How often do you change your bulbs?

[louie]

I'm wondering after how many flowering cycles do you change your bulbs (bulbs that are only used for flowering cycle)? I usually switch to a new bulb after 3 flowering cycles (60-70 day cycles) and usually use eye hortilux bulbs. What about you?

 

[Wait...What?]

sodium bulbs dont lose lumens over time like halides do.

i change a sodium bulb when its burnt out. halides, every 2 years.

 

[louie]

right on wait what...do you notice a decrease in yield as time goes on? I have never kept a HPS bulb more than four cycles. Does anyone else have a theory on when is the best time to replace bulbs when thinking of yields? because if you figure you can get an extra oz. with a new bulb, it is more cost effective to buy the new bulb rather than sticking with the old one.

 

[seeyouaunty]

One solution is to buy a light meter. Once the lumens start to drop noticably its time to change lamps. They're also pretty useful for making sure light coverage is reasonably even across the canopy, etc

 

[cali mike]

right on wait what...do you notice a decrease in yield as time goes on? I have never kept a HPS bulb more than four cycles. Does anyone else have a theory on when is the best time to replace bulbs when thinking of yields? because if you figure you can get an extra oz. with a new bulb, it is more cost effective to buy the new bulb rather than sticking with the old one.

You can send me all of your HPS lamps that still work... I use mine until they're dead. That being said, I do notice a difference in brightness when a brand new lamp is running along side a four cycle old lamp... I just can't afford to be that particular.

 

[dongle69]

A quality hps bulb can go 6000 hours without lumen or par loss.

 

[SaltyBalls]

2 or 3 here

 

[odin_]

anyone that has actually used a light meter, knows that you cant use them until they are dead

when they have the recommended usefull life, that is for outside on a poll, not in a growroom

bulbs lose alot of lumens quickly

i would say 2 or 3 crops is good, but having a light meter is obv the best thing to do

edit: not only does maximum output drop off quickly but the longer a bulb burns the more the spectrum changes - even if lumen output were equal, the par would change

 

[milehighmedical]

I'll replace them anytime I have a couple extra hundred dollars. If I don't... they're being used till they burn out. I'd love a fresh set of hortilux every round, but lets be real here, that's some pricey shit if you're just trying to keep your med stash stocked. The whole point of growing is to eliminate the outrageous cost of buying. I'm trying to get as close to free here as possible, not move the opposite direction.

 

[caljim]

I replace my lamps every 2 flower cycles.

I Look at it like this. If a fresh lamp produces just a quarter ounce more over two runs, than a two cycle old lamp would have, it has paid for itself.