Things to Know About Lighting

FreeLeaf

FreeLeaf

Active Member
After reading all of this thread (took forever!)I have a couple of questions.
I have a 20sqft flowering chamber for 6 plants (max in my county in Ca without running the risk of getting shackled) and I am planning on getting a 600w hps. I would really like to get a digital ballast w/dual voltage so I don't have to have an electrician come out and hook up a 220 outlet. I am looking at the Lumatek digital 120/240 http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/printItem.asp?Source=CK&ic=HLBADILT06360
Suggestions or comments on this ballast?

Also after reading this thread their wasn't a lot of info on the difference between the HPS bulbs available. Most peeps refered to using "cool tubes" If I get the cool tube do I need a paticular type of hood to accomidate it?

It sounds like some of these hoods are already set up for venting to help reduce the heat and keep the room at the desirable temp.
Any suggestions on the type of hood or what to look for?

Thanks in advance guys...
 
riddleme

riddleme

Well-Known Member
So for the last several weeks I have been reading threads in this forum and it has been interesting :eyesmoke:

I have only asked a few questions, which were mostly about cfl's as I was considering starting with them. But based on all my research I have changed my mind and will now be using a 250 watt hps (2.5 x 2.5 x 6ft) with therapy bulbs for suppliment (links coming) I made this choice after lots of reading.

I wanted to contribute something back to the forum so thought I would share some of my research and reasoning (hope some of the more experienced will chime in if I am wrong???

a small bit of background, I am an electronics tech mostly work on computers and monitors (35 yrs) I repair electronic ballast every day (back lighting for lcd monitors) so I understand these things and I love research :mrgreen:

I have read Jorges book and seemorebuds and the grow bible and I have watched several dvd's, from all of this and this forum I have seen that the basics are pretty much the same and my intent is to stay with the thread and talk about lights.

For all you noobs (like me) I found it amazing that lux and lumens are the same thing only measured differently

"LUX is an abbreviation for Lumens per square meter" basically lux is metric and lumens is "american" (per sq ft) very informative explanation here,
http://www.theledlight.com/lumens.html

now for the therapy bulb, I read that the CRI of the sun at noon at the equater is 100 at 5000k (kelvin) and it made sense to me that we are all trying to re-create the properties of the sun as best we can in an indoor grow so I started looking and discovered that the best cri rating for lights is 98 for flourescent tubes (best I found for cfl's was 96)
not that it matters but by comparrison the cri for hps is 22 and for mh it is 70.
Before anyone "yells" at me I do understand that cri is more about how we "see" color but it helped me find these bulbs and in the end that is all that really matters. What I discovered is that there is a whole industry of of folks trying to re-create the sun for different reasons than growing "human theraputical treatment" and there is one company that has come real close in making these bulbs they have several but I have picked one in particular for its increased BLUE spectrum as I want multi spectrum in my cabinet :bigjoint: cri =98 kelvin = 6500k lumens = over 3000 price $12.99 each.
here is a link showing specteral differences/comparisons and it has UVB which I now believe is important based on all my reading.
http://www.truesun.com/proddetail.php?prod=Lumichrome_1XX_full_spectrum_light

here are other options from the same company (manufacture)
http://www.budgetlighting.com/lumichrome_full_spectrum_lamps.html

While for me this going to be an experiment (combination of these with my 250 watt hps) I do believe for sure these will be great bulbs for clones and seedlings

I look forward to the opinions of more experienced growers???
and hope it helps others that are starting out like me
 
matsuwa

matsuwa

Member
hey guys, so I read that for starting off your seedlings cfl's are perfect, but my question, is there a difference if we have different spectrums of cfl at the same time? Like one tube blue light and another red?
 
RemeberMe

RemeberMe

Active Member
Freeleaf, if you only have room for one light make it a 1000 hps. 400 watts difference is about $32 difference when vegging a month, and only $21 when flowering. Flowering is the main amount of time this light will be used. You only veg for about 5 weeks and flower for 10 weeks.

Like you know this is legal so no worries about anything and you're better off maximizing your yield with the bigger light. You've already spent a lot (no doubt) so why let the additional cost of about $100 stop you from maybe doubling your yield. Also, if you can keep them outdoors most of the time (once again, no worries except some fool stealing them). Hard to get used to how legal this is but the DEA said they will not prosecute anyone growing it for their own medical usage.
 
FreeLeaf

FreeLeaf

Active Member
RemeberMe said:
Freeleaf, if you only have room for one light make it a 1000 hps. 400 watts difference is about $32 difference when vegging a month, and only $21 when flowering. Flowering is the main amount of time this light will be used. You only veg for about 5 weeks and flower for 10 weeks.

Like you know this is legal so no worries about anything and you're better off maximizing your yield with the bigger light. You've already spent a lot (no doubt) so why let the additional cost of about $100 stop you from maybe doubling your yield. Also, if you can keep them outdoors most of the time (once again, no worries except some fool stealing them). Hard to get used to how legal this is but the DEA said they will not prosecute anyone growing it for their own medical usage.
Click to expand...
Thank You for the good advice RM. Since this is an enclosed closet, temp control will become a serious issue. Time to start looking into portable A/C units.
Getting the correct bulb(cool tube) and the correct hood seem to be very important.
 
