How do you mount horizontally without a reflector/hood?

[stihgnobevoli]

high all, i have a small cabinet with a 70w in the middle of the ceiling mounted vertically. next run i want to try it horizontally. i dont have room for a hood/reflector. i just trying to find the best way to mount it horizontally and gain like 4 more inches head room. i want to mount it in the middle sort of like how it is now but horizontally. do they make L shaped sockets for bulbs?

 

[bounty29]

Just mount it the exact same way you mounted it to the ceiling... except on the back wall.

?????

 

[stihgnobevoli]

but then it will have the same effects to the plants in the front as it does to the ones directly underneath it now.

the cone of light it disperses.

bulbs throw their light mainly from the middle and not from the ends. currently (right side) my bulb hanging vertically doesnt throw much light to the plants directly under it and hardly any to the ones on the sides that arent as tall as the bulb. i want to mount it horizontally (left side) so that its in the middle. if i put it on the back wall of the cabinet im going to have the same issues i do now except instead of the plants under the bulb it will be the ones in front od the cab and the ones against the back with the most light going to the ones in the middle. i figure if i can mount it right in the middle as i have it not, but horizontally i should kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

 

[Lava Surfer]

Get a cheap reflector and moundt it in the cealing above the bulp, that way you will have have both reflection and a heat sheald between the cabinet top and bulp. Give it maybe 5-10 mm air space between the reflector and wood, without a refelctore of heat sheild id say you would be in a minor fire hazzard if the bulp is mounted to high.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Horizontally, without a reflector, you're throwing away a ton of light.

But, to answer your guestion, build an "L" out of wood or metal. Attach socket assembly to the base, rotate 90º and attach "upright" to the ceiling.

 

[bounty29]

If the bulb is inches away from the ceiling the ceiling can act as a reflector, especially with a cabinet as small as his. It looks like all the walls are white as well.

If you want to build an L that's going to take space, which you seem to need. I made a reflector out of a little piece of sheet metal with a couple layers of spraypaint.

 

[FreezerBoy]

The L takes up 0" of vertical space. You'll want space between lamp and ceiling but you can't fault the L for that, that's it's function.

While white paint is highly reflective, the cab isn't shaped for light dispersal as is a reflector. Great quantities of light are going to go up and have to fight back through the bulb. Or, off the ceiling, off the wall, off another wall and finally to the grow. Or bounce from side to side without ever reaching the garden at all. With a reflector, any light that hits it goes directly to the garden.

He'd be better off with a reflector or hanging vertically in a coloseum but, he didn't ask about that.

 

[stihgnobevoli]

that L sounds like what im gonna have to do. i had pondered it but i thought maybe someone else had a better idea. ive got the ceiling covered in mylar and most of the inside of the box really. would that be enough or do you suggest a reflector still? the box is much longer than its is wide/deep its like 1 foot deep and 2.5 feet long. would i need a reflector for the entire length or just the immediate area around the bulb? do they make low angle reflectors or can i make one? its like 2feet wide and 2.5 feet tall or so and 11 inches deep. so i need the light to hit the sides too and not just a narrow cone in the middle.

 

[FreezerBoy]

The reason for a reflector is that light doesn't bend (not on it's own with no refraction anyway) Any light that hits the reflector gets bounced directly to the garden. As you've noted, Lamps throw light to the sides. Without a reflector, light projected to the sides will bounce off the wall, back through the lamp, off the far wall, back through the lamp, back off the first wall ... lather, rinse, repeat. This WON'T hurt anything. It simply restricts light to the garden




Something up top, a reflector, an inverted "V" of painted wood, something, to break up the right angles and get the light to the garden with as few bounces as possible. At 70 watts you've no light to spare. Note that placing the lamp "outside" the L, it takes up no vertical space other than required by safety.

Because light goes to the side, if possible, position the length of the lamp perpendicular to the length of the grow for maximum coverage.