HPS eficiency question!

60SOG

Active Member
Hi all..

I need a bit of advice fom you on lighting inside my flowering room!

Current Setup:
- SOG Grow.
- The room is 5 x 2 x 4 feet. Very well ventilated.
- (3) 250 W HPS in a row, all running through the same cooltube because I don´t have that much space to have multiple cooltubes, and actually it´s working fine, no heat issues whatsoever.

In the past, I got these (3) 250W HPS because of light distribution and heat issues.
I thought this way light would be distributed almost the same throughout the growroom and since I live in a very hot climate, it wouldn´t give me a hard time with heat problems.
I started using CO2 recently, so heat is not really a problem for me anymore.
So, that leaves me to the wattage question!

What if, I replaced the (3) 250 W for (2) 400W or (2) 600W HPS????

Will it have the same light coverage as the 3 250W?

Is it worth replacing them?

What do you think?


Many thanks,
60SOG

Picture: Top View

setup.jpg
 

Final Phase

Well-Known Member
Wish I had a grand for every time I improved my under house garden. Most people go with the more light the better logic. What your looking to increase is the amount of lumens that the lights give out... wattage isn't the helpful to learn about except the more watts you use the more you spend in electric. I'm pretty sure for the area you need to cover the setup you have going it great. I use 3 to 4 k HSP during flowering, but my space is 8 X 25 X 10 high.

There are quite a few ways to improve your yield other than increasing the light. You wil get better growth during the vegitaion period using MH bulbs. For your space learn about low stress training to maximize your space. I go straight into a dirt floor so I twist 8 guage insulated wire around the stems to train. I like my way because I can train them in any direction... Good luck!
 

60SOG

Active Member
Wish I had a grand for every time I improved my under house garden. Most people go with the more light the better logic. What your looking to increase is the amount of lumens that the lights give out... wattage isn't the helpful to learn about except the more watts you use the more you spend in electric. I'm pretty sure for the area you need to cover the setup you have going it great. I use 3 to 4 k HSP during flowering, but my space is 8 X 25 X 10 high.

There are quite a few ways to improve your yield other than increasing the light. You wil get better growth during the vegitaion period using MH bulbs. For your space learn about low stress training to maximize your space. I go straight into a dirt floor so I twist 8 guage insulated wire around the stems to train. I like my way because I can train them in any direction... Good luck!
Thanks for answering! I´ve been looking into what you said cause actually I never calculated how many lumens I got going on here..and I´m a bit confused cause my growroom is not square at all and has 3 lamps.

Been reading how to calculate lumens per square feet and got this:
Divide the output lumens of the lamp by the square feet. Is this correct?

If so, I divided my grow room into 3 imaginary squares for each lamp (because it´s not square), and did the math and ended up with this:

lumens.png

Is this the right way to do it?

Are these numbers correct!?!?

I don't believe i´m right about this at all... =/ HELP!
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
Yes, very helpful.

lol because there is no talk about efficiency. Lumens has no place in plant lighting. lumens is visible light to the human eye. Plants absorb wave lemgths we can't see


you want par measurements (µmole/s), cri, par watts , etc...


the efficiency of those lights is around 25%
 

Final Phase

Well-Known Member
lol because there is no talk about efficiency. Lumens has no place in plant lighting. lumens is visible light to the human eye. Plants absorb wave lemgths we can't see


you want par measurements (µmole/s), cri, par watts , etc...


the efficiency of those lights is around 25%
Yeah, the PAR number is where its at, For quick reference when shopping I get info about a bulb from a freaking ad online - They give information on how many lumens the bulb puts out. They don't give the PAR info unless you dig around for it...

Everyone likes to be the expert... whatever
 

Final Phase

Well-Known Member
IMO you have plenty of light with your current set up of 3 250 HPS. Metal Hylide light is better for vegetaion because it puts out UV light which helps break down plant cells and regrow them... HPS doesn't have UV light...
 

60SOG

Active Member
Ok! Now I got it!

Thank very much Final Phase and HyRoot for shedding light on this subject!
 
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