Is 1000 watt HPS overkill in 4X4 tent?

NewAgeTech

NewAgeTech

Active Member
Doug Dawson said:
I have to wonder how right or wrong the actual power draw people talk about is? For example, 4 SF1000 lights would only draw 400 watts. They are listed as Draw Power: 100.5W±5%@AC120V, meaning that those lights are only 2/3 of the power draw people say they need. This is why I wonder about these numbers. If you required 640 actual watts of power draw in a 4X4 tent it would mean you need 6.4 SP1000 lights in the tent. That seems pretty excessive. The SF4000 shows Draw power: 456.9W±5%@AC120V, even that one going by the numbers would require an additional 2 X SP1000 units to get to 640 watt power draw. I am happy I have time to look more into this. If I go with LED I may get an SP2000 and 2 SP1000's so I can have 2 that I can raise and lower individually in case of stretching plants. The debate in my mind continues, lol. Thanks for all your input.
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Your discounting led efficiency. These use lm301 diodes. They will have a good par reading over a 2x2 for 100w. So total of 400w will give you similar if not the same output of a 600w hps.
Also a 1000w led will not output as much heat as a 1000w hps. I can't remember the exact % but hps converts 30% of its energy input into light output the rest is heat, whereas led is pretty much visa versa, hence they can consume less power draw and still emit the same amount of light and intensity
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Doug Dawson said:
Thanks for your reply. The 1000W is looking more like the way to go considering the cost of decent led coverage. I have to do some calculations with power consumption before I decide. I like the idea fo LED for less heat and lower power consumption but they are ridiculously expensive. With all other things purchased I would like to see some kind of return within the decade. What I am learning does have value but as a new grower the start up costs are obviously very high, especially when you see the horrific costs of some lighting.
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You have to decide if the savings up front is more important than the savings over time on electricity costs. I did the numbers and decided that the years it would take me to recover the higher upfront costs just didn't make sense. HID lighting grows great weed as does quality LED lighting. One's just a newer technology so you have to pay more to get the same result.
 
NewAgeTech

NewAgeTech

Active Member
xtsho said:
You have to decide if the savings up front is more important than the savings over time on electricity costs. I did the numbers and decided that the years it would take me to recover the higher upfront costs just didn't make sense. HID lighting grows great weed as does quality LED lighting. One's just a newer technology so you have to pay more to get the same result.
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Did you add the decrease in running cost of airconditioning, ventilation, high speed oscillating fans, and upfront capital cost saving of not needing these, dependant on your setup ofcourse
 
C

ComfortCreator

Well-Known Member
getogrow said:
The part im having the most trouble understanding is the dimming part. That fucks with the watts which fucks my whole setup up. Im a firm believer in overkill but i dont want to burn the lights
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getogrow said:
The part im having the most trouble understanding is the dimming part. That fucks with the watts which fucks my whole setup up. Im a firm believer in overkill but i dont want to burn the lights out too quick. What do i run them at to keep the lifespan long ? Can you run them full blast for long periods of time without killing your million dollar light ? thanks.
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Good thinking. Dont spend a ton on lighting. Get the best lighting for your setup as cheap as you can manage. Then if and when it burns out you wont care you can try the next thing. Cheap and effective is the key. Nobody will be wowwed by the lights you use. They will be wowwed by what you do with your lighting.

A cheap ugly pig of a setup is just fine if it has great spread and intensity.
 
Doug Dawson

Doug Dawson

Well-Known Member
NewAgeTech said:
Your discounting led efficiency. These use lm301 diodes. They will have a good par reading over a 2x2 for 100w. So total of 400w will give you similar if not the same output of a 600w hps.
Also a 1000w led will not output as much heat as a 1000w hps. I can't remember the exact % but hps converts 30% of its energy input into light output the rest is heat, whereas led is pretty much visa versa, hence they can consume less power draw and still emit the same amount of light and intensity
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That is exactly why I question the numbers. The basic watts consumed are lacking in information as far as I am concerned. Plants dont read numbers and only react to light in specific ways. One led will be different from the next. One pannel drawing 100 watts may not be as efficient to the plants as the next pannel with same draw, other factors will come into play. I am really appreciative of this debate as there is a ton of good info here. Many thanks
 
coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
ComfortCreator said:
That is not true in practice.

I could run a full ceiling of boards at 40w or 60w and have no heat hardly at all.

The heat of a QB at 60w is not half what it is at 120w. I have not measured, but the temp gauges tell me the story clearly.
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Well ive ran a twin board with twin heatsink on a 240 driver in a 2x4 and currently I have 6 boards 3 twin heatsinks on the same driver in the same space and its the same heat. The fact the heatsinks are cool just means they are dissipating the heat faster.

