Overwhelmed - Lighting

S

SSS2015

Member
guys a newb here overwhelmed with choice.

I'm working with a space that is 1.6m high, 1.2m deep, and 2m long.

Planning on splitting the space into two, 1.2 x 1.2, and 0.8 x 1.2 for clones/veging.

Thinking of a T5 panel for clones and seeds, and an LED in the main compartment.

I have a mate who is an electrician, and quality LED's are prohibitive in expense.

is it going to be possible for me to build a unit with at least 900w of power, or something that will take over for a 600w MH/HPS lamp?

I'm woried about the heat and also the limit of the height using a hot lamp. limited space and all.

I'd love to order parts and build my own with help, but feeling a little overwhelmed.

Is this a project worth doing? or at this stage, with my first grow, should I buy a mars hydro panel?

I imagine i'm going to offend some of you. But if you can show me how I can spend less than $500 australian, building a quality panel that will last me 5 years, i'll take that option.

But i can get a 1200w Mars Hydro II led panel for $550 australian, postage and all.

Am i'm being a bit ambitious with my first grow? is a 900-1200w Mars Hydro panel gonna do the job?
 
phil k

phil k

Well-Known Member
well i can't speak much on leds... there is one guy on here i hope chimes in for you he's very educated on LED and DIY ones especially... but you mentioned t5 fr clones.. i run them in my clone tent and they work amazingly well... normally you can deactivate a bulb even and keep the other still on when you first cut your babies so your not blasting them with light...


i know people that run led systems and swear by them .. i personally think they have some time to go still .. everyones talking about area 51's new cob design coming this year.. but IMOP if your not getting the newest style and putting good money into it.. stick with a HPS system.. you don't want to be disspointed.. the down side to HID is you have to fucking cool the room somehow .. LED allows your cooling to be at a minimal amount.. most of the time air exchanging is enough to cool a LED lit room
 
phil k

phil k

Well-Known Member
a good friend of mine dropped 1500$ on Lush lights a year or two back.. not that technology is basically old school to whats coming out now.
 
phil k

phil k

Well-Known Member
if your getting t5 setups amazon has envirogro i think is the name.. very cheap comes with everything... good housing good ballasts.... the 4 bulb setups allow you to turn on 2 or 4 bulbs with switches.... i own a fuck ton of t-5 companies lights and for the price and quality of the product nothing was better. they also have good reflectors oh and they can be linked
 
C

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
SSS2015 said:
Am i'm being a bit ambitious with my first grow?
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Yes, I definitely think so. For your first grow, you should definitely consider HPS as your main option.

I would not even consider cheap panels like mars that use epistar leds.

SSS2015 said:
Thinking of a T5 panel for clones and seeds, and an LED in the main compartment.
Click to expand...
You should consider DIY led for clones and seeds, and use HPS for flowering. You get much better value with a veg lamp since it's on 18-24 hours per day rather than only 12.
 
phil k

phil k

Well-Known Member
AquariusPanta said:
Yes!
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i have been wanting to really get into LED... but thats my biggest draw I'm afraid to drop 10,000$ to replace lights and in two more years have some other company producing higher outputs with more options light interchanging bulbs if they go bad or being able to replace all the parts yourself.. like you can with HPS.. i have HPS ballasts i bought back in 1999... obviously I've replaced the starter and the capacitor a couple times... but i still have 16 year old ballast that are the same ones you buy in the store today....
 
phil k

phil k

Well-Known Member
churchhaze said:
Yes, I definitely think so. For your first grow, you should definitely consider HPS as your main option.

I would not even consider cheap panels like mars that use epistar leds.



You should consider DIY led for clones and seeds, and use HPS for flowering. You get much better value with a veg lamp since it's on 18-24 hours per day rather than only 12.
Click to expand...

i definitely agree with the led veg thing.. i do always see very normal good results with them..much less energy usage and heat.. no doubt about it ..

but for the time and energy your taking to make the DIY you can order the t5 with no headaches.. or order a good small LED system for clones....
 
C

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
phil k said:
i definitely agree with the led veg thing.. i do always see very normal good results with them..much less energy usage and heat.. no doubt about it ..

but for the time and energy your taking to make the DIY you can order the t5 with no headaches.. or order a good small LED system for clones....
Click to expand...
Or you could just use HPS, because it's better than t5.
 
S

SSS2015

Member
i'm leaning towards led in the main chamber cos of the heat and lack of height. I have 1.6m to play with.

with HID I'd have to keep them 50cm away from the plants. that leaves me with a max height of 1.1m. very small plant? high turnover cycle?

i figure if I go with led's i can get another 20cm in there maybe more. gives me more time to train a bushy plant.

takes care of the height, takes care of the heat, yes it will be outdated quickly....but if i build it myself and can get a 900-1200w system for $500 australian, i'm hoping and maybe can afford upgrades in the long run?

i'm way out of my league do it myself. But I've got an auto-electrician come electrician who's willing to have a bash at it. If i can get the right parts and some basic instructions i know he can build it. I just haven't got a clue.

