Heat problems with LED grow lighting - All brands discussion

[Brolex]

I run about 600 + watts of LED in a 5 x 5 tent. Running a 400 cfm ventilation fan at about 1/2 speed. Rarely have my temperatures run over 85 degrees even on the hottest days with just the central air as cooling and exhausting the tent into another room. My lights use 3 watt LED which are currently more efficient than a 5 watt LED.

Central air as cooling - That's a hidden cost right there.

My point is that cool air is still a prerequisite for LED lights, more so for units with 5-watt diodes. These units cumulatively breathes hot air like a dragon on bhut jolokia.

I was deluded into thinking that (5w) LEDs run cool - the way I look at it, I might as well just have stuck to HID lights if I still need to cool the ambient air. Caveat: My ambient temp is 82F/70RH. I thought that with LEDs, I could minimise humidifying costs by reducing air exchange. LEDs still run hot, which requires the entire air within the grow area to be exchanged, where the dehumidifier is working double time. at the same time, CO2 is wasted.

Let me reassert this again - if LEDs are marketed as cool-running to customers in warmer parts of the world, do include ports for isolated venting of the hot air as well. This way, growers could better control the air within the grow area. I could cool down the light unit, while minimising the cost for CO2 and dehumification.

I still believe in LEDs. But it's important that LED light companies think from a grower's perspective as well, to better address grave problems with innovatively simple solutions.

 

[Weed Dude]

Central air as cooling - That's a hidden cost right there.

My point is that cool air is still a prerequisite for LED lights, more so for units with 5-watt diodes. These units cumulatively breathes hot air like a dragon on bhut jolokia.

I was deluded into thinking that (5w) LEDs run cool - the way I look at it, I might as well just have stuck to HID lights if I still need to cool the ambient air. Caveat: My ambient temp is 82F/70RH. I thought that with LEDs, I could minimise humidifying costs by reducing air exchange. LEDs still run hot, which requires the entire air within the grow area to be exchanged, where the dehumidifier is working double time. at the same time, CO2 is wasted.

Let me reassert this again - if LEDs are marketed as cool-running to customers in warmer parts of the world, do include ports for isolated venting of the hot air as well. This way, growers could better control the air within the grow area. I could cool down the light unit, while minimising the cost for CO2 and dehumification.

I still believe in LEDs. But it's important that LED light companies think from a grower's perspective as well, to better address grave problems with innovatively simple solutions.

Technically it isn't a hidden cost. Since I am cooling the house anyway it is a cost that I will already incur. I do agree it is harder to control the exhaust air from an LED and they are not designed to accommodate that. If you are running a closed environment you have to do something with the heat. It all depends on the actual size of the grow space. There is also the possibility to utilize a closed loop liquid cooling system similar to a computer cpu cooler but you risk the possibility of a leak...

 

[PlatinumLED]

Using a high quality, well tuned, 3w based panel will reduce your heat to a fraction

Do it right the first time! Trying to save a buck or two by purchasing lesser quality grow lights will only cost you way more money in both the short and long run.

 

[Mars Hydro]

I read and get the information thank you all.

 

[Dantes Monkey]

I read and get the information thank you all.

Hi Sara, do you think there would be any issues with reversing the airflow in a reflector series LED? Would this void the factory warranty?

Thanks!

-Monkey

 

[LEDaddict]

Just wanted to add to this thread with my finding with LED lighting.

After using HID lights in my room, once summer comes i am unable to run my room under 27, most of the time its 28/29- this is with a 10" extractor fan and 2 x 600w HID running
SO i bought a Budmaster 675xg and switched it for 1 of my 600w HID lights.
After using it for a grow i found it was still hot in my room but it had doped the temps to 26/27
So i ditched the other 600w HPS and ran 2 x Budmaster 675xg, this totally solved my heat problems.
I now run temperatures @ 22/24 in summer and in winter i have to add a 250w HID to keep the temperatures up to the desired level , or it would be way to cold at around 20.
I hope this is of some help to all you guys out there considering LED lights , as you probably can tell i am a LED convert 100%..lol

 

[poly]

just for comparison, i have a 1x1x2m tent and my mars II 700w LED increases the temp inside the tent by exactly 1c over the day. that said, my carbon filter is placed above the LED

 

[Mars Hydro]

is that way can solve your problem?

Hi Sara, do you think there would be any issues with reversing the airflow in a reflector series LED? Would this void the factory warranty?

Thanks!

-Monkey

 

[Brolex]

is that way can solve your problem?

It would... I could just glue a ducting flange and vent out the hot air from the top!

 

[Mars Hydro]

It would... I could just glue a ducting flange and vent out the hot air from the top!

actually I asked our factory if our light can make the hot air vent out from the top, they told that is not ok, because that way can not keep the heatsink and the light cold. Let me ask factory again.

