kenneth_342
Well-Known Member
how large of an area can a 1000w hps illuminate to grow?
hps area
- Thread starter kenneth_342
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kenneth_342
Well-Known Member
So roughly 20 square feet then. 1000w / 50 w per square foot =20
nongreenthumb
Well-Known Member
not quite,
it would be better to go off the lumens, so say you got a 1000hps that produces 140,000 lumens
working on the law of deminishing light
140,000 lumens at 2 foot away is 35,000 lumens
so at 2 foot away how well can you spread that light, your reflector is going to play a huge part in this, as the reflector directs the light.
the bulb on its own though could light a very large area, althought be less suitable for growing
it would be better to go off the lumens, so say you got a 1000hps that produces 140,000 lumens
working on the law of deminishing light
140,000 lumens at 2 foot away is 35,000 lumens
so at 2 foot away how well can you spread that light, your reflector is going to play a huge part in this, as the reflector directs the light.
the bulb on its own though could light a very large area, althought be less suitable for growing
babygro
Well-Known Member
Roughly 6' x 6'.
kenneth_342
Well-Known Member
babygro
Well-Known Member
Its not wise to use watts per square foot as a guide as it's a very unreliable way of telling light requirements due to the different lumen levels different lights output. To get the most from your plants ideally you need to look at its lumen output and calculate what kind of lumen levels you require for the space you have available.
Light is vitally important to these plants and it's important to give them the correct levels.
nongreenthumb
Well-Known Member
didnt I say that in a roundabout way
babygro
Well-Known Member
Yes, but as I said in my second post, you have to calculate the light requirements of your plants on an individual basis and tailor the light accordingly. Using watts per square foot is not a very reliable guide - you need to look at lumen outputs, distances from the plants and the area its covering.Wouldnt that be 36 square feet?
You want to be working on the basis of giving your plants about 10,000 lumens at the plant tops for flowering.
babygro
Well-Known Member
Pretty muchdidnt I say that in a roundabout way
I was just adding to what you said
kenneth_342
Well-Known Member
So i might have to look into getting a light meter and playing ariund with differnt setups. I currently have my 1000w in a closet downstairs. It about 3ft by 5 ft. I have a unfinesd room though out of the way and was thinking of putting up some chiprock and making a go of it there. I was just kind of wondering how much of the room i should section off.
beenthere donethat
Well-Known Member
20 sq ft or a few sq ft on either side will do you fine.
Basing your grow area on lumens is not a common practice for a few reasons. First...as noted here..lamps have different lumen outputs. Second, the lumen output of all lamps starts to DIMINISH the moment you turn the light on. Everytime it runs it looses a bit more of it's lumens/life. After 6 months many lamps are only putting out 60-75% of the light they put out when they were first fired. Farther down the line..the degradation continues. One of the reasons Hortiluix hps lamps are so popular is that tests have shown that they retain their lumen output longer than some of the other models out there. There are studies out there if anyone cares to search....and friends of mine with a large hydro store did their own test over a 12 month period and found the same thing.
So...does anyone bring the walls of their room INWARD to make up for this ongoing lumen loss or if they were to get a new lamp mid-grow?? Say you had a Horti hps and it put out 140K lumens..then you switched to a Sunmaster Cool deluxe that only has 80K lumens?
Would you move the walls of the room inward because there's a 60K lumen loss? (40% less lumenjs in the Sunmaster as the Horti)
Never seen it done myself. Most folks can't tell how many lumens their lamp is putting out...they can only divide the wattages by the sq ft of the area and get a basic idea of how large to make the space.
And so...50 WATTS per sq ft is the standard for growing weed.
FWIW, I've yet to go to any other cannabis site where anyone uses lumens to calculate their room measurement.
I'd love to hear more. Maybe we've all been doing it wrong for all of these years?
good luck
bt dt
Basing your grow area on lumens is not a common practice for a few reasons. First...as noted here..lamps have different lumen outputs. Second, the lumen output of all lamps starts to DIMINISH the moment you turn the light on. Everytime it runs it looses a bit more of it's lumens/life. After 6 months many lamps are only putting out 60-75% of the light they put out when they were first fired. Farther down the line..the degradation continues. One of the reasons Hortiluix hps lamps are so popular is that tests have shown that they retain their lumen output longer than some of the other models out there. There are studies out there if anyone cares to search....and friends of mine with a large hydro store did their own test over a 12 month period and found the same thing.
So...does anyone bring the walls of their room INWARD to make up for this ongoing lumen loss or if they were to get a new lamp mid-grow?? Say you had a Horti hps and it put out 140K lumens..then you switched to a Sunmaster Cool deluxe that only has 80K lumens?
Would you move the walls of the room inward because there's a 60K lumen loss? (40% less lumenjs in the Sunmaster as the Horti)
Never seen it done myself. Most folks can't tell how many lumens their lamp is putting out...they can only divide the wattages by the sq ft of the area and get a basic idea of how large to make the space.
And so...50 WATTS per sq ft is the standard for growing weed.
FWIW, I've yet to go to any other cannabis site where anyone uses lumens to calculate their room measurement.
I'd love to hear more. Maybe we've all been doing it wrong for all of these years?
good luck
bt dt
kenneth_342
Well-Known Member
no i was just thinking of setting up a new area. Its bigger and would be more out of the way. Since that side of the basement is unfinished i can pretty much do what ever i want for size. So i just wanted a rough idea how much space i could grow under with that light.
babygro
Well-Known Member
Thats why people change their HID bulbs regularly, most change them every two or three grows to ensure the lumen efficacy is high as possible.
Watts per square foot isnt going to help you too much in this scenario either is it?
If most folks don't have the ability (or inclination) to find out how many lumens their bulb is outputting in order to tailor the correct light requirements for their plants then they have no choice but to use an arbitrary measurement system of watts per square foot, which I and others have already stated is a very unreliable way of calculating lighting requirements.
If growers are truly serious about getting the most from their plants they will find out the lumen outputs of bulbs ans select the one that gives them the correct number of lumens for the area they want to use.
Watts per square foot is nothing more than a 'rough estimation and guide'.
Just because there's a general lack of knowledge and understanding of lighting generally amongst growers (on this site and other sites) does not add any gravitas to what you're saying here I'm afraid.
There's no excuse or reason for people in not understanding how to calculate the number of lumens their bulbs are outputting or how many lumens the plants require at the surface canopy.
The growers who produce the very best buds and plants know and understand how light plays such an important part in their growing and they take the time and effort to learn the exact lighting levels required. Watts per square foot is totally irrelevant.
kenneth_342
Well-Known Member
Right on. Thanks for the input everyone.