# Lights.. lights... lights. So many choices. What to buy.



## Hackerman (Apr 19, 2014)

OK, I am going to run out and grab a new light. Let's assume for a minute that money is no object. I hate to get cheap and regret it later.

Don't want to go LED yet. Maybe next upgrade.

Standard 1000w setup. OK, I am good with that.

Digital ballast? OK. That looks like 99% are digital anyway. No problem (albeit, I will miss the hummmmmmmm from my old magnetic ballast. LOL)

Dimmable??? I can not imagine any time when I would want my plants to get anything but the maximum amount of light (clones excluded). Dimmable seems pretty useless to me. If I want less than 1000w, I'll stick with my 400w.

Reflectors??? I am looking on eBay and I see some really varied options. Do I need an air cooled hood? I don't think so. I see some fancy shapes that claim better reflectivity. Most of them looked pretty chintzy. Not near the quality of the one I have now. Back in my day, you had a choice of horizontal or vertical mount but they got smart and now, everything is horizontal bulbs. Not real sure about a reflector yet.

Bulbs? I use the Hortilux with my 400 and I guess I am happy with those. I see all the ballasts take a MH or an HPS now so, a couple of each type bulb (I learned the hard way that you have to ALWAYS have a backup bulb. LOL).

Brand name? I usually go with something that is proven in quality. The store I shop at probably carries Hydo Farm. That should be fine.

So, it sounds like I know, pretty much what I want, except for the reflector.

Did I forget anything? Love to hear your comments.

Thanks


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## Locked (Apr 19, 2014)

Air Cooled hood would certainly be at the top of my list. 
Bulbs I go cheap and replace often.
Do you have the flexi ducting and inline fan for air extraction?

I think Lumatek is a pretty popular Brand Name ballast. 
Do you have light hangers?   IMO the very best are: SunGrip  View attachment 13032.png


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## DrFever (Apr 19, 2014)

Well if money is no object and you want to see your returns come back faster then  i would forget  about  air cooled / water cooled  hoods    open reflector is in reality onlw way to go  i believe with air cooled hoods you lose  30 percent because of the glass not sure  but read that somewhere.
 you don't even come close to  bat wing  reflector for  area of lighting  being  air cooled  has small reflector, 
 lets look at some pros and cons 
 air cooled  mounted  solid  hardly no movement due to ducting 
 light area is reduced 
 loss in yield 

open  bat wing 
1.) No "loss" of light.
2.) No glass to keep clean
3.) Less fan and ducting to run
4.) Easier to lift and lower light


Con's:
 Easier to burn plant (if they get too close)
 Feel's like you're in a tanning salon - heat just radiates from the bulbs.


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## Hackerman (Apr 19, 2014)

I am also seeing "umbrella" style.

I notice some of them are silver colored aluminum, now. Mine is white. 

I don't have any ducting or anything like that. I have an exhaust fan on the ceiling that seems do do all the venting I need. At least with the 400w.

I can see DrFever's point about the pane of glass between the bulb and the plants. One would think that would block, at least, some light.

I love all the light hangers. Geeze, I've been using chain for 40 years. When I want to raise it, I just move it up a link or 2. LOL The light hangers are pretty cool. 

Man, things sure have changed. LOL


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## The Hemp Goddess (Apr 20, 2014)

I would absolutely positively be for getting an air coolable hood.  A 1000W 
gets quite hot and it can be very very hard to cool the light without an air coolable hood.  I, personally would not buy a hood that was not coolable.  I have read that the light loss is less than 10%, so?????  Also, you can put an air cooled hood a lot closer to your plants.  I believe that this offsets any benefit that may be gained by going with a hood that is not coolable.  With glass and air cooling, I can keep my 1000W a foot or less off the canopy, with a batwing, you are going to have to keep the light further away, probably at least a couple of feet, which also causes a lot of light loss.  I don't think that the color of the hood matters much.  I have both and have not noticed much difference.  I also like to get as large a hood as I can (that will fit into my space without a lot of hassle).  It seems to spread the light better and be easier to cool because a larger volume of cool air is being passed over the bulb.   

I also like the dimmable ballast.  If my space is not full or the plants are quite small, I often dim down the ballast.  I have found that without the addition of CO2 to my garden that 7500-8000 lumens per sq ft seems to be all my plants can utilize.  You can also dim it if you have particularly hot days and just want to cool things down a bit.     

You will need ducting.  You will probably also need a larger exhaust fan.  The difference in the heat output between a 400W and a 1000W is huge--what worked with the 400W will not with the 1000W.  Having ducting run does not mean that your light has to remain stationary.  I can move my light up and down with very little effort, even with semi-rigid ducting. 

So, my recommendation is air coolable hood, digital dimmable (especially if you are going to use it to veg too) ballast, ducting (not that flimsy accordion stuff they use for dryer vent, get semi-rigid ducting), and look at a 440 cfm centrifuge type fan like a Vortex for cooling.  These are the things that I think don't matter--the color of the hood, the manufacturer of the bulb.  I can say that I have had no better luck with big name ballasts like Lumatek over no name brands.  But buy what you are comfortable with.

