IM doin an attic grow one side veg the other flower both areas area meter square will the following be sufficient?

veg:
4x125w (blue) + 1x125w(red)

And flowering
4x125w(red)
2x125w(blue)
will that be sufficient for the whole meter2

725w should be enough for 1m2. I would think you'd be much better off with a 600w HPS though. I would certainly not bother with that many enviros for that much space.

Can i ask why you've gone with enviros?

I would agree with Keye here.

Are you under the impression that Enviros are cheaper to run?
A watt is a watt at the end of the day.....and an HPS lamp will; watt for watt, give you more bud.

I would perhaps look at using Enviros/Flos for the veg space.....but definately flower under HPS.

You may have some heat issues in the summer growing in the loft......start looking at big extraction fans, insulating your room, air cooled lighting i.e. cooltubes or similar and somewhere to draw cooler from such as the eaves or a bedroom below.

A 400 over you're veg area would be much better, both in terms of electric saving, cutting down heat and i'd say better growth too.

A 600 for the flowering room, for the same reasons.

I grow in a loft now, something i thought i would never try because of the heat issues, and trust me you don't want extra heat in there, especially when you will get better yields using less light. Hids put out far more lumens compared to the enviros, so you can use less, they will also cover more area because they don't sit right on top of the plant.



Ain't that the truth.

E2A-(the important bit) Go absolutely bonkers with the insulation, i only used 100mm, wish i'd gone thicker.

Yeah - that many Enviros certainly seems to be an inefficient way of lighting that space, not only from the electrical consumption POV, but also coverage. You have to keep those CFL-types of lamps really close to the plants - they haven't much 'punch' for getting light down to the lower parts of the plants - HID lighting would be much better if you're gonna be burning that many Watts anyway.

okay but firstly the reason I feel i have to use enviro is i live in an area with alot of police flying over the top and from what i hear the helicopter cameras can see the heat rising from the 400w hps through the roof.
Secondly i contacted the enviro manufacturers and they saif the 125w only use 77w of power???
help?

You've been lied to - a Watt is a Watt is a Watt - a 125W Enviro uses 125W, same as a 125W HID lamp would.

Also, HID lamps produce more light per Watt than Enviro/CFLs do - so the Enviros will actually heat up your space more than a HID would - it's just that the Enviro/CFLs radiate their heat over a much larger surface area, so that they give the impression that they run cooler - they don't really.

Don't be too worried about the tales of FLIR-equipped copper choppers detecting grows - 95%+ of grows end up busted because of loose lips, smells escaping or vengeful ex-partners/friends etc.

If you're really worried about the heat signature - just get some Kingspan-type reflective insulation boards, and equip your loft with them.

Insulate your loft, that will cut out any heat signitures (although there is still much debate as to whether the IR cameras can see the heat sigs)
Also a 125W enviro will use 125w. It will have the eqivilent to around 400-500w incandscent bulb, but the incandscent bulbs are shite.

scribble the police thing is the only reason not to use a 400w hps so in reak life what are the chances of police seeing this??
and should i go with an air cooled lamp ?

It's only equivalent in the apparent amount of light that our eyes can see.

Lets just say the police chopper was near my place the other day looking for some guy in the woods, i ain't been busted.

YET!!!

Aircooled lamps might be a good idea, but you still need to insulate alot because it's not only heat from the lamp that is a problem in the attic, it's also outside temp. Using normal reflectors gives a much better spread than a cooltube setup, so i wouldn't use it unless absolutely necessary.

I'd more worry about where you're going to vent the plume of hot air that your grow-room will generate which will be an issue whether you're using CoolTubes or not. (and the light-spread from CTs does suck compared to normal reflectors, BTW )

If you vent the hot air from somewhere sane-looking from an IR POV, I think that this will help your GR be as inconspicuous as possible - somewhere like next to an existing central heating air-vent, or a chimney. I really wouldn't be worried about copper choppers being able to look through your roof tiles - they just can't.

Think about the amount of heat that a 3000W electric fire produces, or a 6000W water boiler, or a 10,000W electric shower - the amount of heat that a 400-600W lamp produces is most definitely peanuts compared to those.

u can buy a air cool reflector, and dont have to use a cool tube u can buy sealed ones where u need to enclose the bulb and draw the air accros the bulbs, but u can also buy open ones where the ducting just connects to the reflector and it dusn have glass under it, just sucks the warm air away from the bulb,

i would prob go for one of these types of air cooled hoods, and either get an open 1 or dont fit the glass when u assemble, its not perfect, but u will still get a better spread of light then from a cool tube

You would need to blow through your carbon filter using one of the air cool reflectors (non tube)

Not always possible.

e.g A carbon filter would look dodgy sat on the roof.

Basically insulate your loft real well, find somewhere to expel air like a roof vent/tile and somewhere to bring it in. Mine comes in from downstairs. Insulation is the key!! You shouldn't need to worry about cooltubes as long as you intake from somewhere cool.

I think it would be possible with a glass-fronted air-cooled reflector to have the CF first, with the air being sucked through it, then on through the reflector then ducted away to the fan/exhaust etc., but I really wouldn't implement one of those systems unless you really have to.

Just having a decent PC fan mounted so as it's blowing across the lamp improves things with a standard reflector, I find.

ok cheers guys remember my atic if fairly big so heat wont be two much of an issue i have a carbonnfilter and i could run a large ectractor in the chimney brest just take a few bricks out.

I thihnk that i could veg under the four 125w blue and one 125 w red and flower under a 400w hps and a 125w blue enviro.

if i used the extractor in the the chimney and had two large osiclatings fans on the room and one little one on the plants wouls that be sufficient ????

That's going to be a lot of electricity you're burning there just for vegging - 5x125W=625W bear in mind, and don't forget that 600W HIDs are the most efficient in terms of light per Watt.

babbsta....your attic will be very, very hot during the summer months......believe me, you havn't got any idea until you've experienced summer loft growing.

I grow in the loft and get round summer using a variety of strategies.
Your extraction sounds fine.......but get something that is moving 700cfm or bigger.....I use an 8 inch fan, moving something around 760cfm for 1 (one) 600W HPS.
This is far bigger than would normally be needed for 600W lamp......but over the years I have found that airflow is very important to have any chance of growing up there in the summer......believe me dude, you will be gardening up there in your underpants and still feel overdressed
Insulate your room if you can using Kingspan or similar.
I have an intake fan drawing air from a bedroom cupboard below......cooler air in summer warmer in winter (you'll be adding an oil filled radiator in your room come next winter).


You will need the oscilating fans

your right that is alot of electricity, do you think i would just be better vegging under a 400w MH and using the 400w hps for flowering?

the insulating is that to keep heat out or in????

Im really stuck on what to buy i have the cash but........... just not sure ?

ill post pics as i do it guys so keep watching this thread !!!

I'd veg using an Enviro or maybe two (if you already have them), and if you already have a 400W HPS, then use that for flowering - if you haven't bought any of them yet, then I'd have a serious think about what would ideally suit your GR - and don't forget that 600W HIDs are the most efficient ones.


Both - it will help to keep it warm in winter, and cool in summer.

Yea, insulation is more to help balance things out. It's to keep the massive heat out during the day and stop it plumeting during the night.

Seriously, go HPS. I spent years farting around with enviros.

You will need a big proper fan. A big one. I'd double the size you think you need. You can't get away with ocillating fans and PC fans for extraction, especially in the loft.

I also grow in the loft. I've used 250w and am now on 400w HPS heading into summer. My fan is twice the size and this means i can run it really slow in the winter (hence quieter) and then in the summer, crank it up as needed.