lighting for a dr80 grow tent

ukgrower2110

ukgrower2110

Well-Known Member
it says i should use a 250 or 400 watt hid but i want to use a 100 - 150 watt hps, im hoping for max 5 ounces of decent weed per grow. sound reasonable? also how much will it cost to run the light as i cant have my electricty bill going crazy for 18 hours then back to normal for 6.
 
Since no one else replied I'll give an answer a go: you'll probably be more in the ballpark of 1.5 to 3 ounces with a 100-150w HPS - but it's a big ballpark. As far as electricity cost goes and perspective: a small computer power supply and monitor will usually be drawing a lot more than the 150w from a single light and any associated exhaust fans used during a grow. 150w really isn't a big deal to most people.
 
SableZen said:
Since no one else replied I'll give an answer a go: you'll probably be more in the ballpark of 1.5 to 3 ounces with a 100-150w HPS - but it's a big ballpark. As far as electricity cost goes and perspective: a small computer power supply and monitor will usually be drawing a lot more than the 150w from a single light and any associated exhaust fans used during a grow. 150w really isn't a big deal to most people.
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ill prob go 150 or 250, i just wanna do 4 decent plants in coco using basic canna a + b with flowering booster and some superthrive, thing is my landlord hates the amount of electricity and water and gas we use already so i dont wanna add more and more and keep pissing him off. will 4 - 5 ounces be achievabl with a 150 or does it have to be a 250?
 
I would only worry about electricity spikes and knocking on the door if you had huge set ups that drew kw after kw. For perspective sakes..... a small household air conditioning unit can draw as much as 1.5kw/ph. I currently run 7x 250W CFL and nobody cares...the electricity company only cares if you pay your bill!!!!

If you really want a genuine 5 ounces I would go 400W minimum. Everybody thinks they will grow successfully first time round then reality sets in.
 
Not sure it's relevant but i have similar size specs and i have 1x 400w digi and 1x 600w (magnetic ballast), plus a 200w cfl and a 55w (5.0) reptile ubv uva bulb (dimentions of tent-80x80x120). i have x1 two speed 125mm extractor 'Pulling' the air through two cooltubes, i have a 100mm extractor pushing air into the tent, along with a 125mm pc fan pulling in outside air, i have 3 small clip on fans in the tent and a quality fan blowing air across the cooltubes, my temps range between 20C to 26C and the plant tips are around 4 inches from bulb. i can do without my carbon filter but i do use one. growing for almost 10 years(its money that has stopped me from upping from the digi 400 to a 600,=1200w total the tent can handle it!). last single plant i got around 4-5 OZ,...DRY!!(this was coco) but soil grow i gain around 2 OZ per plant. just my 2 cets worth :) i hate summer :(
Peace
 
Yeah if you want to do 4 plants, definitely look for something bigger than 150 watts. Not knocking 150w HPS lights at all (I have one myself) but you'll be parking a 100 or 150w really close to the canopy and you just won't have the light spread to support more than one or two plants of any size at all.

In my opinion, you'll probably be happiest going with the 400w and easily saving well over 400w worth of electricity in small ways around your place by doing any one little thing like just turning off the TV/computer/monitor/stereo/whatever when not being used, switching your household incandescent bulbs to CFLs, or whatever you can think of to do to make up for that extra wattage - shouldn't be hard to do at all.

Also, I noticed you already have some CFLs for growing - you can continue to use those for early vegetation stage and just the HPS for flowering if you really, really want to limit electricity usage.
 
newworldicon said:
I would only worry about electricity spikes and knocking on the door if you had huge set ups that drew kw after kw. For perspective sakes..... a small household air conditioning unit can draw as much as 1.5kw/ph. I currently run 7x 250W CFL and nobody cares...the electricity company only cares if you pay your bill!!!!

If you really want a genuine 5 ounces I would go 400W minimum. Everybody thinks they will grow successfully first time round then reality sets in.
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i just want a decent amount of half decent weed to go with the great weed i already get, about electricity, we have a new 3d tv, a xbox 360 and ps3 in every room(we were just being extravagant) heating running all day and night even though we leave the windows open, 8 showers a day (4 people live here), i have a pc running a 1000 watt psu and a 150 watt speaker system along with 2 2500 x 1600 screens, my roomates have very simmilar set ups aswel, we basicly use tons of electricity that probably already looks like a grow lol our landlord gets pissed off with us constantly and our neighbotrs hate the fact that we smoke weed in the garden day and night, so yeah, tryin to keep this grow on the dl.
 
SableZen said:
Yeah if you want to do 4 plants, definitely look for something bigger than 150 watts. Not knocking 150w HPS lights at all (I have one myself) but you'll be parking a 100 or 150w really close to the canopy and you just won't have the light spread to support more than one or two plants of any size at all.