I want to reiterate the difference between the 400W and the 1000W--there is just a world of difference and trying to compare them is like comparing apples to oranges.  Nothing about the 1000W is the same as the 400W except that they are both HID lights.  You will have way more light and way more heat.  Trying to treat your 1000W like you do your 400W will not work.  It is 250% more everything.

I also like the light lifters.  I used chains for years, but no more.


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## Hackerman (Apr 20, 2014)

Thanks again, Goddess.

I was looking at my current hood and, although it is not vented, it has the punch-out for the vent and it is set up to take a glass lens (never really noticed this before).

I don't want to infer that money is no object but for the extra money, I think I'll go with your suggestion of an air cooled hood. Just like my current, if I don't need to vent, I won't. If I need to, I have the hood that is required for the task.

Same thing with the dimmable ballast. I can leave it at 1000w forever, if I want. However, if a time comes where I would want to dim it, at least I have the option. And, again, the money difference is not a deal breaker.

So, with all this, I need to re-do my ventilation situation. I am venting through the ceiling, into the floor rafters above. Since the heat from the light doesn't have any smell, this should not present a problem with odor upstairs. Correct?

I will check out the fans but I assume they are designed to fit between a 16" space?

Thanks again and again for all your time and help.


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## Hackerman (Apr 20, 2014)

Just out of curiosity, what would an LED setup equivalent to a 1000w HID setup cost? Round numbers.


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## lyfespan (Apr 20, 2014)

Hackerman said:


> Just out of curiosity, what would an LED setup equivalent to a 1000w HID setup cost? Round numbers.


depends on who's lights and what type. theres indivual chip, and there's cob or chipset technology. then theres this http://www.illumitex.com/

View attachment aa.jpg


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## Hackerman (Apr 20, 2014)

Hmmmmm? I am seeing 1000w LED lights on eBay for under $500. Once I get a nice hood, HID lamps, ballast, etc, I'm not far from that number.

And, from what I understand, 1000w of LED is more light than 1000w HID.

Heat problem gone. Maybe I should re-think LED. Are these units on eBay any good?


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## lyfespan (Apr 20, 2014)

Hackerman said:


> Hmmmmm? I am seeing 1000w LED lights on eBay for under $500. Once I get a nice hood, HID lamps, ballast, etc, I'm not far from that number.
> 
> And, from what I understand, 1000w of LED is more light than 1000w HID.
> 
> Heat problem gone. Maybe I should re-think LED. Are these units on eBay any good?




you wanna watch the chip wattage, and the amount of specific nm leds.

there are 7,9,11 band spectrums.  just gotta watch for what the plant needs 430-450nm, 630-660nm, 730nm and 10,000-25,000 k


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## DrFever (Apr 20, 2014)

Also, you can put an air cooled hood a lot closer to your plants. I believe that this offsets any benefit that may be gained by going with a hood that is not coolable. With glass and air cooling, I can keep my 1000W a foot or less off the canopy

 first of all  a 1000 watt set up is one badboy compared to other set ups   i have placed my open 1000 watt  around 16-18" from top of plants with no issues ... But again  a 1000 watt   12" or 24 "  there is no penetration loss  no  gain in your so called lumen out put or anything ,,,,
 compared to when you place a 600 0r 400 watt  furtherr away  so  again there is no need  for a 1000 watt to be  closer to the tops   at 12 " or  20  height from tops there is no  difference 
 most grows  you see with vented hoods    they really have little movement  up  ir down  as there attached to ducting   bottom line 
Reflectors actually do diminish lumen output. Some far more than others, there was s good forum that tested the different hoods and their efficiency. But basically when the hood reflects light it loses light there in three ways: one the surface itself isn't 100% reflective, so some is absorbed. two not all the light is reflected in the right way, some of the light gets reflected back into the bulb which means passing through it again and two layers of glass. Three reflected light travels further to get to the plant, so applying the inverse square principal you lose light.
Noise  most importantly  is  having  way to much noise  in your grow room   from venting    power costs of running  extra venting ???? i seen and herd   whistling  from   cooltubes  which made  me wonder how far it really  traveled  
and most importantly  what people are  told  fresh air  would it not be wiser to spend the money on ducting  to get  actual outside fresh air into a room / tent ??? i see no problem  spending money on a bad @ss exhaust fan, with speed controller  that will   vent any room within minutes   many growers  go this route and pretty much the norm   2   out side vents  bring in fresh air   and 2 out side tents  taking away the heat  in a passive set up 

Hackerman  you  got some decisions to make  i don't even know what size room or tent  you got  but if your planning on growing for a while i would  wait   study check all options nothing like spending money on something  that a year or 6 months later  is shelved  and not in use  if your in planning stage  then i would look into  actual room controllers first  do it right  with a controller you can dial in  your room  to perfect conditions  unlike  most growers  walking in there room  and checking out temps  and so on 

View attachment IMG_1255.jpg


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## highdesertgardener (May 1, 2014)

Check out www.solis-tek.com...these guys have been around since 2009 and have a sick LED coming out. they were the first company to come out with a LCD/Remote controlled ballast with a remote..my buddy has 6 running with the matching bulbs and hoods..bright..highly recommend..


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## Light (May 15, 2014)

Have you considered Full Spectrum 1000w HID lights?


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## DankHobbyist (Oct 31, 2014)

Plasma and double ended.  I wish I had the de.


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