CFL bulb heat problem

Hi everyone,
I'm about to start my first grow and have just finished building a small grow box which is now in my attic.

Whilst testing it out last night, I noticed that the bulbs and bulb sockets became very hot. I have two bulb sockets in the box, each one with a Y splitter with two 30w CFL bulbs attached. Is it usual for them to get this hot?

Also I have a 4" fan attached to the box and the inside of the box has a layer of reflective thermal sheeting.

Any help will be very much appreciated!

Thanks.

LeonSmith20 said:

Hi everyone,
I'm about to start my first grow and have just finished building a small grow box which is now in my attic.

Whilst testing it out last night, I noticed that the bulbs and bulb sockets became very hot. I have two bulb sockets in the box, each one with a Y splitter with two 30w CFL bulbs attached. Is it usual for them to get this hot?

Also I have a 4" fan attached to the box and the inside of the box has a layer of reflective thermal sheeting.

Any help will be very much appreciated!

Thanks.

Click to expand...

I use cfls in my grow area aswell though mine is in an open area. Usually the glass of the cfl stays cooler than other light bulbs but the plastic around the bottom of the bulb is normal to get hot. Just make sure you have the right distance away from your plant to avoid light burn. Good luck with your grow

LeonSmith20 said:

Hi everyone,
I'm about to start my first grow and have just finished building a small grow box which is now in my attic.

Whilst testing it out last night, I noticed that the bulbs and bulb sockets became very hot. I have two bulb sockets in the box, each one with a Y splitter with two 30w CFL bulbs attached. Is it usual for them to get this hot?

Also I have a 4" fan attached to the box and the inside of the box has a layer of reflective thermal sheeting.

Any help will be very much appreciated!

Thanks.

Click to expand...

the reflective thermal brings the heat up did for me .I go all white you need a better ventilation set up .It doesn't take much few desk fans will do if you place them properly in your box .Next get a stand up fan that's set on rotation facing a open door all day will make a giant difference in temps .I did that work for me

LeonSmith20 said:

Hi everyone,
I'm about to start my first grow and have just finished building a small grow box which is now in my attic.

Whilst testing it out last night, I noticed that the bulbs and bulb sockets became very hot. I have two bulb sockets in the box, each one with a Y splitter with two 30w CFL bulbs attached. Is it usual for them to get this hot?

Also I have a 4" fan attached to the box and the inside of the box has a layer of reflective thermal sheeting.

Any help will be very much appreciated!

Thanks.

Click to expand...

hate to do this to u man but CFLs and Attics in summer it is not even worth it u will be spending more money to control the heat then the returns will justify ........simpler to buy black market save u money

see it is the attic .....it is a giant heat well for the house ....all the heat from the house goes up and the black shingles trap the solar radiation and transfer it to the attic (roofs should be white to reflect sun away not absorb it never understood that)

as for CFL bulbs for growing they are a trap ........each light is about 165f to 175f even with wind blowing over them (the gas inside is excited with electrical power making it glow given off the light but also heat) now as the plant gets bigger because they are cfls they only give about 12 inches of growable light (the light actually has the power to make the plant do something not just light up the room to see) so u will need to add more in as the plant goes into flowering to get dense good buds off it .....this increases the heat


i started with CFLs in a half sunken basement in a place with central air .........the heat from the lights we to much a AC had to be added to keep the temp under 80F during flowering and the intake air temp was around 68 ....that was in a 4x4x6 tent with 18 cfls for 4 plants in 3 gallon planters 240 cfm exhaust (in a 90 cfm area)


your place to grow just will not work unless u are in a area with a cooler climate like 50s 40s outside year round .....and the lights themself will just cause more issues ontop of that
if u are set on your place to grow u are going to need to invest in some stuff
1 led lights
2 portable AC
3 a shit load of 2 inch foam board ........u build your area out of that to keep the coolness in from the portable ac and the hotness of the day from getting in

Thanks for all the reply guys, they have been very helpful.

I'm on bit of a budget with this grow, just so I gain a bit of basic experience growing. I'm thinking of spending more on the box in the future. And the attic is the only discreet place I can grow.

I'm not sure if this is any help but I'm only growing one plant and it's at night which is quite cool where I am. Also the temperature in the box last night was at 30c.

Would replacing the thermal reflective sheeting with white paint and also boarding the the outside of the box with foam board help? I've also got a small circulation fan to fit inside too.

LeonSmith20 said:

Thanks for all the reply guys, they have been very helpful.

I'm on bit of a budget with this grow, just so I gain a bit of basic experience growing. I'm thinking of spending more on the box in the future. And the attic is the only discreet place I can grow.

I'm not sure if this is any help but I'm only growing one plant and it's at night which is quite cool where I am. Also the temperature in the box last night was at 30c.

Would replacing the thermal reflective sheeting with white paint and also boarding the the outside of the box with foam board help? I've also got a small circulation fan to fit inside too.

Click to expand...

IR blocker will work the best for the outside of the box.......it will reflect 98% of the heat but it also means it would retain/capture 98% of the hear made by the light and keep building up in your area
paint it white on the inside to reflect the light off the walls

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FGFW0XO/ref=twister_B00KC6LQG4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
they have 180w got like 70 bucks get that the light will last u 4 years on 20/4 timing ........it will lower the heat by alot and give u a good plant (later if u want to go a bigger area u can use it as a filler light for sections with lower par/lumens

ok the heat ........your going to needs insulted ducting and some booster fans
somewhere that has cool air like a closet u need to have ducting sucking up cool air ...and dumping it into your grow area then a 2nd fan up top of your area sucking out the hot air

this will cool the plant and increase the yield as u will be adding Co2 into the room

Okay, so I should get rid of the thermal reflective sheeting from the inside?

Okay cool, with the led light do they just plug straight into a socket and will it have a higher use of electricity than the CFLs?

Thank you for all the advice by the way!

The bulbs get hot, but as long as there is about an inch gap, no harm