What would your dream light setup be...if money was no object???

tags420

tags420

Well-Known Member
LED's and other alternative lighting have the ability to compete with hps in performance(yield), but to me the upfront cost of high efficiency lighting is the biggest obstacle to getting superior performance and adoption by the masses. The technology to perform equal or better to than HPS is here now, it just cost so much to do it right that it is borderline financially viable.

I have been the worst about trying to stretch the capabilities of my led's because it's just so expensive to get the right amount to fill my space to perform how I want them to(like 1000w hps). Many people add almost too much hps to an area...but I have never seen anyone over due it with led's or other alternative sources. Most are like me and don't give the space enough light.

I think most would agree that about 2000w of hps (2 1000's, or 3 600's) is a good baseline to try and replace.

So my question for everyone is...
With the goal of less or equal to 2000w...What would your dream 4x8 light setup be, if what ever you chose was totally free upfront, but still have to pay to run them? As many of what ever that you need to truly preform as well for the whole 4x8. What company(s)/tech/DIY design would put your faith in?
 
Ringsixty

Ringsixty

Well-Known Member
Chronikool said:
How many watts is the sun? :-P
Click to expand...
The Sun produces energy at the mass to energy conversion rate of 4.26 million metric tons per second, or 384.6 yottawatts (3.846×10[SUP]26[/SUP] W), or 9.192 × 10[SUP]10[/SUP] megatons of TNT per second.

Hope that answered your question. Way over my head..Like the National Debt.







 
kinddiesel

kinddiesel

Well-Known Member
besides out side, free electric. now inside I shoot twelve 600 watt hps. and two 1k hps. and two mh . all for flowering . not including veg lights. problem is with the fucking electric bill . if you guys did not smoke or blow all your money from your harvests you would not be jacking off dreaming about lights.
 
tags420

tags420

Well-Known Member
Everyone(except kool) obviously missed the question
tags420 said:
So my question for everyone is...
With the goal of less or equal to 2000w...What would your dream 4x8 light setup be, if what ever you chose was totally free upfront, but still have to pay to run them? As many of what ever that you need to truly preform as well for the whole 4x8. What company(s)/tech/DIY design would put your faith in?
Click to expand...
 
Beefbisquit

Beefbisquit

Well-Known Member
If money was no object....

I'd have a series of hard sided 8x8 areas with complete atmospheric control. Then I'd pay CREE to develop a new diode that was a 100W dual diode with 85% NW 5000k, and 15% mix of 620-660nm. Put as many in each unit as possible, and each pod would be a different strain. :D

If only... lol

Or do something similar, but make the roofs glass so you could use sunlight; but have the walls coated in top bin NW and red CREE LED's.... It would be absolutely insane to be able to use the sun, AND have 'side lighting' powerful enough to grow AAA bud on their own, in a combo deal! :D

Or move to a place that you could grow all year round. Plant some fuckin' pot trees, and put a bunch of utility poles in around said 'trees' and strap as many of those new 860W CMH bulbs to each pole as you can. lol Blast those fuckers with sun and CMH bulbs.

I could think of limitless grow ideas if I had infinite money... lol
 
tags420

tags420

Well-Known Member
^^^seriously...the point of this thread was to show that led's and other lighting would be like if people didn't skimp and try to cut corner...that the technology to save power while not sacrificing yield is available. Only the start up money is limitless...you still need to pay the electric bill.

I wish you guys would actually read the question and come close to answering it.
 
Bumping Spheda

Bumping Spheda

Well-Known Member
I'd line my ceiling with 1200-1300W of Illumitex X5 spectrum (assuming the ceiling is the correct height to keep 100% of the beam angle directly over the canopy; i.e. no wall reflection). Because that would cost me ~$30,000, I'd probably opt for F3 spectrum and just buy the the LED arrays off Amazon and build the panels or bars myself.

Also -and this doesn't necessarily have anything to do with lighting, although it'd be harder to implement with HPS, imo- I love the idea of having an adjustable reflective ceiling that the LED's sit inside of. You decrease/increase the total volume of the growth chamber by raising your LED panel(s) and ceiling, yet there's very little light that leaks out above the panels eventually going to waste.
 
Chronikool

Chronikool

Well-Known Member
^^^i like this idea....saturate from the ceiling. :) You still have 700-800w to play with....Side lighting?
 