 

[Hosebomber]

The blowing of air across the heat sink is the preferred method. There is a lot of thermal mechanics behind it but you will lose ~ 18% of your cooling by flipping the fans in the reflector series. I don't have a Mars to get the numbers and volume of the case etc, but I would venture to guess it's pretty close to the same.

 

[Mars Hydro]

thank you Hosebomber, I will send one light to you FREE next month to discuss our product with you I need some opinon from you . because we tried some others way to solve problems, will not talk here. hope you will like the one I send to you, totally new))) I will email you at the right time.

PS: it is only a test light, I am not sure when we can release

The blowing of air across the heat sink is the preferred method. There is a lot of thermal mechanics behind it but you will lose ~ 18% of your cooling by flipping the fans in the reflector series. I don't have a Mars to get the numbers and volume of the case etc, but I would venture to guess it's pretty close to the same.

 

[poly]

@Hosebomber,
I trink with the Mars II its worse since the structure of the heatsink is very low profile. Being in the Computer Business and working together with Scythe for CPU Heatsinks i think i can say that. i was also thinking about watercooling my Mars II 700 to make it completely silent.

 

[Hosebomber]

It is definitely possible to water cool any panel.... however, it will cost more than the panel to have a jacket water jetted/milled to fill the purpose and have proper flow. Hydrodynamics is not an easy subject by any means. I do have a little experience with hydrodynamics but it has been many years and I had a lot of help from much more experienced people with advanced degrees in the subject.

 

[DarkGreenGoo]

From what I have read the Platinum LED's seem quite good in terms of heat.

You should just run proper HVAC to help dissipate the heat. If you are not worried about warranty, you could use copper heatsinks and higher CFM and static pressure fans.

You can set up your HVAC to have an opening over each LED light, exhausting the hot air from the fans which are blowing it upwards out of the LED case.

 

[poly]

Watercooling is pretty easy except the problem that a large LED Panel can get quite heavy if you make the heatsink too big.
Even a simple copper block with good aligned holes drilled into it should cool _easy_ a large Panel like the Mars II 1200w.

I have done such fun diy projects quite a time ago and could cool 140w on the DIE of a CPU with the size of 1cm * 1cm.

You could place the radiator for the cooling system outside the grow area or tent and would have no heat problems at all

it just has to be done.

 

[Hosebomber]

For a water cooling system to work properly, the cooling jacket (water block) needs to cover all of the area that the heat is generated from, not just a small area in the middle. It works well with CPU's because they are only about 1.5 x 1.5 in square.

 

[Trickyrick]

I have had no real issues with the right kind of LEDS. I Find that I can control the temp by adjusting my 8" fan to speed up or down depending on what I need....it takes the hotter air out and scrubs through a Phresh filter....they are Awesome! LEDS use much less energy and the Kind Leds have the full spectrum 12 bands....I have not heard of another LED out there with a true 12 spectrum?

 

[poly]

For a water cooling system to work properly, the cooling jacket (water block) needs to cover all of the area that the heat is generated from, not just a small area in the middle. It works well with CPU's because they are only about 1.5 x 1.5 in square.

i know, thats what makes it so easy but by the way. the smaller the area the harder it is to cool properly.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

If this is an average off BTU produced by said wattage bulb HPS/MH i'm not sure ? but purely for example only !

1000 Watt HPS Bulb puts off: ~3600 BTU
600 Watt HPS Bulb puts off: ~2060 BTU
400 Watt HPS Bulb puts off ~1360 BTU


Then said wattage of LED panel will produce X % BTU !

Heat sink size, material used for heat sink & size of fan blowing air over heat sink is off question but it purely boils down to operating temp of LED's to keep that nice long life span of them and that is about all, so i suspect operating temp is all the same no matter what size led panel used !



So when i hear temp increase with led vs hps...

I may ask ?

1.. Old hps lighting used as in wattage (BTU) to hood design, air cooled vs standard etc.

2. Air flow as in intake... passive, out doors or indoors or what ever ?

3.. To when converted to LED use !


So ye its a big technical thing and did you adjust or assume things would be better ?


This is an old thread - Bulb heat - Watts to Btu to Celsius Calculation

If led panel of what ever size produces X % of BTU then a caculation can be used for said extraction fan (cooling) but all this changes with temperature of intake air so ye it is rather technical in terms beyond most...


So in my eyes a LED panel which i assume all produce same BTU to keep life span of led (optimal running temp) could well be compared to a hps/mh bulb in a standard hood for example !




I could go on....

Average intake of air temp with in side grow room cooling heat sink of led panel ?

Ye temp can build up when lights are on, to optimal cooling temp of led panel there for in theory this can shorten life span of led panel !

Are LED panels cooling fans intelligent enough to adjust air flow to keep optimal life span of led's, i don't think so !

Dust build up on cooling fins of heat sink, ye that stuff will increase temp on em !... do led panels designers make easy to clean em ?


Just look at the crap which builds up on the pre filter of the carbon filter after a couple grows !




Take a step back and think about, are you really getting ya bangs for bucks ?