My Sissy questions about CFL vs HPS wattage

Personal Use I Swear

Personal Use I Swear

Member
Hey guys,

This is my first grow, and I have a lighting question for my future grows. Here's a little background.

I'm 4 1/2 weeks into flower and my buds are looking pretty good. I say pretty good because in comparing my CFL based bloom against others HPS blooms, mine seems too be lacking overall size.

I knew this would happen and it's not big, big deal. I grow in a tent 4ft long X 2ft wide X 5ft high. I have over 500 watts of CFL in the tent and I do mean the big CFLs the 400Watt equivalent bulbs. They use 105 watts of electricity each. The 2 plants I have growing are rather large, by the way.

Now the bulbs give off heat. I should say the ballasts connected to the bulbs vent hot air. Being my first grow...I was naive and didn't think they would heat up at all...duh...

Get ready... Silly Questions:

If I were to purchase a 400 watt HPS with a vent-able hood, could I ever place a 250 watt HPS bulb into it and expect to use only 250 watts of electricity? See what I'm saying? Could I save a little money and electricity by placing a 250 watt bulb into it?

One more thing With the 500 watts of CFL lighting I'm currently using, If I purchase a 400 watt HPS will it result in money saved due to less watts used in my next grow?

I just want to be safe with the amount of electricity I'm using. That's the main thing. My electric bill, growing hydroponically, only seems to increase $10.00 - $15.00 a month max. A small price to pay for heaven...

Thanks for your Help...

P
 
sickstoner

sickstoner

Well-Known Member
Personal Use I Swear said:
Hey guys,

This is my first grow, and I have a lighting question for my future grows. Here's a little background.

I'm 4 1/2 weeks into flower and my buds are looking pretty good. I say pretty good because in comparing my CFL based bloom against others HPS blooms, mine seems too be lacking overall size.

I knew this would happen and it's not big, big deal. I grow in a tent 4ft long X 2ft wide X 5ft high. I have over 500 watts of CFL in the tent and I do mean the big CFLs the 400Watt equivalent bulbs. They use 105 watts of electricity each. The 2 plants I have growing are rather large, by the way.

Now the bulbs give off heat. I should say the ballasts connected to the bulbs vent hot air. Being my first grow...I was naive and didn't think they would heat up at all...duh...

Get ready... Silly Questions:

If I were to purchase a 400 watt HPS with a vent-able hood, could I ever place a 250 watt HPS bulb into it and expect to use only 250 watts of electricity? See what I'm saying? Could I save a little money and electricity by placing a 250 watt bulb into it?

One more thing With the 500 watts of CFL lighting I'm currently using, If I purchase a 400 watt HPS will it result in money saved due to less watts used in my next grow?

I just want to be safe with the amount of electricity I'm using. That's the main thing. My electric bill, growing hydroponically, only seems to increase $10.00 - $15.00 a month max. A small price to pay for heaven...

Thanks for your Help...

P
Click to expand...
To answer one part, 500 watts of cfl is still less spectrum of light out put as a 400 watt hps. watt for watt hps is the way to go for flowering keep the cfls for vegging i use the 65 watters 300 watt equivalent for veging does great for my mothers and clones. with one 105 watt cfl you can do some nice vegging but for flowering go for the 400 watt hps. bongsmilie
 
PANGcake

PANGcake

Active Member
Personal Use I Swear said:
Get ready... Silly Questions:

If I were to purchase a 400 watt HPS with a vent-able hood, could I ever place a 250 watt HPS bulb into it and expect to use only 250 watts of electricity? See what I'm saying? Could I save a little money and electricity by placing a 250 watt bulb into it?

One more thing With the 500 watts of CFL lighting I'm currently using, If I purchase a 400 watt HPS will it result in money saved due to less watts used in my next grow?

I just want to be safe with the amount of electricity I'm using. That's the main thing. My electric bill, growing hydroponically, only seems to increase $10.00 - $15.00 a month max. A small price to pay for heaven...

Thanks for your Help...

P
Click to expand...
U can't use a 250W HPS for a 400W ballast...use a 400W ;) Well maybe u can but I think it will shorten the lifetime of the bulb...if u want to use a 250W HPS, buy a ballast that suits for it... I know there are ballasts that are dimmable and there are ballasts that are "switchable"...for example a ballast w a switch that makes u able to use either 600W or 400W bulbs.

My electric bill got higher using HPS equivalent wattage as for CFL's.

Hopes this help ya and good luck! =) And remember not to harvest too soon...CFL's seem to delay flowering...my own experience.

//CaL
 
S

SickSadLittleWorld

Well-Known Member
The electricity usage is going to be pretty similar to what you are using now since it takes 400w to burn the bulb plus some wattage to run the ballast. You'll see much better results, so any difference can be easily offset by increased yields and denser buds. I didn't notice any significant difference when I upgraded from a 150w hps to a 600w hps. I highly doubt you will notice a difference upgrading either.

The new lumatek dimmable 400w are able to run a 250w bulb since the ballast is able to changes the input and output wattage. I don't think you can do that safely with any other ballast, though.
 
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