-
Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
-
Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!
LED Mythbusting, KILL A WATT proof
- Thread starter GP73LPC
- Start date
dr.disrespect
Member
Anyone the old Mars Hydro 192*3?
I did a speed read, and didn't find the word percentage, So I don't think it's been said..
Ballasts consume power, and may also fall short of the stated power. One of the hlg 240s is 90% efficient and produces 225w. It should show 247w on the meter. Most ballasts are better than 90% efficient, but 93% is about right for a decent one. Could be 80% for a bad one.
I say this, because your 100w light, will draw 107w if it's truly putting 100w through the leds, with 93% efficiency.
Earlier in the thread I noted a 330w light consuming 360w, which is 330w of light and a driver running around 90% efficient. It's about the only real figure I have seen.
I have a couple of Meanwell drivers, and they won't meet their specs. They should achieve a constant current of 2.1a and have 80v at their disposal to achieve this. I grant that it's only constant current to 72v, by which time one hopes 2.1A is flowing to meet the 151w rating. However, I can't get past 1.89a which appears at 74.6v and it just won't muster the extra voltage. So my power falls short at 141w. It's 91% efficient, so should read 155w at the wall.
The lights usually get about 10% less power than comes from the wall. So while wall figures matching the spec may seem honest, it's lighting system power your measuring, not what the leds get.
A lot comes down to expectations. HID users are used to seeing lamp wattage. A 600w sodium, might take 660 from the wall. But we would call it 600. A 600w Led unit, likely sends 550w to the leds. So they're ~9% apart when we might think them equal. Is 10% small change? I think not. But while branded ballasts can short change you almost that much, making comparisons within that final 10% is very time consuming. Thankfully, some of these manufacturers are a full 50% off the mark, and that 'is' plain to see.
I would really like LED units to quote the power sent to the LED's. Not what should of happened if the parts supplier didn't let them down. Certainly not some equivalent value, using wooden horses as the yard stick.
Looking forward, I would like to see that power figure along with a umol reading. As what they consume is still no guide to what comes out. Energy that's useful for plant growth is what we want to know. Which still needs a graph, so we know it's not all green. A CRI of the light in the visual spectrum might help, where graphs are difficult to share.
Power consumption of the lamps.
lumens
umol
cri
^^ useful stats.
Ballasts consume power, and may also fall short of the stated power. One of the hlg 240s is 90% efficient and produces 225w. It should show 247w on the meter. Most ballasts are better than 90% efficient, but 93% is about right for a decent one. Could be 80% for a bad one.
I say this, because your 100w light, will draw 107w if it's truly putting 100w through the leds, with 93% efficiency.
Earlier in the thread I noted a 330w light consuming 360w, which is 330w of light and a driver running around 90% efficient. It's about the only real figure I have seen.
I have a couple of Meanwell drivers, and they won't meet their specs. They should achieve a constant current of 2.1a and have 80v at their disposal to achieve this. I grant that it's only constant current to 72v, by which time one hopes 2.1A is flowing to meet the 151w rating. However, I can't get past 1.89a which appears at 74.6v and it just won't muster the extra voltage. So my power falls short at 141w. It's 91% efficient, so should read 155w at the wall.
The lights usually get about 10% less power than comes from the wall. So while wall figures matching the spec may seem honest, it's lighting system power your measuring, not what the leds get.
A lot comes down to expectations. HID users are used to seeing lamp wattage. A 600w sodium, might take 660 from the wall. But we would call it 600. A 600w Led unit, likely sends 550w to the leds. So they're ~9% apart when we might think them equal. Is 10% small change? I think not. But while branded ballasts can short change you almost that much, making comparisons within that final 10% is very time consuming. Thankfully, some of these manufacturers are a full 50% off the mark, and that 'is' plain to see.
I would really like LED units to quote the power sent to the LED's. Not what should of happened if the parts supplier didn't let them down. Certainly not some equivalent value, using wooden horses as the yard stick.
Looking forward, I would like to see that power figure along with a umol reading. As what they consume is still no guide to what comes out. Energy that's useful for plant growth is what we want to know. Which still needs a graph, so we know it's not all green. A CRI of the light in the visual spectrum might help, where graphs are difficult to share.
Power consumption of the lamps.
lumens
umol
cri
^^ useful stats.
LanesHortiMax
Member
LanesHortiMax
Member
f-e. Totally right....every HID Ive ever plugged in drew a good bit more.....600s usually 660....315s around 345....1000....Ive seen a digital read 1089 and a magnetic read 1060....Also...i did a dimmer test on a digital....so when I turned down to 400 it was nearly still pulling 500.
Oh plugged a cheap enclosed chinese enclosed cmh with mogul socket adapter...yeaaahhh...was pulling like 270....so much for 315 that it was suppose to run!
Oh plugged a cheap enclosed chinese enclosed cmh with mogul socket adapter...yeaaahhh...was pulling like 270....so much for 315 that it was suppose to run!
LanesHortiMax
Member
LanesHortiMax
Member
This isnt a cheap rig..160 bucks for one board!....and no its a 120v driver....and if you can see...its suppose to run at 120 but I can turn it up to 160....
Its a meanwell 120-54Awhich i can get more out of the 54 series than the 48....so far its been pretty badass....running it alongside a cmh...hps and cobs....i have a thread on here.
The driver is rated for voltages from 90 ~ 305VAC.
