i have a 315 watt cdl from boulder lamp co, it runs the bulb horizontally.. i was told you get better coverage with horizontal run fixtures.. i would love to see a real comparison of both the verticle and horizontal run cmh lamps...The retrofit should be ok it just adds an adapter to run a t12 bulb in a ed37 socket on any fixture. It doesn't include the fixture which costs $150 too. So that's why the the kit is only $200
http://growershouse.com/ceramic-science-315w-cmh-light-conversion-kit
http://growershouse.com/phantom-315w-cmh-reflector
The lec is almost $500 because it's sun system. They have always been the most expensive with everything. Their t5 fixtures still go for $200.
With cmh you want a vertical hood. There will be a spectral shift and less photon output when ran horizontal
I've never finished a crop indoors, or used anything except t5's and t8's (yet), but I have read and investigated as much about lighting as possible for 20 yrs now. I worked as an electrician for about 7 years, most of it was in commercial and industrial lighting, plus I have always been interested in the main subject of this forum, growing bud. A lot of the hype around any one setup in particular is marketing a new product. Most of which is more efficient due to its predesesors. Anyway, as far as reflectors go, how many time does the wheel need reinvented? I happened to walk under a vertical parking lot light this afternoon, and while looking up at it breafly (didn't want to look like a crazy person) I noticed the actual reflector inside. It sure as hell looked a lot like the cycloptics and greenbeam. The one thing that seams most likely to improve and be the most effective is bulbs (or souce of light) ballasts, and the quality of the reflector material. I used to have a philips light catalog. It had every spec available on all of their lights, and some are only for vert or horiz, and universal. Generally the universal were more efficient and had a longer life when run vertical. I've been looking online to try and find polished aluminum coil stock so I could make my own, but after today I'M going to start looking for old vert box style lot lights. I can't see spending 200+ for just a reflector. when I find some I'll post pics and send the extra to whoever wants them.Product Description
This is the complete Ceramic MH fixture that comes with ballast, bulb, and reflector. The Cycloptics reflector comes with a 6 foot lamp cord. Plug and play ready to go out of the box. The Philips 3100k Agro is recommended if this will be your primarily light for the flowering phase of growth.
Greenbeams can be used in both small and large scale grow room applications. Depending on the level of light required, we can determine the optimal number of lights required to meet your needs, while maintaining the best spectrum and highest levels of uniformity.
Philips Green Power 315W CMH Spectrum Philips originally developed this lamp for Cycloptics. It is the most efficient lamp in producing photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) per watt. As tested at Utah State University Crop Physiology Laboratory its spectrum is 18% and 44% more efficient for photosynthesis than MH and HPS lamps respectively.
Full Volume 3D Uniformity
All-Bright and Greenbeams indoor lighting systems deliver superior light uniformity over the full volume of a grow room with greater intracanopy light penetration than horizontal lamp reflectors. "Hot spots" are eliminated too, because 90% of the light reflects off the walls and lands on the plants from multiple angles. The Cycloptics Greenbeam's geometry assures that less than 3% of the lamp's rays are trapped by the lamp as they reflect in One Bounce and OutTM off of the reflector's 95% reflective aluminum. This is far superior to horizontal lamp reflectors. They trap up to 20% of the lamp's light inside the reflector in the form of heat, which is the primary cause of horizontal lamp failures.
Thanks. I'm limited with space. If I go over 3.5ft even by an inch, I won't be able to open the 22 inch door all the way, if the inside of the veg is exactly 2 ft wide with 2x2 framing and half inch sheeting. Unless I omit sheeting for paneling and stapled up film. I have plenty of 1/2 inch ply and white paint. 3.5x12 with 2x2 wall 22.5 inch hall, 2x2 wall, 2ft veg and 2x2 wall just fits with no room to spare.3.5 or even 4 wide would suffice when you start getting overlap.
tstick, - remote ballast would be good too, the whole unit with ballast inside is not that warm
Go with the SunSystem and the built in ballast. I own two of them and they're worth every penny.any preference between the fixtures that have the remote ballasts vs. the built-in ballast on the 315s?
duct tape and speaker wireI noticed that the remote ballast version of the Sun Systems LEC 315 only has a 6' cord from fixture-to-ballast....so that means that I can't have the remote ballast on the floor outside my tent because 6 feet isn't enough cord. I guess I could mount it to the wall outside the tent....but I'm probably going to go with the built-in ballast version.