Air cooling or Water Cooling for my light?

LRGenius420

LRGenius420

Member
Anybody have good pros and cons? and how does the water cooling adapter work? I believe it is called the ice box? and you wrap your hood with a cover as well?:eyesmoke:
Help is much appreciated
 
Damios

Damios

Well-Known Member
Air Cooled Inline Hoods



Pros:
  • Gets the temperature of your lights down a great deal
  • Can use one fan to cool multiple lights when they are inline with the same ducting
  • Can move your lights 1.5 to 2 times closer than you normally could
  • No worrying about water leaks when compared to water cooling
  • If you make it closed circuit (intaking air from outside the room, as well as exhausting to outside the room) you can bring down the temps in your room without having had the air going through the lights ever touch the air in your room as well not having to take air out of the room by sending it through your lights (all of which is essential when using Co2 if you want to get the most out of it)

Cons:
  • The fan/fans used for the cooling can be loud
  • The fact the fan has to run the entire time your lights are on adds a decent amount to the electricity bill if it is 400cfm+
  • The air from a closed circuit can sometimes leak, spewing hot air into your room
  • The air that comes out the other end is obviously hot so you have to find a good place to exhaust to
  • To make it as good as possible, you should use insulated ducting...which is a bitch and hazardous to set up because of the fiberglass


Water Cooled Hoods




Pros:
  • Keeps your light way cooler than air cooling if you can keep the water cold
  • You can mover your light 2-2.5 times closer than normal
  • No fans and no ducting (although there are lights than you can air cool and water cool at the same time, which is the best but kinda overkill for anything under 1000watters)
  • Cheaper on your electric bill (unless you are using a water chiller than it will end up being way more expensive)
  • Quiet as hell compared to air cooling

Cons:
  • You have to worry about leaks if you don't set it up well
  • If you can't keep your water cold it defeats the purpose
  • You have to have a rez just for the water going through your light (the higher the watts, the bigger the rez you will essentially need)



Overall, water cooling seems like the best bet if you can make it work and keep your water cold. Air cooling tends to require more big shit that you need to set up (ducting, fans, smooth metal ducting bends if you want to do it the best) where as water cooling is just some hoses that are pretty small, a rez, and a water pump
 
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