Could someone help me with a light for a 6' by 4' room? Been reading about this for 2 days solid and my brain is bleeding at this point.
Aiming for 10 4' F-series gen 3 strips. (2240mA If 46Vf) and run them at around 1400mA to improve efficiency and temps. ( I guess that would be around 28Vf at that current?) Could someone suggest the best driver(s) combo for that? Would it be possible to passively cool at this current? I plan to mount everything on aluminium U channel or rectangular tube. Thanks.
At half current a double row F strip still needs ~45v. You have 24sft or 2,2m2 and you need at least 30 - 35w per sft. So 720-840w total.
A Meanwell HLG-240H-48A or B would have 5,2amps (and is the model with the best price : performance rating) and with 5 strips in parallel each strip would run with 1040mA(probably with up to 1100mA because this driver can go up to 280w). So 3 HLG-240H-48B and 15 double row 4ft F-strips would fit perfect. And you would have one 4ft strip each 4inch which means you'll get incredible uniform distribution with only 4-6" distance if you want.
Running F-series at half current means the diodes run with only 60mA and thats even below test current for LM561c. You could simply use efficiency numbers for LM561c and forget F-strip datasheets.
At 1050mA each strip needs ~45v and would run with 49-50w. With 15 strips thats around 750w net and probably ~790w at the wall. System efficiency should be ~2,4μMol/J(Watt) incl. driver loss(6%) so the total output(PPF) should be ~1800μMol/s. 6x4' is roughly ~2,16m² so the PPFD would be ~830μMol/s/m². The calculated numbers you see usually with 10-12" distance to the canopy. With more distance the intensity is reduced and with less distance you can measure higher values. Pretty sure at 6" you would have ~1000μMol/s across the whole area.
For system and design simulations Sammy has two calculator tools available; one for single diodes and one for their LED engines.
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/led/support/tools/calculator-pkg
http://www.samsung.com/led/support/tools/engine-calculator/
Makes it a lot easier to plan a fixture and you get at least a few more numbers to work with. You can convert the lumen output of 3000°k F-strips by 69 to get and idea of the total PPF. I recommend to order a cheap 12-15$ luxmeter from e3ay/am4zon they are perfect for height and dimmer adjustment and for spot measurings. Simply divide the readings by 69 and you have it converted to μMol/s/m²
Here is a screeny another user posted last year. It contains the most important data for LM561c include the conversion factor(PPF fact) for each LM561c spectrum(thanks
@wietefras ) and the 3000°k is the most efficient spectrum for veg & bloom cycle.
So, bro! No bleeding brain anymore, lol!
With 3 HLG-240's and 15pcs 4ft double row F-strips you are well prepared for the next few years. For cooling you can simple use aluminum c-channel. Click my signature and have a closer look on my 400w strip/COB/UVB fixture. C or U-channels you can get pretty cheap and at 60mA per diode you could also get away using just 2mm aluminum sheets.
