How to cover more space for less watts?

[Unagi]

Right! Hello folks, lets dig into it!

So currently im growing with 3x 600w hid, 1 mh for veg and 2 hps for bloom.

Veg room is 3x9'
Flower room is 10x10', atm the two hps only cover about 4x8 of this space.

I'm switching over to led, the diy way. Now money wont be an issue im willing to spend the cash to cover the growspace. I have one limit and that is power, i only have around 2300-2500 watts to use on lights.

Is there any way i could use less than 600w for my veg room and put the leftover watt into my flowering room?

I realize there are topics and posts that explain how to calculate the amount of lights you need to cover a certain area. But i dont know how to figure out the way to cover more space and stay within my 2500 watt limit.

Any advice is apprechiated

 

[Photon Flinger]

127 Vero 29c SE run at 20w each. Done.

 

[VegasWinner]

from ChilLed grow lights web site.
How Many Boards Do I Need For My Area?
The number of boards you need will depend on what photon flux (light intensity) you are looking to achieve per given area.

If you are not supplementing with CO2 and are growing a fruiting/flowering crop, then stay around 900-1,000 micromoles.
If you are supplementing with CO2 and are growing a fruiting/flowering crop, then you can go up to 1,200-1,400 micromoles.
Note: Adjust your room air temperature higher under LED lighting, about 85 degrees fahrenheit and 90 degrees under high light/CO2 conditions.

EXAMPLE: Your area is 4ft by 4ft and you want 1,000 micromoles PPFD, 4ft x 4ft = 16 square feet.
175W PCBs: 16 square feet x 0.238 PCBs per square foot = 3.808 PCBs, round to nearest whole number = 4 175w PCBs needed to get 1,000 micromoles PPFD average in 4 x 4ft (16sq ft) area.

For a 4x8 area you would need 800w of chilLED grow lights
https://chilledgrowlights.com/our-products-services/commercial-led-grow-lights/chilled-led-grow-light
$2000 or you can build them your self with their kits. if you are wanting to save some money. You could buy 9- 90w board kiits for $150 each for around $1500 plus S&H
https://chilledgrowlights.com/our-products-services/diy-led-grow-light-kits/diy-led-grow-light-single-module-full-kit-100w
great lights BTW, I use them my self.
namaste

 

[Tbudwilly]

I'm switching over to led, the diy way.

You also need to know the actual power draw on your LEDs. It's sounds like you are building your own just be aware if you buy them the actual power draw is different than the advertised power draw, many times substantially different.

All your calculations need to be done with the actual power draw numbers and not the advertised draw.

This is setup for your flower room only and for LED lighting.

OK, with LEDs, you want about 25 to 35 watts of actual power draw per square foot.

10ft by 10 ft tent floor space equals 100 square feet.

100 sq. ft. x 25 watts = 2500 watts
100 sq. ft. x 35 watts = 3500 watts.

These are all based on actual draw and that's for your whole flower room.

If your only using 4'x8' then that's 32 square feet.

32 ft² x 25 watts =800 watts
32 ft² x 35 watts =1120 watts.

From my experience actual power draw can be all over the place. I've seen advertised 2000watt LED only have an actual power draw of 315 watts. Some of the first LEDs I ever worked with were advertised 450watt LEDs but only had 197watts of actual power draw.

So if you're looking to cover your are with 800 watts, I guarantee you if you buy a light that advertises 800watts to cover your 4'x8' area then it won't be enough because that 800 watt light will probably only have an actual draw of around, and this can vary, but about 300 or so watts.

 

[Unagi]

I wish to cover 10x8' in the flowering room, should leave me a nice 2' row down the middle to work on the canopy either side. Basicly it will be two 4x10 in the flowering room.

127 Vero 29c SE run at 20w each. Done.

Will this cover my space? It seems like this might be exactly what im looking for. With over 125 cobs I'll have a little more then a cob per squarefoot. Quick and simple answer. Thanks for popping by dude

@VegasWinner my apologies, should have explained my plans better. Thanks for taking the time to drop some info.

@Tbudwilly im not sure i understand what ur saying. But following this advice i wont be able to stay within my 2500watt limit and cover the space I wish to. Thank you for taking the time to help.

 

[Unagi]

From my experience actual power draw can be all over the place. I've seen advertised 2000watt LED only have an actual power draw of 315 watts. Some of the first LEDs I ever worked with were advertised 450watt LEDs but only had 197watts of actual power draw.

So if you're looking to cover your are with 800 watts, I guarantee you if you buy a light that advertises 800watts to cover your 4'x8' area then it won't be enough because that 800 watt light will probably only have an actual draw of around, and this can vary, but about 300 or so watts.

