Induction Lighting

[AzLaker]

My local grow store just got these in a couple of months ago. The companies name is igrow and wattage comes in 400 and 800 watts. Lots of positives and very few negatives. Cost is the main drawback, but other then that it looks like a win win deal. My local store is growing tomatoes and DAM they looked great.

If anyone has used them, or any type of Induction lighting, I would appreciate your comments.

AzLaker

 

[craigsilver]

AzLaker - i just heard of them also, i think they only have a 200 watt fixture and 400 watt fixture i went to the site also. pretty cool. did you do the savings calculator? pretty cool. Im in co and it is the buzz around here. But before i shell out that type of money i would like to talk to someone who actually has one, did you get one? or know anyone yet?

CS

 

[420]

Have you tried our Sponsors?

 

[Pinder]

Have you tried our Sponsors?

Don't see any sponsors for induction. Can you point me to one?

 

[growingold]

i am always interested in more info about induction lighting I have been using 2 - 420 inda grows for a year in my veg room with great results I would like to replace the hid in my flowering room with them I just picked up a 900 watt 8 spectrum led panel and I was thinking about running 2 420 and the led in the flowering room what do u think

 

[Hosebomber]

I have yet to see a full grow with induction lights. There was another resale person here on the sight hyping them up all the way until people ask to see a grow then he disappeared. They will show early veg state and some finishing photos with the light over the top of the plants, but anyone can hang a light for a photo op. Care to show us your great results?

 

[NCDude]

Thanks for posting

 

[SGL D]

Smart Grow Lamps offer super high quality induction lamps and reflectors and hoods. Made to spec in Central Oregon.

Check sig for link and be sure and hit me up if I can answer any more questions, Darrin

 

[scamexposer]

Azlaker, I purchased two 400 watt fixtures for almost 3,000 dollars and the put each light over a 4x4 flood table. The plants were in 6x6 inch pots. I only veg the plants for at most ten days. It was extremely obvious at day ten that the light was only covering half the plants. The two rows on the outside edges were half the size as the rest. When I flipped to 12/12 flower after 14 days I threw out half the plants and combined them into one 4x4 table. I took the extender wings off both lights so they could get closer to each other and placed the lights about 6 inches apart and it is now working great. The extender wings as I found out with a Par meter were doing absolutely nothing. Bottom line...The lights only cover a 2x4 ft. area. You have to remember it is a 400 watt bulb. There is no magic that can make it something that it is not. I hope this post is not to negative. I have no financial interest either way and only hope to keep others from repeating my financial mistake. Give it a couple months and make an informed decision. Best of luck to you.

 

[scamexposer]

Hosebomber, The rep did the same thing in my store. Lots of stories with not many photos.

 

[SGL D]

One thing to consider with induction is the low heat it puts off. Induction only burns at 200 degrees and by lowering the lamps closer to your plants you can get better canopy penetration ... we have been getting good results around 1.5 to 2 feet above plants during flower.... also less cooling and venting is something to consider to when putting together your grow room

 

[Pinder]

$3K and you didn't get through a grow I'd pissed too. We're netting 130-140 g dry per plant under this setup. The difference is in the phosphors. They need to emit in PAR spectrums or it's wasted energy to the plants. EFDL is low heat, long life and stable spectrums for many years. You just need PAR spectrums or you're buying a high priced strip light.

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[Hosebomber]

The amount of MV in a tube florescent does not damage the environment nearly as much as some would like to think. However, there are some very interesting studies about the formation of tumors in lab animals kept close to induction lighting. EM pollution is just as bad if not worse than mercury from a tube. Induction lights haven't been in homes long enough or in high enough numbers to see if there is any damage to us yet. Something to think about.

 

[aztecatmmmj]

The iGrow lights are amazing and if you are not getting good results than your doing something wrong. Induction lights have been around a long time but in the past they were only used for illumination not for growing and there are a lot of copy cats that are selling induction lights as grow lights but without the right blend of phosphors you are just getting visible light and that is meaningless to a plant. You need to get the full 380nm to 700+nm and everything in-between. IGrow lights are the only induction lights that have university studies and are approved by the USDA for agriculture with a patent pending blend of phosphors that offer the full spectrum.

The cost is not that high when you consider the cost of the typical HPS and MH system and power consumption. When you calculate your cost for HPS remember to calculate in the AC unit and fans as well as replacing your bulbs every 6 months plus the cost for electricity. Now the IGrow lights calculate the cost of the light every 13-15 years with 1/3 the power and no AC. You should also calculate one extra crop rotation every year since the average crop cycle is 10-14 days shorter with the IGrow light VS HPS also calculate your rebate from the power company and now the IGrow light is by far cheaper than your HPS set up over the course of the first year.

