The Watts Myth!

elixxrx66

elixxrx66

Member
What is it with the term watts that just like guitar players growers are completely mislead. Just as in amplifiers watts does not equate to volume in lighting the number of watts doesn't mean much if the light it's giving off isn't in the correct spectrum. A 1000 watt hps isn't that great when you consider 70-80% of it's wasted just like a 100 watt tube amp won't make you twice as loud as a 50 watt tube amp. The one thing that more watts does for you in both amps and lights is give you more headroom.
 
GrnMn

GrnMn

Active Member
Lumens are the important factor, and in general, more watts = more lumens. A 400w performs well, but not as well as a 600w, just as a 600w can't compete with a 1kw.

I don't understand what you're trying to say...
 
Jack Harer

Jack Harer

Well-Known Member
A cheap amp will deliver 1000w if its struck by lightning, A 1K light gives me around 110,000 lumens, about 85,000 mean (RMS) lumens. I fail to see the comparison??
 
elixxrx66

elixxrx66

Member
The point of my fully baked rant thank you is that in both cases people mistake more watts for better or louder etc. Watts are a measurement of power not volume or light intensity and I'm saying light intensity doesn't matter much if you don't have the correct spectrum.
 
Jack Harer

Jack Harer

Well-Known Member
elixxrx66 said:
The point of my fully baked rant thank you is that in both cases people mistake more watts for better or louder etc. Watts are a measurement of power not volume or light intensity and I'm saying light intensity doesn't matter much if you don't have the correct spectrum.
Click to expand...

Metal Halide and HPS are both within the proper spectrums for plant growth and flowering. Many people refer to their lights as 400w, 600w, or 1Ks, but everyone (I hope) is really referring to the lumen output. And more specifically, the lumens per watt ratio.
About the only way to use the WRONG spectrum would be to use somethiong OTHER than either MH or HPS.
 
sso

sso

Well-Known Member
having alot of headroom is great, amp or lamp.

1000w hps might be alot of wasted electricity, but its the best we´ve got for flowering, By far. (talking more the hps though than the wattage though even there that statement is true)

dont quite get where you are coming from in this rant, seems like you are leaving something out of it.
 
Icannabis

Icannabis

Well-Known Member
I see what you are saying and a lot of people will see in just a short time that the wattage isn't the only factor...that being said it the hid arena the higher the watts the better generally if nothing else is considered a 600w is the most efficient...but that's how it is at this point.
 
sso

sso

Well-Known Member
Icannabis said:
I see what you are saying and a lot of people will see in just a short time that the wattage isn't the only factor...that being said it the hid arena the higher the watts the better generally if nothing else is considered a 600w is the most efficient...but that's how it is at this point.
Click to expand...
sure, thats quite true and i did not mention the 600w, because in terms of growing, the 1000 does produce bigger buds.

the trouble with other technologies though, is that they dont produce the same intensity of light, nor do they cover the same space as the more powerful hps.

so, even though you were talking about the right spectrums being covered to a tee.

still would the wattage matter. (unless we talking some undefined future technology yet undiscovered.. :))

as with higher watts, comes greater intensity of light.

oh this talk of leds, they did the same about t5´s for awhile (though much more shortlived since more people were able to afford it and test it)

but, t5 next to say 600w hps?

a joke, with pathetic thinstemmed small leaved plants.

runts.

try growing a plant from start to finish under a 6-1000w hps or even a 400.

its like having your own freaking mini tropical garden.

havent seen it, gotta try it.
 
Nullis

Nullis

Moderator
Neither wattage nor lumens mean much of anything at face value. You use a higher bulb for more light output to grow more/bigger plants, obviously. A 1000 watt bulb is going to yield you more than a 600 watt bulb, even with the same number of plants (and otherwise nearly identical growing conditions).

What people really fail to consider is that lumens is the maximum light output produced by the bulb; not all of those lumens are going to be utilized by the plant. That's where spectrum comes in because plants can only use a portion of the spectrum for photosynthesizes (solar radiation at 400 to 700 nanometers). It is the photosynthetically active radiation that really counts for plants.
 
sso

sso

Well-Known Member
thats still going around the point.

we all know what lamps work and what lamps dont work so well (they all work up to a point, even incandescent)

might talk all day about what spectrum is best, but in the end (at this point) hps does the best in flowering,

and the more wattage you have, the bigger buds and larger space. (and more heat lol)

mh makes the prettier plant in veg, somewhat healthier, but hps does grow them quicker in veg.

unless you are an occasional smoker (not a every day smoker of any quantity)

fluo and led are for veg at most. (well, possibly if you have shitload of money, you could match hps with leds, but i havent seen definite proof)
 
sso

sso

Well-Known Member
though you are right as well.

its about spectrum too, hps does flower better simply because it has the best spectrum (so far) for it.

mh makes rather leafy plants in flowering.

but, what really gives the hps the advantage is the intensity for the wattage put into it (less heat and greater penetration)
 
James87

James87

Active Member
elixxrx66 said:
What is it with the term watts that just like guitar players growers are completely mislead. Just as in amplifiers watts does not equate to volume in lighting the number of watts doesn't mean much if the light it's giving off isn't in the correct spectrum. A 1000 watt hps isn't that great when you consider 70-80% of it's wasted just like a 100 watt tube amp won't make you twice as loud as a 50 watt tube amp. The one thing that more watts does for you in both amps and lights is give you more headroom.
Click to expand...
"Twice as loud" is wrong because we hear logarithmically, which means it must be 10x the power to be heard 2x as loud.

Some spectrums are more effective than others, but also there is a saturation effect where you lose light efficiency when there is too much.. The plant can't absorb all of it. 60% more is only 55%.. 80% more is only 70%.. That type of thing. Law of diminishing returns. But you can spread that extra light through different wavelengths to increase efficacy. If you're only using HPS then you get that sodium spike and a loss of efficiency due to it, but you can use multiple light sources of various types to get more spectrum. This is why LEDs seem so nice.. But I'll wait for that technology until single 50W diodes are affordable!
 
Quitekeen

Quitekeen

Active Member
sso said:
sure, thats quite true and i did not mention the 600w, because in terms of growing, the 1000 does produce bigger buds.

the trouble with other technologies though, is that they dont produce the same intensity of light, nor do they cover the same space as the more powerful hps.

so, even though you were talking about the right spectrums being covered to a tee.

still would the wattage matter. (unless we talking some undefined future technology yet undiscovered.. :))

as with higher watts, comes greater intensity of light.

oh this talk of leds, they did the same about t5´s for awhile (though much more shortlived since more people were able to afford it and test it)

but, t5 next to say 600w hps?

a joke, with pathetic thinstemmed small leaved plants.

runts.

try growing a plant from start to finish under a 6-1000w hps or even a 400.

its like having your own freaking mini tropical garden.

havent seen it, gotta try it.
Click to expand...
comparing t5's to LED's is even more of a joke!
 
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