Plasma Lights

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smokeyjoes

Well-Known Member
Has anyone used Plasma lights for growing, and how do they compare to other lights we already use?

I have seen 200watters being compared to having 800watt HPS, and at very little heat output, and more of a full spectrum output.

More expensive than HPS and CFL's but if heat is lower and light better and full spectrum, must be worth a try "especially if i had one for free to test and report on lol"
 
chazbolin

chazbolin

Well-Known Member
it is a fancy fluorescent but an induction grow lamp has 166.5 Vlumens p/watt compared to say a T5 at 140 Vlumens p/watt so the PAR is improved under induction grow lamps. As to canopy penetration it really depends on the reflectors that the fixture uses. A well designed reflector will have efficiencies, measured in efficacy, over 85%. Meaning only 15% of the energy is lost before it emits. I'm using 400 series inda-gro with canopy penetration averaging 30" and yields at 300 grams p/meter. They are far less watts with high lumen output with a low operating temperature letting the plant come nearer the lamp. I also use them from propagation to bud since they produce UV and IR spectra. While more expensive then a standard fluorescent you get life spans over 60,000 hours since they don't use internal electrodes but magnets that surround the lamp to excite the gas inside. they had them in stock. even with shipping to Michigan they were up in a week.

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Snow Crash

Snow Crash

Well-Known Member
Here's another link I just posted elsewhere. I'm very interested in the results of the real plasma lighting. http://straylightoptical.com/slot/buy.jsf

Luxim makes some really nice bulbs, they had them at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for a while to test out. Look online and you'll find a few videos of people that have them for their own coral aquariums already.
 
Snow Crash

Snow Crash

Well-Known Member
calbunn said:
There are two types of electrodless induction lighting one being plasma with no phospors and the other being fluorescent with phosphor blends.
plasma in the US is made of argon/metal halide and not sulphur it operates through rf magneticinduction like a fluorescent induction but with a core temperature of 725 degrees c. This means shorter life spans fluorescent induction. I've not been able to find any journals or grow pics using either type of plasma for grows which on the other hand I have seen for fluorescent induction systems.
Take a look at the plasma PAR values and you'll see it's good for clone and veg but won't emit anything north of 500 nanometers so the IR levels that are required for flower and bud will be down from fluorescent induction or HPS. While the energy coming out of plasma is very high in lumens per watt and it is efficient at delivering the light down to the plants surface it is most effective in a 3' x 3' area. To increase the area the lamp must be raised and the subsequent reduction in PAR is an unfortunate consequence of that adjustment.
The fluorescent induction grow lights utilize phosphor blends that show PAR peaks at 300 and 700 nanometers so the plant is getting the UV and IR absorption levels it needs most at considerably less expense and with better canopy penetration. Plasma emissions peak between these ranges which while good for the human eye are not PAR ranges that a plant benefits from utilizing a single lamp type for the entire grow.
There are alot of really good reasons (low wattage, high lumens, low operating temps, long life spans) to consider induction lighting system over HID or conventional fluorescent but until more is known about plasma induction systems for our industry I would stay with fluorescent induction.
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The Luxim Lifi-STA-40-02 LINK is a bulb that provides exceptionally high levels of intensity (over .6 AU) in the narrow band of red light the plant can use at 650 to 670 nanometers .
The concern over decreased levels of red light should alleviated with the knowledge that Blue light carries a greater PAR value. The presence of the entire light spectrum is what is the greatest benefit.

250w in a 3x3... 1000w in a 6x6... That sounds like a good deal to me. I just need the price to drop by 50% before I can consider it a viable option. Aside from price I really cannot find a draw back to these bulbs.

Not all plasma is the same. The quality of the equipment is going to be the largest factor so I think someone really needs to check out these Luxim's as they are the best I've seen hands down.
 
researchkitty

researchkitty

Well-Known Member
I've yet to see a garden where these are used -- at least to where we can count plants and try to determine if the end product is good too. No grow journals that I know of..........
 
darkdestruction420

darkdestruction420

Well-Known Member
chazbolin said:
it is a fancy fluorescent but an induction grow lamp has 166.5 Vlumens p/watt compared to say a T5 at 140 Vlumens p/watt so the PAR is improved under induction grow lamps. As to canopy penetration it really depends on the reflectors that the fixture uses. A well designed reflector will have efficiencies, measured in efficacy, over 85%. Meaning only 15% of the energy is lost before it emits. I'm using 400 series inda-gro with canopy penetration averaging 30" and yields at 300 grams p/meter. They are far less watts with high lumen output with a low operating temperature letting the plant come nearer the lamp. I also use them from propagation to bud since they produce UV and IR spectra. While more expensive then a standard fluorescent you get life spans over 60,000 hours since they don't use internal electrodes but magnets that surround the lamp to excite the gas inside. they had them in stock. even with shipping to Michigan they were up in a week.

View attachment 1222869
Click to expand...
how much you pay? im very interested in these.
 
Snow Crash

Snow Crash

Well-Known Member
calbunn said:
I bought them off the inda-gro website but called them first. took about a week before i got them.
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Shenanigans. You've been here for a good month without a single picture to back up your 47 posts about induction lighting.

Put up or hush up dude. I doubt you are actually growing with it, or even own it for that matter.
 
B

bubblegoogles

Member
researchkitty said:
All I want is someone with a grow journal so I can see what they do. Then we can evaluate them. :)
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I have supplied a 300 watt EFDL with three wavelengths of red and far red to a grower on 420 mag to start a journal in couple of weeks.
If you are interested in Luxim LiFi lights here are a few facts. Luxim LiFi was first designed for the rear projection tv market and Panasonic used them exclusivly starting in 07. Since LCD,Plasma and now LED tv's have taken over, Luxims market went out the window. Now they are marketing these in the street lighting market as well as horticulture market. They are very pricey however if you do a search you can find these lights for about $600. I found a company that deals them as a diy projector kit. It comes with a LiFi light and driver with a power supply. Far cry from $7000 chameleon wants! However be warned there are classaction lawsuits agianst Panasonic because there tv's LiFi lights were failing only after six months to a year. I don't know if Luxim has fixed the problem or not.
Here is a link to our 300 watt EFDL grow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4-j0EwIFYs
You can watch the grow from start to finish. By the way our light is 2700K unlike indagro's 5300K That's why it looks so yellow in the vid.
We hope to greatly improve our light by adding the three wavelengths of red LED and we will be replacing the 2700K with our new 2100K after the new year. Keep an eye on the journal on 420 mag. finnally to say Induction is a fancy fluoro that last along time is incorrect. These lights are way brighter than any cfl to the point were you can't stare at them for only a few seconds without being blinded.
 
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