I just turned on my MH light and holy crap it is bright...lol I have the ballast up top on a shelf and the light hanging from the closet dowel. Nothing is touching the light but it is getting to be like 90+ in there(I have forced hot water heating and the pipes run through the closet heating it up as well..so it is not just the light)...I am slightly concerned about the fire hazard.....am I just paraniod? Are there any fire extinguishing systems I could get? I'd really hate to have to explain why my house burned killing my 2 dogs while I was at work... thanks....
If you dont have fans actively ventillating that closet, it may be justified paranoia. You need to bring air in ,and pump air out. Measure width x length x height to get the square footage of your area. Your cfm should be at least 1/2 of your total. hence a 160 cubic foot area could be ventillated by a 80 cfm (pushing the air through every two minutes though) But would be better ventillated by a 120 or 150 cfm fan. And if you run a little air by that ballast it will last a lot longer- stick a fan by it too. Just a little one.
I have a fairly small but powerful fan sitting next to the ballast on the shelf up top and it is pointing up...and the door on my closet is not tight fitting. It is one of those cheesy sliding doors that folds in the middle and I have a hook and eye on it so it is cracked a little...I jsut felt around the planst etc and nothing seems exessively hot...
