Just a couple question about light coverage

I'm currently running a 600w HPS in a 4x4 grow room with a 19"L x 11"W basic reflector wing.

My question is will this be enough light to spread through the entire room, or do I need to upgrade to something bigger like a 19x19? I am on sort of a budget so the reflector wing is all I can get.

If I can't buy something that will cover the entire area then I will just work with what I got.


Thanks all.

t3hg1nch said:

I'm currently running a 600w HPS in a 4x4 grow room with a 19"L x 11"W basic reflector wing.

My question is will this be enough light to spread through the entire room, or do I need to upgrade to something bigger like a 19x19? I am on sort of a budget so the reflector wing is all I can get.

If I can't buy something that will cover the entire area then I will just work with what I got.


Thanks all.

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600w has the energy do do a 4x4 great and a 5x5 fairly .....footprint

the reflector does help focus the light down and out but no matter the reflector u are not going to have more then a 5x5 footprint

justugh said:

600w has the energy do do a 4x4 great and a 5x5 fairly .....footprint

the reflector does help focus the light down and out but no matter the reflector u are not going to have more then a 5x5 footprint

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So you're saying that the 19x11 reflector is good enough to spread light evenly throughout the 4x4 room?

And what do you mean by footprint? I've never heard that term before.

t3hg1nch said:

So you're saying that the 19x11 reflector is good enough to spread light evenly throughout the 4x4 room?

And what do you mean by footprint? I've never heard that term before.

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the light travels in a Cone shape .......if u move the source of the light higher it gets a larger Footprint (like a flash light close to a wall where the light lands is the footprint ....move it close tiny move it back bigger )

a 600w light with a hood ......assuming air cooled(cooltube design) u are hang it at least 12 to 14 inches off the top of the plant .......at about 5 and half feet u are at the top lvl

this will give u a footprint of 4x4 feet of really good light .....the distance the light travels in and is effective decrease tho ..........HID light u get about 3 feet useable depth into the plant after that it gets fluffy buds
.....u might get 4 on a 1000w (in depth)

Thanks for the quick replies. I think I'm gonna end up going with the bigger hood just to be safe. Bigger the better, right? =p

here are some old charts

they tell u the watt of the bulb ....how high to have it off the top of the plant .....and how much power it has

justugh said:

here are some old charts

they tell u the watt of the bulb ....how high to have it off the top of the plant .....and how much power it has
View attachment 3388357

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Oh, wow. You're awesome. I knew I made the right decision coming here for advice. Thanks again.

t3hg1nch said:

Thanks for the quick replies. I think I'm gonna end up going with the bigger hood just to be safe. Bigger the better, right? =p

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no bigger is not always better

here this is my fav hood
http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-GLRCTAC-Cylinder-Reflector/dp/B003QKVV04
this one is my fav out of all that i tried .........it worked well for purging BHO low and slow

justugh said:

no bigger is not always better

here this is my fav hood
http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-GLRCTAC-Cylinder-Reflector/dp/B003QKVV04
this one is my fav out of all that i tried .........it worked well for purging BHO low and slow

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I'd love to get something like this in the future but the funds just won't allow it at the moment which is why I use a basic wing with 2 oscillating fans.

t3hg1nch said:

I'd love to get something like this in the future but the funds just won't allow it at the moment which is why I use a basic wing with 2 oscillating fans.

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tell the one person u know that smokes and does not talk about here he gets his smoke .........tell him u have a set up but short on funds for 200 bucks u will set a life time price of 300 bucks a oz ........your only job will be to grow some dank ass stuff and offer it to that person they say no part with it else where

i started with 600 my own and 600 of 3 buddies

justugh said:

tell the one person u know that smokes and does not talk about here he gets his smoke .........tell him u have a set up but short on funds for 200 bucks u will set a life time price of 300 bucks a oz ........your only job will be to grow some dank ass stuff and offer it to that person they say no part with it else where

i started with 600 my own and 600 of 3 buddies

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Very good idea. I'll have to look into that tomorrow. Will I need to buy exhaust fans as well with what you linked? Or could I buy an exhaust duct and rig it to a fan?

t3hg1nch said:

Very good idea. I'll have to look into that tomorrow. Will I need to buy exhaust fans as well with what you linked? Or could I buy an exhaust duct and rig it to a fan?