It would be the same if you got a 100w COB on a 133mm pin heat sink, it would be hot, but on a 180mm pin heat sink even at the same current it would hardly be warm. Its the ability to conduct the heat away from the diode that changes but the heat goes to the same place.

Of course you could run less wattage to get the same light output.

I also bought a bucket load of v1s , its a damn shame they wont be doing them anymore.
 
Doug Dawson

Doug Dawson

Well-Known Member
Well the debate is over, thank you all for your input. I ended up going with the 1000 watt HPS/MH unit from Vivosun. It has the dimmable ballast which goes to 600, 750, 1000 and 1100 watts. Not sure about the dimming thing as from what I read it hurts the bulb life and messes with the spectrum but time will tell. This is the unit I ended up purchasing. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00P8PIOIC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Thanks again for everyone's input.
 
Oakiey

Oakiey

Well-Known Member
Out of the couple bulbs that went out on my in the last year and a half weren't over driven or under driven.
Two were in my 600, a 9 month old ipower, and a new Apollo that only run a week.

I think it was hortilux that made a video showing a reduce bulb with a spectrogram, the Spectrum only slightly Narrows.

Think you'll like your new 1000
 
C

ComfortCreator

Well-Known Member
Oakiey said:
Out of the couple bulbs that went out on my in the last year and a half weren't over driven or under driven.
Two were in my 600, a 9 month old ipower, and a new Apollo that only run a week.

I think it was hortilux that made a video showing a reduce bulb with a spectrogram, the Spectrum only slightly Narrows.

Think you'll like your new 1000
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Tests have been done on HPS and LED and any changes to spectrum are minimal enough not to matter when dimming.

OP congrats on making a well informed decision. Dont stress about the bulb and bulb life. Focus on using it in any way necessary to grow what you want. The bulb works for you. Its full ly tested and warranteed. Vivosun isnt offering a dimming ballast knowing its a bad idea. Trust your HPS brothers! Go big and grow big.
 
Doug Dawson

Doug Dawson

Well-Known Member
Oakiey said:
Out of the couple bulbs that went out on my in the last year and a half weren't over driven or under driven.
Two were in my 600, a 9 month old ipower, and a new Apollo that only run a week.

I think it was hortilux that made a video showing a reduce bulb with a spectrogram, the Spectrum only slightly Narrows.

Think you'll like your new 1000
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Thanks
 
Doug Dawson

Doug Dawson

Well-Known Member
ComfortCreator said:
Tests have been done on HPS and LED and any changes to spectrum are minimal enough not to matter when dimming.

OP congrats on making a well informed decision. Dont stress about the bulb and bulb life. Focus on using it in any way necessary to grow what you want. The bulb works for you. Its full ly tested and warranteed. Vivosun isnt offering a dimming ballast knowing its a bad idea. Trust your HPS brothers! Go big and grow big.
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Thanks, looking forward to setting it up.
 
F

Federucci

Well-Known Member
20 years ago when I grew hydro, I had a 600W HID lamp in a 4x4 closet grew in the inside 3x3 area with good results, unfortunately the integrated ballast and the way the closet was made, there was not enough air exchange and I struggled to keep it below 90* when I lived in the south. I didn't see a budget in this thread, can you tell us what your limit to spend is man?
 
S

spek9

Well-Known Member
Doug Dawson said:
What do you mean by double ended setup?
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They mean a Double-Ended 1000W fixture. Standard HID lamps and fixtures are Single-Ended (SE), and they screw into the socket like a normal light bulb. Double ended bulbs fit into fixtures like fluorescent lamp fixtures where you have to align each end into the fixture, and each end is powered.
 
Doug Dawson

Doug Dawson

Well-Known Member
spek9 said:
They mean a Double-Ended 1000W fixture. Standard HID lamps and fixtures are Single-Ended (SE), and they screw into the socket like a normal light bulb. Double ended bulbs fit into fixtures like fluorescent lamp fixtures where you have to align each end into the fixture, and each end is powered.
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Ah, that is what I got and why the question confused me. I went with the light linked in my post as it is enclosed and can be hooked up to my filter system for cooling.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Put on the dark glasses when you open the tent with that 1000 or else it will blind you. :bigjoint:

Be prepared for some of the most dense cola's you've probably ever grown. Right strain and a good grow and you'll kill it.

Good luck
 
Doug Dawson

Doug Dawson

Well-Known Member
Federucci said:
20 years ago when I grew hydro, I had a 600W HID lamp in a 4x4 closet grew in the inside 3x3 area with good results, unfortunately the integrated ballast and the way the closet was made, there was not enough air exchange and I struggled to keep it below 90* when I lived in the south. I didn't see a budget in this thread, can you tell us what your limit to spend is man?
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Everything is purchased so at this point I have no budget. :bigjoint:
 
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