600 Watt HPS or 1000 Watt

Kilbud

Active Member
I’m trying to piece together my grow room so I can find the money to pay for supplies.
I keep bouncing around concerning how many plants to grow etc. I think being a newbie I should start on the smaller side growing 24 plants and expanding to 36 after learning all the tricks.
Should I use 2 600 HPS lights with digital ballast or 2 1000 watt lights. I've already run a 30 amp 220 line to the room.
I’m struggling with this because our god Jorge Cervantes:blsmoke: wrote in the bible that 600 watt lights closer to plants will provide more lumens than 1000 watt lights further away from plants. Each light in my system will be for 12 plants. Everyone I talk to about it say’s 1000 watts with very little thought.
I like the energy savings of the 600 watt vs. the 1000 watt. Living in the desert and having 3 – 4 hundred dollar electric bills in the summer the 800 watt savings would be nice.
What’s most important is yield!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:hump:
If 1000 watt is the way to go I don’t have a problem.
Help me with this descision.
 

Ratty696

Well-Known Member
Your yield will be a little better with the 1000watt more light = more buds, but living in a desert you may run into heat problems. If you can control heat with no problem I would go with the 1000 watt. I have a 600watt and am now wishing I had just gone with the 1000watt. 1000 is cheaper and gives more light. Good luck
 

Angelus

Active Member
Jorge Cervantes got many grow room video's on you tube.
If you have the money too buy 2 600W HPS I would go for that. That will equal more lumens for your plants. And the light would reach in better. But more easy would to buy adjust-a-wing with 1000 light bulb. The reflectations are incredible...
 

fdd2blk

Well-Known Member
you can get a 600 closer to the top of your canopy but they don't penetrate as deep. it's kinda a toss-up.
 

Ratty696

Well-Known Member
Jorge Cervantes got many grow room video's on you tube.
If you have the money too buy 2 600W HPS I would go for that. That will equal more lumens for your plants. And the light would reach in better. But more easy would to buy adjust-a-wing with 1000 light bulb. The reflectations are incredible...
how exactly does 2 600watt bulbs = more lumens than 2 1000watt?? Do the math.
 

Kilbud

Active Member
Thanks everyone for the input.

The grow area to start will be 8 X 5.

I will be running a can 100 carbon filter with a 800 CFM fan vented through the lights and then into the attic crawl space. The room has central AC and a wall unit just installed.

Adjustwing sounds really cool but might create a heat issue for my room not being able to direct cool the lights with the fan system listed above.

Yes 1000 W is greater than 600. But the 600 can be placed roughly 12 inches closer to the plants which.

Light output divided by ditance squared = lumens

1000 watts/3x3=9=111 lumens
600 watts/2x2=4=150 lumens

Is 600 Watts enough to cover a 4x5 grow area? Each light will need to cover 4x5.

Thanks again for the input it really helps:hump:
 

Kilbud

Active Member
The 1000 watt will also be HPS with a digital ballast.

The area will be enclosed and mylar installed on all sides.

The total room size in a 10 x10, but removing the closet doors I have a 12 x 5 area I can grow in. I want to save the other 5 x 10 area for work space.

The Veg station will 3 x 3 ebb & flow in the master closet.

I'm planning on staggering the grow start 12 plants then start 12 more 1 month later.
 

fdd2blk

Well-Known Member
Thanks everyone for the input.

The grow area to start will be 8 X 5.

I will be running a can 100 carbon filter with a 800 CFM fan vented through the lights and then into the attic crawl space. The room has central AC and a wall unit just installed.

Adjustwing sounds really cool but might create a heat issue for my room not being able to direct cool the lights with the fan system listed above.

Yes 1000 W is greater than 600. But the 600 can be placed roughly 12 inches closer to the plants which.

Light output divided by ditance squared = lumens

1000 watts/3x3=9=111 lumens
600 watts/2x2=4=150 lumens

Is 600 Watts enough to cover a 4x5 grow area? Each light will need to cover 4x5.

Thanks again for the input it really helps:hump:

i'd use a 1000 for a 4 X 5.
 

overfiend

HeavyMetalHippie
i am wondering the same thing as him how much will a 1000 watt mh cost to run i have one also have a 400 watt mh and am using that because im scared to use the 1000watt

ps i also have a 10,000 watt tri metal halide high out put ultraviolet but dont think i will grow with that.
 

chongsbuddy

New Member
if you want to find out the electric cost of lights just find out the kilowatt/hour rate,its usually about 6 cents per kilowatt hour,28 days for a month,12 hours a day.So you multiply the 12 hours by the 28 days to get kilowatt hours(336)then you take the kilowatt hours and multiply that by the total number of hours.so,.06 times 336=$20.16.This would be your monthly bill if you used a 1000 watt at 12 hours a day for 28 days.For a 400 watt just multiply the 20.16 times .4(400 watt is 40% of 1000 watts)the answer is about $8.50 a month to run a 400 watt light 12 hours a day for 28 days.....hope this helps.
 

Angelus

Active Member
1 digital ballast 600W gives out about 5 precent less than standard core ballast. That's according to lumatek Ballast.
With including amp and electricity prices between digital and core like he stated in his statement. It would be better off to go with digital. Don't you think?
 

bca21

Well-Known Member
keep the ballast's out side the grow room, run a inline fan to both lights and cool tube them. flowering with 2 1k hps is the shit... stinkbud or somebody in the hydro section produces 1lb. every 3 weeks with 16 plants at 12inch veg and then flowers and yields a solid pound....
 

