Results
Reflector
Efficiency
Value
Price
ePerimeter
eInside
Luxor 8" r2 * 779 3.12 $249.95 272.7 506.3
Luxor 8" r1 777.2 3.11 $249.95 267.8 509.4
Blockbuster 6" 728.8 4.86 $149.94 305.0 423.8
Radiant 6" 711.3 5.93 $119.95 292.4 418.9
Blockbuster 8" 677.4 4.37 $154.95 287.6 389.8
Raptor 8" - At 23" 666.2 3.10 $214.95 317.2 349.0
Raptor 8" - At 24" 657.2 3.06 $214.95 316.1 341.1
Radiant 8" 641.6 5.35 $119.95 263.4 378.2
Magnum XXXL 6" 638.6 3.19 $199.95 303.4 335.2
Raptor 8" - At 25" 630.3 2.93 $214.95 310.6 319.7
Adjust-A-Wing Medium ** 612.4 4.47 $136.95 291.9 320.5
Xtrasun Wing 610.8 16.09 $37.95 224.2 386.6
Arctic Sun 6" 555.6 4.75 $116.95 222.7 332.9
Daystar AC 6" 540.4 5.75 $93.95 256.0 284.4
Xtrasun 6" 535.8 6.23 $85.95 254.8 281.0
Melonhead 8" 533.8 3.96 $134.95 231.5 302.3
Cooltube w/ Reflector Wing 6" 516.4 4.92 $104.95 195.7 320.7
Sunspot 6" 507.2 4.83 $104.95 243.6 263.6
Adjust-A-Wing Large ** 489.4 2.58 $189.95 322.0 167.4
Penetrator *** 450.8 3.79 $118.95 218.4 232.4
Parabolic 32" Vertical White *** 396.8 10.19 $38.95 213.1 183.7
Cooltube w/o Reflector Wing 6" 315.9 3.01 $104.95 144.0 171.9
*r2 = Repeat of test
**Without super spreader
***We don't carry this item
Discussion
Measurements - Lumen readings were taken on a 5x5 grid covering a 4'x4' area, using a high quality Hanna instrument, and a decent meter from China. The lowest point of each setup was placed 24" above the surface - so for the vertical parabolic reflector the tip of the bulb was at 24", for the air cooled reflectors the bottom of the glass was at 24". The bulb used was a Hortilux Super HPS EN 1000W (broken in prior to testing), powered by a Lumatek 1000W Dimmable ballast. The ePerimeter value is the sum of the readings along the edge of the grid, the outer 16 spots. The eInside value is the sum of the readings in the center, the inside 9 spots.
Surprises - The Xtrasun Wing reflector did amazingly well and easily earned the best value award. Considering their advertising we were surprised how poorly the Adjust-A-Wing medium performed (the large is intended for an area greater than 4'x4' so no surprise there). It was pleasing to see that the Luxor did live up to the expectations from being engineered from the ground up to be the top performer.
Thoughts - On the accuracy of the data... the results are accurate and useable. We did two different types tests to get a margin of error and out of that testing we get an error span of 3.2%, with 2.3% being on the low side, and 0.9% on the high side. This test does not factor usability and features, it is just about efficiency - for example the XXXL is a much lighter and easier to use reflector than the Raptor, the Melonhead has great airflow, and the Luxor is slightly unwiedly.
Attribution
This was a lot of work, please reference
www.greners.com/reflector-test.htmlif sharing the results on other websites. This content is covered by federal copyright laws. Thanks.
Not sure if this chart makes sense, didn't copy and paste properly but there is a link