13 gallon buckets. 50 gallon reservoir. 2" water pump pvc connections. 1/2" air pump tube connections. Basing the design off this: https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/12-x-1000-watt-xxl-8x24-scrog.48467/ Preview of Model Model https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/4d671bdc-e139-4bcb-af18-009b91286aeb/10k-Hydroponics-Setup For full view install this program then download and open the file with SketchUp. https://www.sketchup.com/download/sketchup-viewer/windows/thank-you https://www.sketchup.com/download/sketchup-viewer/mac/thank-you I've grown a couple of times but never like this. I'm not going to pull the trigger until I'm satisfied I've got everything hammered out. If anyone has any ideas to contribute or see any flaws please discuss here. I haven't chosen a strain or nutrient line yet. I'd like to shoot for around 1.5lbs per plant but I know that will take practice. I've heard people with similar setups going far beyond that, even past the 2s. Equipment 50 Gal Reservoir Aura Systems 36,000 BTU Mini-Split Air Conditioner Ideal-Air Dehumidifier 120 Pint w/ Internal Condensate Pump Aprilaire 800 Residential Steam Humidifier 2x Jebao Inline Pond Pump 1500gph Hailea V-30 1800L/Hour Air Pump Active Aqua Chiller 1HP Titan Controls Ares 8 CO2 Generator Can Max Fan Mixed Flow Inline Fan, 10-Inch 1023 CFM
What do you guys think about LED? I know HID is the tried and true, but I wonder if technology has gotten to the point where LED is worth using for a grow of this scale. I've read 650 watt LED = 1000 watt HID (depending on a million different factors for the specific LED compared of-course). Anyone have experience in this area?
Led is the way to go big or small. But it's still a pricy initial cost. you don't have the cost of bulbs to replace and in a short time they would be paying for themselves. In my own experience I just implemented a 320w Vero 29 cob light. And man it's a nice addition to my HPS light. I'm into week 6 of flower and the buds are just glistening. Something the HPS didn't do for last grow.
Led is not the way to go big or small. There's lots to think about before making that call. I run both so I'm not dogging leds but I've always wondered if leds are such a big advantage why do most commercial/large grow ops run hid. I prefer hid but see the advantages of both, that's why I run both. Leds do get them glistening but when it comes to packing on weight I've yet to see an led compare. Run both and have the best of both. If you really want to check out something interesting check out cmh grow lights. Im really liking what i see. Ill be trying 1 very soon. O.p I think you left 1 huge item off your shopping list. A mini split a/c. Running that many lights even if you have central air it might not be able to handle the load.
Ok, I've done some basic math on this situation. I used this to copy a build for what I'd consider a cost-effective, high quality equivalent to 1000w HPS: http://timbergrowlights.com/600-watt...4x4-framework/ FV: 34.9v x 1.450a = 50.6 watts per cob x 12 = 607.26 watts 607.26 watts x 56% efficient = 340.0656 PARwatts 340.0656 PARwatts x 90% (10% loss in photons due to walls, reflectors etc.) = 306.05904 PARw 306.05904 PARw x 4.67 (specific QER for that light so urce) = 1429.2957168µmol/s 1429.2957168 µmol/s divided by your space (4x4 per light) in meters = 961.5506909138818 PPFD for led So about 961 PPFD for a 600w LED and 1158 PPFD for a 1000w HPS. Meaning nearly 20% greater performance with a 1000w HPS compared to a 600w LED. And for the cost... Around $450 for a 1000w HPS fixture and $950 for a 600w LED fixture. HPS: $4500 LED: $9500 $1200/year in bulb replacements (2x per year) with HPS. $167/month saved using LED over HPS. Hard to calculate money saved with LED due to lesser cooling demand. Theoretically, it would take around 1.5 years for LED to pay for itself and that's disregarding the basic research I did pointing to 600w LED being inferior to standard 1000w HPS by 20%. It looks like the only option I'd have would be to increase the initial cost of going LED even more by running a 700-800w fixture...At $5k increased costs as is, I'm not sure I'm willing to do that. I may look into LED again in a couple of years when they're cheaper/more advanced and I've earned some money from the HPS. LED is definitely interesting though...Maybe for supplemental lighting down the line I can see it but not right now. I'd probably go LED before CMH, but it looks like I'm sticking with HPS. 1 factor is me not being worried about the LEDs performing like I know HPS will. I think I'm making the safe choice. I just hope its the right choice.
Why would you compare a 1000 watt hid to a 600 led. There's no comparison there the 1000 is a much larger light. The 600 led is inferior by way more then 20%. Led manufactures do a little fancy word play basically bull shitting. Usually a 600 led runs much less wattage at the wall around half or so. That number is not an equivalent #. What it means is the diodes are able to handle 600 watts but they're ran at much less so the diodes last. The 1000 watt hid will kill a 600 with an actual draw around 300 or so all day everyday. It took me buying my 1st led to find that out. I was told after my purchase how it works by the led rep. Some led companies are now starting to list by the actual wattage used or they don't list silly max diode wattage that the light will never see after growers complained about their bs. What length of time are you figured based on. I can tell you from experience a 1000 watt hid doesn't cost 4500 a year unless you live where electricity is out of the price range of the common man. The led figure seems extremely high for a year unless you pay huge bucks for the light at $9500. Those are crazy figures. My electricity would have to triple may be even quadruple or more in price for that to be possible here in the Midwest usa. You may want to rethink that cmh. Theres alot of good news coming from them but they're new and like me you probably want proof. After falling for the led b.s. I want proof.
Light efficiencyand estimated loss from the reflector is factored into both figures. I didn't calculate the LED running at max capacity. Of-course you can compare the lights...it's basic math. 4500 is the cost to purchase 10x reflectors, ballasts and bulbs. I put the electricity figure for HPS in the post. I think you read my post very wrong lol. I'll look deeper into CMH.
Need more info on the room size, insulation, and if air is going to be filtered or not. Also is that a French bucket set up? Is stealth needed?
I'm buying a house with a basement to do this in so I will have a big enough room for the grow. I need 30'x18' of space or 540 sq.ft. I've never heard the term "French bucket" setup but it is a 10-site RDWC. Filtered as in carbon filtration? Yes, it will be filtered. Stealth is not needed. Do you have any information on insulation? I still haven't decided whether or not I'm going to build an enclosure within the basement to house the grow.
sorry the term is Dutch bucket system. My mistake. 8' ceiling? Does it snow where you are? IOW what part of the country is this build going to happen? Are the walls going to be insulated or bare concrete or cinderblock? You will have to decide early on if LED or HID b/c you have cooling requirements to think about which affect ventilation rates. where is the fresh air coming from? Outside the house or inside? I agree with Killset about the a/c This stuff takes a lot of thought
Yes, it snows. Build will be in Colorado. I don't know what material the walls will be. I'm sure that will vary from house to house. That's why lighting is what I'm most focused on at this stage. I think I'm going to build an LED fixture, buy a brand new reflector/hps bulb/ballast and a PAR meter then run some tests myself. I feel like the advertised HPS output is false.
Understood. I am a fan of led myself so I am biased. Seems QB LED or the latest COB LED is the way to go. I would suggest checking out growmau5 on YouTube. His vids are very good if you are going to build esp high wattage LED? Another YouTube vid by chilledled is good too.