Bumping Spheda

Bumping Spheda

Well-Known Member
Oh, I thought we were trying to compete with 2000W of HPS. I just figured ~40W/ft^2 of LED would get the job done, hence the numbers. I heard Illumitex actually penetrates the canopy rather well. I guess just add Watt's as you see fit? Not entirely sure side lighting is necessary. You could also have IR and UV LED's in between the Illumitex bars on separate timers?
 
hyroot

hyroot

Well-Known Member
My 4x8 dream would be all the walls, ceiling, and floor lined with cree x-te warm whites and Philips rebel 660. Figure out the cooling later.
 
hyroot

hyroot

Well-Known Member
^^^^Areas with no led for plants to sit. Maybe some sort of plexiglass or something on a raised floor. I didn't think it through its just an idear.

I think with those globes. Run 2 vert setup 16 in the center of each vert. and 32 around the sides for side lighting. A total of 64 globes. Pulling 608 watts. Being vert style in center and sides, could possibly match horizontal 1000w (2) in a 4x8. Be the most cost effective. Best warranty too.

probably about $950 if you wire the moguls yourself. Maybe buying that many moguls, a shop would give a deal on $5-$10 each. Still less than 2 a51 or an apache w/out discount.
 
IlovePlants

IlovePlants

Well-Known Member
If money was no object aside from running costs, I would buy 2 inda-gro 420s with pontoons, and 3 300-400w full spectrum 660red heavy led lights ( in a 3:2 of red:white). Leds stationary; one in the center, and two on the sides slightly angled in. The inda-gros would be on light movers. Hopefully it would cover a 4X12 rather than a 4X8, because that seems like too much wattage for a 4X8. Area 51, Diamond XML Leds, or Apache Tech for the led lighting. Yeah, that with a fully organic/hydro setup would be a dream come true. I think 1600 watts of led/plasma could equal a 2000W HPS setup, it would depend on quality of lighting product though, generally any led company using crees is ok in my book. That being said I think that 1 800w CMH, and two solid 600w HPS bulbs in a single room would be hard to beat. With a little boost in the right spectrum HPS is nearly unbeatable in colorblend for flowering alone, but with replacement costs Led/plasma are simply the future of lighting. Since operation costs are the only thing I would have to pay for I would go with Led/Plasma/Induction every time. Ventilation, replacement costs, and fire risk lead me to believe that HID is a thing of the past.

What do I know,
ILovePlants
 
tags420

tags420

Well-Known Member
Now this is better

Bumping Spheda said:
I'd line my ceiling with 1200-1300W of Illumitex X5 spectrum (assuming the ceiling is the correct height to keep 100% of the beam angle directly over the canopy; i.e. no wall reflection). Because that would cost me ~$30,000, I'd probably opt for F3 spectrum and just buy the the LED arrays off Amazon and build the panels or bars myself.

Also -and this doesn't necessarily have anything to do with lighting, although it'd be harder to implement with HPS, imo- I love the idea of having an adjustable reflective ceiling that the LED's sit inside of. You decrease/increase the total volume of the growth chamber by raising your LED panel(s) and ceiling, yet there's very little light that leaks out above the panels eventually going to waste.
Click to expand...
The Illumitex that I saw that are for a 4x4 are ~800w(16bars) so about 1600w they recommend for a 4x8...pretty close to your thoughts.

Bumping Spheda said:
Oh, I thought we were trying to compete with 2000W of HPS. I just figured ~40W/ft^2 of LED would get the job done, hence the numbers. I heard Illumitex actually penetrates the canopy rather well. I guess just add Watt's as you see fit? Not entirely sure side lighting is necessary. You could also have IR and UV LED's in between the Illumitex bars on separate timers?
Click to expand...
Less than 2000w is the real goal...less wattage and equal yield is the goal for most looking into efficient lighting.

hyroot said:
My 4x8 dream would be all the walls, ceiling, and floor lined with cree x-te warm whites and Philips rebel 660. Figure out the cooling later.
Click to expand...
How many diodes...what would they be driven at...what spacing in between...lenes or no lens?
 
tags420

tags420

Well-Known Member
IlovePlants said:
With a little boost in the right spectrum HPS is nearly unbeatable in colorblend for flowering alone, but with replacement costs Led/plasma are simply the future of lighting. Since operation costs are the only thing I would have to pay for I would go with Led/Plasma/Induction every time. Ventilation, replacement costs, and fire risk lead me to believe that HID is a thing of the past.

What do I know,
ILovePlants
Click to expand...
You got it
 
tags420

tags420

Well-Known Member
If going with a company I would do (2) AT660's with my indagro pontoon hanging in the middle.


And my DIY design would be 48" bars with 24 xt-e's on each bar driven at 700mA with 60*lens. That's ≈50w/bar, and I would use 12-14 bars per 4x4. I would do 65WW:35CW.
 
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