StonedScientist
Member
The purpose of this is illustrate power efficiency of various lighting. A common question I am asked about growing revolves are heat generation and I would like to clarify just how much heat a various lights output. I'm new to rollitup and haven't yet posted journals I have kept but I am currently running 1Kw MH ( Veg) 1Kw Hps ( Flower ) and 200 w ( actual ) fluorescent ( all of growth ). I hope that you find this information helpful and hope to shed light on some misguided statements I have seen floating around. All comments/concerns/questions are welcomed and I will respond as best as I can 
Alright, let's get to work ( Lights good morning joint 
)
Basic Information :
Watts: A unit of measure of energy. Very important. This seems to confuse a lot people. A watt could be your sound, heat, light, etc.
Lumen: This is a measure of light. One watt of pure light would measure 683.002 lumens.
BTU: a measure of heat energy. This is the amount of energy to heat 1 pound of water exactly 1 degree F. 1 watt-hour ( 1 watt for continuous hour ) of infrared generates 3.413 BTU
How to formulate efficiency and heat for your lights: Take the lumen output of the bulb divided by 683 to determine how many watts of light you have. The remaining watts are infrared. That figure ( in watt hours or running the light bulb for 1 hour ) multiplied by 3.413 I'll result in the BTU production of the bulb. I have made some examples below.
( Figures listed are from real packaged bulbs)
Incandescent: A 100 watt bulb 1800 lumen output. -> 1800 lumen / 683 lumen/ watt -> 2.63543 watts of light -> 97.36457 watt of infrared ( heat) x 3.413 = 332.30528 BTU per hour!
Halogen is just a slightly more efficient incandescent. I don't recommend either for growing.
Fluorescent: 23 watt ( 100 watt incandescent equivalent.) T2 spiral, 65k, 1600 lumens. -> 1600 lumen / 683 = 2.34261 watts of lights -> 20.65739 watts infrared x 3.413 = 70.50367 BTU per hour!
Metal Halide: VS1000MH, 1000 watt, 4200k, 110,000 lumens -> 110,000 / 683 = 161.05417 watts of light -> 838.94583 watts infrared x 3.413 = 2863.32212 BTU per hour!
High Pressure Sodium: TCPI 48270 10000 WATT HPS, 2100k, 130,000 lumens -> 130,000 / 683 = 190.33675 watts of light -> 809.66325 watts infrared x 3.413 = 2763.38067 BTU per hour!
Also if you would like to see how efficient ( or inefficient lol ) the bulbs are take the watts of light divided by watt consumption ( bulb watt rating ) multiply by 100. I posted this for people interested in calculating their lights heat generation or to give them an estimate on how much heat to expect in their systems. I hear a lot of people say "oh a 1000 watt bulb heats same as 1000 heater. A watts a watts. Doesn't matter what type of light they all produce the same heat". I wanted to provide a better answer with reasoning to those looking for it
I have a few more threads and grow journals I will publishing that I hope people will find useful. Please leave any comment/questions/concerns for me! I will happily respond and appreciate the feedback. Hope you found this helpful!
STONEDSCIENTIST
Alright, let's get to work ( Lights good morning joint )Basic Information :
Watts: A unit of measure of energy. Very important. This seems to confuse a lot people. A watt could be your sound, heat, light, etc.
Lumen: This is a measure of light. One watt of pure light would measure 683.002 lumens.
BTU: a measure of heat energy. This is the amount of energy to heat 1 pound of water exactly 1 degree F. 1 watt-hour ( 1 watt for continuous hour ) of infrared generates 3.413 BTU
How to formulate efficiency and heat for your lights: Take the lumen output of the bulb divided by 683 to determine how many watts of light you have. The remaining watts are infrared. That figure ( in watt hours or running the light bulb for 1 hour ) multiplied by 3.413 I'll result in the BTU production of the bulb. I have made some examples below.
( Figures listed are from real packaged bulbs)
Incandescent: A 100 watt bulb 1800 lumen output. -> 1800 lumen / 683 lumen/ watt -> 2.63543 watts of light -> 97.36457 watt of infrared ( heat) x 3.413 = 332.30528 BTU per hour!
Halogen is just a slightly more efficient incandescent. I don't recommend either for growing.
Fluorescent: 23 watt ( 100 watt incandescent equivalent.) T2 spiral, 65k, 1600 lumens. -> 1600 lumen / 683 = 2.34261 watts of lights -> 20.65739 watts infrared x 3.413 = 70.50367 BTU per hour!
Metal Halide: VS1000MH, 1000 watt, 4200k, 110,000 lumens -> 110,000 / 683 = 161.05417 watts of light -> 838.94583 watts infrared x 3.413 = 2863.32212 BTU per hour!
High Pressure Sodium: TCPI 48270 10000 WATT HPS, 2100k, 130,000 lumens -> 130,000 / 683 = 190.33675 watts of light -> 809.66325 watts infrared x 3.413 = 2763.38067 BTU per hour!
Also if you would like to see how efficient ( or inefficient lol ) the bulbs are take the watts of light divided by watt consumption ( bulb watt rating ) multiply by 100. I posted this for people interested in calculating their lights heat generation or to give them an estimate on how much heat to expect in their systems. I hear a lot of people say "oh a 1000 watt bulb heats same as 1000 heater. A watts a watts. Doesn't matter what type of light they all produce the same heat". I wanted to provide a better answer with reasoning to those looking for it
I have a few more threads and grow journals I will publishing that I hope people will find useful. Please leave any comment/questions/concerns for me! I will happily respond and appreciate the feedback. Hope you found this helpful!STONEDSCIENTIST