Buds quality LEDs VS HPS

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Phillips designed the 315 3100k bulb to be a stand alone light source for horticulture but for our purpose you need more of them to equal the results.

I bet they work fantastic for herb or lettuce production at lower cost.

That’s the real point to every argument like this though. These are all just tools. Plenty of variety to pick the right one for each of us.

Any argument past which is the right tool for the specific situation is just for an agenda.
Philips used to make a CMH bulb for the 400W HPS magnetic ballast of which I have three. Could only get them in cases of six for $300. Sure wish I'd dug up the cash for those at the time.

400WattCeramic3.jpg
 

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
Philips used to make a CMH bulb for the 400W HPS magnetic ballast of which I have three. Could only get them in cases of six for $300. Sure wish I'd dug up the cash for those at the time.

View attachment 4058601

Those bulbs were designed for high cri to light retail showrooms and places that need natural light to see color like auto paint shops.

Cobkits told a story earlier in the thread about the origin of the bulb.

The new horticulture specific ones use a low frequency square wave ballast to keep a better power curve and burn the new specific gasses hotter which gives much higher par.

Spectrum charts use a static intensity to show the whole spectrum. But even in the example you showed. The hps looks les powerful as far as light spectrum but watt for watt is much more intense than that old bulb.

Likely great for veg like a t-5 I bet though. But the new 4200k 315 should be better. Much better.
 

see4

Well-Known Member
Yep, I'm running HPS in veg.
I started with bare bulb MH and my younger plants didn't like it all. Switched to HPS and everyone is happy.
The problem was probably too much UVB.
Interesting, I may give that a try in one of my tents, see how it goes.

That's one reason why I've been migrating to LED only is the ability to stick one light source in a tent, put it on a timer along with timed water and check in every couple days. And not have to worry about swapping bulbs or hoods.
 

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
Interesting, I may give that a try in one of my tents, see how it goes.

That's one reason why I've been migrating to LED only is the ability to stick one light source in a tent, put it on a timer along with timed water and check in every couple days. And not have to worry about swapping bulbs or hoods.
This will be the last flower run with my two Hortiliux HPS bulbs, which is another reason I'm thinking a full LED upgrade will happen around April.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Interesting, I may give that a try in one of my tents, see how it goes.

That's one reason why I've been migrating to LED only is the ability to stick one light source in a tent, put it on a timer along with timed water and check in every couple days. And not have to worry about swapping bulbs or hoods.
A good Super HPS has a decent amount of blue light to promote growth an lots of red for great buds. I love my EYE Hortilux Super HPS and bought an expensive Conversion one to use with my 1000W MH magnetic. It only draws 940W so save a bit on power too. lol

Out in BC last Aug I picked up a used MH/HPS 1000W for $70. Should have got two and a couple of the used light rails too for $150 each. Love the one I have now. At another grow store in Chilliwack I dropped a grand and in that got 2 Super HPS for $40 each made by Light EnerG. The spectral chart on the back looks almost identical to the one on the Hortilux box so why not try them out. The regular EYE for HPS was $99. I paid $170 for the conversion bulb a year last Aug and they are $225 now at the same store.

I don't often have to swap out bulbs or hoods. What do you get up to. :)

:peace:
 

see4

Well-Known Member
A good Super HPS has a decent amount of blue light to promote growth an lots of red for great buds. I love my EYE Hortilux Super HPS and bought an expensive Conversion one to use with my 1000W MH magnetic. It only draws 940W so save a bit on power too. lol

Out in BC last Aug I picked up a used MH/HPS 1000W for $70. Should have got two and a couple of the used light rails too for $150 each. Love the one I have now. At another grow store in Chilliwack I dropped a grand and in that got 2 Super HPS for $40 each made by Light EnerG. The spectral chart on the back looks almost identical to the one on the Hortilux box so why not try them out. The regular EYE for HPS was $99. I paid $170 for the conversion bulb a year last Aug and they are $225 now at the same store.

I don't often have to swap out bulbs or hoods. What do you get up to. :)

:peace:
Nice info man. I usually use EYEs for my HPS, never thought to use it for veg though. I will definitely give it a shot.

Usually the best I hope for is like 1.2gpw - but I just dont have the time to tend to it as I should apparently, most people are pulling in up to, and over, 2gpw which is awesome.

I actually do a lot of my grows for pollen chucking. I like testing out new strains, watching how characteristics from one plant show up in another. And all my bud is for personal stash. Though I have been getting some interest from my local dispensary, so ya never know... but like I said, I just don't have time to commit to all that right now.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Nice info man. I usually use EYEs for my HPS, never thought to use it for veg though. I will definitely give it a shot.

Usually the best I hope for is like 1.2gpw - but I just don't have the time to tend to it as I should apparently, most people are pulling in up to, and over, 2gpw which is awesome.

