Help me pick a light!

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biochem1l

Active Member
I'm going to be living in apartments or trailers for the foreseeable future, maybe

so I'm thinking of doing something small, possibly 250 watt or 400 watt hps light. I like the lumatek ballasts, As I have heard good things about them. Can anyone vouch for this? Where is a good place to find a dimmable 250w hps lumatek ballast and cool tube setup for a reasonable price? and is there anything that I should know or look out for when buying this set up?
 
Xcon

Xcon

Active Member
HID HUT

They've got lumatek, quantum, galaxy, badass, etc. as well as their own brand which is a lot cheaper and hasn't given me a single problem in 18 months.
 
doobered

doobered

Active Member
this isnt the greatest system at all
if you are going to have a small space you will more then likely need an are cooled system. like maybe a cool tube and a 400w ballast

if you go electric or digi with the ballast make sure you get the right bulb
ive heard of some like hortilux popping with them

go ushio if you get digi or electric
 
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biochem1l

Active Member
I want a air coolable reflector(cooltube), so it's easier to get the heat out of the room. And I can get the light closer to the plants. They do have a dimmable 250 watt one, they have several, they have one with ranges of 150-250 and one that seemingly goes from 250-400.

I'm just needing a little advice on planning it out, I want to go with a dr60, unless I can find something substantially cheaper that has similar, if not better quality. A package deal that comes with a filter,fan,tent would be good along with a package deal that includes the ballast light cords and cool tube
 
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biochem1l

Active Member
wanting to go with a digital ballast. Are the lumateks both digital and electronic? Whats the difference? they seem to be of high quality and offer a bit more?
 
Bonzi Lighthouse

Bonzi Lighthouse

Well-Known Member
The system I mentioned above is a proven system.

CMH run cooler than HPS and CMH are able to run open do to this. Because they run open UVB is not filtered out, a key advantage of CMH.

I personaly run this setup in the 400w version in a DR60II tent.
 
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biochem1l

Active Member
And would that be better than the lumatek? IS it just a metal halide that you flower with? What are you saying about the UVB?
 
Bonzi Lighthouse

Bonzi Lighthouse

Well-Known Member
Philips MasterColor Ceramic Metal Halide
HPS-Retro White LampsSo maybe you have hear about the best grow light bulb on the market…or maybe not - but now you have! The Philips MasterColor Ceramic Metal Halide HPS-Retro White Lamps are something new to horticulture. These bulbs are being manufactured to replace high pressure sodium (HPS) bulbs in factories and warehouses. Along comes the indoor gardener who sees the light and gets them thinking - I bet these would grow great plants! Well they do.
Grow Light Express has been testing these lamps for years and has sold lots of them. We honestly believe in these lamps. We get asked all the time if this is such a great bulb why isn't Phillips directly selling / advertising them to the horticultural markets. Well the technical reason is that with this type of bulb they would have to retool their manufacturing plants at great costs. With the coming advanced in lighting technology (and there is really some amazing stuff heading our way) we believe that they are unwilling to spend the money until the market proves worth investing further in Ceramic Metal Halide technology.
The basics:
These bulbs can be used in BOTH vegetative and bloom cycles - no more changing lamps during your grow. NO DIGITAL BALLASTS - you will destroy the bulb. ONLY use a standard coil and core HPS ballast (dont let the name confuse you). CMH bulbs cannot handle the frequencies of digital ballasts. Of course there are exceptions to this rule as there is at least one digital ballast that is designed to work with CMH lamps. They are fairly expensive and unless you know you have one of these you don't so don't try. The Ceramic Metal Halide bulbs are positional. This means that they are designed to be EITHER horizontal or vertical (they cannot be used universally) but not both. Placing the bulb in the wrong position will cause it to fail early. A tip to success is that most gardeners are reporting better success with the use of supplemental silica. Since these bulbs will make your plants grow fast, silica is helpful. Silica is involved in cell division and overall plant strength.
Benefits:
There are many benefits to these lamps. The main reason for even considering these lamps is the fantastic spectrum of light they produce. Check out the chart below to compare to output of a CMH to a HPS lamp.

As you can see there is a great deal of light energy available in the blue spectrum as well as the red. HPS lamps produce lots of light but its not the "right" light. It is true that plants can adapt and grow well under HPS but they will do better under CMH. Think of it this way, the sun, the light we are trying to reproduce inside, is full spectrum not just a lot of yellow / red. So why just give them yellow / orange? Basically HPS has become the standard for growing in supplied lighting conditions. This is mostly historical (now) because that was the best we had…now we have alternatives.
Other benefits include they "throw" less heat, they have very little color shift (less than 200K over their life time), your plants will have less stretch (tighter internodes).
Ceramic Metal Halide FAQ:
1. I have noticed that the Ceramic Metal Halide HPS Retro bulbs produce less lumens compared to other HPS bulbs?
A: Lumens is an antiquated way of comparing grow lamps. Lumens are a scientific definition based on the human eye and NOT on a plants response curve. This is the hardest part for people considering trying the CMH's to get past. We have been snowed over by the manufacturers just focusing on the max lumens.

2. When are bigger wattage bulbs going to be available?
A: Hum…sometime soon if Phillips keeps their promise! Also there is some new Ceramic Metal Halide technology on the horizon. This may keep bigger wattages of the market but the good news is that the new ones maybe extremely more efficient so you may not need bigger wattages. We will keep you posted on this!!

3. Will they run on my DIGITAL ballast?
A: NO (unless you have a specifically designed digital ballast for CMH lamps). They must be used in HPS ballast.


For additional information refer to the specification sheet for Ceramic Metal Halide Bulbs from Phillips.

 
d.c. beard

d.c. beard

Well-Known Member
Well, I'd say that's a shitty system other than the bulb lol. Somebody did a comparison between MH and CMH bulbs once, I wanna say Subcool? In the end he said just stick with the ever-more prevalent and less expensive MH bulbs.

Go with a digi ballast, Lumatek is bomb. Been using the same ballast of theirs for years with nada problems. But get a VENTED hood and vent it properly!
 
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