Light Heat Exhaust

20 years ago

I was wondering home many people use a ventilation system for their HID lights? I just got a light recently and it came with a squirrel cage fan. I was wondering weather to mount the fan so it sucks heat from the light or blows cooler air onto the light. Also does anyone know a good way to mount a squirrel cage fan, like hang it form the ceiling?

Thanks-Curtis

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Comments (6)

username_5
20 years ago
the fans are generally used when growing marijuana in a confined space. If you aren't doing that what do you require a powerful fan like that for? anyway the type of fan you are refering to is meant to suck air from the light. Your light should have a glass plate in the hood to sort of seal it. There should be an inlet and outlet in the hood for airflow. You attach the fan to the hood with ducting.
shrubs_n_bulbs
20 years ago
An indoor HID setup will usually need some form of forced ventilation. A 1000W bulb puts out as much heat as a small electric heater. Run that for 12-14 hours a day and you'll probably need to vent some heat.

The light itself doesn't need the cooling, it is the plants that need cooling. Decide where the room is to be vented and place the fan there. If you have a very large room that will not be overheated by the lights (eg. nice way to keep your basement warm) then you probably don't need such a big fan, just a small one that will keep the air moving around the plants.
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utsharpie
20 years ago
you dont have to be growing marijuana to require an exhaust fan for a HID light. squirrel cage fans are best used when they suck air from the reflector hood and then blow the exhaust out the other end of the fan to another area. and yes, hanging it from the ceiling is a good way to hang it. use dryer ducting as your "hoses" to connect the fan to the reflector.
deadhamster
20 years ago
I vented mine right into my terrarium. It keeps it nice and warm for my snakes. Take a look at the 4th pic if you want to see what I did. My fan is a 120VAC 4" fan from radio shack. The duct is just 4" dryer duct from home depot.

http://img103.exs.cx/gal.php?g=img03068yv.jpg

-DH
Joe
20 years ago
WOW! that is some setup Hamster! I am intrigued. How much heat does it put in there?
deadhamster
20 years ago
Not nearly enough. lol. I have a 400 watt arriving today to replace the 250 watt. It's cold here now, and that room is not heated. I'd say that bulb is keeping the upper sections of the tank about 10 degrees above ambient, and doing nothing for the ground level. If it were exhausting into open air instead of the tank, the heat would go completely unnoticed.

-DH