Need advice on supplementing Hans panels, please?

HollyD said:

Hi all. I've currently got two older 90W Hans panels in a tiny grow tent and will be moving to a bigger grow space soon. The new space is 4' x 8' so I'm pretty sure I am going to need to get some more photons bouncing around in there.

I was all ready to just get the new 150W Hans panel, but I have been reading in here and it seems that nobody likes those colorful Crees anymore. Would it be better to get some kind of Vero hotness for the middle of the tent, then put the Hans panels on the far ends and try to rotate the plants?

How can I estimate how much power I need to add if I get the different style of lights? Would something like this https://www.tastyled.com/Tasty-LED-p/t2-v362.htm be enough? I really don't have the budget for that sexy Timber 4 x 4, much less two of them...

It seems like something a lot of people are making DIY lights around here. I'm not confident I have the skills to safely construct something like this, but I may be being over-cautious. Are there reasonably priced kits that are more plug-and-play than the scary box of parts I am imagining?

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HollyD said:

Thanks for the responses! The big tent wouldn't be completely filled, I just had the space and figured the plants would be happier with some air around them. I wasn't trying to cover the whole square surface area with a scrog or anything like that.

I'd kind of ruled out HPS/DE HPS due to energy use and heat. I guess the big worry would be the height of the tent; I just read a thing saying they need 2-3 feet above the lamps for heat dissipation. I do have a good fan but if it needs that much head room that might be a problem.

I think I'm gonna see if we can cancel the big tent and get maybe a 4 x 4 instead. Would the 3 Hans panels suffice for that? (2 90W and one 150W)

Hmmmm. How about the 315 CMH option? That might be perfect if I can get the 4 x 4 tent, wouldn't it? Better than the third Hans panel?

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frica said:

Most of the hate towards Blurple is because overpriced low quality generic growlights are blurple.

But Hans panels have quality Crees.
And they're still good lights, especially for the price.

4 by 8 foot really needs a lot of wattage though. (Would go at least 35 watt for every square foot)
Unless you're willing to go HPS or DE HPS you won't be able to fill that space with your budget.
DE HPS has great efficiency, don't think LED is the only option for efficiency. And for such a big tent with that budget the only option.

The tastyled one you linked is great for a 2x2, or a 2x3.
It's not like you have to fill out that space.

Click to expand...

HollyD said:

Thanks for the responses! The big tent wouldn't be completely filled, I just had the space and figured the plants would be happier with some air around them. I wasn't trying to cover the whole square surface area with a scrog or anything like that.

I'd kind of ruled out HPS/DE HPS due to energy use and heat. I guess the big worry would be the height of the tent; I just read a thing saying they need 2-3 feet above the lamps for heat dissipation. I do have a good fan but if it needs that much head room that might be a problem.

I think I'm gonna see if we can cancel the big tent and get maybe a 4 x 4 instead. Would the 3 Hans panels suffice for that? (2 90W and one 150W)

Hmmmm. How about the 315 CMH option? That might be perfect if I can get the 4 x 4 tent, wouldn't it? Better than the third Hans panel?

Click to expand...