CMH in medium Adjusta-Wing-Avenger vs HPS vs Mars 2000 Quantum Led

[fartoblue]

I currently flower under 4 x 600 HPS in Adjusta - Wing hoods supplemented with a single 315 CMH in the middle. During the summer my temps were sky high as was my electricity bill, so thinking of a change.
My grow area is 6ft x 9ft with 1 ft extra space on all sides so my current light set up is probably a bit overkill.
I live in Northern UK and whilst summers are warmish winter is cold so I do need a heater

Option 1: Stick with what I have and don't grow during the summer 2715 watts used

Option 2: run 6 x 315 CMH (Migro have 4K colour spectrum + Far Red boost on special offer for £53.00). My grow area is ideal size for this and I have spare Adjusta wing hoods so I would need 6 x adapters @ £8.00 each, 6 x bulbs and ballasts @ £80 - £110 each. 1890 watts used

Option 3: 6 x Mars TSW 2000 LED @ £202 each. and similar draw from the wall as the CDM. Only problem is I don't know if they would produce enough heat in the winter so the heaters may come on. 1800w used.

Any advice appreciated, I am edging towards the CMH at the moment.

 

[turbobuzz]

Only you can decide, but I think the CMH has a lot to offer. Good light, and you would likely see a noticeable difference in your electricity bill

 

[fartoblue]

Only you can decide, but I think the CMH has a lot to offer. Good light, and you would likely see a noticeable difference in your electricity bill

That is my thinking at the minute mate. I have read they cover 3' square but am wondering if I could get away with 5 rather than 6 and just put one in the middle in a wide spread hood.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

Not to make things more complicated, but another option is mixing the cmh and led. Supposedly it's a great combo. I just added some quantum boards in my 3x8. Now I just have the boards going since it's so warm, but soon I will take out a couple of the boards and turn back on my 2 cmh lights. Then I will have 2 hlg Rspec 260's in the corners, and 1 hlg 135 Rspec in the middle of the cmh's. I was really impressed with just the 2 cmh, so I can't wait to see how they flower with the added quantum boards. LED's also give off a little more heat than I was expecting. Like Turbo said, only you can decide. There are so many options.

 

[fartoblue]

Not to make things more complicated, but another option is mixing the cmh and led. Supposedly it's a great combo. I just added some quantum boards in my 3x8. Now I just have the boards going since it's so warm, but soon I will take out a couple of the boards and turn back on my 2 cmh lights. Then I will have 2 hlg Rspec 260's in the corners, and 1 hlg 135 Rspec in the middle of the cmh's. I was really impressed with just the 2 cmh, so I can't wait to see how they flower with the added quantum boards. LED's also give off a little more heat than I was expecting. Like Turbo said, only you can decide. There are so many options.

Could be an idea Padawan. I could maybe save 315 watts if I skimped a bit. Would this work (See Below). The CMH cover 3ft x 3ft but the Mars only cover 2ft x 2ft so it would leave me 8 sq ft short but maybe this would be taken care of by overlap. Mars also do one that covers 4ft x 2ft but it is a single unit and I presume I may be better off with 2 units for the same price and power consumption. The 2 units use 150 watts each from the wall and the larger unit 300 watts so it is six and two three's. This configuration would save me 315 watts against 6 x CMH and probably some heat as well.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

Could be an idea Padawan. I could maybe save 315 watts if I skimped a bit. Would this work (See Below). The CMH cover 3ft x 3ft but the Mars only cover 2ft x 2ft so it would leave me 8 sq ft short but maybe this would be taken care of by overlap. Mars also do one that covers 4ft x 2ft but it is a single unit and I presume I may be better off with 2 units for the same price and power consumption. The 2 units use 150 watts each from the wall and the larger unit 300 watts so it is six and two three's. This configuration would save me 315 watts against 6 x CMH and probably some heat as well.

View attachment 4378047

That's kinda what I was thinking with the led in the middle of the cmh. I would think it would work well, but I haven't had a chance to run mine together yet so I can't say from experience.

 

[fartoblue]

Someone else on another forum suggested this layout
OXO
XOX

Doing 3 of each. I am edging toward 6 x CMH to be truthful as my grow area is perfect for the 3x3 coverage and I am hearing good things about them as far as quality of bud goes.

 

[Mullalulla]

Someone else on another forum suggested this layout
OXO
XOX

Doing 3 of each. I am edging toward 6 x CMH to be truthful as my grow area is perfect for the 3x3 coverage and I am hearing good things about them as far as quality of bud goes.

Heres my 6 315's over a 4x8 tray

 

[fartoblue]

They look in the pink Mulla my friend.
How big is your grow area and how high are your lights from the canopy?

