One trick i read that i thought might be beneficial to me in my setup, (at least part of the year) would be to move all my ballasts out of the grow room. I don't have heat issues anytime of the year, but during the summer i do run a dedicated AC in my grow room, and figure it would run less if i had a few less heat sources throughout the room,... BUT, wouldn't my homes AC just work all the more if i moved the ballasts to an adjoining room? If i had heat problems in my plant room id do it for sure, but kinda feel like it might be a lot of work for nothing. I thought about moving them into the attic where they truly wouldn't effect my efforts to cool any of my home, but its gotta be 120F up there during the heat of the day, and i'm wondering if the ballasts, 1) could handle that, and 2) would they run less efficiently and make it not worth it?
Optimum Ballast placement?
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smoke and coke
Well-Known Member
you would need to check the manufacturers recommendation as far as the rated ambient temp is best for your ballast. some ballasts can handle that temp and some cant. it may shorten the life of the ballast. may get too hot so make sure you keep everything flamable away from the ballast if you put it up there.
it would be better to just move the ballast to another room and out of the grow room if needed.
it would be better to just move the ballast to another room and out of the grow room if needed.
WaxxyNuggets
Active Member
I personally wouldn't move the ballasts if you have a dedicated A/C and your temps are in check. Putting them in a spot with 120 degree ambient temps would not be the best place for heat producers and little ventilation...my .02
Just looked up the specs for my two 4x55w Workhorse 7 ballast's, max case temp: 158F. They get pretty warm as is, i think i'd be pushing max up in the attic. I've also got one real new 400w hps ballast, with its own fan, whole things kinda just warm to the touch. And, another 400w hps ballast that looks a lot like this: ISB-S62-70w-HPS-Ballast-Ignitor.jpg. Now that one gets hotter then you'd want to ever touch,.. wonder if the big hunk of steal that it is can handle the attic?...
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
It should work if you place your ballasts in a sort of box that gets your tent's deodorized exhaust air. that'll be way cooler than a summer attic, and provide some convective cooling. . cn
Thats a damn good idea,.. i say that because i've already stole that air, haha. I routed it from my carbon filter (a Can33 with a 200CFM marine fan on it), through the 7000BTU AC unit cooling the grow room. Then the air is exhausted into the attic. So although i could put that hunk of steel ballast inline before the AC to get some air, it would only raise the air temp going into the AC and in turn raise its watt draw. I'm pretty sure that's right as I've messed around a lot with a kill-a-watt meter hooked to that AC unit while i was trying to figure out the best way to vent it. If i had a garage i could see moving them all there, every penny counts. But short of having a room i don't ever cool, that also doesn't get too retarded hot, moving them when temps in the grow room are in check is starting to seems pointless.
