HPS vs LED

Fish scale said:
is it just me or do HPS bulbs work better in the winter? I'm guessing it's because HPS bulbs give out slightly more warmth and help the plants grow better in the winter? I find that my LED light just doesn't work very good in the winter and the plants growth is very slow.
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The plants like it warm and definitely grow better in warm temperatures, but if it’s too warm they slow down completely.

That said, it may just be the quality of your HPS bulb or your LEDs. To test, you could just measure temperature and humidity with the HPS running, then add a space heater to the room when running the LEDs and get the temperature the same as when you run your HPS. With the temperature the same, the big variable would be the light quality. That space heater may dry the area out more so you may also need a humidifier to duplicate the conditions, but maybe not.

HPS bulbs perform far less effectively after each grow. Don’t just wait until they burn out, replace them after two or three grows.
 
Boatguy said:
I am in a cold place and led works fine. In the summer temps and humidity are too high for growing or drying in my basement.
Best part of winter cold is the lack of bugs
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Do you use a heater with your LED light in the winter? Because I have just been using my LED on it's own and I don't see the plants growing that much. I think HPS lights work better because you get a bit more heat from them in the winter months
 
HPS has a fair amount of IR in addition to the increase in ambient temps and our plants care most about leaf temperature. Those are going to be higher than ambient for plants under HID, and at or below ambient for LED setups that don't incorporate IR. I'm preferential to CMH with LED year round, but as with most cases I think better depends on your particular situation and needs.
 
Hid is beneficial in cold humid climates i think, i still use hid to veg/pre flower, I read about savings with led but that's not been the case for me.
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It costs me more to use led, the radiated heat from hid deals with heat and humidity better, I get enough heat and light with 400/600w
 
Star Dog said:
Hid is beneficial in cold humid climates i think, i still use hid to veg/pre flower, I read about savings with led but that's not been the case for me.
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It costs me more to use led, the radiated heat from hid deals with heat and humidity better, I get enough heat and light with 400/600w
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Wow This is the first time I can remember we are actually colder where I'm at than your bit of the country dude it's 9c and windy as hell I seen you post it plenty before and I'm normally always a bit warmer by at least a few c here but not today though lol
 
conor c said:
You must supplement heat then ? Here in lights off without it you would have issues
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I dont.
My boiler and water heater are in the same area. Doesnt get below 70 down there often unless we have a real cold spell.
With lights on it stays at a comfortable 78 with the assistance of the exhaust. I do had trouble with humidity spikes at lights off though.

A heater would help my exhaust cycle during lights out but fear of fire is a thing, as well as not having much room for extras in a 3x3. So far only one grow with some dense nl5/h did i have to trash a few buds due to mold. It was discouraging but not enough of a loss for me to change my setup.
 
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Boatguy said:
I dont.
My boiler and water heater are in the same area. Doesnt get below 70 down there often unless we have a real cold spell.
With lights on it stays at a comfortable 78 with the assistance of the exhaust. I do had trouble with humidity spikes at lights off though.

A heater would help my exhaust cycle during lights out but fear of fire is a thing, as well as not having much room for extras in a 3x3. So far only one grow with some dense nl5/h did i have to trash a few buds due to mold. It was discouraging but not enough of a loss for me to change my setup.
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Oh I see yeah our boilers not in the same place I grow so if I was to switch I'd need to add heat too in lights off here cos here it's only in old properties or apartments you will see it in a cupboard or area of it's own most people have there boiler in there kitchen here if you stay in a house Vs apartment in the uk
 
My plants veg in 60F this winter. My foower room is 15a I wouldnt even be able to use hps and stay under 1500w. I already have a lead running to the room. I dont see people talk about that often. Maybe they have 20A grow room idk.

Sometimes plants veg slow over others. Could be something else. I tried vegging in 80F it didnt grow much different. I switched to fabric pots and its winter is all I can think for the less vigor. Its not painfully slow though that Im worried. Just a slight difference.
 

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medidedicated said:
My plants veg in 60F this winter. My foower room is 15a I wouldnt even be able to use hps and stay under 1500w. I already have a lead running to the room. I dont see people talk about that often. Maybe they have 20A grow room idk.

Sometimes plants veg slow over others. Could be something else. I tried vegging in 80F it didnt grow much different. I switched to fabric pots and its winter is all I can think for the less vigor. Its not painfully slow though that Im worried. Just a slight difference.
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The temp has a direct effect on the plants metabolism. The higher the temp, the faster, and more vigorous, the plant grows. Strain dependent of course, up to 85°f.

I believe you can go higher with co2, but I've never tried.
 
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medidedicated said:
My plants veg in 60F this winter. My foower room is 15a I wouldnt even be able to use hps and stay under 1500w. I already have a lead running to the room. I dont see people talk about that often. Maybe they have 20A grow room idk.

Sometimes plants veg slow over others. Could be something else. I tried vegging in 80F it didnt grow much different. I switched to fabric pots and its winter is all I can think for the less vigor. Its not painfully slow though that Im worried. Just a slight difference.
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I used to run heavy duty wiring (like for a stove or dryer) to a switching box dedicated to my flower room JUST because of HPS power draw!
As you mentioned, most houses in North America have 15 A per line and one 1000 W HPS doesn’t leave room for much else to run on the circuit (not sure about UK or Europe).
Since switching to LED, I can just plug in the wall and not worry about it. I’m sure I have enough power left over to run a small heater if required, maybe not 1000 W but many have switches so you can do half power.
Also, it will depend on how powerful your LED is.
 
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