Best HPS bulb for Lumatek ballast.

Gastanker

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
No way you are going to double your harvest...but lets say you do.

9 week flower = 189 kWh with a 250w. That is $22.50 in electrical per flower at 12 cents a kilowatt hour. If you replace your bulb every third grow it is less expensive to run 2 Silvania bulbs and twice the power. I have a really hard time believing 500w of Silvania would yield less than 250w of hortilux MH.

Better bulbs tend to yield in the margins of 5-10% better. Doesn't calculate imo.
 
gladstoned

gladstoned

Well-Known Member
You could very well be correct. It just doesn't seam right buying a $300 ballast, $250 hood, and $20 bulb. lol. I sure would like to know. That shit adds up quick.
 
Gastanker

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
Ew - a complete 400w digital dimmable aircooled setup costs $170 (hood, ballast, hangers, cords). I really really hope he didn't spend $550 for a 250w.

For a 600w or 1kW I would be in favor of the more expensive bulb. But there is a difference, a generic 250w bulb is $10, a hortilux is $124 - a 1000w generic is $80 and a hortilux is $130. For the 250w that's an increase of over 1000% in price, for the 1kW it's less than an increase of 100%...
 
Gastanker

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
gladstoned said:
I have (3) 400 w.
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You paid 550 for each of them? Here is a complete 400w system for $134 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/400w-400-watt-HPS-MH-Grow-Light-System-Set-Premium-Kit-Dimm-Green-House-iPower-/160683199645?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item6b1c7931a8

If you want a better ballast here's a 400w lumatek for $140 - http://www.urbansunshine.com/lumatek-400-watt-Electronic-ballast
And here is a great hood for $90 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Virtual-Sun-VSGC6000-6-Grow-Light-Lamp-Enclosed-Reflector-Hood-1000W-600W-400W-/200692118392?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eba2eb378
 
gladstoned

gladstoned

Well-Known Member
Gastanker said:
You paid 550 for each of them? Here is a complete 400w system for $134 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/400w-400-watt-HPS-MH-Grow-Light-System-Set-Premium-Kit-Dimm-Green-House-iPower-/160683199645?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item6b1c7931a8

If you want a better ballast here's a 400w lumatek for $140 - http://www.urbansunshine.com/lumatek-400-watt-Electronic-ballast
And here is a great hood for $90 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Virtual-Sun-VSGC6000-6-Grow-Light-Lamp-Enclosed-Reflector-Hood-1000W-600W-400W-/200692118392?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eba2eb378
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My 400s I bought with a tent set up. I have cheaper hoods but Raptors are the best and they have a 5x5 footprint so I put 1000w blue in that. The 400 blue that I showed I have in a grozilla hood with a 600 Super HPS and a Dual 600 lumatek ballast to run that.
 
Gastanker

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
gladstoned said:
My 400s I bought with a tent set up. I have cheaper hoods but Raptors are the best and they have a 5x5 footprint so I put 1000w blue in that. The 400 blue that I showed I have in a grozilla hood with a 600 Super HPS and a Dual 600 lumatek ballast to run that.
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I see... Not sure how this helps the guy running the 250w. Did you read this?

For a 600w or 1kW I would be in favor of the more expensive bulb. But there is a difference, a generic 250w bulb is $10, a hortilux is $124 - a 1000w generic is $80 and a hortilux is $130. For the 250w that's an increase of over 1000% in price, for the 1kW it's less than an increase of 100%... Not to mention bulb price as a ratio of electrical charges - for a 250w the bulb price is taken into account more than the bulb price of the 1kW when comparing total $/g.

You might want to crunch the numbers on you 400 watters - I know you can get digilux and several other great brands for less than half the price of the hortilux - I personally have better results with the Lumatek bulbs.
 
Gastanker

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
Don't worry, seems like everyones are. No one runs the numbers for $/g, its hilarious. I keep seeing people with 250w lights that yield .5lb after vegging for 6 months and brag that they yielded .9g/w. Little do they realize that with the same amount of time/cost/power they could have had three grows each yielding a third pound each - double the total yield and half the $/g but I guess they can't brag about a third pound harvest like they can about a half pound harvest.
 
SimonD

SimonD

Well-Known Member
FWIW, this is what I can tell you guys after playing with lamps for a while: IME, there's virtually no difference in yield between expensive, extended-spectrum lamps and quality commercial equivalents. I buy lamps fairly regularly and test them all. A 5% hike in yield is worth it for me. Hell, I changed all of my reflectors from CoolSuns to Blockbusters for a possible 5-8% gain; a lamp is much easier to swap. I'm testing some 1000HPS Digiluxes right now. If they yield better than the Sylvanias I usually use, I'll go with those. The difference in price is a proverbial drop in a bucket compared to the value of the product.

Simon
 
gladstoned

gladstoned

Well-Known Member
The difference in price is a proverbial drop in a bucket compared to the value of the product.

Simon[/QUOTE]

That is the way I feel and I want the best bulb no matter what lamp im using. Now if there isn't a difference then I"m not completely stupid..... But reading over the shit about the Hortilux MH Blue, I bought them. I find it very hard to believe any $50 bulb compares to THAT bulb. If I'm right it costs me a lot, If someone (or myself) shows me I"m wrong, I will save thousands over time!!! lol
 
Gastanker

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
Really depends on the wattage...

If you assume that a 1kW light yields 1lb that's .488g/w. So a 250w yielding 122grams might produce 128 grams instead with a better bulb (5% increase). Considering it should cost you under $1/g to produce the extra $6 in bud isn't quite worth the extra $112 you spent on the more pricey bulb. You would have to go 18 grows with a 5% average increase in yield without changing bulbs to make up the difference... Even at $20 a gram the pricey bulb barely pays for itself...

These same numbers on a 1kW light are completely different.
 
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