growbox help

[moonshoes]

I want to grow at some point in the distant future. I had this idea for a growbox. instead of using a few high powered cfls, would it be possible to power it off shitloads of 13 watt cfls wired parallel? The reason I ask is because they are U shaped instead of spirally shaped and I was thinking it will stay cooler better that way. Also, they only cost $1.25 each. Here is a blue print of my idea, constructive criticism welcome.

 

[Pipedream]

Yes, it is possible and there are other "micro growers" already doing it. However, most find it easier to just go with a few larger bulbs. It reduces the wiring, is easier to maintain, and cost about the same. Besides, the heat build-up is directly related to the amount of watts utilized. Using (4) 10 watt bulbs or (1) 40 will be about the same. Either way, you'll still need good ventilation and not just a fan blowing the inside air around.

 

[Guest]

get a 150 wat hps from www.e-conolight.com ....do your micro grow with this...you will be a happy camper

 

[moonshoes]

The more I think about it the more wiring all that together seems like a recipe for disaster. Maybe I'll go with an hps.
the only 150 watt hps I could find there was $90 and too big and bluky. I guess I could take it apart but is there anything on that site that is ready to go for growing and possible a little cheaper?

 

[Guest]

I use CFL's - so I can give you some input on this.

Don't use those little 13 watters. They are great for lighting small rooms, but for the grow, they aren't enough. The 26 watters will give you more light and you won't have a heat issue with them. I keep mine an inch from the plant.

However, I found them awesome for vegging, but they are very weak for flowering. I use about two per plant and have 360 reflection - it's bright, but not bright enough. The yield is very small. I have to grow three times the amount of plants to get what I want - I smoke about an ounce, ounce and half a month.

I found placing the fan in the upper corner instead of the lower corner to do a much better job in circulating air and strengthing the stems.

I've been doing cfl growing (veg and flower) for a few years now and it's just not as efficient as I thought. In fact. Last night I got 60% of my new cabinet built last night as I have a 400w HPS coming via UPS in a few days.

As far as energy savings. I presently flower with 11 26 watt (100 watt equiv) daylight (6500k) CFL's which use 286 watts of electricity. So changing to a 400w is only 114 more watts - no real jump in electricity use, about like screwing in a 100 watt light bulb somewhere in the home. I use CFL's throughout the house (even outside lights), so my bill is low anyways.

My new setup (hopefully complete by next weekend) will consist of five 26 watt daylight cfl's and one 20watt for vegging (four 26w on two vegging plants, one 26w on a couple clones planted in cups, and one 20w on the bubble cloner) and 1 400w HPS for flowering. A total of 600 watts in use for 12 hours / 200watts for the other 12 hours when the HPS on a timer shuts off.

All in all, if you don't smoke much - then CFL's are fine. But if you like to get baked a lot like I do and don't want to have to grow a bunch of plants - keep it micro, then HPS using scrog or LST.

 

[Guest]

$38.99 at the link i gave you.... www.e-conolight.com ....you take it apart seperate the miny hood from the case and your set

http://www.e-conolight.com/Product/EProductDetail.asp?ProductFamilyID=3&FGNumber=E-HC1H151Z

 

[moonshoes]

thanks for the responses everyone. I clicked on the second link but it just takes me to the econolight mainpage, not sure if you are talking about ballast kits or Flood and Area or what. Anyway, these products are made in china, not wild about that. I have plenty of time untill I actually start growing so I'm just going to shop around and compare prices of buying an hps lamp versus a lot of cfls and plug in sockets and cords, etc. Again, thanks for all the advice.