LEC - Light-Emitting Ceramic

dbkick

Well-Known Member
Although I could be mistaken since I glance back and don't see a link hyroot posted but I did see it somewhere.
 

bellcore

Well-Known Member
Do you folks think a LEC 315 will put off a great deal more heat than a uncooled bare 250w HPS/MH bulb with remote ballast?
 

alesh

Well-Known Member
Do you folks think a LEC 315 will put off a great deal more heat than a uncooled bare 250w HPS/MH bulb with remote ballast?
I think that it will actually produce less heat.
edit: It won't but they're well matched.
 
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ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Do you folks think a LEC 315 will put off a great deal more heat than a uncooled bare 250w HPS/MH bulb with remote ballast?
What's 'a great deal more'? Based on spectrum and lamp efficiency, I think the two will be comparable. Your grow room design will make a bigger difference; I know my room is performing well when the temps don't rise but the RH does.
 

bellcore

Well-Known Member
I'm working with a 2x2x5 tent at the moment and the 250w is fine for temps. My plants usually are short from toping and lack of light too. lol
 
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GroErr

Well-Known Member
Environment being in order they put out less heat than a 400 imo. For reference, watt for watt when I swapped my LEC from LED's, my room temps went up 2-3F with no adjustments. That said, if you're thinking of running one of the Sun Systems LEC's, between 14" for the fixture, + your pot height + allowing 18-20" above the canopy, you'll be limited to shorter plants in a 5ft. tent. imo in a 5ft H room you'd be better off going bare-bulb to maximize your available head room.
 

bellcore

Well-Known Member
I have the tent in a 7x2x7.5 closet in my house. I could get a taller tent (3x2x7 or 4x2x7) for flower and use the existing for veg if I run into vertical constraints. I appreciate everyone opinions. Thank you. :clap:
 

Sativied

Well-Known Member
yes. But hps and mh use an aluminum arc. And CMH use a ceramic arc.
Sure, they aren't all the same thing, but they are all types of HID. And some (pre-cmh) MH use Quartz, which if they followed the by Sun trademarked wordplay on LED should be called LEQ. Light Emitting Ceramic (Device) is something completely different (printable sheets of light.)
 

AquariusPanta

Well-Known Member
Sure, they aren't all the same thing, but they are all types of HID. And some (pre-cmh) MH use Quartz, which if they followed the by Sun trademarked wordplay on LED should be called LEQ. Light Emitting Ceramic (Device) is something completely different (printable sheets of light.)
Which one out of the bunch, today, boasts the highest efficiency?

I'm under the impression that it's the LEC but would like to read your thoughts.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Which one out of the bunch, today, boasts the highest efficiency?

I'm under the impression that it's the LEC but would like to read your thoughts.
It's not just the total of the photons emitted you should be concerned with; for instance, HPS lamps emit most of their light in the orange, yellow and green posts of the spectrum- which plants can't use well if at all.

Plants need to get light in the far red and blue/indigo ends of the visible light spectrum in order to grow, and this is where the advantage of the newer types of HID lamps lies.

Don't be suckered by how bright HPS light looks to YOU, your eyes aren't trying to use chlorophyll to synthesize food.

The new types of HID lamps are thus not only somewhat more efficient at converting watts into umols of light, but DRASTICALLY better at emitting that light in directs the plants can use.

Only LED can be better, and even then it's not guaranteed- and it is also currently more expensive on a watt for watt or light emitted basis.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
I have the tent in a 7x2x7.5 closet in my house. I could get a taller tent (3x2x7 or 4x2x7) for flower and use the existing for veg if I run into vertical constraints. I appreciate everyone opinions. Thank you. :clap:
Get a 315W LEC setup. You will love the results.

Hope that simplifies the answer to your question.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
@churchhaze I'm getting some of these 315W LEC lighting kits and I'll be running them against baseline results from HPS lighting run on both magnetic and conventional electronic ballasts.

