I may have put this topic in the wrong section previously, but i was wondering if anyone uses solar tubes to grow. the type im thinking of are said to block out 99% of all UV rays but still bring in full light. Any expert opinions if this is good or bad? Will it work? Will it effect quality? I'm new to the forum, so it's nice to meet you all, and thanks for helping. Edit: to clarify, solar tubes are just shiny pipes that gather sunlight from outside in a dome, and allow it to travel inside. Not wanting to insult any intelligence, just thought some might not know, also, they could be called something totally different in other regions. examples: Solatube Daylighting Systems for Residential projects are the smart alternative to traditional skylights and: Model TGR - rigid low profile SUN TUNNELâ„¢ skylight - Welcome to VELUX America
I know this guy posted a long time ago but I was just wondering same thing. I have seen this solar tubes at home depot for under $400 so that almost same price as a 1000w system new from the hydro stores near me. The benefit would be no electricity, little to no extra heat and its true sunlight. I figure if they do work they would still need good lights when the sun isn't up long enough and my need supplemental light all the time as well. I saw on another site people were worried about the light shining back through tube at night but they have add ons that can block incoming light during day which Iimagine would work for blocking out going light at night. Anyone that has tried this please post how they worked or didn't work. I am real interested. I would gladly buy like 4 to 6 of these is it means saving tons in electricity.
I've never used one for growing, but I put a few of these in a house I was building last year. For their intended purpose, they work great. On a sunny day it's like having a 150 watt bulb on the ceiling, and even on an overcast day they light up a room pretty well. So they gather and focus sunlight on a fixed spot in the room, which I guess could be used to grow under if you weren't worried about stealth. And of course the lighting works in reverse, if the room is lit at night the acrylic dome on the roof glows like a beacon.
yeah if they are equivalent to around 150w then I doubt they would be strong enough. I am gonna try and do some research and see if I can find out how many lumen they can put out. I guess it kinda depends on the weather too. So having alternate lights would still be necessary. I was thinking about adding solar tubes to my house before I was even thinking about growing bud, lol. I wanna go as green as possible in my house. A lot of green tech is way over priced right now though. Thanks for responding though.
Just a tip for anyone going this route. Most info is base on a cali location for sun. So if your not from cali area, you will need a bigger tube. My neighbors have one installed and what i think is cool is that the opening can be adjusted for brightness on a dimmer switch
Yeah they have a few add on choices from what I have seen. The dimmer which is kinda like a motorized valve/baffle. When straight up and down full light or when horizontal no light. They also have a light bulb add on encase you want to have light come from it at night. I doubt the light bulb would be much use for growing unless it was a green light or something.