Heat problems - is a dimmable ballast the solution...?

Using 400w hps in cooltubes in a v low space, already doing all i can to reduce the height, the lights are as high as they can be, so its topping, training, v. short plants, just 1 foot tall.

But even with the cooltubes, heat is a big problem, and the light and heat intensity at the tops of the plants sometimes causes bleaching and even burning. fans are on full blast, in the winter its not a problem, but now that summer is approaching....

So, I thought of maybe using dimmable ballasts. Its time to change to electronic ones anyway, and if I got a dimmable 250 -400, I could use the 250 setting early on and then much later when the tops get too close.

The 2 400watts are over a 0.5m x 2m area, not ideal at all, and not the best use of all that light, maybe the 2 x 250 watts would be better altogether? It would solve much of the heat issue (it gets up to 31 every for a couple of hours every day), and that would compensate for the loss of yield with less wattage?

Anyone know what strains are good at high temps?

Would appreciate any feedback.

Instead of new ballasts couldnt u get bigger fans and bigger cool thbes? Or perhaps a portable ac to put in there? Im not to sure about it ive never had to battle heat issues its 70f on a hot day where i live.

Try sending the hott air away from the grow. Maybe outside?

ya man like smiley said get a fan setup where it sends the heat out, portable ac would work but more electric and they're not cheap. My buddy got a lumatek dimmable and the new lumatek hps bulb and it runs cool and thats on 1000 watt!! I'm impressed with the new bulb! Do u have room to setup a light mover, even 4 to 6 feet would b enough just to keep it moving and u wont get burns and u can keep it closer to the plants, just keep an eye on it and find the right height without burns. At the last resort switch to a T5 for the hotter months. I've seen t5's do ok, just not as much quanity and the quality is lower but its not too bad. The strain ICE works great in all situations. Good luck

Are you using a lumatek? I've noticed that the super lumens adds a couple of degrees. But it comes down to ambient room temp and how you are venting.

Just pick up a digital ballast, They run cool under full load (wattage), that way your plants are getting the total 400 watts...