can hood canopies cause overheating w/ t-5 fluorescant lighting?

[pnkflydlvr]

i plan on ordering a nova extreme t5 fluorescent fixture, but am nervous that my hood canopy will cause it to overheat. it does have a built in fan, but i'm not sure if this is enough. has anyone had an experience with this light or know if this will be a big deal

 

[robdog696]

I recently upgraded from a hoodless tank to a hooded tank. I noticed a very significant change in temp. With the hood on my new tank was having a hard time cooling after the lights went off. It never seemed to get below 79-80 degrees. Now I just leave the canopy open all the time. At least until I get a chiller. But now my tank gets down to around 76-77 degrees. Even with the canopy open it looks much better than hoodless.

 

[kellenr]

Originally Posted by pnkflydlvr
http:///forum/post/2681126
i plan on ordering a nova extreme t5 fluorescent fixture, but am nervous that my hood canopy will cause it to overheat. it does have a built in fan, but i'm not sure if this is enough. has anyone had an experience with this light or know if this will be a big deal

Canopies are always gonna trap heat. I don't have that particular light fixture but any kind will add unwanted heat. I built a new canopy because my lighting was too close to the water and was really hiking up the the temp. The fan will 'definitely' help. You can always add a second fan if need be. Just make sure the canopy is vented enough to blow out the trapped heat.
The biggest problem that happens is the tank heats up a lot during the day, then at night when the lights are off the tank temp drops like 5-6*F. Big daily changes up and down in temperature are far worse than a constant higher temperature. When I upgraded my lighting my tank went from 77*F to 85*F. This is why I made a new canopy that held the lights higher off the water and could house a fan. Now my temperature is down to 79*F constant. When my fan is 'off' the tank temp can still go up to 83*F, so I have it on a timer along with the lights. I unplugged my heater though, even though I had it set at 80*F it kept bringing up the temp for some reason.
To sum it up here a fan in your canopy will make a big difference and should keep the temp under control. You'll notice when the lights are 'on' and the fan is 'off' it'll go up about 3*-5*F. If it's a problem add another fan, that'll keep it good. Only thing about fans is you have A LOT more evaporation. I have to top off every other day right now during the summer months.
Check it out and see after you set it up. All tanks/canopies/ventilations are different so see how yours goes. You may not even need to run the fan.

 

[sickboy]

The Nova Extreme have individually contoured reflector, correct? I went with the Sundial T5 fixture, which also has individually contoured reflectors, and don't have a problem. My canopy is open in the back and that fixture has two fans pointing out the back rather than the sides. My tank only changes about 2 degrees throughout the day, but my A/C is lower than my tank temp, so that probably helps out.

 

[aztec reef]

Originally Posted by pnkflydlvr
http:///forum/post/2681126
i plan on ordering a nova extreme t5 fluorescent fixture, but am nervous that my hood canopy will cause it to overheat.
First of all, whats your tank size and the wattage of lights you're getting???

 

[nordy]

One thing you could do to help keep temps down is to make sure the built in fixture exhaust fans on the Nova are not exhausted into the canopy. They do a pretty good job of removing waste heat from inside the fixture but if they dump into a canopy, even a partially open one, then it will be a problem. You could rig some type of flex duct to let the hot air out the back of your canopy.

 

[aztec reef]

Or you could have two fans, installed in your canaopy,
1 fan at the lowest part of canopy for the air intake (blowing fresh air into the canopy)
the 2nd fan at the top or at the highest part of canopy for exaust.(blowing hot air out of canopy ...exchanging heat..again, its the case of exporting accumulated heat caused by the enclosed hot box.... ..

 

[min12512]

i have a wood canopy about 4 1/2" over my tank. i cant find lighting for it. help? reef tank

 

[aztec reef]

thats a pretty short canopy, any lights that close will provably explode by the water splashes. and if it doesn't it will have major heat problems and evaporation.
if u can find a way to raise it up a few more inches from water surface(8-10").
it all depends on your budget, they also have fixtures already to plug n play.and even retro-fit units that may work with your canopy..

 

[min12512]

could you tell me which light fixtures are "plug and play" or what lights i could use without having either the glass canopy or the wooden hood so the top is open so it wont get so hot

 

[aztec reef]

Ocean light aquamedics
current usa outer orbit
current usa sunpod
hamilton reefstar
icecap
coralife retrofits
jbj
maristar
gieseman infinity
and many more.....google retro fit lighting..

 

[pnkflydlvr]

my canopy is open in the back, so there is some air getting in. the lights are 156 watts. do you guys think that will be enough ventilation? i really want to avoid spending extra money on a chiller if at all possible.

 

[pnkflydlvr]

also forgot to mention another question: will compact fluorescent lights give off less heat than t-5's?

 

[robdog696]

Originally Posted by pnkflydlvr
http:///forum/post/2682015
also forgot to mention another question: will compact fluorescent lights give off less heat than t-5's?
Generally, yes! I had a 96 watt compact florescent fixture that did not affect my tank temp at all. KellenR is absolutely right. But the closer to the water the lights are the more light will reach the bottom. So ideally you want them close to the water without much change in temp. My canopy is open in the back as well. It doesn't seem to matter. And I have two fans pulling air through the canopy. Still, I have to leave the lid open most of the time. The fixture you are getting is less watts than mine, plus T5s produce less heat than metal halide. So you might be ok with just adding fans, as KellenR suggested. Good luck!

 

[pnkflydlvr]

ok thanks. the light has 1 fan included, so i'm gonna drill a hole in the hood to let it blow out the hot air. with the back open, would i need to add another fan? my real dilemma at this point is that i have not yet ordered the light nor seen 1 in person, so i have no idea of knowing if there is enough room to add a second fan.

 

[sickboy]

If you drill a hole in the side, you should be fine. You could cover it with the fabric they use on speakers if you wanted to hide it.
I have a different fixture, as mentioned above, but I have 156w of bulbs, and see little heat change. The question I would worry about is if the fixture will sit under your hood. Mine won't fit with the standard mounting brackets that come with it as I only have 4" of clearance, but it came with little plastic "nubbs" that sit right on the glass on the corner of the tank inside of the hood.