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Looking at this HTG HPS light but a question about bulbs

J

JesterJoker

I'm looking at this light.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/High-Presssure-Sodium-GROW-LIGHT-400-250-150-watt-w-/400192553185?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item9bff7a4a0d

its a standard HTG HPS setup.

It offers 150-400watt but is the ballast locked down for that bulb or can i put a larger bulb in it later usually?

because I can get the 150 watt for a lot less $$ and just get a bulb later unless the unit is different not just the bulb
 
The ballast is locked down for the bulb I assume, reading the item description. I don't know much about HID grow lights except that they're really bright so you might want a second opinion too
 
what ever wattage you choose, the ballast as well as the bulb should match. if you are asking if that ballast can fire all those bulbs, the answer is no.
if you want something more flexible, look into a digital ballast. dimming on a digital ballast can be pretty sketchy tho.
 
Yes looking at their site you choose which wattage you want for the price. SO be sure which one you want before ordering. I do not know a lot on HID lights but this ones hood does not have a fan port for cooling.This may be a problem and can cook the plants if they are to close too.
 
I decided to go with LED this year.... Times are tough and I dont want to jump my electricity bill that much. as stated above... WATCH the temps! That light will put off a TON of heat! Their predictions on the power usage was on a 12 hour cycle too... (I run my lights on an 18 hour cycle). They get expensive!
 
how large is the space in which you are going to use it? (height matters too) that will be the main factor dictating size. ballasts will be size specific on bulbs.

are you going to use it for both vegetation and flowering? (if so you may want to consider a switchable ballast that will take both metal halide (better for vegetating) and high pressure sodium (better for flowering)?

does appear to be a good price on that fixture.
 
My basement ceiling is 7 feet tall

my plants after adding the hydro buckets are 26" tall or so. I have read to keep these optimally 18" above the plants? so I would just need some adjustable risers on there to zip the light up or down.


I figured that gave me enough room to try to have it cover the full 4'x4' area that it says it will cover, and I would just put my buckets on a small level or something or on top of the basement floor to keep the water in the buckets temperature lowered because of the extra heat coming off these.

I'm using fluorescent lighting now for veg cycle, they seem to work great, I have a couple T8 4' ballasts next to each other so 4 T8's cranking some light, its pretty bright.

My big plants have dropped flowers at least twice if not 3 times, I think its lack of heat/lumens.

Also my basement is getting chilly because its winter, so I was thinking of building a grow tent or buying one eventually, when my operation gets larger.


I would hope that the heat output from this would radiate through my floor and heat my living room, and justify the extra costs? since I would not be heating my livingroom as much with expensive oil?

I will be seeing negative 10-20 degree days coming up when our harsh winters hit.

Maine sucks.. LOL, but at least hopefully I will have hot peppers in winter.
 
you can go a good bit closer than 18 inches with the smaller wattages- 18 is about right for the 400. any of them should be ok for 4x4 and 7 feet will be plenty of headspace as well.

while they do get somewhat hot, i wouldn't expect anything more than a marginal gain in upstairs heat from any of them.
 
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