Can 700 watts of LED strips grow trees???

Big Green Thumb

Big Green Thumb

Well-Known Member
Does anyone want to guestimate how many par, ppfd, umol of photons, lumen, etc I am sending to these plants? I am currently reading about 880 watts to my lights (that is read AFTER the power supplies). The highest amperage any strips are getting is less than 700 ma.

As they are now:
over head lighting is getting 498 watts (~692 ma)
perimeter side lighting is getting 258 watts (~520 ma)
center divider lighting is 125 watts (~347 ma)

I would estimate the lights should be in the range 150+ lumen per watt, so that would mean I am blasting these ladies with 132,150 lumens (or more). Any ideas on if I am just wasting light, if I should dim, turn them up, etc? I am not running CO2.
 
mauricem00

mauricem00

Well-Known Member
Unagi said:
The sun is fuller spectrum. I think that might be the reason the results are different. :-)
Click to expand...
yes it appears S2 stimulation of chlorophyll A is what controls photo inhibition and the sun has a lot more violet light than LEDs or HPS.but plants still grow better producing higher yield and quality under natural sunlight provided they do not get too much light
 
Big Green Thumb

Big Green Thumb

Well-Known Member
Ok, starting with the simple stuff. What would you think is the efficiency of these strips? If they are 25% efficient at these amperages,
880 watts x 25% = 220 par watts / 16 square feet = 13.75 par watts per square feet
880 watts x 30% = 264 par watts / 16 square feet = 16.5 par watts per square feet
880 watts x 35% = 308 par watts / 16 square feet = 19.25 par watts per square feet
880 watts x 40% = 352 par watts / 16 square feet = 22 par watts per square feet
880 watts x 45% = 396 par watts / 16 square feet = 24.75 par watts per square feet

So, any educated guesses as to the efficiency of these?
 
Big Green Thumb

Big Green Thumb

Well-Known Member
ttystikk said:
I'm not a fan of this. Since all chips, big or small, strip or COB, need drivers, it only makes sense to talk about power usage at the wall, everything included. After all, that's the bill you'll be paying and power supplies come in and can be operated in a wide range of different efficiency ranges.
Click to expand...
I understand what you are saying, but I am not trying to compare these lights to others, I want to know how much light I am sending to my plants. At the wall my whole grow is at ~ 1275 watts. That includes all lights, their power supplies (which are ~86% efficient), 2 20" box fans, and a 6" inline exhaust fan that's connected to my carbon filter. If you want to know how much power just the lighting system draws, I will need to move my kill-a-watt. Give me a minute and I will get that number for you...
 
Big Green Thumb

Big Green Thumb

Well-Known Member
Alright, as of right now, I have 951 watts after the power supplies (I forgot I turned up the side lighting which is why this number is higher than before), and 1120 at the wall for lighting only. So the power supplies are coming in at 85% efficiency.
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Big Green Thumb said:
Alright, as of right now, I have 951 watts after the power supplies (I forgot I turned up the side lighting which is why this number is higher than before), and 1120 at the wall for lighting only. So the power supplies are coming in at 85% efficiency.
Click to expand...
Divide total light output by total was for an art the wall efficiency value which can be compared apples to apples with other setups here.

I think you can find drivers more efficient than 85% pretty easily. That would appear to be the only weak link, as the strips themselves and the lighting placement approach both seem to be on point!

I'm not nitpicking, the goal is twofold; to compare systems accurately and to point out areas that would benefit most from later optimization.

I'm following this thread closely because I think your approach has a lot going for it.
 
Big Green Thumb

Big Green Thumb

Well-Known Member
Yeah, it is hard for me to pony up big bucks for 90+% efficiency drivers when these are only $20. The 5-9% increase in efficiency will cost me a good $400.

The girls are doing great. 3 weeks into flower today with fresh pics.
PBD
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Big Green Thumb said:
Yeah, it is hard for me to pony up big bucks for 90+% efficiency drivers when these are only $20. The 5-9% increase in efficiency will cost me a good $400.

The girls are doing great. 3 weeks into flower today with fresh pics.
PBD
Click to expand...
Hmmmmmm... My Meanwell drivers cost me about $42 per 216W of driven chips. Methinks it would be substantially less expensive than you might think.

On the other hand, for a single tent I agree the difference won't amount to much.

However, as soon as one considers scaling this approach it becomes an issue of paramount concern. And I do think it's worth considering the method of scaling this approach.
 
Big Green Thumb

Big Green Thumb

Well-Known Member
ttystikk said:
Hmmmmmm... My Meanwell drivers cost me about $42 per 216W of driven chips. Methinks it would be substantially less expensive than you might think.

On the other hand, for a single tent I agree the difference won't amount to much.

However, as soon as one considers scaling this approach it becomes an issue of paramount concern. And I do think it's worth considering the method of scaling this approach.
Click to expand...
I have 4 different light setups in this tent. 2 overhead, the perimeter side lighting, and the divider side lighting in the middle of the tent. Each of these is 15 strips at 24 or 33 v per strip and each light set is capable of 360+ watts. Meanwell 320s don't handle that much voltage for any of the light setups to be series wired, so that leaves me buying 8 drivers vs. my 4 cheap drivers. Im sure if I looked harder I could find a cheaper compromise, but this works pretty good as it is.
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Big Green Thumb said:
I have 4 different light setups in this tent. 2 overhead, the perimeter side lighting, and the divider side lighting in the middle of the tent. Each of these is 15 strips at 24 or 33 v per strip and each light set is capable of 360+ watts. Meanwell 320s don't handle that much voltage for any of the light setups to be series wired, so that leaves me buying 8 drivers vs. my 4 cheap drivers. Im sure if I looked harder I could find a cheaper compromise, but this works pretty good as it is.
Click to expand...
I'm not trashing your setup. The name of the LED game is efficiency and there's some on the table that would be well worth picking up if one was building out a bigger space. That's all I'm saying.

There's an old saying in hot rod circles; speed costs money. How fast do you wanna spend? Lol
 
Big Green Thumb

Big Green Thumb

Well-Known Member
ttystikk said:
I'm not trashing your setup. The name of the LED game is efficiency and there's some on the table that would be well worth picking up if one was building out a bigger space. That's all I'm saying.
There's an old saying in hot rod circles; speed costs money. How fast do you wanna spend? Lol
Click to expand...
I get what you are saying and am taking it as constructive criticism which is exactly what I am asking for.

Funny about the hot rod saying, I know it well. But I drive an old ugly diesel pickup that is north of 500 hp and on it's way toward 700, and I am in it about $8000 total. So that is what I want from my lights, high horsepower on a shoestring budget!

I will be seriously bummed if I find out my lights don't outperform a 1,000 watt hps.
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Big Green Thumb said:
I get what you are saying and am taking it as constructive criticism which is exactly what I am asking for.

Funny about the hot rod saying, I know it well. But I drive an old ugly diesel pickup that is north of 500 hp and on it's way toward 700, and I am in it about $8000 total. So that is what I want from my lights, high horsepower on a shoestring budget!

I will be seriously bummed if I find out my lights don't outperform a 1,000 watt hps.
Click to expand...
Just a year or two ago, my lighting was cutting edge. Now it's borderline obsolete. Shit happens fast around here!
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Big Green Thumb said:
It seems if anything doesn't to go obsolete in the LED world, it is the drivers. Maybe I should start swapping out drivers as I can afford to.
Click to expand...
Indeed. Good Meanwell units run over 95% efficient and don't seem to go out of style nearly as quickly as the LEDs do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top