# two 250's or one 400?



## Agent420 (Jun 27, 2011)

Just a quick question ladies and gentlemen. Bottomline is I need more light for my space. I need at least a 400watt HPS for my area. I already have a 250 watt HPS. My question is which is going to cause more heat in my room...1 400 watt or 2 250 watt bulbs. I can keep the remote ballasts outside of my grow area. I'm not sure because I haven't had a 400 watter yet, so I'm not sure about the heat they produce, but a 250 watter raises my temps 10 degrees. Any suggestions from growers who have used 250 and 400 watters greatly appreciated.


----------



## Rosebud (Jun 27, 2011)

I don't know if I can help you at all because of the differences in our "rooms" but, I have a 600 and a 400. Unplugging the 400 changes my room by 3 degrees. Unplugging the 600 takes it down 5 or so degrees.  Hopefully the Hemp Goddess and other light knowledgeable people will drop in. Good luck. More light is very cool. I wish i had started with a 600.


----------



## Roddy (Jun 27, 2011)

You'll never regret going bigger, but you may regret and may have to upgrade later if you go small.....


----------



## Agent420 (Jun 27, 2011)

Roddy said:
			
		

> You'll never regret going bigger, but you may regret and may have to upgrade later if you go small.....


 
Thats what I'm trying to avoid. I'd like to not have to upgrade the ventilation. 

also, as a side note when I said the 250 raises my room 10 degrees I meant without the ventilation on, just to clear up any possible confusion.


----------



## Roddy (Jun 27, 2011)

Personally, the lighting is more important than a few degrees change, so I'd go with the 400w and then put the 250w in with it. MHO Of course, not all situations are the same and some cannot handle the extra heat...


----------



## Hushpuppy (Jun 27, 2011)

either way yu go it will raise the heat in the room. To my knowledge yu cant get a 400w HPS. It really comes down close to even between watts and number of units where heat is concerned. If yu had a 400w and compared it to 2 250s they would actually produce a little more as they together are 500w. Yu say yu need more light, are yu needing more lumens for the footprint of yer grow or are yu needing to cover a bigger footprint? If it is more lumens then go with a 600w and vent it. if yer needing a bigger footprint then 2 fixtures, or supplimental lighting such as T5HO with the 3000k bulbs placed around the perimenter of the grow down close to the plants. (that is what I did for my last grow) If yer concerned about generating (or rather dissapating) heat, the T5s are very low heat generators. If yu check around online yu can buy individual T5 bulb n fixture units, or multibulb fixtures.


----------



## Roddy (Jun 27, 2011)

There's 400w HPS out there, own one!

Without knowing room size etc, all I can say is more light rarely hurts but underlit does! If you think you need 400w, you probably will really benefit from 650w. However, if you're set on one or the other, buty the 250 because 500w is better than 400w But...how much more heat can another 150w of light really put out???


----------



## Agent420 (Jun 27, 2011)

Hushpuppy said:
			
		

> either way yu go it will raise the heat in the room. To my knowledge yu cant get a 400w HPS. It really comes down close to even between watts and number of units where heat is concerned. If yu had a 400w and compared it to 2 250s they would actually produce a little more as they together are 500w. Yu say yu need more light, are yu needing more lumens for the footprint of yer grow or are yu needing to cover a bigger footprint? If it is more lumens then go with a 600w and vent it. if yer needing a bigger footprint then 2 fixtures, or supplimental lighting such as T5HO with the 3000k bulbs placed around the perimenter of the grow down close to the plants. (that is what I did for my last grow) If yer concerned about generating (or rather dissapating) heat, the T5s are very low heat generators. If yu check around online yu can buy individual T5 bulb n fixture units, or multibulb fixtures.


 
I'm needing more lumens, but the room is rectangular. I'm not really concerned with the outer edges of the closet though. Looks like I'm going to need more ventilation either way. I was leaning towards the two lights cuz it would be good for the rectangular room, but i could always block off a foot or so if I need to. I am basically just wondering how hot a 400 or 600 gets. I might as well go with 400 or 600 anyway as its going to cost about the same for the light. Thanks everyone.


----------



## Locked (Jun 27, 2011)

First some numbers....

