Summertime!! How do you control the heat from your lights?

[stresco]

I came home last nigth at 6PM and my apt was sweltering. The heat that was comming off of the MH balasts was heating up my entire living room. Its only sping time here, I'm scared to think of how hot it is gonna get in the summer. My tank temp was still 81-82F which is where I keep it, but I like to keep my apt cool, below 70F. Those of you with MH Lights, how do you keep your homes cool in the summer? Do any of you use a reverse lighting schedule? I was thinking of splitting the lighting time in half. Have the lights come on for 6 hours in the morning like from 4am till 10am, and then at night from 7pm till 12am. Do you think this will work? Will it have an adverse effect on my animals? Short of keeping the AC on 24/7, or having the lights come run overnight, this is the best idea i can come up with.

 

[reefrunner69]

Those of you with MH Lights, how do you keep your homes cool in the summer?

Central heat and air

 

[Hara]

ditto....in fact, a/c serviceman is coming today as mine is having issues.

 

[luntiz]

And for those that do not have A/C? Any suggestions? How about the 4 to 10 then 7 to 12?

 

[Mermaid]

i use a/c and a fan blowing directly at the light and across the top of my water. my water temp is a constant 78. maybe try adding a fan to yours.
good luck,
mermaid

 

[stresco]

I have 2 fans in my canape...My water temp is right where i want it. Its the rest of my house that im concerned with. Its the ballasts that are giving off a lot of unwanted heat. I like my place cool, and i dont want to go broke paying for electricity. Any ideas? Will my idea for the split schedule work?

 

[reefrunner69]

I don't know how the corals will handle a split schedule. Any way you can mount the ballasts in the attic? Or install an exhaust fan with some duct work to pull the heat out and vent it outside?

 

[stresco]

My last post was missleading...i dont have a house (YET) im am living in an APT, so dont have an attic and there is no way for mey to build duct work.

 

[24 hours? NE!]

Which way are your fans directing the heat- exhaust or intake?

I'm not into MH yet and heat will definitely be an issue if I do. I would suggest some duct work towards the window if possible. Or just direct your fans to intake.

 

[reefrunner69]

How is the heat with the AC running? is there a window near the tank? Can you put a fan in the window blowing out? I've seen window unit double fans for such purposes. The thing, is, your not going to get around the heat being produced, even if you split the light cycle, the heat is still gonna be produced, you got to either use AC to convert the hot air to cold air, or you got to vent the heat somewhere else.

 

[jackdp]

I have a 20 gallon with 175 watt MH and 110 watts PC lighting. It has 2 fans one pulls air in blowing over the bulbs and the other side pulls air out. The tank sits with one end facing a window. In the window is a double fan that pulls air in, acutally its a pretty slick fan, has thermostats so if it suddenly gets cooler the fan shuts off. Right now it is about 72 outside, 83 inside (room gets brunt of afternoon sun) and the tank is a cozy 81.7 with the lights on. When the lights go out, the tank actually gets warmer to about 82.5. When it gets to be like 85-95 outside, I will have the central air on to help.