Hey there, A question for all you DIY'ers. In terms of heat, PAR, and light output in a grow box situation would it be better to have fewer but higher watt bulbs, or a lot of lower wattage. Is 1 125W > 10 12.5W?
depends what your attempting to do.... save money on power or save money on light purchase... reduce heat... cfl's for example are more efficient at lower watts... once it crosses a threshold.. you should have just gone HPS/MH... your casting money into the wind with efficiency... HPS/MH at lower watts is not efficient... once its way up to 1000 watts, you get more bang for the buck Its easier to air cool a single bulb thats only eight or so inches long in a cool tube rather than a giant 14.5 inch cfl... so their is give and take... but in the realm of only using cfl's with lower watts and higher watts.. watts are watts.. its just easier to have a single bulb.. but its better to have light coming from all over to cover your plant... so hit and miss i guess if the grow is micro or a seedling... cfl if your trying to produce yield.. HPS/MH or hid im sure you knew this... but its always nice to have it spelled out, well kinda
At what point does CFL become WATT heavy and put out too much heat? Would it be better to have 10 23 watt bulbs or 1 250 watt?
The real question is not when CFLs become "watt heavy" but rather when they become "lumen light" (light here being the opposite of heavy). Below about 23w actual, CFLs are too weak to do much good for the plants.
I'm more interested in the upper end. At what point does a CFL put out more heat than it does lumens? I have two 65 Watt CFL bulbs that run pretty cool, but is a single 125 watt cfl better?
you cant grab a 125 with a bare hand... its gonna burn... they run pretty hot... I'd rather have a 150 watt mh/hps system than a 125 clf... theirs all kinds of air cooled sockets for a mh/hps system than a giant cfl bulb
if your looking for an actual temp on the 125 bulb.. pm me.. ill actually take the time to check it for you.. but if knowing that it runs that hot helps...i'd rather not check right now... im drinking
You can't grab a 65 watt CFL for that matter. The big 125 watt cfls fit those sockets and air cooled hoods too. I'll PM you later. Thanks! So does anyone know what the efficiency curve on a CFL is? Heat vs. output vs. wattage?
I have three 125 CFL's laying around... They will barely fit in a air cooled hood.. the bulbs are huge... maybe four inches around and 14.5 inches long... it would do no good unless its a 8 inch pyrex.... the HPS/ MH really should be air cooled and there for has a larger start up cost. I also believe that the HPS/MH build puts out more lumens per watt... its only like a thousand or so, but it really does appear to be a no brainer to me I can see where your headed with all your questions related to heat and efficiency in reguards to mh/hps and CFL grows...can you please skip the flow charts and really ask the questions you want to ask? How large is the grow space? what is your budget? what do you plan to get from your upgrade? I have seen the flow charts your wanting to see... they have not been stickied... ill go back and start looking..
http://forum.grasscity.com/lighting/321592-thinking-about-using-150w-hps-dont-bother-heres-why.html here's exactly what you need to read... its pretty much information overload... keep us posted
LOL, this is one time where all my questions are purely theoretical, but.... Assuming that budget is no object (skip LED's, I already have begun worshiping at the throne of transistors , just waiting for $$$) and we'll be growing in my current space (2'x3'x3' rubbermaid), where does CFL become the most efficient (and the post below will tell me) This is incredible. Answers everything I've been wondering. Yes. No. Close to it. So. My question has been answered (as far as CFL efficiency goes) but that brings up another question. My light is coming from the following CFLs: (2) 65 watt [6,800 lum] (3) 42 watt [7,800 lum] (9) 23 watt [15,300 lum] That's 463 watts if my math is correct and 29,900 lumens or 65 lumens per watt??? Temps are at the upper range of acceptable (mid 80s) but with the weather turning I've been piping cool air from outside. The box feels like it dropped a few degrees but I need a real thermometer to know. So I'm above the 250 watt threshold that the OP in the link was talking about so on that note it'd be more efficient to use HPS, yes? But I'm growing in a VScrOG which creates a really unique cooling situation most people have never experienced. I've never experienced anything as this is my first grow and the second prototype. My journal for a reference. As you can see, I've really only got 8" or so between my screen and my lights. With CFL, no problem. With a big honking HPS/MH bulb, reflector, cool-tube, etc... not so simple. Theoretically, would it be more efficient to replace all my CFL's over 23 watt and just use those guys? Think it'd drop my heat? Clearly, a 125 watt CFL provides no benefit to someone like me but is the amount of effort building and adjusting the box to HPS or T5? Honestly, I don't have the money to change anything right now aside from the CFLs to different temperatures but for anyone else who might have the same question? I love it when questions are answered on a forum and then you get another.