I'm also interested in getting some square wave ballasts to run 860W CDM lamps that I have, to see if I can improve their performance. They're already known to improve the performance of both conventional HPS and MH lamps.

And, I'm still interested in the LED project.
 

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
It's not just the total of the photons emitted you should be concerned with; for instance, HPS lamps emit most of their light in the orange, yellow and green posts of the spectrum- which plants can't use well if at all.

Plants need to get light in the far red and blue/indigo ends of the visible light spectrum in order to grow, and this is where the advantage of the newer types of HID lamps lies.

Don't be suckered by how bright HPS light looks to YOU, your eyes aren't trying to use chlorophyll to synthesize food.

The new types of HID lamps are thus not only somewhat more efficient at converting watts into umols of light, but DRASTICALLY better at emitting that light in directs the plants can use.

Only LED can be better, and even then it's not guaranteed- and it is also currently more expensive on a watt for watt or light emitted basis.
This is actually somewhat of a misconception. If green, yellow, and orange really weren't used well, why would HPS be considered the benchmark everyone's trying to beat? HPS has a very high photon output, a high rad. efficiency, and a very good spectrum for growing tall, sun loving plants.

People get too hung up on the absorbance of chloraphyll and assume how well a wavelength is absorbed means the same thing as how effective that wavelength is. If a green photon is not absorbed by the top canopy layer, it will either transmit and be absorbed by the next layer down, or bounce off the walls a few times until it hits the top canopy again. If there's one thing people have learned from R+B leds, it's that they make "Great veg lamps". It's not just because they're weak... R+B light can not grow tall plants, even at high intensities because the top layer canopy will become saturated, and the bottom of the plant will receive very little light. (of course with vert this is different, but the concept is still the same. red nor blue doesn't penetrate or reflect well, it absorbs.)
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
This is actually somewhat of a misconception. If green, yellow, and orange really weren't used well, why would HPS be considered the benchmark everyone's trying to beat? HPS has a very high photon output, a high rad. efficiency, and a very good spectrum for growing tall, sun loving plants.

People get too hung up on the absorbance of chloraphyll and assume how well a wavelength is absorbed means the same thing as how effective that wavelength is. If a green photon is not absorbed by the top canopy layer, it will either transmit and be absorbed by the next layer down, or bounce off the walls a few times until it hits the top canopy again. If there's one thing people have learned from R+B leds, it's that they make "Great veg lamps". It's not just because they're weak... R+B light can not grow tall plants, even at high intensities because the top layer canopy will become saturated, and the bottom of the plant will receive very little light. (of course with vert this is different, but the concept is still the same. red nor blue doesn't penetrate or reflect well, it absorbs.)
Look closer; those photos of the wrong wavelength hit something, get absorbed... and then re-radiated- as HEAT. That heat then stimulates transpiration, which draws nutrients up the stem.

If what you did was true, then green lamps would upset the plant's dark cycle, and of course they don't.
 

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
@churchhaze I'm getting some of these 315W LEC lighting kits and I'll be running them against baseline results from HPS lighting run on both magnetic and conventional electronic ballasts.

I'm also interested in getting some square wave ballasts to run 860W CDM lamps that I have, to see if I can improve their performance. They're already known to improve the performance of both conventional HPS and MH lamps.

And, I'm still interested in the LED project.
You should do both LEC and DIY led. I've always suggested people setup a prototype first.

You've gotta add something to your room. (assuming you didn't add anything yet)
 

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
Look closer; those photos of the wrong wavelength hit something, get absorbed... and then re-radiated- as HEAT. That heat then stimulates transpiration, which draws nutrients up the stem.

If what you did was true, then green lamps would upset the plant's dark cycle, and of course they don't.
The rate of photosyntehsis is not what plants use to determine whether they're sleeping or not. That's determined by the level of Pfr/(Pfr+Pr). Green light sets that to about 50%. Red light sets it to about 85%, and 730nm sets it to ~0%. This works very similar to color vision with 2 cones.

Darkness causes Pfr to slowly convert into Pr.

 
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