In my opinion, you'll probably be happiest going with the 400w and easily saving well over 400w worth of electricity in small ways around your place by doing any one little thing like just turning off the TV/computer/monitor/stereo/whatever when not being used, switching your household incandescent bulbs to CFLs, or whatever you can think of to do to make up for that extra wattage - shouldn't be hard to do at all.


Also, I noticed you already have some CFLs for growing - you can continue to use those for early vegetation stage and just the HPS for flowering if you really, really want to limit electricity usage.
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i could try this actually, i already have a 150 watt mh growing a super lemon haze and a roadrunner, i could veg with that then switch to a 250 watt hps for flower, less electricity would be used due to less hours so if my landlord asks we can just say pc upgrades or somethin like that. thank you you have really really helped me out on this one.

p.s og haze is absolutly amazing
 
Hell, I wouldn't hesitate to get a 600w in that case (you'll get the best bang for your buck as far as wattage goes with HPS lamps). I'd just do easy things to start saving electricity to keep the landlord happy and completely out of your business. There are thousands of electronic items people routinely have in their homes that draw more electricity - 600 watts won't suddenly make you appear to be a grower of bud to anyone on the outside. A small space heater on a low setting draws about 600w.
 
I agree, if you want quality buds go with the bigger set up, skimping now will be a regret later, trust me on this, I am in the same boat right now. I too was concerned about electricity and heat signatures etc. so got a bunch of cfl's but now am shopping for 4x600W for my 8"x8" tent. And considering you guys have loads of appliances going whats the difference.
 
i know it wont make me look like a grower, but it will piss off my landlord who is alredy giving us signs he wants us out, i like living here and just wanna grow my own small amount, i think im gonna use my 150 watt mh for veg then switch to a 250 hps for flower, 4 plants in coco as said + the best nutes i can buy and a small radio playing reggea music for when im not with them, a nice carbon filter with 1 or 2 ona gels outside just in case, a clip on fan inside + a extractor and of course some great genetics. how does this sound to get 3 maybe even 4 ounces?
 
Yeah that's doable I think - and if your 250w HPS doesn't *quite* get you there, you could always combine the CFLs or the MH with the 250w HPS during flowering and get there I'm sure.

I'd read up on LST'ing, super-cropping, and/or SCroG'ing and integrate some of that into your grow style to get the most you can from the space/wattage you have.
 
SableZen said:
Yeah that's doable I think - and if your 250w HPS doesn't *quite* get you there, you could always combine the CFLs or the MH with the 250w HPS during flowering and get there I'm sure.

I'd read up on LST'ing, super-cropping, and/or SCroG'ing and integrate some of that into your grow style to get the most you can from the space/wattage you have.
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oh i already know bout all that stuff, i work with a grower who treats me like shit calling me a stupid dealer or stoner monkey so these grows are kinda to show him im not that bad at growing either, gonna do a haze, a sativa dom, a indica dom, a indica, a ver small hybrid(in a small pot in the corner) in a wilma system in coco. when i finish this current grow im gonna get started on the next. how do u think my girl looks at 4 weeks of veg:

shes a super lemon haze

DSC-0402.jpgDSC-0396.jpgDSC-0400.jpgDSC-0398.jpg
 
i also think during veg i may use a 2700k cfl and in flower a 6500k cfl so my girls have both spectrums. my grower does it and his weed is the best of the best.
 
Looking good friend, seeing your plants makes me want to get to growing again. I just got my seeds in the mail (trying AK-48 from Nirvana), a new tent and fans, sparkling new 5-gallon DWC buckets, and a new air-cooled 600w HPS for this fall/winter. But I'm having to wait until Monday before I can get some better air pumps - the last thing I need to get before I can germinate and get it going. Can't wait!
 
in a week from now im gonna start reducing the hours by 1 a day so hopefully friday after next shell begin flowerin, hopin for a half ounce of decent bud, also got a roadruner in the back just hopin for maybe a q off her, sound possible? im using biobloom and hopefully soon bio grow and topmax aswell.
 
I skimmed through what everyone else has said and didn't notice anyone mensioning LED lights.
A 120 watt LED will cost less than £200 ~$314. They are the equivelant of a 400w HID and can last up to 50,000 hours. They cost the same to run as approx. 2 normal house light bulbs. They are also, exaggerated, 1,000,000,000 time cooler.

I read most of that as research, im looking to get one for a DR80 Grow Tent.
 
A DR80 isnt really suitable for 400w unless you have an air cooled reflecter or a cooltube - I used a 400w with a normal reflecter and the temp shot up to 40c(100F) and beyond. Getting a cooltube solved this problem. I guess it would be even worse with a 600w.

If you are going to lower watts though, you will skimping on yield, holding everything else constant.

does your landlord pay the bill? either way you should really stop wasting leccy for a multitude of reasons!
 
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