Little confused...

Moving from CFL's ( way to hot) to COB led. I am using the Vero 29's. Not asking about electronics, I'm an electrician so I get all the tech stuff. Questions I have are about the practical side of this.

1. How do I know if the Meanwell series drivers HLG and/or ELG will be able to power 36v, 52v, or 69v? I get total but I could not find the "range of low to high" voltage. In other words can I use one of these driver for which ever version I pick as far as the Vero "B", "C", and "D" versions and I just adjust to the voltage I want? I understand I have to adjust how many COBs I can use depending on voltage. I'm also not to worried about efficiency as most of the combos are pretty good compared to what I have now.

2. I have read over and over about watts, lumens, LUX, foot candles, PAR, PPF, PPFD, photon efficiency.and so on, light per square footage calculators, the list is endless. I cannot in my minds eye, get the picture. I grow 2 plants in a 4x4 room. Obviously they do not take up the whole room. If side by side they measure across the canopy to about 3 x 2. So based on the norm of 50 w /sqft, I could do well with around 300 watts. If that is true, would a single row of three Vero 29"D"s running at 80 watts apiece on a 36 inch rail work? Maybe four? or would two 36" rows of three, be better. Think configuration of lights...

It is the practical placement and actual amount of light I need that I don't quite get. Not trying to set world records here, just personal use. My current setup of 8 23w cfl's over one plant yielded 7 ounces dry. I was pleased with that but the room stays at about 90+/- with 184 watts

Thanks for any help.

Everything else being equal, jumping from 184 watts to 300 watts will increase temps. Switching from 184 watts of CFL to +-184 watts of LED will keep temps similar and increase yield 50% more or less. Or you can get similar/slightly better yield with LED by dropping the wattage to around 130-150 or so and improve temps.

The Meanwell datasheets list the voltage range as "constant current region". The cobs will use a set amount of voltage which varies depending on the current. The Vero datasheets provide voltage figures per current in the voltage-vs-current graph as well as in the "commonly used drive currents" charts and in the product simulator.

3 cobs will do a good job over that space. You might see a slight improvement with more cobs (same efficiency) but the best reason for adding more cobs will be increased efficiency. I.E. 6 cobs at 200w slightly better yield than 3 cobs at 200w because the PAR wattage will be higher.

@Rahz is right, the only thing that matters for heat is the wattage in(1 watt is about 3.41 BTU), if you increase your power you will increase your heat.

Elm12 said:

1. How do I know if the Meanwell series drivers HLG and/or ELG will be able to power 36v, 52v, or 69v?

Click to expand...

Take a look at the datasheets of the the constant current drivers.

Elm12 said:

If side by side they measure across the canopy to about 3 x 2.

Click to expand...

2 bars with 3 COBs each would perfectly fit your space/canopy.

6x BXRC-30E10K0-B-7X
or
6x BXRC-30G10K0-B-7X
+
1x HLG-240H-C700B

= ~900 avg. PPFD @2'x3' & ~220W at the wall.

Just what i was looking for. I had figured way over power which means way over budget...lol

So if I ever want to move to say 4 plants, I can just replace the driver, and maybe add another row of cobs?