4x4 or a 5x5?
- Thread starter Soupsaa
- Start date
Paulyd!satx
Well-Known Member
Bigger is always better right?
PadawanWarrior
Well-Known Member
coreywebster
Well-Known Member
Its a 450w light.
4x4 = 16sqft =28.125w per square foot. Already a bit lower than I would like but still performs.
5x5= 25sqft = 18w per square foot. Ok for veg , weak for flower.
Its not like its a large bar light you can hang 6" above plants for even coverage.
Its a small light with a small foot print.
You can see the par maps of 5x5 space, weak around the edges and especially the corners.
Seems they just cant help themselves when it comes to exaggerating performance.
4x4 = 16sqft =28.125w per square foot. Already a bit lower than I would like but still performs.
5x5= 25sqft = 18w per square foot. Ok for veg , weak for flower.
Its not like its a large bar light you can hang 6" above plants for even coverage.
Its a small light with a small foot print.
You can see the par maps of 5x5 space, weak around the edges and especially the corners.
Seems they just cant help themselves when it comes to exaggerating performance.
coreywebster
Well-Known Member
Of course you can use a 5x5 and grow to a 4x4 footprint.
PadawanWarrior
Well-Known Member
That's what she said.
Bigdaddy76
Well-Known Member
5x5 gives you more options and flexibility, if you decide to get another light down the road. However you’ll need to add another light if you’re planning on using the whole 5x5 footprint. A 5x5, with to small of a light, won’t yield more then proper size footprint for light. At least not quality. Your yield has a lot to do with light wattage, and obviously genetics. Higher wattage, bigger yields, not necessarily bigger footprint, when under powered!
JoeBlow5823
Well-Known Member
If you dont intent to add any more lights to the tent, stick with a 4x4. Cooling the light it takes to light up a 5x5 properly is a pretty big job....
madvillian420
Well-Known Member
ive got a budgetLED 500w in a 3x3 space. Keep in mind grow light companies tend to exaggerate numbers a bit.
*Some* grow light companies exaggerate numbers, and *some* grow light manufacturers exaggerate a whole lot more than just "a bit".
Not all of them are marketing scam artist fraudsters.
madvillian420
Well-Known Member
Maybe my light meter isnt as accurate as the ones used by the manufacturers, but so far theyve ALL been sprucing up the numbers a bit, blurple companies much more than QBs. So far ive had/tested Black dog, Viparspectra, PlatinumLED, HLG, and BudgetLED. HLG and Budget both have a 500w fixture advertised as a "1000w equivalent" which is a tremendous light but i have a hard time believing is exactly true.
Part of my statement on the exaggerating numbers was also in the advertised flowering footprint of these lights. Most lights ive had with an advertised 12/12 footprint of say 4x4 do much better in a 3x3. that last 6-12 inches furthest from the fixture will have poor coverage/intensity if you were to follow the manufacturers guidelines in a lot of cases.
Im still an LED believer, just annoyed with the way things are worded/presented sometimes lol
I've been doing research on alternate lighting (I've always solely used HID), and have found it very difficult to get accurate, consistent information. It's a nightmare.
JoeBlow5823
Well-Known Member
Well and exactly what 1000w are they equivalent to? A hortilux 1000w single end bulb in a shitty air cooled reflector with glass? Or a gavita double end open fixture? Because there is a good 20-30% difference in output between those two lights even though they both pull 1000w
I love it when one of them claim "equivalent to a 500W HPS". Since I've never heard of a 500W HPS, it makes me a bit suspicious as to how the hell they came to that conclusion. My guess is that the numbers came out of someone's ass.
JoeBlow5823
Well-Known Member
Im sticking to HID for at least 5 more years. Once there is a lot more proof from home growers that they are putting out significantly more/better product then I might make the change but right now i rarely see anyone pull more than 1.5 gpw from led and I pulled 1.2 from HID on my second grow ever.
JoeBlow5823
Well-Known Member
I think they are really just comparing the lumen output to what a 100w incandescent bulb puts out. So they are actually saying "equivalent to 5 100w incandescent bulbs"
My interest is in lowering my power consumption. I'm currently running one 1kW HPS, one 600W HPS, two 400W MH, ~200W of CFL (for my male plant closet), and two 43W CFL in my clone tent. Periodically for certain test runs, I stand up another 600W and 400W in addition.
With that said, I'm not going to spend several thousand dollars to replace even half of my lamps if I don't know precisely what I'm buying, and exactly how they will behave (including temperature output).
coreywebster
Well-Known Member
Always makes me chuckle too.
I also love it when they say equal to a 500w hps but flowers a 2x2ft space.