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Do I need to aircool my sealed hoods?
- Thread starter njayjay
- Start date
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mexilandrace
depends on how hot it gets in the room, but with aircooling you can get the plants closer than you could without it.
DankTreez14
Member
yes, the heat will build up in the enclosed hood even wit the a/c the cold air wont get into the hood the bulb will burn out real quick. thats y they make air cooled hoods if u didnt want 2 cool it u should of got a non air cooled hood
I've run air cooled hoods with out air cooling them. Not my favorite move as light is lost through the opening on the ends without being redirected towards the canopy. Make sure you don't use the glass if not air cooling. Not sure if the glass risks breaking but it's not needed and will only diminish light output. make sure you have enough A/C and I think you'll be fine.
spyvsspy
Member
I'd say definitely aircool them. I ran a 1000 watt HPS in an sealed hood with the glass....(don't know what I was thinking) and after 3 days of 20/4 the bulb was shot to shit. Turns out it got too hot and melted something in the bulb. It was an eye hortilux, and cost me a pretty penny. But you live and you learn I guess.
So IMO, if you don't use the glass you'll be fine, but if you do, aircool them shits
So IMO, if you don't use the glass you'll be fine, but if you do, aircool them shits
I went all air-cooled a few years ago. I really like it because I can place the plants closer and it keeps the heat built up down. But if you got the glass and don't have a inline fan just remove the glass because it will get to hot if you don't. I like to keep everything cool.....I even keep fans blowing on my ballasts. Another good thing with sealed hoods is when you add a inline fan it will keep your bulb cooler and this puposed to make them last longer and be efficient. I'm 100% down with air cooled hoods......I'm glad I made the change
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sparkjumper
Of course air-cooling them is optimum,but its not necessary.As long as you remove the glass and have killer AC and oscillating fans going,you can grow killer erb.Its 1600 watts in a 7 by 7.I run 3 1K non-cooled vertizontals in an 8 by 8.Granted I use co2 so I keep 85 degree temps but you get the picture.Enough AC,remove the glass,and you will be good.A fartfan in the ceiling would help to remove some hot air but I havent doubt it would be necessary
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EvilTwin
Hi NJ,
I do like sparkjumper suggested. Remove the glass. I just have one (good deal on a used one) and didn't want to bother with air cooling. Seems to do fine.
ET
I do like sparkjumper suggested. Remove the glass. I just have one (good deal on a used one) and didn't want to bother with air cooling. Seems to do fine.
ET
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EvilTwin
Wait...so what you're saying is that there aren't any flanges to hook up cooling ducts? You screwed up and ordered the glass and not the flanges? (some reflectors require that you order each little part individually...greedy bastards)
I say remove the glass...
Post a pix or a link to the reflector if you can. The enclosed reflector I'm using is a Sun System and the glass came out by simply removing a strip with two screws.
ET
Yea I take my glass out and use regular fans in early veg when I'm using
1 light......I don't bother with the inline fan. When my plants get bigger and I need to add my other 3 lights this is when I hook up everything air cooled. But you can definatly use them without glass......like I said I like to remove the glass when I'm in early veg and just use a regular fan. I'm using a 1000,600,430,400 watters in a 6 x 6 x 7 and when everything is going it works alot better since I've air cooled everything......but it's not a have to do thing. I also use a exhaust fan in my room in conjunction I also have another fan for air cooling the hoods. I do prefer air cooled but there also other ways if you don't wanna air cool
I'm not sure about reflectors not designed for air flow.......I know the glass from sunlight supply can handle some heat.....but not sure about other types of glass. I wouldn't let it get too hot because it will build up heat inside your reflector......so I don't know if the glass really filters out the heat....it just kinda holds it in and will heat up your reflector and bulbs more than ever. You could probably leave the glass in and just put a good osciallating fan blowing on it should keep it cool enough......as I do this sometimes before I hook up me inline fan
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masterKahn
Depending on how far you keep the lights now a simple inline duct fan or two could increase your yields drastically. Don't under estimate the lumen increase from lights being closer to plants and proper temp and ventilation.
I would air cool them as it's only a few hundred dollars more in ducting and a sweet big fan. How much yield increase can you get by moving the lights closer? That depends on your strain I suppose. Some love the intensity, others do not. I know my strain doesn't love the intense light, so I use parabolic reflectors (they look like umbrellas) to throw the light nice and far.
Your plants will also love the fact that the air is nice and steady. One of the biggest factors in determining end yield is the temperature swing. The more steady your day/night temps are, the less your plant has to adjust it's stomata to photosynthesize.
Oh... brutal.
