DIY metal halide hood using composite decking?

[208reef]

I need to build a pendent hood for my 250g tank to enclose 3x250w metal halides. I was thinking to copy this design, but make it 6ft instead. Would it be ok to use composite decking to make this hood or would the composite material not be compatible with the heat of the metal halides? There would be a fan on each side of the hood. The reason for considering composite decking is just that I like the clean finished look of it.

Here is the composite decking I'm looking at:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/TimberTech-12ft-Sea-Salt-Grey-TimberTech/5015306171

 

[Reefering1]

How do you plan on attaching the planks together?

 

[BeanAnimal]

IMHO - Heat and weight are both going to be issues.

 

[Reefing102]

Not to bring up an older thread, and this is just my opinion, but I think you should be okay depending on how you mount the halide.

If you were to do this, If it was me, I would try to put some space between the reflector and the board (maybe using nuts or washers). My primary concern is as you mentioned, the heat. I don’t know if the contact between the reflector and wood would get too hot and melt/burn the composite or not. I mean it is designed to be outdoor decking so it should be able to take some heat, but not sure if they actually have a heat rating. Their site does show certain “models” are fire resistant - https://www.timbertech.com/about/fire-resistant-decking/

Weight wise I don’t see an issue. Composite weighs about the same as the real wood equivalent.