LUMENS, They don't add up?

Fman

Well-Known Member
I'm confused, I've seen a number of posts stating that lumens don't add up. That does not make sense too me. Watts add up don't they? People switch to higher wattage lights to get more lumens. More watts more lumens, right. If you have a light shining on something, then when you add a second light, it seems to be brighter. Would'nt that mean their are more lumens shining on that area? If they did'nt add up why do people add moe lights? I'm not trying to start a fight or agrue with anybody, I'm just seeking knowldge.
 

40acres

New Member
I think becasue it is a sepaerate source, they dont add up. If they were one big bulb, they would add up. You can add watts, becasue it is all being sucked form the same place and it doesnt produce light.

If you had 2 23 watt bulbs on 2 different sides of your plant. It would mean that there was 23 watts on each side, not 46 from a single source. I am really high, so this makes sense to me.
 

regrets

Well-Known Member
Lumens measure light intensity, in other words it is how much force or energy they have behind them to penetrate material. So putting another bulb next to a light with a certain intensity does not amplify the intensity. You can kinda think of it in mph for cars. If you are driving 55 miles per hour and someone pulls up next to you going 55 miles per hour, you will not both then be going 110. You do however get benefit from extra lights because you can spread out the lumens and cover your surface area better. Even though using two cars won't get you to the location any faster they can each haul a certain amount of boxes so you still get benefit of using two cars over one. I hope this strange analogy helps a bit.
 

Fman

Well-Known Member
I guess I dont fully understand the defenition of lumens. I just saw a post In Al B. Fuct's gallery that showes they DO NOT add up. Two photos of lights and a meter. One photo one light, the other photo two lights both photos the meter reads the same, no more lumens. I guess that proves it. I guess it's time to buy a bigger light.
 

yojoe

Active Member
Think about it as lumens per Sq.ft.

Adding more lights with the same amount of lumens doesn't mean you have more light intesity, just means it is spread out more so you have a larger growing area.

Kinda like regrets analogy,

light intesity(lumens): grow area(sq.ft) as speed(mph): haul amount (lbs or whatever)
 

ThatOneDude

Well-Known Member
Lumens measure light intensity, in other words it is how much force or energy they have behind them to penetrate material. So putting another bulb next to a light with a certain intensity does not amplify the intensity. You can kinda think of it in mph for cars. If you are driving 55 miles per hour and someone pulls up next to you going 55 miles per hour, you will not both then be going 110. You do however get benefit from extra lights because you can spread out the lumens and cover your surface area better. Even though using two cars won't get you to the location any faster they can each haul a certain amount of boxes so you still get benefit of using two cars over one. I hope this strange analogy helps a bit.

.....how would a car doing 55 mph be able to catch up to another car doing the same speed? Someone would have to go slower or faster for them to meet up.....

Lumans don't mean as much for growing as people think they do. It's the brightness of the bulb....but plants don't have eyes so they don't "see" the Lumen output. You need to look into and learn about SPD, that's what the plant uses.

As for people using multi lamps, it's all about coverage.
 

yojoe

Active Member
.....how would a car doing 55 mph be able to catch up to another car doing the same speed? Someone would have to go slower or faster for them to meet up.....

Lumans don't mean as much for growing as people think they do. It's the brightness of the bulb....but plants don't have eyes so they don't "see" the Lumen output. You need to look into and learn about SPD, that's what the plant uses.

As for people using multi lamps, it's all about coverage.
....how could ThatOneSlowDude possibly be able to catch on to a simple concept if he's smoked himself stupid with too much Mexican brick shwag....

Hey captain obvious, thanks for pointing out to us that plants don't have eyes.

Although plants do absorb light in photosynthesis. How?
(here's a good website that explains how to calculate the way plants use lumens) http://www.sankey.ws/plantlumen.html

So maybe "Lumans" don't mean as much as you and your people think they do, but to the brighter crayons in this box, we'll stick to the facts.
 

40acres

New Member
Just put the cfl's as close as you can and use as many as you can. Thats all you relaly need to know. The debate that will rage wont be worth reading.
 

regrets

Well-Known Member
.....how would a car doing 55 mph be able to catch up to another car doing the same speed? Someone would have to go slower or faster for them to meet up.....

Lumans don't mean as much for growing as people think they do. It's the brightness of the bulb....but plants don't have eyes so they don't "see" the Lumen output. You need to look into and learn about SPD, that's what the plant uses.

As for people using multi lamps, it's all about coverage.
he came in on the on ramp, ahead of the guy and as his speed increased to 55 the other car caught up and they were driving next to eachother.

onto your second not so great point lumens have quite a bit to do with growing because the intensity helps to penetrate into the buds and through leaves, making it possible for you to get more dense larger buds, as well as more mature buds lower down on the plant. This is one of the main reasons that cfl's cannot compete with HID (the I stands for intensity by the way :) ).
 

