origamijoint
New Member
visqueen.....is there anything it can't do.
CFL Light Tutorial
- Thread starter Roseman
- Start date
Lil Neutrino
New Member
combined with duct tape and/or silicon and you are basically McGyver lol
With CFL's, what light bulb orientation provides the most light to the plants? The bulb Vertical, at a 45° angle, or Horizontal. Given an appropriate reflector used in each instance. I want to fit 10 23W CFL's together in a 13" x 26" light bank and can make it work going with either Horz or 45° bulbs. The bulb spacing is a little more uniform at 45°, but I can save 3" of height going Horz. (the bulbs are 2 rows of 5)
For the plants you want square up on them. In most cases that means horizontal. Look at all the reflectors they sell. Most are designed for horizontal use. Make sure you put a reflector on it or you'll only get light from the one side of the bulbs facing down.
To expand on MC's comment, cfl's put out light from the side so you face the side toward the plants.
PolishPrince
New Member
I'm new to this joint...and I'm impressed!
I'm just starting to assemble a 'Grow Area".
My concern is the heat my Metal Hallide HID lamp will get to hot, even with adequate ventilation.
I'm just starting to assemble a 'Grow Area".
My concern is the heat my Metal Hallide HID lamp will get to hot, even with adequate ventilation.
Sorry, but to me "adequate ventilation" means you're doing fine ventilation wise. lol!
But... Ventilation is tough for the HID lamps we use, that's one of the great things about cfl's, relatively low heat. I'm now using them for my veg room and they still need a little venting, I'm using a 50 cfm fan and that is adequate for this time of year. but my HPS needs about 125 cfm drawn from right next to the lamp to be adequate.
Rashislop25
New Member
Hey Roseman and all, thanks for all the great info, especially abot CFLs. I have been tempted to go the HID route because of the sexiness of it but I know my landladie's elec. bill is going to go through the roof. I am going with CFLs.
I have a small 5 square foot closet to grow in (3 feet x 1 2/3 feet) with about 5 feet in height to the crossbar. I am wondering about how m any 42 watt CFLs I will need if I am growing to plants and doing a ScroG?
Many thanks!
I have a small 5 square foot closet to grow in (3 feet x 1 2/3 feet) with about 5 feet in height to the crossbar. I am wondering about how m any 42 watt CFLs I will need if I am growing to plants and doing a ScroG?
Many thanks!
Rashislop25
New Member
Hey Roseman and all, thanks for all the great info, especially abot CFLs. I have been tempted to go the HID route because of the sexiness of it but I know my landladie's elec. bill is going to go through the roof. I am going with CFLs.
I have a small 5 square foot closet to grow in (3 feet x 1 2/3 feet) with about 5 feet in height to the crossbar. I am wondering about how m any 42 watt CFLs I will need if I am growing to plants and doing a ScroG?
Many thanks!
I have a small 5 square foot closet to grow in (3 feet x 1 2/3 feet) with about 5 feet in height to the crossbar. I am wondering about how m any 42 watt CFLs I will need if I am growing to plants and doing a ScroG?
Many thanks!
origamijoint
New Member
I have a closet just a little bigger than yours and I have 8- 55w cfl's in it and that seems to be pretty good.
- Thread starter
- #334
the easiest rule of thumb is 50 watts per sq ft bare minimum. With that rule, you'd need 250 watts, or 6 bulbs.
3000 lumens per sq ft bare minimum = 15,000 lumens, divided by 70 lumens per watt = 214 watts, bare minimum = 5 and half bulbs.
Again, that is the very least rock bottom bare minimum amount for the plant to live. I'd get 8 42s, if I could find both spectrums, 2700K and 6500k.
Everyone always talks about the minimum, how about the maximum? Can you have too many lights?
My grow area is 28.75" x 32" = 6.3888SF x 7000L = 44722.221L / 1600L = 27.95 23W bulbs.
So 28 23W bulbs = 644W
Too much?
And using that many bulbs, is my temp going to rise significantly?
How about power consumption? How do I calculate what that will cost to operate? I read on another thread how to calculate kWh, but I came up with about $50 per month for that many bulbs. Does that sound correct?
My grow area is 28.75" x 32" = 6.3888SF x 7000L = 44722.221L / 1600L = 27.95 23W bulbs.
So 28 23W bulbs = 644W
Too much?
And using that many bulbs, is my temp going to rise significantly?
How about power consumption? How do I calculate what that will cost to operate? I read on another thread how to calculate kWh, but I came up with about $50 per month for that many bulbs. Does that sound correct?
- Thread starter
- #336
Green007,
Easy enough to figure your power cost. 24hr/day x .644 KWH = 15.456/day x 30 day average month = 463.68 killowatt hours per month x your KWH rate ( it shoud be on your power bill). Mine is 6 cents/kwh but I think mine is low in comparison to other areas. Your cost would be 1/2 the total in flower.
Easy enough to figure your power cost. 24hr/day x .644 KWH = 15.456/day x 30 day average month = 463.68 killowatt hours per month x your KWH rate ( it shoud be on your power bill). Mine is 6 cents/kwh but I think mine is low in comparison to other areas. Your cost would be 1/2 the total in flower.
644 watts = .644 kilowatts. Yep, those would be your rough cost. Add a dollar here and there for pumps and you're there.
