CFL, MH or HRS compaired

[dedodd]

I am currently using all CFL that add up to about 400w. I use 6500k for veg and 2700k for flower. What would be the benefit if I switched from the CFL to MH/HPS. Is it as simple as keeping the same amount of wattage?

 

[babelfish]

if you can burn 400w cfl, you could easily put a 400w hps in a cooltube with it's own air loop in the same space in general - as long as that 400w cfl is 400w @ the plug. As an example of this scenario, say a 14w cfl is 60w equivalent, it counts as 14w - because that's how much it draws.

Super duper easy to smash a 250w hps/mh in a space with 400w cfl heat. 600w might be doable, depending. So, depends on your need, and ability to dissipate heat.

hps/mh lights have a bigger heat signature, you might also want to look at t5/t8 ho/vho, or my preferred medium, LED.

 

[kiwi_growa]

LED ftw!!

 

[pisspotgrower]

Better light density and peneration....better n bigger buds....400 watts of cfl or led will not out do a 400 hps globe in a diled in room......period

Plenty of cfl or led growers may debate this...but then they havent run HID lights yet

 

[kiwi_growa]

400 watts of LED would outdo a 400 hps if they were both dialed in. But to each his own...

 

[kiwi_growa]

Check out oneshots thread He grew almost 1 pound from just over 200watt LED i am pretty sure?253-258watts?

 

[pisspotgrower]

yep pleanty of thoes threads for ppl to make an informed decision on there own no use starting this again lol

Peace

l

 

[ZZTops]

Babelfish sums it up very good with the choices out there and heat issues you must deal with...

I switched from 400w MH/HPS to T5's and I'm Loving It...

Come Join The club...

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=252477

 

[bluntmassa]

if you can burn 400w cfl, you could easily put a 400w hps in a cooltube with it's own air loop in the same space in general - as long as that 400w cfl is 400w @ the plug. As an example of this scenario, say a 14w cfl is 60w equivalent, it counts as 14w - because that's how much it draws.

also its not equivalent to 60w of hid lighting thats compared to incandescent bulbs. Hid lighting still gets more lumens per watt over cfl's not 100% on led's but the HID lighting still produces the nicer buds some say led's are good but I've yet to see one grow that amazed me over an HID grow if I'm wrong lets see the pics I've just yet to be amazed of an led grow compared to the hid grows I've seen.

One thing I got some high expectations for is the Plasma lights I'm sure they aint no better yet but I could see them outdoing the HID's in the future.

 

[babelfish]

see? anything can grow amazing buds. its really about heat, noise, infrared, waste heat, and what's easy to get your hands on. zz grows some AMAZING girls, oneshot does too. i've seen great grows on every type of light that I see available - and yes, LED's can be expensive, as can anything. even hps/mh have (if you choose them) 400+ dollar ballasts, 300-400 dollar hoods, and 100-200 dollar bulbs. what's the difference between the 200 dollar setup and the 1k setup? extra dialed in efficiency, features, quieter (maybe), etc. is it worth it? for most people probably not. that $45 dollar 1k bulb does like 85-90% of that 175 dollar bulb; but then again many don't stack the odds on their favor a lot.

1. co2 - 20-50% production increase
2. active hydro - 20-50% increase
3. VEG TIME - 20-300% increase
4. brightest bulbs, best reflectors 20-30%
5. feed start to finish as much as they can drink and eat, and NEVER burn them
6. front to back no pests
7. keep medical clean

stack all that together and its not that hard to see someone pulling 3gpw - but it's still rare.

Hey, i'm still learning a lot, these are just my observations and inferences. ymmv

 

[Claude Hopper]

I recently switched from a 400 watt combination of 120 watts of LED and 260 watts of cfl to 400 watts HID (MH in use now)

The light is definitely more intense now.

I've had truly amazing results with the LEDs (on a small scale) and still believe that a 400 watt LED grow would be better than 400 HID -- but the cost of LED is too much.