I have 12x Phantom DE lights ready to go now in this room but ive been rethinking it and wondering if i should run 33x 315w CMH instead. I would be buying china CMH lights on alibaba more than likely unless i find a good deal on some locally used. With the HPS DE i have now i can mount the reflector almost to the ceiling but the intensity might be too much for comfort/safety factor in a 12 light room in my basement.
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if i could go HLG LED for the same cost to outfit the room i would.
NEVER buy elcheapo bulbs. Buy only Philips cmh bulbs. Cmh ballasts from growershouse for 99.00.
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Would be an aweful lot of work to duct 33 lights and run all that extra fan electricity to move that air. Also running AC you would have to take in air from the outside and duct it through the ducts and outside the room. I hated ducting my old MPS/MH lights and have them all hooked together all the time. I would never run ducted lighting again. Cleaning all that glass was a PITA too.
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Not to mention the actual ductwork that needs to be wiped down. I’m with ya, I’ll never go that route again either.
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That’s why I pulled the glass off my reflectors.
No air exchange while running AC =
Better control of the environment
No air leaks, so no smell getting out, and no loss of co2
No light diffusion from glass.
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The one thing having me think about going to LED from DE is, I can run more lighting on a 200amp service. w/ LED. Growing enough to pay bills and save while also keeping luxuries like a/c in the summer is a BIG thing. lol
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@square_root_pharms in my case it was more like “I don’t have the money not to” my original KIND K3 L600’s (two to a 48" x 52" bay) were sufficient but these new Grower’s Choice ROI-E680 LED are much more energy efficient and the heat produced by the Gavita LEC 630 would have brought a whole new HVAC cost to the table. Maybe with a higher ceiling things would have been different.
I have found that those that have never used quality LED’s usually poo poo them and I am good with that… as long as they work for me is all that counts. I am seeing nice quality (27% to 31% THCa) and since the increase in yield from KIND (box w/fans) L600’s to the ROI-E680 LED I just can’t afford not to continue on the LED path.
here are some 6th week WW
and some 5th week FF
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Well that solves 1 problem(glass)but either way you cut it your AC works much harder and cost more money when you run it because you cannot duct your light heat outside the room. Anyone that does not live in Antarctica that thinks you can run equivalent watts of LED and CMH and not be a difference in electricity cost in warm months has not done there homework. Plain and simple CMH cost more to cool than LED and is not as efficient
I only run CO2 in the Spring, fall, and winter because to keep the rooms cool enough with a CO2 generator in the summer would not be worth the extra electricity even doing a constant on/off cycle which is a PITA. The other reason I went with LED is I want even coverage. Thats almost impossible with CMH unless your filling a huge space and overlapping your lights and mounting them very high but that = wasted electricity.
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This is true, and I am all about leds, just playing devil’s advocate.
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To each his own brother, my room does very well, so the dollars all work out in the end.
It’s basic logic though, you’re right. If I don’t air cool my lights my ac will have to run harder.
I’m running a 3 ton unit on 6 lights and my power bill is still gonna be less then $500 a month
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Hows the heat on the roi’s
What? Mine is like north of $1000 with the same setup. Your kw must b cheaper @FicklePickle. Admittedly IVe got some serious inefficiencies but damn…
@Demontrich amazingly low. My bays usually run about 77° to 79° and the outside room usually stays at about 77°. The KIND’s I was using with the heat dissipation bars and fans built in were actually hotter. All of my bays have black out screens so that flowers are not disturbed and even with those screens closed (inline 6" duct fans on) and 79° is still about tops
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I’m not knocking using CMH or anyone that uses them as I know from what I have seen in person they work well. I also know the OP mind is made up on not going LED’s but the reason I post about them is I know there are many others reading this thread not posting. I spent a small fortune on tons of burple LED’s and if I would have known as @MTOG mentioned that they were poo poo I would have saved money and had better yields.
I did buy my burple LEDs quite a few years ago and these new LED bars with white LEDs were not out yet.
I’d be looking at probably 25 of those in 4x4 area. That’s 22k dollars. It’s not feasible for me
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Power in the pacific north west is admittedly cheap as fuck. I’ve mentioned this once before and it floored me how much you all pay in comparison
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@square_root_pharms, I think you were replying to me if not I apologize for sidebusting the conversation. The Grower’s Choice ROI-E680 LED’s cost me about $875 each and the foot print covers a 48" x 52" bay almost perfectly. With the reflective sides or mylar sides the 44" x 44" fixture works well
I’m honestly not saying anything one way or the other about led or cmh. I was more so stating why I’ve stuck with traditional hps this whole time.
Anyone have anything good to say about Fluence Spydr led’s?
I’ve been looking at them for a long time but can’t bring myself to pull the trigger
It’s not that my mind is made up per se. It’s that outfitting this grow with quality leds is above my monetary means.
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