250 HPS=29,000 lumens
400 HPS=50,000 lumens
600 HPS=90,000 lumens


How big a grow space do you have? The 600w gives the most lumens per watt and is the best buy IMHO...if you can't fit that then I guess the 400w wld do.
All depends on your grow space and if you are going to grow bigger in the future I wld get the bigger light. I bought a 400w HPS my first time and after buying a 600w I wish I had never bought the 400...jmo


----------



## Agent420 (Jun 27, 2011)

Roddy said:
			
		

> There's 400w HPS out there, own one!
> 
> buty the 250 because 500w is better than 400w But...how much more heat can another 150w of light really put out???


 
this is what i was thinking initially


----------



## Agent420 (Jun 27, 2011)

Hamster Lewis said:
			
		

> First some numbers....
> 
> 250 HPS=29,000 lumens
> 400 HPS=50,000 lumens
> ...


 
I got approx 10 sq ft. I knew I should have just got the 400 to begin with, but I thought maybe I'd section off a lil, but after setting up it's just too cramped if i section off too much. I'm 57 days into flowering now, and I'll have some smokable product when it's all said and done, but i can tell by the density of my colas I don't want to run 250 watts again


----------



## Roddy (Jun 27, 2011)

Buy the 400 and run both it and the 250w with better ventilation, you cover more of the closet...win/win!


----------



## dman1234 (Jun 27, 2011)

Roddy said:
			
		

> Buy the 400 and run both it and the 250w with better ventilation, you cover more of the closet...win/win!


 
thats what i was thinking.


or go with a 600 and get nugs so hard you will need a nutcracker.


----------



## ozzywhitelufc (Jun 27, 2011)

Nice Tie, Dman.


----------



## Roddy (Jun 27, 2011)

dman1234 said:
			
		

> thats what i was thinking.
> 
> 
> *or go with a 600 and get nugs so hard you will need a nutcker.*


----------



## Locked (Jun 27, 2011)

dman1234 said:
			
		

> thats what i was thinking.
> 
> 
> or go with a 600 and get nugs so hard you will need a nutcracker.




No doubt brosef........600w HPS in a cool tube or air-cooled hood is where it is at.....I just wish I cld talk the wife into letting me get another one.....lol


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Jun 27, 2011)

What are the dimensions of the room?  If it is like 2 x 5, you would be better off with 2 lights rather than 1.  Even a 600w is not going to give you enough light at the ends of the room.

Amazon has a 400w in a cool tube with a digi ballast for under $150.


----------



## Agent420 (Jun 27, 2011)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> What are the dimensions of the room? If it is like 2 x 5, you would be better off with 2 lights rather than 1. Even a 600w is not going to give you enough light at the ends of the room.
> 
> Amazon has a 400w in a cool tube with a digi ballast for under $150.


i'll post the actual dimensions at 12. I'm in lights out right now. two lights would be best imo, just trying to dial things in for the next grow.


----------



## Hushpuppy (Jun 27, 2011)

Roddy said:
			
		

> There's 400w HPS out there, own one!
> 
> Without knowing room size etc, all I can say is more light rarely hurts but underlit does! If you think you need 400w, you probably will really benefit from 650w. However, if you're set on one or the other, buty the 250 because 500w is better than 400w But...how much more heat can another 150w of light really put out???



Yeah, my bad.  I thought there wasn't a 400HPS, Its the 600MH that I couldn't find, but I think they have them now too.


----------



## Agent420 (Jun 28, 2011)

the dimensions are 5 x 2 roughly. a little more but not enough to make a diffrance. two lights should be better yes? i'm thinking a 400 watt and the 250 watt


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Jun 28, 2011)

Agent420 said:
			
		

> the dimensions are 5 x 2 roughly. a little more but not enough to make a diffrance. two lights should be better yes? i'm thinking a 400 watt and the 250 watt



Yeah, adding a 400w to the 250w should be great.  I run 2 600w in a 3 x 6.5 space--I used to have a 1000w in there, but even that did not give good light to the ends of the closet.


----------



## prefersativa (Jun 28, 2011)

Regarding heat: 1kw equals approx. 3450 btu's per hour. You can do the math from there.


----------



## Roddy (Jun 28, 2011)

Wanna bet??


----------