Greenthumb4ganja

Active Member
dudes, two six hundred watt high pressure sodium bulbs will provide more lumens to the plants than two thousand watt. there is a law called the inverse square law, light begins to diminish the further away from plants it is. unless you are using air cooled thousand watt bulbs your best bet is to use two six hundred watt bulbs. i've been growing for years and i just got two new six hundred watt high pressure sodiums and i'm totally satisfied.
 

gabinetex

Member
"two six hundred watt high pressure sodium bulbs will provide more lumens to the plants than two thousand watt"

That's grossly incorrect.
Luminosity (lumens) is an intrinsecal property of a light source and doesn't change with distance. The lumens are the same at 1 inch , 1 foot or 10 miles.... it's the intensity (LUX, 1Lux = 1 lumen / square meter) , what is afected by the inverse square law, but only where light is travelling in all directions three-dimensionaly...it's meaningles in this scenario, where you are directing nearly all light in the same direction.

As long as your room walls are reflective and you have a reflector that is not directing light to the wrong direction, you get at least 80% - 95% of the total lumens emited by the bulb over your grow area.... so the intensity (lumens/area) does not decrease whatever the distance... In practice , if your lights are say, 2 miles away, photons will collide with dust particles , energy will get dissipated heating the air in between., and you would lose some (not much) light intensity...
If you didn't have a reflector, and bulb and a plant area of were placed in outer space or in a grow room painted in black . by the inverse square law , the 2x 600W at 1 meter distance and the 2X1000W a 1.29 meters would provide the same intensity to the grow area.
regards.
 

ledgrowing

Well-Known Member
if u are planning on using 2 1000watter just get 3 600 watters more even light over the canopy and more light than a 1000w for plant as distance is closer with hid lights the closer the better as light penetration degrades fast as u move away from the bulb who ever said 600 dont penetrate as much as 1000 is dead wrong as u can keep them 12 to 18 inches above plant 600w are the most efficent out there
 

Alaric

Well-Known Member
It's very simple------our "god Jorge" says 2 lbs per 1K of flowering every 60 days-------been there-----done that with a 4x 1K flower room.

600s better than 1Ks means you don't have proper cooling of your flower room-----my god----we're paying for all this equipment and the power to run them and CHEAP OUT on cooling.

Penny wise and pound foolish in my opinion.

A~~
 

HAMandCHEEZ4life

Well-Known Member
i remember when they didnt make 600 watt systems. it was 400 or 1000. this was because the 400 and 1000 watt systems had industrial uses that carried over and worked for indoor gardeners.


i read somewhere that the 600 watt system was made strictly for horticulture. and that the spectrum that it gives out is a much better spectrum for plant growth which makes it very comparable to a 1000 watter. i would like to know if this is true or not. i was told at the hydro store the same thing. that a 600 watt is just as good as a 1000 watt.
 

panhead

Well-Known Member
Yes 1000 W is greater than 600. But the 600 can be placed roughly 12 inches closer to the plants which.

Light output divided by ditance squared = lumens

1000 watts/3x3=9=111 lumens
600 watts/2x2=4=150 lumens

Is 600 Watts enough to cover a 4x5 grow area? Each light will need to cover 4x5.

Thanks again for the input it really helps:hump:
Your thinking along the rght lines,the 600 watt hps are an all around better way to go over the 1000 watt hps systems,unless your running an extremely crowded garden or growing very tall plants then canopy penetration wil not be a problem with good 600 watt hps systems & i hghly reccomend the 600 watt digital euro systems from htg.

Ive replaced all my 1000 watt hps systems with the euro digital 600 watt hps systems & am getting ready for the 4th harvest under the smaller lights.

In my gardens the light throw from the 600's is very close to the light throw from the previous 1000 watters,the same can be said for canopy penetration with the 600's vs 1000 watters.

I grow using flood & drain tables using 2 different methods,one being single cola SOG style & the other is full plant grow without trimming the lower portion of the plant,in the SOG the results between the different wattages are HEAVILY in favor of the smaller 600 watt lights from increased grow area,running 3 600 watt systems will cover more area than running 2 1000 wat systems plus you save 200 watts.

In the full plant grows the results are also in favor running the 600 watt systems from increased canopy area,the lower buds that always turn out popcorn are still popcorn but i did not get any extra popcorn nor have i lost any size/weight in the main colas oe lessor bud sites running the smaller lights.

Go with the smaller 600's & forget about the larger lights as the benifits of the extra wattage from running a 1000 watt system are only worthwhile in single light grows,in multiple light grows the 600 watt systems kick their ass easily.
 

ledgrowing

Well-Known Member
:leaf::leaf::leaf:light intensity decrease huge with distance look at it like this dont close your ears listen i have really worked on this so just hear me out .... 1 600 watt lamp and 30cm above canopy =5400 -9000 lumens 1 1000w light at a min 60cm as rec buy george seen as how u like to refer to him = 5500-8000 lumens check page 167 in lower chart georges bible. so now for the set 2 1000w light at min 60cm =11000 lumens -16000lumens and 2000watts of power used u say this is the way u might be right lets see k so 3 600w lights at 30cm above canopy = 16200-27000 lumens =1800watts of power. now this is optimum for both lighting situations on pure lumens alone now lets look at pros and cons of both your fav first 1000watters heat issues more ventilation only 2 lighting locations so more shaded spots plant on perimter recive less light or turning is needed pros would be cheaper start up cost and??????????????? now for the 600watters cons higher start up cost and thats it pros 3 lighting locations providing even lighting over the entire canopy no shady spots cheaper to cool dont prduce as much heat and cheaper to run i mean think about it no disrespect intened this is just some research i have done and played around withh all different styles this is the most efficent blaze on:bigjoint::bigjoint:
 
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