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it called a cool tube .....it moves high amounts of air over the light bulb to keep the temp it makes low ........done right u can hook a carbon filter in the area it removes the smelly hot air ......when it is dumped it only warm air (active carbon filter removes that)

this is a 6 inch ducting line so a 400 cfm or a 240 cfm booster fan are your choices ..........the 400 cfm inline fan will help u keep temps down on warm days ......the 240 cfm is more then enough to remove heat but matching a carbon filter to a 240 cfm rating and 6 inches is almost impossible .....unless u make

as for ducting .........insulted flexie ducting for if u need to keep heat transfer back into air low .......other wise flexie ducting (semi ridged is a bitch to work with)

that hood needs 6 inch ducting

justugh said:

it called a cool tube .....it moves high amounts of air over the light bulb to keep the temp it makes low ........done right u can hook a carbon filter in the area it removes the smelly hot air ......when it is dumped it only warm air (active carbon filter removes that)

this is a 6 inch ducting line so a 400 cfm or a 240 cfm booster fan are your choices ..........the 400 cfm inline fan will help u keep temps down on warm days ......the 240 cfm is more then enough to remove heat but matching a carbon filter to a 240 cfm rating and 6 inches is almost impossible .....unless u make

as for ducting .........insulted flexie ducting for if u need to keep heat transfer back into air low .......other wise flexie ducting (semi ridged is a bitch to work with)

that hood needs 6 inch ducting

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The room I have is in my finished basement is it is relatively cool in the room at all times,, no issues with heat at all. Is the exhaust absolutely necessary if heat isn't an issue?

t3hg1nch said:

The room I have is in my finished basement is it is relatively cool in the room at all times,, no issues with heat at all. Is the exhaust absolutely necessary if heat isn't an issue?

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yes u really should exchange the air every few mins unless u are pumping in Co2 to increase the yeild

u have not run a 600w for long have u ..........HID lamps heat is always a issue .........the air needs to be sucked from the highest point in the area (where the hottest air is) the intake for it should be nice and low to the ground for the cool air and natural Co2 lvls in a house

justugh said:

yes u really should exchange the air every few mins unless u are pumping in Co2 to increase the yeild

u have not run a 600w for long have u ..........HID lamps heat is always a issue .........the air needs to be sucked from the highest point in the area (where the hottest air is) the intake for it should be nice and low to the ground for the cool air and natural Co2 lvls in a house

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Well I have two nice oscillating fans in the room and I open up the door for air exchange 3-4 times through the day so heat really isn't an issue since my basement is generally always cold the heat from the lamp basically heats the room to a nice warm temperature.

And yeah, I'm a newbie like I said in my intro post. Only 5 or so grows under my belt and those were with 400 watt. So any advice is appreciated.

t3hg1nch said:

Well I have two nice oscillating fans in the room and I open up the door for air exchange 3-4 times through the day so heat really isn't an issue since my basement is generally always cold the heat from the lamp basically heats the room to a nice warm temperature.

And yeah, I'm a newbie like I said in my intro post. Only 5 or so grows under my belt and those were with 400 watt. So any advice is appreciated.

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whatz your area ..........what is the size of your grow area not just what is in use the whole area (if it is a room ) if it is a tent tell me a tent and the size

justugh said:

whatz your area ..........what is the size of your grow area not just what is in use the whole area (if it is a room ) if it is a tent tell me a tent and the size

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It is a large walk in closet that I built into something with black plastic that has a length/width of 4ftx4ft and the length from the ceiling to the floor is a little over 6 ft

t3hg1nch said:

It is a large walk in closet that I built into something with black plastic that has a length/width of 4ftx4ft and the length from the ceiling to the floor is a little over 6 ft

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that is 120 sqf

u need atleast a cfm ratting of 70..........this will exchange the used air out for new fresh air u will get better returns
u can use a 4 inch booster fan (go for the metal blade one not the plastic .....metal should be 100 cfms )

see the air in the system has CO2 when the plants use it they convert to OXygen .....if u are not removing that waste product they just sit in

u want air to cycle for the whole area atleast once every 3 mins ..........they do not make anything that slow in fans that use ducting so the 4 inch is cloest ........u want to dump the air outside your cycle (so it is not recycled back in )

justugh said:

see the air in the system has CO2 when the plants use it they convert to OXygen .....if u are not removing that waste product they just sit in

u want air to cycle for the whole area atleast once every 3 mins ..........they do not make anything that slow in fans that use ducting so the 4 inch is cloest ........u want to dump the air outside your cycle (so it is not recycled back in )

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Thanks for all the info, it is greatly appreciated.