Can i ask the wattage per strip in your last pic? 80w a strip?
Are those 3000k?
I have one light consisting of (8) strips, wired in parallel. That light is powered by a HLG-600H-48B. So all strips is running at 46v and 10.8 amps. 62.1 watts.
All other lights are wired in series and powered by one HLG-320H-C1400B for every 4 strips.
They run at 184v and 1.4 amps. 64.4 watts per strip.
You can run them a bit hotter than I am, even with passive heat sinks.
I have a light of 3500k strips, and the others are 3000k. They have the same PAR reading on my Apogee MQ-500, when run at the same amperage.
Many thanks for the feedback.
It sounds like you are hovering around 30-33ish watts per sq ft. Im really curios to know what has been your highest grams per watt when running only 30ish watts per sq ft.
I only kept track of that for the head to head test I did. It would just be too much of a pain to track the plants all the way through processing. And it is so clearly apparent that the LED's are superior that I didn't need any more info to convince myself, or anyone who saw the beds pre-harvest for that matter.
It was with Sour Patch Kids, a strain that was new to me. and its a heavy yeilder com paired to most other I've run. Great flavor and nose though. Two separate 4’x5’ beds of Sour Patch Kids, each with the same number of plants, all other variables the same, no CO2, no light movers.
The LED produced 1.16 grams/watt, and the Gavita produced 0.94 grams/watt.
Last edited by randorson on Wed Nov 20, 2019 3:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
I could increase my yield with stronger light, but without CO2, imo it is not a good idea because the cost to produce each extra gram becomes too high. My cost of production per pound has already dropped by 46%. Once I replace the last 4 HID lights, I expect a 52% increase in efficiency compared to the room lit entirely by HID.
I find that without CO2 you shouldn't bother with PAR reading over around 920. You can absolutely yield more with a higher PAR reading but again, the efficiency drops away.
I would also say you have alot less heat to get rid of in the summer and that also increases efficiency right?
Grams per watt isn't the best indicator of how efficient a grow is, there are alot of other factors to consider also. But when people are beating a gavita with a home made light then it should convince anyone that is in doubt.
I would also say you have alot less heat to get rid of in the summer and that also increases efficiency right?
Grams per watt isn't the best indicator of how efficient a grow is, there are alot of other factors to consider also. But when people are beating a gavita with a home made light then it should convince anyone that is in doubt.
Absolutely! I live in a temperate region so even during winter my exhaust fans come on less often, and thus my dehums have to do less work. I have a 14" and a 10" exhaust fans and 2 dehums, so I save a lot by having them run less often. It's also much easier to get my room temp down at the end of flowering to let strains express more color.
Grams per kilowatt hour is a much better way to look at efficiency. But its much harder for people to calculate. I factor my electric bill in when I look at my efficiency increase. So although I have given grams per watt, my efficiency calculations are in terms of cost to produce each pound, and since electricity is billed by the kilowatt hour, that is nested in my calculations.
My electrical cost for this room have gone from $2475 per run to $1892 per run. And once it is completely LED, I project the elec. cost per run to be $1418.
Well I'm a horrible photographer with an old phone, and the HPS lights on the other side of the room are enough to completely screw up the color balance but here is a pic. I tried to take it from the same perspective as the last one.
