should keep you good temp wise. ditch the cfls with the 600.

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definitely will need what rkymtnman suggested to control temps. HPS in an enclosure that size will heat things up (I grew 11 plants in a bedroom closet with a 400 W HPS lamp and had several fans running, and still ran a bit warm for the grow)

I'm using a tent with the exact same dimensions lol. I have a 400 watt hps in a cool tube and it's averaging in the high 80's. I think it's at about 89 right now. The 600 watt might be a little hot unless you've got a good fan hooked up to it. If you're able to run it with the passive vent flaps open, that will help out a lot too. Oh yeah almost forgot, Be sure and look at how long the cool tube is with vents hooked up, I had to fit mine in at an angle since it was longer than 32"

Solemhypnotic said:

I'm using a tent with the exact same dimensions lol. I have a 400 watt hps in a cool tube and it's averaging in the high 80's. I think it's at about 89 right now. The 600 watt might be a little hot unless you've got a good fan hooked up to it. If you're able to run it with the passive vent flaps open, that will help out a lot too. Oh yeah almost forgot, Be sure and look at how long the cool tube is with vents hooked up, I had to fit mine in at an angle since it was longer than 32"

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Well I'm very happy to say that I went with the 600W MH/HPS. I got the air cooled hood instead of the cool tube though so my light can be closer to the plants wthout issues. I also added a 6" 440CFM exhaust fan at the top of the tent pulling hot air out from the hood/tent.

I tried out a bagseed to see how the setup will do and it's looking pretty good so far. It's day 8 since I planted the seed and temps sit around 80°F with the humidity around 50 - 60%. That's with the hood 2 feet away from my plant running at the full 600W. I also have a fan blowing air in from the bottom open flap and as well as a fan inside the tent.

That's awesome. I really wish I'd gone with the air cooled hood and a more powerful fan. I've finally got my temps down at least lol

SurelyAcid said:

Well I'm very happy to say that I went with the 600W MH/HPS. I got the air cooled hood instead of the cool tube though so my light can be closer to the plants wthout issues. I also added a 6" 440CFM exhaust fan at the top of the tent pulling hot air out from the hood/tent.

I tried out a bagseed to see how the setup will do and it's looking pretty good so far. It's day 8 since I planted the seed and temps sit around 80°F with the humidity around 50 - 60%. That's with the hood 2 feet away from my plant running at the full 600W. I also have a fan blowing air in from the bottom open flap and as well as a fan inside the tent.

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Nice! Now, let's see what's she'll do!