I get personal preferences about using hid lights but actually promoting them at this point in indoor grow light “evolution”?
They are a fire hazard, they are bulky, they put out shit ton of heat (may be an advantage in some cases), spectrum is not as good as leds, electricity cost, cooling cost etc etc.
It just makes sense to go with leds. 50000+ hours and you are still good to go (like at 80%). That makes 5.7 years (68 months) non stop. With 12/12 10+ years. So lets call it 8. As long as you keep them cool these figures will get even better.
As one guy calculated lets say it takes 4 years to break even (worst case scenario). Then you got 4+ years of savings.
If you want to buy a new light and don’t have money to invest into leds at the moment ok go for an hid setup, they are cheaper of course but you keep buying bulbs and burn lots of electricity.
When growing in tents or in an enclosed space with reflective walls, you don’t need to keep it close. Keeping any type of light high creates better penetration as all the light that gets reflected off the surfaces creates a sea of light around your plants. Equal distribution of light is also important. It feels counter productive to pull those lights a bit higher but it lets the lower leaves to contribute better to the photosynthesis.
Well anycase, my .02
Love my leds.