 

[Blue back]

Use the boards for side lighting. 6 CMH above and the LED on the sides or just the 315'
CMH isn't the best penetrating light. I got 2 315's and a 4' 6 bulb T5 for side lighting on a 4x4 space. Rock solid frosty nugs.

 

[Mullalulla]

They look in the pink Mulla my friend.
How big is your grow area and how high are your lights from the canopy?

The tray is a standard 4' x 8' tray. I have my lights positioned 1.5 feet to either side in a 2's configuration giving me 3' for each light. The cannopy right now is about 12" from the lights in spots to 19", I started them at 24" I have room to raise them but the strains I have running at the moment seem to be handling it just fine.

I am not sure where your from so hopefully this helps ..

Canopy from bulb to plants range at the moment from 25.4 cm to 48.26 cm depending on strain

My grow tray is 121.9cm x 243.8cm .

My lights are positioned in the X X X


where from the wall the bulb is 45.7cm and from the light to its right is 91.4cm giving each light around a 91.4 x 91.4 area to hit give or take with a little hang off over the side where I water.
You are going to notice your flower when your friends grow the same cut, yours will smell better. Every single one of my friends who uses hps/led they all grow amazing stuff, but Im telling you everyone says mine smells/tastes that much better. Anecdotal ? sure, but you will see!

 

[fartoblue]

The tray is a standard 4' x 8' tray. I have my lights positioned 1.5 feet to either side in a 2's configuration giving me 3' for each light. The cannopy right now is about 12" from the lights in spots to 19", I started them at 24" I have room to raise them but the strains I have running at the moment seem to be handling it just fine.

I am not sure where your from so hopefully this helps ..

Canopy from bulb to plants range at the moment from 25.4 cm to 48.26 cm depending on strain

My grow tray is 121.9cm x 243.8cm .

My lights are positioned in the X X X


where from the wall the bulb is 45.7cm and from the light to its right is 91.4cm giving each light around a 91.4 x 91.4 area to hit give or take with a little hang off over the side where I water.
You are going to notice your flower when your friends grow the same cut, yours will smell better. Every single one of my friends who uses hps/led they all grow amazing stuff, but Im telling you everyone says mine smells/tastes that much better. Anecdotal ? sure, but you will see!

Many thanks for taking the time to answer my question. I'm from the UK by the way.

 

[fartoblue]

Use the boards for side lighting. 6 CMH above and the LED on the sides or just the 315'
View attachment 4378276 CMH isn't the best penetrating light. I got 2 315's and a 4' 6 bulb T5 for side lighting on a 4x4 space. Rock solid frosty nugs.

Many thanks Blue. Tour plants are looking super healthy mate. I grow sort of semi- scrog so penetration probably isnt as important due to my grow style.

 

[Apalchen]

315s for sure, hands down favorite lights, just pure easy quality,and you can actually tell what's going on in your room cause the color is right. I dunno if you can get the Phillips bulbs but I still recommend them if that's an option. They last forever, I have year + old bulbs and hit my highest numbers yet off the 315s last run. I think they only cost a little more than cheaper bulbs and I believe they are still king of the cmh bulbs unless I've missed some new data, but even then in my mind they are proven to last and put out fire every time.

 

[Lucky Luke]

I currently flower under 4 x 600 HPS in Adjusta - Wing hoods supplemented with a single 315 CMH in the middle. During the summer my temps were sky high as was my electricity bill, so thinking of a change.
My grow area is 6ft x 9ft with 1 ft extra space on all sides so my current light set up is probably a bit overkill.
I live in Northern UK and whilst summers are warmish winter is cold so I do need a heater

Option 1: Stick with what I have and don't grow during the summer 2715 watts used

Option 2: run 6 x 315 CMH (Migro have 4K colour spectrum + Far Red boost on special offer for £53.00). My grow area is ideal size for this and I have spare Adjusta wing hoods so I would need 6 x adapters @ £8.00 each, 6 x bulbs and ballasts @ £80 - £110 each. 1890 watts used

Option 3: 6 x Mars TSW 2000 LED @ £202 each. and similar draw from the wall as the CDM. Only problem is I don't know if they would produce enough heat in the winter so the heaters may come on. 1800w used.

Any advice appreciated, I am edging towards the CMH at the moment.

Another option would be to look at all CMH 315's. That will mean allot less heat and a cheaper electricity bill or go CMH630DE's (not the twin 315 setups but a proper 630wDE fixture) for much better results than the 600 HPS. Same kinda electricity bill but cooler than the 600w HPS due to the square wave ballast's and 1000w HPS results. Might be able to go less ballasts numbers to due to the foot prints.

Its a nice problem u have!