CFL test cab - 1st run - 70w in 1sqft

[jaysplifferton]

Awesome. This seems like something that could fit into even the most busy MJ enthusiasts life!

I'm curious to see where your scientific experiments take you.

best of luck bra

 

[blynx]

i don't remember the dimensions of my bins exactly but i'm sure they
weren't much more than 1 square foot and i used a 4 bulb bathroom
fixture with y splitters for a total of 8 bulbs, a mix of 23's, 26's and
30's, for a bit over 200 watts. anyway, i was running a DWC under it
with 8x9oz cups filled with hydroton and my bagseed clones and i was
pulling close to 4 oz's per bin.



anyway, i'm not sure where the point of diminishing returns is but i'd say
200watts isn't it, not with CFL's anyway.

You don't remember your exact cab dimensions yet you say it 'wasn't much more' than 1 square foot?

Funny but you are proving my point exactly, without exact measurements, any kind of extrapolation is useless.

Unfortunately the picture of your light fixture shows your cab is NOT a little more than 12" x 12". That light fixture is at least 18" long if not 20". I have a similar light fixture in my bathroom and it's 24" long.

I will use this as an example to show how far off people are when they 'guess' or approximate things.


EXAMPLE

I will give you the benefit of the doubt that your cab is 18" x 18". Feel free to get the EXACT measurements in inches of your cab to correct me. If you come back and say something like 14" I would ask for a photo of the inside of your cab with a ruler on the bottom of the cab.

(images below from your thread/gallery support my 18" estimate)

Square footage calculation

Lets say your cab is 18" x 18"

To calculate the square footage of your cab you measure the width and length (depth) of the floor of your cab in inches. You multiply these two numbers together and divide by 144.

18 * 18 = 324
324 / 144 = 2.25

So an 18" x 18" cab will have 2.25 square feet. This is not 'a little more' than 1 square foot.

A 16" x 16" cab gives you almost 2 square feet.

16 * 16 = 256
256 / 144 = 1.78

Watts per square foot calculation

Now lets take your 'a bit over 200 watts' and call it 220 watts (that's 10% over, ie more than a 'bit')

Take your 220 watts and divide by the square footage of your cab (2.25). This will give you the wattage per square foot.

220 / 2.25 = 97.78 watts per square foot

Heck even 16" x 16" only gives you 123.60 watts per square foot.

220 / 1.78 = 123.60 watts per square foot

Neither of those are anywhere near 200+ watts per square foot.

If we use 210 watts in this example, it only makes your watts per square foot go down.

18" x 18" (2.25 square feet)
210 / 2.25 = 93.33 watts per square foot

16" x 16" (1.78 square feet)
210 / 1.78 = 117.98 watts per square foot

Conclusion

None of this is to put your grow or contribution down, it's just to show how calculations can vary greatly when people don't have accurate measurements. Which goes back to one of the motivating factors for building a cab that measures 1 square foot (12" x 12").

Edit: This image from your own thread/gallery, with a yardstick in the picture, shows your bin itself is 18" long (supporting my 18" x 18" example above)

Edit 2: This image, which is also from your thread/gallery, shows that your light fixture IS 24" LONG with the decorative outside (like the one in my bathroom).

Removing the outside and using only the 'guts' of the fixture, like you did, only reduces the size of the fixture to about 18-20" (prolly closer to 20")

 

[justanotherbozo]

didn't mean to disparage your work my friend, in truth, i commend it. my
point was only that 200 watts wouldn't be too much.

if you look back over my last post i mentioned that my BIN was not much
more than 1 square foot and the actual dimensions of the bin is 11.5 x 16
inchs so not much more than 1 square foot.

and you're right that the light fixture is indeed longer than 12 inchs as it
measures 18 inchs as i have it installed.

my purpose in that thread was to teach myself how to grow hydroponically,
and under CFL's only.

in any event, if i offended you i appologize, i was only making the point that
200 watts would yield way more than 1.5 zips in that space, based on my
experience.