Fman

Well-Known Member
I dont know where YOU live but around here if you go 55 you get run over! lmao. Regrets, I sort of understand your compersison, but I've seen the pics that showed me they don't add up. I really dont have to understand why they dont add up, I now know they dont. So if I want more light its a bigger one not more of them. Thanks for all the input and help
 

40acres

New Member
I dont know where YOU live but around here if you go 55 you get run over! lmao. Regrets, I sort of understand your compersison, but I've seen the pics that showed me they don't add up. I really dont have to understand why they dont add up, I now know they dont. So if I want more light its a bigger one not more of them. Thanks for all the input and help
Bigger or more. Not to confuse you, but a bunch of small cfl's produce more lumens than one big one, but the big one produces more than a single small one. When i was using them, I just went for as many and as big both.
 

trapper

Well-Known Member
as much as i love my 600,s and the lumens they put out and the fact i could put them closer to the plant,the 1000 and its intencity like albfuct said can not be equaled,wish it could but i find it doesnt,and no,adding a bunch of 13 watt cfls will not acumulate a higher luman number,and lumens are important they measure the intencity of the light.
 

ceestyle

Well-Known Member
as much as i love my 600,s and the lumens they put out and the fact i could put them closer to the plant,the 1000 and its intencity like albfuct said can not be equaled,wish it could but i find it doesnt,and no,adding a bunch of 13 watt cfls will not acumulate a higher luman number,and lumens are important they measure the intencity of the light.
well, if you put them closer to the plant, of course it will be more intense. that has nothing to do with lumens adding.

I am willing to bet that you are basing your second statement regarding CFLs on nothing but personal opinion. I challenge you to provide me one reason why that is the case.
 

SomeGuy

Well-Known Member
well, if you put them closer to the plant, of course it will be more intense. that has nothing to do with lumens adding.

I am willing to bet that you are basing your second statement regarding CFLs on nothing but personal opinion. I challenge you to provide me one reason why that is the case.
I think you need to cough up the math on how lumens add. Because every physics book Ive read and all the information on the internet at the physics forums state other-wise. As a matter of fact on several they do AL B's demonstration as the perfect example.

Lumens are a measurement of intensity along a single band-width of light.

No one should listen to you until you can prove it with the math and physical experiment OH.. and I am a Professional lighting designer. I have lit theatre, concerts, television etc. When I put two lights in the same area (one focused right on top of the other) the lumens DO NOT increase. The area may appear to be more illuminated but in fact is receiving the same lumens. If I want it truly brighter I need to get a brighter lamp. 5 1000w lamps focused right on top of one another will pale in comparison to one 5k lamp. Stop spreading bad information or prove it.
 

ceestyle

Well-Known Member
I think you need to cough up the math on how lumens add. Because every physics book Ive read and all the information on the internet at the physics forums state other-wise. As a matter of fact on several they do AL B's demonstration as the perfect example.
There is something wrong with his demonstration.

Lumens are a measurement of intensity along a single band-width of light.
No, not exactly, but that's ok.

No one should listen to you until you can prove it with the math and physical experiment OH.. and I am a Professional lighting designer. I have lit theatre, concerts, television etc. When I put two lights in the same area (one focused right on top of the other) the lumens DO NOT increase. The area may appear to be more illuminated but in fact is receiving the same lumens. If I want it truly brighter I need to get a brighter lamp. 5 1000w lamps focused right on top of one another will pale in comparison to one 5k lamp. Stop spreading bad information or prove it.
You need to study what you apparently do for a living. Please read this thread: https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/74888-1550-watts-cfl-s-13.html#post968704

There is plenty of math there for you, along with an experiment that proves conclusively that yes, lumens do add.
 

nickfury510

Well-Known Member
Just put the cfl's as close as you can and use as many as you can. Thats all you relaly need to know. The debate that will rage wont be worth reading.
:hump: no shit....this thread is going to end up with another 50 pages...abut lumens....then hid-v-cfl....then someone is going to bring up leds....and so on and so on....isnt consistency great:mrgreen::joint:.....
 

ceestyle

Well-Known Member
:hump: no shit....this thread is going to end up with another 50 pages...abut lumens....then hid-v-cfl....then someone is going to bring up leds....and so on and so on....isnt consistency great:mrgreen::joint:.....
Well, I agree, except that knowing how more bulbs and more powerful CFLs will affect your lighting intensity is important if you want to optimize your setup. I personally don't use or advocate CFLs, but if you use them you should be smart about it.
 

nickfury510

Well-Known Member
Well, I agree, except that knowing how more bulbs and more powerful CFLs will affect your lighting intensity is important if you want to optimize your setup. I personally don't use or advocate CFLs, but if you use them you should be smart about it.
i dont dissagree...im just saying this is a debate that keeps going on and on and on.....it always starts out innocent...but in the end..there is always bloodshed and a seriously hijacked thread that is about 2 months old....:mrgreen:
 
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