Reflective vs white room for quantum boards

PopeyeSpinach

PopeyeSpinach

Well-Known Member
Well title asks it. Im currently running a flat white flowering room with two 304s. Did some searches but couldnt find whether reflective or white is best w the QBs.

Thinking bout switching to mylar.
 
Cold$moke

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
OrcA grow film would be best

But the percentages you gain are little over flat titanium white.

But i cant deny they would be gains none the less :)

Just make sure you install it correctly so you dont develop mold issues
 
PopeyeSpinach

PopeyeSpinach

Well-Known Member
While i cant argue at all. I asked cuz was wondering if with QB vs other lights if reflective was better. I mean they make a reflector for QBs lol.

I use that mylar mylar bubble wrap insulation roll from lowes in my mother room. It def looks better than white but im running a mars 300 in there.

Ill stick with white, dont fix what isnt broken i guess.
 
wietefras

wietefras

Well-Known Member
Mylar reflective foil gives you more light on the plants compared to flat white even in this simple test:
Unfortumately the forum wouldn't let me start the clip at a fixed time, but jump to around 3:40 to see the results.

Or see this test which compares standard tent material to panda film, ORCA film and two reflective foils. The two reflective foils leave the rest behind by a huge margin:
(jump to 2:14 for the results)
 
wietefras

wietefras

Well-Known Member
Cold$moke said:
Orca doesnt reflect better then mylar?
Click to expand...
Clearly not no.

The problem is that there is a difference between diffuse reflection and direct reflection. In case of COBs the light is already quite diffuse, so you don't need the reflective material to be diffuse and direct reflection is more efficient for sending the light straight on down towards the plants.

Diffuse reflection scatters the light in all directions. Which means part of the light goes to the ceiling or back to the lamp. ORCA film gives a very diffuse reflection which means you lose a substantial amount of light that way.

Even if a diffuse reflection reflected 100% of the light, it would not all end up on the plants. Which is what counts for us and not the marketing specs of how much light is reflected in total.

When you see a photo of ORCA film in action you see generally see how the whole tent is brightly lit. That is all light not going towards the plants since it's going up towards the camera. So in effect, it looking brighter is really a bad thing.
 
Cold$moke

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
Im going to try my cheap orca alternative next time :)

Never cared for silver rooms even though i wont deny numbers just a personal preference
 
klx

klx

Well-Known Member
I think silver reflects light whereas a painted wall scatters the light. All in all as long as you have either you will be getting a net gain and personally I prefer spending hours in a white room over a silver room.
 
Colo MMJ

Colo MMJ

Well-Known Member
As someone mentioned - white panda plastic. You can spray for bugs during a grow and after clean up. Mylar less so. The difference in light reflection with white versus mylar/reflective silver is slight. You could do white panda and tape those survival blanket mylar over it.

Those mylar survival blankets are like $15 for 15 pretty big blankets. Maybe less. If you buy quite a few they are less than $1 per blanket.
 
nfhiggs

nfhiggs

Well-Known Member
wietefras said:
Clearly not no.

The problem is that there is a difference between diffuse reflection and direct reflection. In case of COBs the light is already quite diffuse, so you don't need the reflective material to be diffuse and direct reflection is more efficient for sending the light straight on down towards the plants.

Diffuse reflection scatters the light in all directions. Which means part of the light goes to the ceiling or back to the lamp. ORCA film gives a very diffuse reflection which means you lose a substantial amount of light that way.

Even if a diffuse reflection reflected 100% of the light, it would not all end up on the plants. Which is what counts for us and not the marketing specs of how much light is reflected in total.

When you see a photo of ORCA film in action you see generally see how the whole tent is brightly lit. That is all light not going towards the plants since it's going up towards the camera. So in effect, it looking brighter is really a bad thing.
Click to expand...
One of these days I'm going to get a batch of front silvered mirrors....
 
wietefras

wietefras

Well-Known Member
I think white would be best used under the canpy
nfhiggs said:
One of these days I'm going to get a batch of front silvered mirrors....
Click to expand...
Actually even regular mirrors work very well. I saw a comparison on another forum where several materials were compared and the mirrors came out on top.

Really easy to clean too. Cleanliness is an aspect people often forget regarding reflectivity.
 
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