For a good blog on people using the IGrow lights go to: What Does YIELD Really Mean?

 

[aztecatmmmj]

Remember that since you don't have an AC unit with the IGrow lights your humidity will go up and the plants will need less water because you don't have the heat from the light and the AC units drying out the air. There will be a learning curve with these lights you cant just keep everything the same and change the lights and expect to get great results.

 

[Hosebomber]

Nice attempt at pumping up the most over-rated grow light on the market aztecatmmj. We have someone on the forums using an induction light. Not coming anywhere close to getting the same results off 1/3 the power, it's not finishing 14 days faster, and there isn't a power company in the US giving rebates to home owners for buying a 240 or 400 watt light.

The USDA approved for agriculture use is a new one. The following is the USDA's guidelines for "approval" for lighting in agriculture:

(d) Lighting and ventilation. (1) Light shall be ample, natural or artificial, or both, of
good quality and well distributed. All rooms in which dairy products are manufactured or
packaged or where utensils are washed shall have at least 30 foot-candles of light intensity on all
working surfaces. Rooms where dairy products are graded or examined for condition and quality
shall have at least 50 foot-candles of light intensity on the working surface. Restrooms and 8
locker rooms should have at least 30 foot-candles of light intensity. In all other rooms there shall
be provided at least 5 foot-candles of light intensity when measured at a distance of 30 inches
from the floor. Where contamination of product by broken glass is possible, light bulbs and
fluorescent tubes shall be protected against breakage.

 

[aztecatmmmj]

Nice attempt at pumping up the most over-rated grow light on the market aztecatmmj. We have someone on the forums using an induction light. Not coming anywhere close to getting the same results off 1/3 the power, it's not finishing 14 days faster, and there isn't a power company in the US giving rebates to home owners for buying a 240 or 400 watt light.

The USDA approved for agriculture use is a new one. The following is the USDA's guidelines for "approval" for lighting in agriculture:

I respect your opinion that it is over-rated but I am curious how you came to your conclusion. Because someone on this forum is using an induction light and not getting good results does not mean that the iGrow light will also not have good results. IGrow induction lights are not the same as the other induction lights on the market. Most induction lights are for illumination and they just sell them as grow lights. IGrow lights have a patent pending blend specific for growing agriculture that has been university tested. If they are using iGrow lights and not getting good results it might not be because of the light. There are so many factors involved in growing and they must modify the humidity, room temp, and water.
How do you figure your not saving 1/3 the power? Power is simple math and amps are amps period. 1000W HPS on 220/110=9.09/4.5 amps 400W iGrow on 220/110=3.6/1.8 amps. So HPS lights require AC, blower, and fans that pulls even more amps while the iGrow only pulls 3.6 amps plus a few fans for circulation.
As for the rebates IGrow lights are approved in Washington and Oregon for rebates from my research. Go to desire.org for rebate calculations. You can see what the USDA research in Beltsville Maryland has to say about the iGrow lights here: USDA Beltsville Maryland & iGROW

If you don't want to try the iGrow induction lights that is fine but what I see most people doing is just compare the cost of one light to another and there is so much more than that. Its the whole system required to run a grow over a period of time. What it comes down to is what is your ROI? What is your ROI over 1 year, 5 year, 10 years that is the question. What about risk like if your AC goes out and you ruin your hole crop or what about a fire hazard, insurance and how about the carbon foot print? When you figure that in the iGrow lights come out far ahead of the HPS system.

 

[Hosebomber]

What I was referring to is the marketers of induction lights (to include iGrow) are doing just as many of the LED marketers did and claiming that 400 watts can replace a 1000 watt HPS. That is simply not the case. Best case scenario is ~ 25% reduction in wattage. This is due solely to the reduced distance to the plant and the inverse square law. The overall saving may be a reduction by 1/3 when you count in heating and vent etc. However, the claims that you can use 1/3 the wattage and get the same results has not held true for iGrow or Inda Grow or any of the other Chinese resale versions in the 3 or 4 dozen grows that I have seen. I did see one company using "pontoons" that used 660nm deep reds and 730 far red to supplement the induction lamp and they received about 25% increased growth by adding those wavelengths. A simple google search will bring that grow up for you.

As for the rebates, that is only for commercial lighting applications such as a warehouse, not for residential horticultural use.