Basement Salad Garden Build Planning

[Strelok]

I'm in the early stages of planning a NFT system where I want to grow leafy greens and herbs (lettuce, spinach, basil, etc.). I'm going to take a 6.5ft wide Husky Shelving Unit and place 3 NFT channels side by side on one or two levels of shelves. Basically do what Lane did in his build, but with NFT channels and a slightly longer growing area. I'm going to do just one level first and I will need to cover a 6.5 x 2.5 ft area and I'm aiming to keep the lights about 18-22" above the NFT channels, or 6 - 10" above the canopy.

I think I want to use Samsungs H-Series SI-B8T11156HUS, which are the ~22" strips in 4000K color temp.

Right now I'm trying to determine which best configuration to build the lights in:

• 6 x 22" strips, side by side down the length of the shelf, 11" apart
• 8 x 22" strips, side by side down the length of the shelf, 8.5" apart
• ...even more strips for tighter spacing?

--- UPDATE 01/13/2018 ---
Decided on using the ladder pattern because I think it will produce more even coverage across the entire shelf. I also found this post here that covers essentially the same thing I'm trying to do but in a less wide space (4").

I'm thinking eight 22" strips per shelf will work, ten strips would likely be overkill for just lettuce and herbs. Now I just need to decide on which 22" strip to use (H562D, F562B, or F564B) and then pick out a power supply.

--- UPDATE 01/15/2018 ---
Decided I'm aiming for driving the strips at 50 - 75%. Definitely going to use the F-series because you pay just ~$1.50 more per strip to get 50% more diodes and as a result 50% more max current.

Thinking that shooting for ~15 watts/sqft @ 12-18" from canopy for veg should be fine, saw another build that was very similar to mine that was growing veggies ok at 7.5W/sqft @ 16". The HGL 65 does 16W/sqft @ 18-24" for veg. This all means I should be ok with just 6 strips @ 190W for a 6x2" area.

For a driver, the HLG-240H-24A seems to fit the bill and even allows for expansion to 8 strips total should I need it. Going to sleep on this for a day or two before pulling the trigger and ordering everything.

--- UPDATE 01/17/2018 ---
Parts ordered, should get everything in a week or so. Also ordering seeds, rockwool and some quality grow trays. Meanwhile I need to think about the light frame, wiring and hanging hardware. Also need to figure out NFT channel plumbing and hardware. Hoping to have this system operational in 2-3 weeks.

--- UPDATE 01/07/2019 ---
Well, its been about a year that I have been running these lights and I have to say that they pretty much exactly did what I wanted them to do. Even strong enough to enable insane amounts of flowering with strawberries. Let it be know that ~15 watts/sqft @ 12" with my setup is plenty to grow strawberries. Future strawberry growing updates will be posted here: https://growingfruit.org/t/growing-stra ... nics/18667

[LEDG]

I don’t think you can really go wrong since you’ll end up with roughly the same number of strips per shelf. Do you anticipate either way being easier to physically install?

[Strelok]

Do you anticipate either way being easier to physically install?

I'm leaning towards having 8 x 22" strips, side by side, down the length of the shelf like so, where each bar is a 22" strip:



This is what 6 x 22" strips would look like, I'm not sure it would be adequate (I could be wrong):



The next thing I have to decide is if I should do the H-series 22" H562D or F-series 22" F562B

Your calculator tells me that the H-series outputs only 3552 lumens / strip @ 75% max current while the F-series does 5328 lumens / strip @ 75% max current, and they both have the same efficiency at 75% max current. So as far as I can tell the only difference with the F-series is you pay ~$1.50 more per strip to get 50% more diodes and as a result 50% more max current? Whats the downside?

UPDATE [01/07/2019]: Ended up doing 6 x 22" strips (F-series 22" F562B) running at ~80% max current and hanging 8-10" above canopy for a 8x2' area. Worked out perfectly fine for a budget build that's capable of growing strawberries and leafy greens. If you can spring for it more strips would give more even coverage. Also more head room would be nice but is a luxury - I move the lights out of the way if I need to work on the plants.

[LEDG]

Looks great; nice drawings. I love a well-planned build. There is truly no downside to the F-Series except they may run a touch hotter due to the tighter packing of diodes. Likely negligible in this case though.

The LT-FB564B 2-footers are even crazier with double the diodes of the FB562B’s, but I think you’ve got the right strip for the job here since you want better coverage rather than more intensity per strip.

[Strelok]

Alright, so I decided to go with 6 x F562Bs. I was thinking of powering these with a 240W LED driver like the HLG-240H-24A. With a 240W driver and 6 strips for a 2x6" shelf hung at 10-16" from canopy I should be able to run the system at 190W (75% of LED max) and get good coverage for veg growth.

