Increasing exhaust or replacing ballast for keeping temperatures down

[ridgelind]

Hi Guys,

I just completed my first grow in a basement room and I am about to start the second one.

All was fine and well, but there was one issue i constantly struggled with - Heat.

My daytime temps (lights on) were 32-33 degrees Celcius. Night time were about 26 or 27 degrees. I think that because of this the bud was very airy.

I grew ICE by Female Seeds which is an Indica, but i think it suffered from the heat nonetheless. Lots of bud very fluffy though I would go apeshit when i was trimming it.

Grow was a scrog setup.

The room is about 1.5mx1.6mx1m which makes it about 2.4 cubic meters.

i was using a 400W lamp (Adjust a wind defender) with a traditional magnetic ballast (yeah it also gives of major heat, i know). Unfortunately i don't have the possibility to keep my ballast outside the room.

Theh fan i used was a two speed 220-280 m3/h and the filter was a 240/280 carbon filter.

I'm not worried about low temps because i have a small 1000W electric heater (the kind with oil inside) which i can program to trun on if temps drop below a certain point.

I'm thinking of upgrading to a 280-380 m3/h fan so that it will exhaust more air and heat. Is this a good way to go about it?

Alternatively, i could buy an electronic ballast, as the cost for the ballast will be similar the cost of the fan. Overall it may be cheaper because i dont need a new carbon filter.

But how much heat savings can i have with a different ballast vs a more powerful fan?

Looking for your wisdom,

Cheers

 

[ridgelind]

No takers?

OK maybe lets ask differently - how much more heat does a Magnetic ballast produce over a digital one? Is it a difference of 1-2 degrees C?

Cheers

 

[Dropped Cat]

Is your intake twice the area of the exhaust, I wonder.

Also, what was your average humidity level during the grow.

Electronic ballast will throw heat, but less than the magnetic.

 

[ridgelind]

Is your intake twice the area of the exhaust, I wonder.

Also, what was your average humidity level during the grow.

Electronic ballast will throw heat, but less than the magnetic.

Intake area is roughlythe same, but i have a fan installed on it blowing air in at 150 m3/h

Well, humidity was pretty high as well - not much i could do about it since it was from the plant itself. Had ok humidity levels before she exploded with leaves everywhere.

 

[Phaeton]

I have used magnetic ballasts (line frequency 60 Hz), low frequency digital (77 Hz), high frequency digital (40,000 Hz), and ultra high frequency digital (80,000 Hz).
The heat at the ballast itself seems to follow the frequency, the magnetic 60 hertz runs the hottest and the ultra high 80,000 hertz runs the coolest. The difference is not huge and it may be that the finned heat sinks on the high and ultra high units just make them feel cooler to my hand.
The two low frequency ballasts are more of a side by side, both are housed in smooth white enameled metal. The magnetic runs hotter even though the housing is thick heat carrying aluminum while the digital has a less conductive steel housing.
Exact numbers were never obtained but the transformer itself in the magnetic ballasts causes most of the heat. Digital voltage controls do not involve rapid reversing magnetic fields in large blocks of steel.
The ballasts are in a separate room and all put out a whole lot less heat than the bulbs do.

 

[ridgelind]

Well i went ahead and bought a electronic ballast which will allow me to change the power outuput - 100, 250 400 and super 400. So i guess i will see how it works - since my grow space is so small i might downgrade to a 250 bulb if heat becomes a problem.

I was thinking of getting a proper ballast anyway and i can risk obe more grow with heat issues. I guess practice makes perfect ☺

 

[Andyo]

max height of room

max height of room

The taller the room the better the heat rises and collects
The exhaust fan sucking at max height is most efficient.A

 

[MrBungle]

Make sure the ballast will operate the 250 watt bulb.... a lot of those digital ones will only take the largest wattage bulb, and dim that