I actually do a lot of my grows for pollen chucking. I like testing out new strains, watching how characteristics from one plant show up in another. And all my bud is for personal stash. Though I have been getting some interest from my local dispensary, so ya never know... but like I said, I just don't have time to commit to all that right now.
You could be my long lost twin brother. :)

I'm about the same. It's not a business to me but like you I may stray that way. I have talked to the owner of a compassion club in Kelowna, BC I joined about supplying CBD strains which he is crying for. I got a half oz of CBD Critical Mass coming next week from there. 9%CBD and 6%THC. Would prefer 12 and 6 but that's the best he's got atm. Should tide me over until CBD girls are done in 7-8 weeks. I'll make 12g into cocobudder and keep a couple grams for hitting in the pipe.

I never bother figuring out g/w. All a crock and hard to calculate with any real accuracy. I know when I done real good and that's good enough for me. lol

:peace:
 

wietefras

Well-Known Member
I'm in a different situation than most indoor growers. I need the heat that my HIDs give off. If I were to spend a lot of money replacing my old magnetics with state of the art COBs I would be having to have a heater running all the time and not just during the dark periods.

As heaters don't grow bud but the lights do I'll be sticking to HIDs for the foreseeable future.
Indeed with leds you need to put more effort on keeping the heat in, but with some changes to setup that is possible too. The heat still gets produced. You will have less heat obviously, because you pump in less watts, but still there is a lot of heat being pulled out of the tent by the exhaust fan. The thing is that with leds you have mostly heat in the form of convection and not so much radiated heat as you have with HPS. So basically the led heat flows up naturally and there it gets sucked out. Never reaching the plants. I have moved the exhaust to the bottom so the heat of the leds gets sucked through the plants before it goes out. Positioning circulation fans to blow over the leds also helps spreading the heat more.

I also would like to use water cooling and then to reuse some of the heat where it's needed. Either put it back into the grow again or perhaps heat up another grow next to it when running two of them side by side with an opposite time schedule (when one is dark the other is light)
 

Dave455

Well-Known Member
Nice info man. I usually use EYEs for my HPS, never thought to use it for veg though. I will definitely give it a shot.

Usually the best I hope for is like 1.2gpw - but I just dont have the time to tend to it as I should apparently, most people are pulling in up to, and over, 2gpw which is awesome.

I actually do a lot of my grows for pollen chucking. I like testing out new strains, watching how characteristics from one plant show up in another. And all my bud is for personal stash. Though I have been getting some interest from my local dispensary, so ya never know... but like I said, I just don't have time to commit to all that right now.
Would think local dispensary have to purchase from licensed source...correct ?
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Indeed with leds you need to put more effort on keeping the heat in, but with some changes to setup that is possible too. The heat still gets produced. You will have less heat obviously, because you pump in less watts, but still there is a lot of heat being pulled out of the tent by the exhaust fan. The thing is that with leds you have mostly heat in the form of convection and not so much radiated heat as you have with HPS. So basically the led heat flows up naturally and there it gets sucked out. Never reaching the plants. I have moved the exhaust to the bottom so the heat of the leds gets sucked through the plants before it goes out. Positioning circulation fans to blow over the leds also helps spreading the heat more.

I also would like to use water cooling and then to reuse some of the heat where it's needed. Either put it back into the grow again or perhaps heat up another grow next to it when running two of them side by side with an opposite time schedule (when one is dark the other is light)
Not growing in a tent. 8x7x6.5'h concrete underground bunker. Large cement box under my place that is like a big crawl space for the pump, pressure tank etc as our water comes from a dugout on my property. Old guy I bought it from built a cold storage room down there with 4" intake and outlets that I rigged a fan to until a few years ago when I punched a hole through near the ceiling and put in a 6" outlet. Never gets warmer than around 60F down there so all my intake air comes from the basement. Does get almost freezing tho cannot be allowed to freeze. All the free A/C I want. :)

Does mean I need heat or hot lights burning to keep room temps up all year as well tho. Building an 8x6 addition to current room with an 8x4.5' grow space inside for a 4 tub DWC flowering room. 1000W HPS riding on a 6'6" light rail to light it up. Wife used my lumber for her chicken coop projects so need 4 sheets of OSB and a few more 2x4s I'll get next week. Will be rigging fans to use warm air from one room to keep the temps up in the other room when it's dark and visa-versa. Like the old saying, A penny saved is . . . Oh, wait. Canada doesn't have pennies any more so I'm screwed! :D

:peace:
 

see4

Well-Known Member
Would think local dispensary have to purchase from licensed source...correct ?
From the completely 100% legal legit side of things, you are absolutely correct.

Not all dispensaries are that...

I have in the past had my nugs tested and have come up clean and good thc levels. they wanted more money to get a "certified" stamp or some shit... it was for personal use so I opted not to give away free money..
 

alalamu

New Member
Hi Guys!
I am looking for your opinions about this light?
It says 4 x 200 W, which would suit me as I plan to replace a 1000 W HPS. The price is 800 USD or 640 EUR.
What do you think about the quality of this fixture?
 

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