I was planning on running cobs like @Photon Flinger suggested, or quantumboards mixed in aswell. What ever i got to do to cover as much of my space

 

[Tbudwilly]

Flower room is 10x10', atm the two hps only cover about 4x8 of

I see what your saying now, I thought you were saying you were only going to use 4'x8' of that space but your saying your lights only cover that space right now. Sorry man but I don't think you can adequately fill your space with the lighting you need to to make your buds dense if your using all 100ft². If your light is to weak you will get all fluffy buds with no density

 

[Unagi]

I see what your saying now, I thought you were saying you were only going to use 4'x8' of that space but your saying your lights only cover that space right now. Sorry man but I don't think you can adequately fill your space with the lighting you need to to make your buds dense if your using all 100ft². If your light is to weak you will get all fluffy buds with no density

Is it not possible to use more cobs and run them at 20-30% hanging the lights closer to the canopy to make up for the lack of watts in the room?

Could be simpler to lower my grow space to two 4x8 and copy growmau5's build this would run 850 watts x2 to cover the flowering space. Are the cree cxb3590 he ran with that build still the cobs to go for, or is there newer cobs that I should be looking into? I understand ur first post now ^^ sorry for lagging behind there.

 

[Tbudwilly]

Is it not possible to use more cobs and run them at 20-30% hanging the lights closer to the canopy to make up for the lack of watts in the room?

Could be simpler to lower my grow space to two 4x8 and copy growmau5's build this would run 850 watts x2 to cover the flowering space. Are the cree cxb3590 he ran with that build still the cobs to go for, or is there newer cobs that I should be looking into? I understand ur first post now ^^ sorry for lagging behind there.

Possibly, when it comes to chips I'll admit my knowledge is limited.

 

[Unagi]

Possibly, when it comes to chips I'll admit my knowledge is limited.

Thanks a bunch for spending the time to help out

 

[Photon Flinger]

I wish to cover 10x8' in the flowering room, should leave me a nice 2' row down the middle to work on the canopy either side. Basicly it will be two 4x10 in the flowering room.



Will this cover my space? It seems like this might be exactly what im looking for. With over 125 cobs I'll have a little more then a cob per squarefoot. Quick and simple answer. Thanks for popping by dude

@VegasWinner my apologies, should have explained my plans better. Thanks for taking the time to drop some info.

@Tbudwilly im not sure i understand what ur saying. But following this advice i wont be able to stay within my 2500watt limit and cover the space I wish to. Thank you for taking the time to help.

That is why I gave that answer. Nice, easy and simple. No confusion, tried, tested and proven to work.

 

[Unagi]

That is why I gave that answer. Nice, easy and simple. No confusion, tried, tested and proven to work.

Thanks!

 

[Unagi]

@Photon Flinger im very new to led so im sorry if this is something i should know, but how do I run these at 20w? And would I need a heatsink/reflector on each cob?

Just want to get that shopping cart going

 

[Photon Flinger]

@Photon Flinger im very new to led so im sorry if this is something i should know, but how do I run these at 20w? And would I need a heatsink/reflector on each cob?

Just want to get that shopping cart going

You have to figure out which drivers you plan on using. I care not for fancy meanwells and would run each cob (or 2) off a cheap chinese no name driver.

The only heat sink you need is simple aluminum sheet, 1/8th or even 1/4th thickness. Just mount the Veros to however you want to arrange them for your room. Driving each 29c at 350ma only produces 1c of heat waste to be dealt with.

No reflectors or lenses.

 

[Unagi]

You have to figure out which drivers you plan on using. I care not for fancy meanwells and would run each cob (or 2) off a cheap chinese no name driver.

The only heat sink you need is simple aluminum sheet, 1/8th or even 1/4th thickness. Just mount the Veros to however you want to arrange them for your room. Driving each 29c at 350ma only produces 1c of heat waste to be dealt with.

No reflectors or lenses.

I just want to get this right, so bare with my million questions please ^^ have you done a build like this? Or do you know where I could find more info on it?

 

[Photon Flinger]

I just want to get this right, so bare with my million questions please ^^ have you done a build like this? Or do you know where I could find more info on it?

Yes.

Search the forums.

If you aren't comfortable with building it yourself, you should get someone else to do it or go with the more expensive less efficient commercial offerings.

 

[Danielson999]

For $2600 you could buy 8 of the 260w Quantum Board kits. A small child could put it together for next to nothing. If you do a proper scrog you could yield well. Inside 4'x8' tents would be even better. 2000w or so.

 

[Unagi]

For $2600 you could buy 8 of the 260w Quantum Board kits. A small child could put it together for next to nothing. If you do a proper scrog you could yield well. Inside 4'x8' tents would be even better. 2000w or so.

Thanks for shopping by! I'm having a hard time deciding how to go about doing this. Must say qb's look simple. Less components for me to look for and all that. But in the end I know I'll regret taking the easy way. So I'll explore @Photon Flinger advice. I just can't seem to find this build ur talking about, anyway u could throw me a bone here? I did search and i went through a couple builds, but they were the wrong ones.

Unagi

 

[Danielson999]

Here's a pic of an 8 Vero 29 build for a 2'x4'. I chose to use square tubing instead of angle like most. Load up on SST120 pinfin heatsinks from HLG. Order Vero 29SE's so there's no soldering and get drivers. Other than that it's just wire, wago connectors and a potentiometer if desire.
Watch Growmau5's youtube video's on building a light and you're good to go.

 

[Photon Flinger]

Bulky heat sinks are so 2014.