Do I Need A Fan To Cool My Custom Light Strip?

[toxik]

It's basicaly a box, the ballast is mounted to the top of the box and sockets on each side of the box.
I need a lot of light in a very small area on a very tight budget. I didn't add much ventilation, but the side are pretty open to air flow.

It has a 4 t8 ballast and 4 24" t8s. I haven't tested it out to see how much heat it makes.

I have a few small 12v dc fans but no ac-dc adapter small enough for the tight space, only big ones.

 

[SkiFletch]

Is the ballast on top of the hood? little confused here . a pic would be of great help. If the ballast is open to air on most of its sides, you SHOULD be ok. if not, look for cheapo DC adapters for like rc cars or something like that from say radio shack so you can power your dc fans

 

[toxik]

it's on the inside of the light strip on the top, situated like most cheap store strip lights.

It's pretty warm with just one like but dosn't seem too bad. I do plan on adding a dc fan right over the ballast.

 

[onemisterchristian]

I have four 36" t5s putting out 120 watts and they are warm but, in the wooden hood that I built, no fan is necessary. Hope that helps you.

 

[toxik]

I put in a small fan. It's unbeleivably cramp with the four bulbs in the strip. No room for air circulation without the fan. I have the fan situated next to the ballast, but didn't think when I drilled the holes so now it blows air onto the filter, so hopefully it won't cause an increase in evaporation.