Any reason why the HLG-240H-24A wont work before I hit the order button?

If I decide to expand to add 2 strips for seed starting on another shelf (for a total of 8 on the 240W driver), to maintain coverage I will need to use the full 240 watts of the driver, basically running it at max every day. Is there any risk to this besides efficiency loss?

Oh and if I decide to only use 4 strips initially, will I just be able to turn this driver down to the voltage/current I need, and then when I expand to 6 strips go in and readjust the settings before connecting the other 2 strips?

I'm guessing that it wouldn't work to put in a switch to toggle sets of strips on/off, correct? You would probably need to adjust the current on the driver or something.

[Grower]

Do you anticipate either way being easier to physically install?

I'm leaning towards having 8 x 22" strips, side by side, down the length of the shelf like so, where each bar is a 22" strip:



This is what 6 x 22" strips would look like, I'm not sure it would be adequate (I could be wrong):



The next thing I have to decide is if I should do the H-series 22" H562D or F-series 22" F562B

Your calculator tells me that the H-series outputs only 3552 lumens / strip @ 75% max current while the F-series does 5328 lumens / strip @ 75% max current, and they both have the same efficiency at 75% max current. So as far as I can tell the only difference with the F-series is you pay ~$1.50 more per strip to get 50% more diodes and as a result 50% more max current? Whats the downside?

hey mate remember to share your hydro build with us!

[Strelok]

hey mate remember to share your hydro build with us!

Oh, for sure. I've been updating my original post with progress on my planning. I'm pretty set on what I need to order now, just have to pull the trigger and wait the week or so that it takes to get here. I will try to document the build as I go and put it up in an imgur gallery or something.

Any chance you can check out my other questions above regarding the HLG-240H-24A?

[Grower]

hey mate remember to share your hydro build with us!

Oh, for sure. I've been updating my original post with progress on my planning. I'm pretty set on what I need to order now, just have to pull the trigger and wait the week or so that it takes to get here. I will try to document the build as I go and put it up in an imgur gallery or something.

Any chance you can check out my other questions above regarding the HLG-240H-24A?

If you go for SI-B8T261560WW you get 23v strips and the HLG-240H-24A is a constant current driver with an output of 24v and 10A. I suppose you are going to parallel wire your strips, this way driver output current is divided equally between each strip, so:
10A/6strips = 1.5A per strip
8 strip = 1.25A/strip (24v*1.25A=30w/strip)
10 strip = 1A/strip
Looking at digikey page, test current is 1.12A for F562b and if the strip is made of 8s9p lm561c leds max current for the strip should be 1.8A.
If you are going to use only 4 strips wired in parallel with that driver you get (10A/4strips) 2,5A per strips and you will burn them.
What I want to say is that you can use how many strips wired in parallel you want, remember that current is divided.

I am not an expert so wait for someone more prepared to confirm.
There are A and B drivers, both can be dimmed. "A" version has a built in screw to go from 50 to 100% power while "B" drivers must be wired with a PWM potentiometer but I am a donkey so read what LEDG has written on the site.

[LEDG]

Alright, so I decided to go with 6 x F562Bs. I was thinking of powering these with a 240W LED driver like the HLG-240H-24A. With a 240W driver and 6 strips for a 2x6" shelf hung at 10-16" from canopy I should be able to run the system at 190W (75% of LED max) and get good coverage for veg growth.

Any reason why the HLG-240H-24A wont work before I hit the order button?

If I decide to expand to add 2 strips for seed starting on another shelf (for a total of 8 on the 240W driver), to maintain coverage I will need to use the full 240 watts of the driver, basically running it at max every day. Is there any risk to this besides efficiency loss?

Oh and if I decide to only use 4 strips initially, will I just be able to turn this driver down to the voltage/current I need, and then when I expand to 6 strips go in and readjust the settings before connecting the other 2 strips?

I'm guessing that it wouldn't work to put in a switch to toggle sets of strips on/off, correct? You would probably need to adjust the current on the driver or something.

Do it. That’s a good match for those strips.

If you run less, you just need to make sure you dial in the voltage or limit the current to make sure they aren’t overdriven. You can use toggle switches to run different banks too, as long as these parameters are set.

And, actually, the closer you run your driver to 100% load, the more efficient it becomes. You can see this on the last page of most mean well data sheets on the efficiency vs. load graph. Maxing out the driver is no problem because it just switiches over to constant current mode like it’s designed to. No disadvantages at all, really.

[Aurust]

I was wondering why you went with a ladder configuration instead of a few longer strips? I'm looking at building a setup for the same purpose. I was going to use 2-3 longer strips run lengthwise instead of width. I though it would be easier to wire.