 

[blynx]

didn't mean to disparage your work my friend, in truth, i commend it. my
point was only that 200 watts wouldn't be too much.

if you look back over my last post i mentioned that my BIN was not much
more than 1 square foot and the actual dimensions of the bin is 11.5 x 16
inchs so not much more than 1 square foot.

and you're right that the light fixture is indeed longer than 12 inchs as it
measures 18 inchs as i have it installed.

my purpose in that thread was to teach myself how to grow hydroponically,
and under CFL's only.

in any event, if i offended you i appologize, i was only making the point that
200 watts would yield way more than 1.5 zips in that space, based on my
experience.

You didn't offend me but I think you are missing my point.

1. You do NOT measure the size of the bin or container that your plants are in, you DO measure the square footage inside of the cab (The fact that the light fixture fits INSIDE your cab, shows the inside of your cab is about 18" x 18").

So even tho your bin is 11.5" x 16", the square footage of your cab (which is what calculations are based off), is 2.25 square feet.

2. Your cab is NOT close to 1 sq ft, hence you were NOT running anywhere near 200 watts per square foot. You were running about half that amount per square foot.

Maybe I will eventually get around to running 5 42w cfls in my cab just to see what it does do, but I really don't expect it to yield much (if any) more than say around 140-150 watts per square foot.

Greatly increasing wattage (ie power consumption) to get a very slight (if any) increase in yield is not optimal growing and will lower your gpw.

 

[bagseed77]

i think he might be saying the size of his res is 11 b y 16, i guess
but i see your point b, exact measurements please, at least there is someone here at ic trying to be scientific about things and have a guidline to go by that has shit documented.
im on my first cfl try and these things work, if i can do it anyone can, anyhoo, thanks blynx for documenting everything exactly and with precision

 

[blynx]

I suppose I should use the word 'accurate' instead of 'exact'.

It doesn't matter that one side is 12.127" long (exact) or if you just call it 12" (accurate).

I just have a problem with people estimating measurements. ie; estimating that your cab is 12" when it's really 18" or 20". Forget 'exact'. That kind of guestimate, which is common, is not even anywhere near 'accurate'.

Also it's cab size that matters, not container size. Container size is irrelevant in gpw, watts/sqft, etc kind of calculations.

 

[jonkanoo]

.

 

[obZen]

well done, blynx!

much respect on keeping accurate documentation,
and responding to constructive criticism in a "professional" manner.

keep on blinding them with science!

 

[Fluorobuds]

Looks good, exciting to see these CFL's working so well for people. I'm in my first grow with them and have around 70 watts/sqft also so it's nice to see what type of results I might end up with. I'm running DWC tho so I'm excited to compare.

 

[White]

Love it blynx, meant to tell you that a couple of days ago

Keep up the good work man.

Peace,
White

 

[blynx]

Very nice. Are you going to enter this in the challenge?

Yes I will be entering the challenge with this cab.

 

[K.J]

Yes I will be entering the challenge with this cab.

Did I miss something? What is this challenge of which you all speak?

 

[bagseed77]

its the 1 sq foot challenge thread

 

[K.J]

its the 1 sq foot challenge thread

Got ya. Thanks for keeping me informed.

 

[organicmunk]

yea which has been dying ever so softly we need more folks to get involved we had 100 post and several thousand views in matter of days now that its started no one cares but us few sorry blynx to intrude on your thread like this im just trying to get more folks involved

 

[catman]

I'm at 2 sq ft with a 150W HPS and you know, blynx has already put up a higher yield than I have seen other HPS growers when they where running a bunch of different strains. Can't wait to see how the clone run turns out! My 150 was $25 dollars shipped.. couldn't pass that up, but I might have to convert to CFLs if I can't keep my temp in check over the summer.

 

[blynx]

yea which has been dying ever so softly we need more folks to get involved we had 100 post and several thousand views in matter of days now that its started no one cares but us few sorry blynx to intrude on your thread like this im just trying to get more folks involved

You might create a 'signature' that gets added to every post you make.

The signature should include the title and a link to the 1 sq ft challenge.

 

[bagseed77]

good call on the link with the sig, if i can do it anyone can , cellar told me to get one cause i complained in chat nobody came by my thread, just link it for easy access

 

[blynx]

Here's a couple 3D pics of Chesaw (plant 1). These were taken right before th plant was chopped on day 70.

Chesaw (plant 1)

 

[organicmunk]

man sure wish i had some of those 3D glasses but regardless still looks great blynx