Does the Reflector make a difference?

Hi all, My goal is to get the most possible yield from a 600w, HPS system. I’m doing a scrog, ebb/flow setup.

I heard that a 600w will cover a 12sf area (3’ by 4’), this will give 50w/sf. I find that I can put the lamp 14” away from the top of the plants without them burning. So, I took a piece of white Styrofoam and placed it 14” under the light and marked the bright area,(pic below) it was 30” by 36”, = 7.5 sf = 80w/sf. What would give me more yield, making my screen 30 by 36 at 80w/sf or making screen 3’ by 4’ and raising the lamp to get 50w/sf.

The pic below shows the reflector that came with my $200 budget 600w system. Perhaps a better reflector would make my “bright area” larger thus making for a larger screen area and producing more yield? That’s right, back to the question…..” Does the Reflector make a difference”? and what Reflectors do you guys like?

Sorry this post is so wordy, you should have seen my first draft…LOL. Thanks guys.

Yes.

How high is the ceiling from the light? How high is the ceiling from the plants? How reflective is the ceiling? How much light is getting to the ceiling?

The less light that has to travel all the way to the ceiling, then bounce off it, and travel all the way back down, past the fixture, and to the plants. A reflector eliminates this extra travel which is subject to the inverse square law and thus, more useable light is preserved.

I'm not sure about all this ceiling talk you speak of. The actual lamp is 14" away from the top of the plants, the top of the lamp light is hitting the reflector and bouncing light back down to the plants. The room ceiling is two feet above the reflector but I'm not counting the ceiling reflection to help the plants that much. I'm knid of missing your point here, sorry.