best type of light to use with 3' height in cab?

Originally Posted by MisterMan32

Saying LED's put out no heat is false. LED's put out a lot of heat. The main reason they run cooler and can be placed closer is that the heat actually goes in the reverse direction of the light. So, the heat goes up while the light is pointing down. This coupled with the fact that LED's are small, and generally attached to a chunk of aluminum to work as a heat sink, with extra heat sinks mounted on the LED's star, makes them run cool.

Heat rises no matter what; not just with LEDs. Also, I wouldn't exactly say LEDs put out a lot of heat. They're, hands down, the easiest light source to cool - great solution for micro/closet growers.

budballer

A cool tube would make a significant difference in heat. Also, you mention letting plants grow up to the LED, this really isn't a good idea. As others have mentioned, most panels on the market use 60 and/or 90 degree optics (on top of the 3w diodes) that will bleach and stunt the shit out of your plants. I wouldn't go lower than 12-14" if a 3w panel was using 60/90 lenses.

Yea I think ill either go 2x150w HPS of 1x250w HPS. either way id have cool tubes and a good fan. With that setup I think ill be okay

You should consider taking the route i did. Get a switchable (dimmable) 150, 175, 250 watt digital mh/hps ballast.

If you go to saltysupply you can catch a decent deal on a lot of digital lumtek ballast, idk if im allowed to tell you that lol but I'd want someone to tell me.

Haha thank you hanks! That's exactly the ballast I was going to get, but now you made me feel even better about my future purchase. Do you suggest a 250 for my space? Does the lumatek ballast really run the bulb cooler at higher intensity? Not sure I believe all of their sales claims but its a great ballast regardless it seems.

Originally Posted by budballer

Hello RIU! Im going to be building my first cab real soon and was wondering what would be the best light for my set up. The dimensions will be 2' x 2' x 3' tall. I will be using many ideas from the NGB style cabs such as shallow water culture bubbleponics. However I can't decide between a 250 watt HPS and around a 180w actual draw LED set up. For LED choices I came down to two the A51-90 or a Fero LED model with the 6 light modules. Both of these pull between 180 - 200 actual watts and are proven grow lights as far as I've seen. However I've heard mixed thigh about either light in tight spaces. Some say go HID with cool tube to get close to the buds and some say LED with its much lower heat output can be put right up to the buds. Then again even the manufacturers recommend a healthy amount of space between LED light and plant (I guess so color spectrums fully mix?) So now I'm wondering if my budget is around $400 and I am trying to be as electrically efficient as possible.. but yield > energy use so which route should I go for tight vertical space? 250 watt HPS which will run hotter and draw more power, or 180 watt LED which have supposed minimum distances between light and plant. All comes down to which will yield more. Also please don't just say HID cause LED sucks. The Fero LED has been proven to out grow 250 watt HPS. So now that everything is out there and fair.. which light type can produce more up close and personal? Thanks!

Google "PLL Club". Huge thread on another cannabis related board. PLLs would be perfect for your cab because of the limited space and the ability to get the lights pretty close to the plants plus they get a pretty good penetration for fluorescents.

I would not recommend LED panels because you can bleach several strains if the lights get closer to 6-10". With PLLs you can get as close to 3" to a mature plant.

As a primer, PLLs are basically t5 tubes split in half and paired. Therefore you can go as high as 55w (4800 initial lumens) per tube. You can use 6500k for veg and 2700-3000k for flower.

Just my suggestion based on your cab dimensions.

I'll check them out, but I'm looking for electrical efficiency with the best yield, I don't know what it is, but any kind of fluorescent seems to be lacking compared to HID in my mind in every aspect except heat output.

Originally Posted by budballer

I'll check them out, but I'm looking for electrical efficiency with the best yield, I don't know what it is, but any kind of fluorescent seems to be lacking compared to HID in my mind in every aspect except heat output.

Limited head room and HID are typically not a good match, that is why I suggested PLLs.

Originally Posted by brotherjericho

Limited head room and HID are typically not a good match, that is why I suggested PLLs.

+1

PLLs can do wonderful things in the right hands.