Otherwise I'm gonna find myself buying shit that does the job poorly, but does it, and i'll upgrade when i can afford it.

I've heard those mars hydro guys actually get grows going, inferior product or not.

someone point me to a solution i can afford, cos the HID's cost in space and heat....that's a big negative at the moment.

i'm heaps grateful for your responses.
 
C

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
SSS2015 said:
someone point me to a solution i can afford, cos the HID's cost in space and heat....that's a big negative at the moment.

i'm heaps grateful for your responses.
Click to expand...
There is no cheap LED solution that will allow you to generate less heat. HPS will produce less heat than a mars, watt for watt.

Hgrow is waiting for your money if you insist on getting cheap leds.

If you want cheap and efficient, HPS is your best bet.
 
phil k

phil k

Well-Known Member
churchhaze said:
There is no cheap LED solution that will allow you to generate less heat. HPS will produce less heat than a mars, watt for watt.

Hgrow is waiting for your money if you insist on getting cheap leds.

If you want cheap and efficient, HPS is your best bet.
Click to expand...
yeah I'm all about HPS for flower .. I'm not going to say LED isnt in the ball park.. cause like i said i don't know from personal use.. but for me HPS in properly cooled flower room theres no comparison....
 
phil k

phil k

Well-Known Member
you have to think about the LED cost and replacement cost if something fucks up after the warranty.. i can replace my HPS ballast parts for 60$ and 30 mins of my time..if that LED shits on you after the warranty you won't be fixing it and your paying to ship it .. fix it.. and all the time not growing because you have no light.. but thats my opinion
 
bicit

bicit

Well-Known Member
phil k said:
yeah agreed but you battle more heat. but i wouldn't use halides for clones... way too much light wouldn't you agree?
Click to expand...
Metal halides are awesome for clones if you have quite a few of them. If you grow and veg in the same room, then using the hps the whole way through wouldn't be much of an issue.

phil k said:
you have to think about the LED cost and replacement cost if something fucks up after the warranty.. i can replace my HPS ballast parts for 60$ and 30 mins of my time..if that LED shits on you after the warranty you won't be fixing it and your paying to ship it .. fix it.. and all the time not growing because you have no light.. but thats my opinion
Click to expand...
Solution? Build your own led's, if you can fix a magnetic ballast you can build an led panel and not have to worry about parts failing.
 
bicit

bicit

Well-Known Member
SSS2015 said:
guys a newb here overwhelmed with choice.

I'm working with a space that is 1.6m high, 1.2m deep, and 2m long.

Planning on splitting the space into two, 1.2 x 1.2, and 0.8 x 1.2 for clones/veging.

Thinking of a T5 panel for clones and seeds, and an LED in the main compartment.

I have a mate who is an electrician, and quality LED's are prohibitive in expense.

is it going to be possible for me to build a unit with at least 900w of power, or something that will take over for a 600w MH/HPS lamp?

I'm woried about the heat and also the limit of the height using a hot lamp. limited space and all.

I'd love to order parts and build my own with help, but feeling a little overwhelmed.

Is this a project worth doing? or at this stage, with my first grow, should I buy a mars hydro panel?

I imagine i'm going to offend some of you. But if you can show me how I can spend less than $500 australian, building a quality panel that will last me 5 years, i'll take that option.

But i can get a 1200w Mars Hydro II led panel for $550 australian, postage and all.

Am i'm being a bit ambitious with my first grow? is a 900-1200w Mars Hydro panel gonna do the job?
Click to expand...
There is no physical way for a 900w LED to transfer less thermal energy into a room than a 600w hid without some sort of outside cooling loop such as water cooling. Heat is a function of total power displacement within the space. In order to reduce the amount of heat you have to reduce the amount of power being dissipated or remove the thermal energy at a faster rate.

You can build a vero 18 panel for about the price you're looking at. Vero 18+pico ezmate+ arctic alpine 11 GT is a very inexpensive package. Grab 16 of those and drive them at 1.05 amps and you have a very nice little light for only a little money.

Don't buy mars. Ever.
 
phil k

phil k

Well-Known Member
bicit said:
Metal halides are awesome for clones if you have quite a few of them. If you grow and veg in the same room, then using the hps the whole way through wouldn't be much of an issue.



Solution? Build your own led's, if you can fix a magnetic ballast you can build an led panel and not have to worry about parts failing.
Click to expand...
you were the one i was hoping would get on this post!!!

yea i agree if your putting the clones in the room with a halide and your veg plants but a hailed alone for clones is overkill
 
707humboldt

707humboldt

Well-Known Member
I would use HPS. Like what has already been said, hps is proven and doesnt change technology much. You will never be disappointed with flowering in hps guaranteed.
 
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