RemeberMe

RemeberMe

Active Member
Go with a hood like a Cool Sun. It seals very well so you can run a vent and get out most of the heat from a 1000. I have a 4" turbine fan (under $90) sucking from the outside, through the hood, to outside using duct. This keeps all the smell inside the grow chamber. The temp will be dropping in CA anyway so you might need that light to keep the plants warm.

Also, the ballast doesn't matter that much. Go with a cheapy on Ebay or get a shop to match the price locally (if you're in San Jose then go through South Bay Hydroponics for matching all prices including internet).

cheap ballasts http://cgi.ebay.com/Sun-System-Budget-Gro-1000-Watt-HPS-Ballast-1000W_W0QQitemZ320422847352QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4a9ab0a378&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

http://cgi.ebay.com/SUN-SYSTEM-10-HPS-1000-WATT-REMOTE-BALLAST-120V-240V_W0QQitemZ400055039984QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5d252377f0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
 
RemeberMe

RemeberMe

Active Member
Although I guess if it is only 6 plants depending on how much room they really take up (not just the room size) maybe a 600 is all you need. The upside with a 1000 is you can space them further apart, letting stronger light get to the sides and lower buds, probably greatly increasing the yield.

If you wonder why I am dwelling so much on this aspect it's because I am considering taking a 600 ballast back (don't think they will take the bulb) and getting a 1000 instead for my grow room. A 600 is very bright but the light tapers off quick when you are trying to reach a good 4' away. Sunlight is 10000 lumens, and if the square root principle of a hps light was true I would have plenty of light from the 600 at that distance (still over 10,000) but I just don't see that with the back of hand meter (wish I had a real light meter).
 
RemeberMe

RemeberMe

Active Member
OK. Got some good info on how light resonds to distance. Found this "It decreases with the square of the distance from the source ... just like Newton's law of gravity. " here ( http://www.gummy-stuff.org/M-theory3.htm ). So even 3 feet from the source leaves only 8,888 (80,000-600w divided by 9 (3 squared)). And that's just 3 ft away! So I'll be going down and trading that 600 for the 1000.
 
FreeLeaf

FreeLeaf

Active Member
You are right RM. Why not go with the 1000w. Now I need to vent the hood using an inline fan and ducting. I need to vent the room of oxygen and run it through a scrubber and another line comming in replinishing the co2 and for A/C. (I live in the valley and it gets way hot in the summer). I can run a duct from the main A/C in the house. Now all I need is 2 inline fans. 1 for the hood and one to vent the room. Sound about right?
 
RemeberMe

RemeberMe

Active Member
I'm lucky that cooling is not a huge issue like you. But yeah, if you can get cooling from the house then two fans sounds about right (scrubber exhaust and light exhaust). You'll have to use a big fan on the scrubber to insure no air (smell) is getting pushed out unscrubbed by the AC vent. Maybe get the AC vent set up and blowing to help gauge how big the scrub fan needs to be.
 
RemeberMe

RemeberMe

Active Member
Welll I thought I was going to get the cheap ballast and bulb but got upsold. The guy stated that cheap ballast I mentioned on ebay would put out far less lumens than a digital ballast (gallaxy 1000 hps/mh). But he did match the ebay shipped price of $350 so that helped a little. I certainly wish I would have gone with the 1000 right off. I ate a little on the swap but hopefully it will come back right away :)
 
RemeberMe

RemeberMe

Active Member
Yes, I saw the lumatex. It's only $302 with free shipping on ebay here http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120470491600&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching Use Bing and Paypal to get an additionall 8% or more off ebay Buy Now orders (sign up with Bing and Paypal required). When you get to the Bing page just enter for a search of like "injectors" that will give you the little gol coin$ percentage off offer. Click on that then change the search to what ever you want (in this case the lumatek). After Bing/paypal and ebay discounts the price is down to $267. I bought the Galaxy but still might return it for the cheap lumatek.
 
lonleysmoka

lonleysmoka

Active Member
FreeLeaf said:
I think I am going with the Lumatek Digital 1000w ballast.
http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/printItem.asp?Source=CK&ic=HLBADILT10120

$315.00 + tax and shipping.

The same ballast through HTGS is $399.00 +?
Click to expand...

Hey freeleaf I have heard that the lumatex digital ballast is not that great. I was in a nursery last week and the guy helping me said their customers were not really satisfied with the lumatex life. I guess he was implying that things were going out on the ballast or it was burning bulbs. Just thought id throw that out there. Take it or leave it:mrgreen:
 
RemeberMe

RemeberMe

Active Member
Decided to go with the Lumatek dimmable 1000. Costs the same as other 1000s and can switch down to 500 on those hot days a 1000 would cook my plants (no AC).
 
Straight up G

Straight up G

New Member
I have a 400w HPS, it is approaching winter in UK now do you think I should use 24/0 to ensure my plants (Auto's) stay warm enough through the winter I was originally goin with 18/6? +Rep.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top