iwltfum
New Member
100-120 watts per square foot is a pretty solid amount. The range is pretty big, but that's about in the middle of it I think. If your leaf canopy will measure 8x8. You would want around 6000-7000 watts to run that amount of space. Probably 4000watts minimum, but that seems really low to me.
Cannabliss89
New Member
100-120 watts per square foot is the mid range? That's like double what most people recommend.
It kinda depends on what type of lighting system you plan on using but here's a general rule of thumb that I've copied and pasted from another thread on this site:
Minimum wattage per sq ft.: 30w
Mid Range wattage per sq ft.: 50w
Optimal Range wattage per sq ft.: 50-80w
It seems like most people shoot for around 50.
Whether you want to go with the minimum or the maximum kinda depends on your situation. Like how much money you have to spend on lights plus electricity every month. Also remember more lights = more heat = more ventilation.
3000-4000 watts of LEDs would be bomb in that area.
It kinda depends on what type of lighting system you plan on using but here's a general rule of thumb that I've copied and pasted from another thread on this site:
Minimum wattage per sq ft.: 30w
Mid Range wattage per sq ft.: 50w
Optimal Range wattage per sq ft.: 50-80w
It seems like most people shoot for around 50.
Whether you want to go with the minimum or the maximum kinda depends on your situation. Like how much money you have to spend on lights plus electricity every month. Also remember more lights = more heat = more ventilation.
3000-4000 watts of LEDs would be bomb in that area.
JuanCarlos
Well-Known Member
I definitely respect your opinion iwltfum, but from my reading that is also around double what most recommend. Depending on sources, most say 50 watts per square foot is a good starting point with optimal being more in like with Cannabliss' post. If you can manage the heat, 100-120 watts per square foot would be awesome indeed.
iwltfum
New Member
Hey I totally respect what both of you have to say too.
I wasn't going off other people's recommendations. Just using what works best for me. I drew an 8x8 square out in my living room and just judged it by how many 1000w lights I would put in that area and then I did the math on my actual grow areas. 1000w per 4x4 (that's 62.5watts per square foot) is a little bit slack on lumens when it comes to the outer reaches of the canopy in my opinion. I use 2000 watts per 6x3 area. That's 111.11watts per square foot. Sometimes, when I need to stretch it, I run 1000watts over a 4x3 area. That's 83.3watts per square foot. That's about as low as I would go personally. I've tried stretching it more than that and I just seems like the edges of the canopy that don't get as much light always suffer.
All that has to do with 1000w HID lights though. That's what I know best, but I think if I were to run 600w lights, it would probably be pretty similar numbers. I don't know anything about LED's or CFL's or blooming under T5's so I can't help when it comes to that.
I wasn't going off other people's recommendations. Just using what works best for me. I drew an 8x8 square out in my living room and just judged it by how many 1000w lights I would put in that area and then I did the math on my actual grow areas. 1000w per 4x4 (that's 62.5watts per square foot) is a little bit slack on lumens when it comes to the outer reaches of the canopy in my opinion. I use 2000 watts per 6x3 area. That's 111.11watts per square foot. Sometimes, when I need to stretch it, I run 1000watts over a 4x3 area. That's 83.3watts per square foot. That's about as low as I would go personally. I've tried stretching it more than that and I just seems like the edges of the canopy that don't get as much light always suffer.
All that has to do with 1000w HID lights though. That's what I know best, but I think if I were to run 600w lights, it would probably be pretty similar numbers. I don't know anything about LED's or CFL's or blooming under T5's so I can't help when it comes to that.
