New Plasma Lights!

Came across this report it impressed me greatly check it out, tell me whet you think.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/04/luxim-plasma-lifi-light-bulb-led-cfl.php

digbudug

Awesome. Now, where can I buy one?

In short - for growing it's not recommended right now. They need to do better than that with a comparative spectrum. Plus they can only handle about 250 watts.

And it's certainly not a new technology. Just a new size and different material. We've been using microwaves to light up sulfur bulbs for ages.

yeh, but even 250w @ 140lumen per watt, ur talking 35,000 lumens. thats a lot!

Can you do a lumens per watt comparison for me with MH and HPS lighting at 250 watts?

Couldn't find a 250 watt comparison but here's a 400-1000 watt comparison.

illumaLights High Output HPS Bulb
Watts(W)
Current(A)
Luminous Flux(lm)
Avg Life(h)
K
Base
400
4.4
55000
24000
2000
E40
600
6.2
90000
24000
2000
E40
1000
10.3
150000
24000
2000
E40


illumaLights High Output MH Bulb
Watts(W)
Luminous Flux(lm)
Avg Life(h)
K
Base
400
36000
8000
4000/6000
E40
600
57600
8000
4000/6000
E40
1000
110000
10000
4000/6000
E40

edit: hmmmmm took out the nice little chart formating.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Lamp Type[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Watts[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Lumens/bulb[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Total efficiency[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Fluorescent Bulb[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]40[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]3000[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]30k lumens[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Mercury Vapor[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]175[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]8000[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]20k lumens[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Metal Halide[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]400[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]36000[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]36k lumens[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]High P. Sodium[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]400[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]45000[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]45k lumens[/FONT]

Lumens = green output. You are not looking for lumens, as plants reflect most green (that's why we see it as green, it takes red and blue light, absorbs it for phytochemical processes, and reflects the green light because it isn't designed to use it.)

That why I look at the spectral chart with lumen output numbers in mind. if the bulb does 10K lumens, then I look at the green spectrum, make note of that, and look at the red and blue ranges to either side. That gives you a better idea of the intensity of the light wavelengths you actually need. You need a spectrum chart of the bulb in order to know what quality of light you're gonna get.

They make primary color T5HO bulbs, now. Just red and just blue. They cover quite a load of the photosynthetically active peaks, more than the LEDs targeted wavelengths. This makes them much, much better for general-purpose horticulture, and in fact they are starting to replace tri-phosphor T5HO and MH lighting in aquarium tanks for underwater plants.

oh god, that didnt make sense!

cfl: 75 lumen per watt
mh: 95 lumen per watt
hps: 113 lumen per watt.


so thats mh@ 250w = 23,750 lumen
hps@ 250w = 28,250 lumen

And a low-pressure sodium light emits about 140 lm/w but again it's in mostly in the green range which is why you don't see it being used for any major horticulture.
Lumens means nothing. It is just a fast comparative measure to go by. Here's a company that's REALLY honest - http://www.3rlighting.com/tutorial/growlight/high%20pressure%20sodium.html though they are admittedly out of date on their fluorescent knowledge.

Read that. You will enjoy it nonetheless.

If you want REAL hard stuff that is scientifically sound you're getting into photon flux density, radiant flux, and stuff like electron-volts.