Switching from 2 600hps to 2 400 mid flower

[Jonny Lan]

So thinking ahead, I am about to finish a grow with 1 600hps in an 8x4 with 4 plants using half the tent October 4th (finishing my late strains 5 days early due to electrician coming in on the 6th. I Have plants ready to go in at that point and will be adding another light (600) and will be flowering on the 6th after the electrician leaves. my next crop will be done December 9th I will than have plants ready to flower again and will start immediately on that day finishing the next round February 13th and will once again have plants ready to go in again finishing april 18th.

This is where I need your help IC mag! may and june will start to heat up and I've never ran 2 600's before. I run my lights at night and during the fore mentioned growing times I will be bringing fall, winter and spring night time air in to air cool the lights.
How effective will this be? should I switch to two 400's or just run one light? keep in mind I will have to buy 2 400 watt bulbs which will cost me 260.00. I am having an electrician come in which will be giving me an extra 1500 watts of power to my flower room so I can run an ac with the 2 400watt lights but I cant do it for the 2 600's and have enough room for ventilation and all that.

im trying to keep costs down. including my hydro bill.
Would 2 400 plus ac cost more (hydro+newbulbs+ac) or would my yield just going down to a single 600 without ac but half the plants be more effective?

 

[Al Gee]

I used to run 2 1000's and actually found that my space is more productive with 2 6's in there, so you should be stoked stepping up from 400's. Are you cooling your hoods or the whole tent? I'd say if you have air cooled hoods you should be just fine during the summer months. Another thing I hae done to cut some costs is switch to dj short's 11on13off light cycle. Shaves 70 hours of lighting costs each run. Money saved in that 70 hours might just pay for your new gear!

 

[Jonny Lan]

I used to run 2 1000's and actually found that my space is more productive with 2 6's in there, so you should be stoked stepping up from 400's. Are you cooling your hoods or the whole tent? I'd say if you have air cooled hoods you should be just fine during the summer months. Another thing I hae done to cut some costs is switch to dj short's 11on13off light cycle. Shaves 70 hours of lighting costs each run. Money saved in that 70 hours might just pay for your new gear!

Thanks for posting Al Gee. I don't use 400's now, but I am considering it for summer may june when night time temps might not effectively cool my light. I can tell you this, right now im using one 600 and last week I had temps go to 90f with air conditioning. humidity was fucked up over here too and it was rough cause the tent had to stay open a bit and I sleep in the same room I flower in.

 

[coldcanna]

Your going to need an AC no matter what so might as well keep your lights as is, taking into account smaller yields and upfront costs of downgrading I think it'll be cheaper to run your 6s. And the AC will be something that allows you to grow your operation if you want to down the road

 

[Jonny Lan]

Your going to need an AC no matter what so might as well keep your lights as is, taking into account smaller yields and upfront costs of downgrading I think it'll be cheaper to run your 6s. And the AC will be something that allows you to grow your operation if you want to down the road

thanks for the advise cold canna. guess I'm going to need a stronger ac unit.

 

[FunkBomb]

Two 400 watt HPS lamps do not cost $260. You can get them for $8 each:

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/59555/LU0400-85379.html

-Funk

 

[stoned-trout]

backordered...yeehaw

 

[coldcanna]

400w ballasts would be $150-200 each plus bulbs your looking at maybe $400 in gear. Can't really quantify lost yield from smaller bulbs because everyone's setup is diferent, but assuming you get .5gpw your still losing 3-4oz of production (400w = 200 grams and 600w = 300 grams) that's another $800 out the window. So now your looking at $1200 costs to try and save money on AC, prob not worth it

 

[Jonny Lan]

Im gonna need a heavy duty ac. my 5000btu ac couldn't do shit this summer. had temps at 90 with tent closed running light at night 3 times this grow.

 

[Jonny Lan]

gave all ya +1 for helping thanks!