heat output of cfls?

GB4

GB4

I am preparing to make a grow room out of a spare room in my basement for a couple superhots. The room is 760 sq ft and stays between 63-65° year round. From what I understand the ideal temperature should be 70-80°. I am planning on starting out with minimal investment. My local home improvement store has 40w cfls for $7.09 each so I am going to use 6 bulbs until they get bigger, then add more bulbs or invest into a hps or mh light if needed.

Bulb specs- http://www.feit.com/compact-fluorescent/twists/esl40tn-d

Anyway, will these bulbs produce enough heat to bump up the temperature 10 degrees? Should I plan on sectioning off a area? I'm just trying to get a plan before i start spending money
 
hard to say with insulation, fans, etc all affecting the equation.
 
i think for a room that large they might change the temperature by a little (a few degrees like up to 70) maybe, but i'm just guessing my ass off. 
 
760 square feet is a huge inside grow....be prepared for your electric bill to go up....when I have my growrage "lit up" my bill increases at least 100 a month....more like 150 during the extreme grows...I am sure you will have work areas and such won't you?....for me, isolating a few areas would be better...
 
here is a picture of my setup with explanation...this is in my garage thus the term "growrage"....
 
the germinator is built out of plywood, on rollers, temperature controlled by a thermostat with a remote probe that sits in the soil of one of the trays...I use 150 watt halogen bulbs for heat...for plant light, I am using standard 40 watt fluoros (4 per chamber) - since it is used for germination, light is not necessary...just enough light for the little seedlings to grow until the 72 cell tray can be moved to the growbox...(germinator holds 8 72 cell seed starting trays...)
 
the grow box is 4' X 4' and is 6 1/2 feet tall...it has 18 42 Watt CFLs inside (resulting in about 3K lumens/ft2 - minimum for good grow IMO) - I odn't have to worry about heat in this one...matter of fact, I have to use a fan for cooling...but the cooling fan also exercises the stems of the plants making for a very healthy plant...the plants stay in here for a couple of weeks depending on how many plants total I am going to grow...then they go to the grow area
 
the grow area is designed to "slow the growth down"...you don't want to out grow your space before plantout.......when I designed and build this, that's what I used...I will probably seek another style of lighting before years end to get ready for the 2015 season...the grow area is deep enough for a tray to sit in....about 20"...it is 8 feet wide and three tiers...wall is on the back and just a simple white bamboo shade covering the front...it is lit by 36-40 watt standard fluorescent bulbs that mixed between 6500K and 4100K
 
so you see, when I have everything cranked up....I am burning a little over 2.5 kW per hour....about $0.25 per hour and the lights are on 24/7...so 6 bucks a day...you see what I mean?
 
 
 
010109Growrage.jpg
 
Nice setup AJ! My fault. I ment 760 cubic ft ,not square! its rougly 13x9. I have some shelving built for separate areas but they only allow for 2 ft vertical growth.I assume I need more height to take them to fruit inside? I could make a larger 'grow box' to solve any heat concerns I might run into... is there any other added benefit to that? Reflectivity? I planned on painting everything flat white and growing them in the main area but a box is sounding better and better

Here's what I'm working with so far.
IMG_20140807_121805_919-1_zps14b9f6bd.jpg
 
lord yes...a small superhot gets at least 5 feet tall at maturity...I suppose you could keep it pruned back to make it bush...lot's more nodes that way...and instead of painting (which I hate to do), check out your local sports stores and look at the space blankets...they are fairly cheap and work like mylar does as far as reflectivity goes..
 
as far as the heat in that area goes...if you have plants on each shelf and lighting...you should have no issue with cold IMO
 
GB4 said:
Nice setup AJ! My fault. I ment 760 cubic ft ,not square! its rougly 13x9. I have some shelving built for separate areas but they only allow for 2 ft vertical growth.I assume I need more height to take them to fruit inside? I could make a larger 'grow box' to solve any heat concerns I might run into... is there any other added benefit to that? Reflectivity? I planned on painting everything flat white and growing them in the main area but a box is sounding better and better

Here's what I'm working with so far.
Click to expand...
 
oh yeah i agree, those lights should keep it a good temperature in there, no need for growbox. (i thought u meant sq ft earlier lol)
 
2ft vertical will be pretty small yeah, maybe take out one shelf so u can have 4ft. The reflective insulation or mylar or alum foil helps the plant get light from more than just up(reflects under canopy). white paint does that too, so you got a good plan.
 
You might keep them in smaller 3 gallon pots so they stay only a 3 - 5 feet tall.
 
5 feet indoors?! I have much to learn. Outside mine are only 3'... I'll blame it on my short growing season... haha
 
don't get me wrong GB4...it takes a lot of care to bring a chinense, especially a Trinidad variety, to get it to full maturity indoors....most of my problems come from aphids...no matter how hard I try to keep the area clean and my self clean...they always seem to show up...I only use my growbox twice a year...for a few plants I cutback and overwinter and in the spring when I grow my seedlings...
 
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