LadyLiberty
New Member
ok so i have been craving an upgrade to my grow, but first thing i need to settle on is my light. i will be growing in a 1x1 area. yes very small. i was contiplating getting a 100w MH. but decided not to for the money would not be efficiently spent. instead i will settle on multiple cfls
my goal is above 10,000 lumens.
i read somewhere of someone getting 7000 lumens for a 100w cfl. that is really good. but since i cannot find that bulb i am doin my own research. small bulbs put out too little per watt, and super huge ones do to. but larger bulbs cost more. so where is the happy medium? taking into account money spent at the counter and on teh electric bill what is the right way to go?
compairing products with their lumens output i have found that
1,700 lumens @ 26 watts = 52.17 lumens per watt.
3,000 lumens @ 40 watts = 75 lumens per watt.
9,200 lumens @ 150 watts = 61.33 lumens per watt.
clearly the biggest bang for the buck lookd like the 40 watt light. but after writing this i see it isnt. to demonstrate my point, lets go with a hypothetical set up, it is needed min 5,000 lumens per sq foot, and 10,000 lumens is what the sun puts out. so a good set up should have a bit more than 10,000 or around there. per foot. but for the sake of compairson...
lets use 18,000 lumens as our minimum goal so that the math adds up right and we have a comon denominator
11 x 26 watt = 18,700 lumens
6 x 40 watt = 18,000 lumens
2 x 150 watt = 18,400 lumens
now lets put some money value here.
using generalized prices
26 watt = $5 --> 1700 lumens/$5 340 lumens per dolar
40 watt = $35 --> 3000 lumens/$34 88.2 lumens per dollar
150 watt = $80 --> 9200 lumens/$80 115 lumens per dollar
so now lets apply the prices if we were to build our hypothetical 18,000 lumen grow box.
11 x $5 = $55
6 x $34 = $204
2 x $80 = $160
now that was the prices you pay up front at the check out line for the lights. now lets see how they will cost you when your in a 24 hour veg cycle for 4 week, or more specifically 31 days.
11 x 26w = 286w total
6 x 40w = 240w total
2 x 150w = 300w total
now lets pay for these lights to run for a straight month in a 24 hour veg cycle
286w total = $25.53 added to the bill
240w total = $21.53 added to the bill
300w total = $26.78 added to the bill
so the total you are paying for is
55+25.53= $80.53 for 18,700 lumens
204+21.53= $225.53 for 18,000 lumens
160+26.78 = $186.53 for 18,400 lumens
humm...... now this is where it gets subjective. for 80 bucks you can have 18,400 lumens from the little 26 watters. but you need 11 of them. it is going to be difficult to manage to make that happen. but if what you're aiming for is cheapest light source i think it is the 26w bulbs. so if you dont mind the hard work setting all that up then i gues these are the lights for you. I think the catch was that although the 40 watt does make more lumens to the watt, it is completely overpriced. and the overal difference in wattage is not important on the long run in the bill nor is it important on the short run, when u pay at cash register.
now to pack them together i dont know what kind of heat we are dealing with. i dont have any heat values. nor do i have size values. i bet it gets difficult to get 11 lights in a square foot above a plant.
Now please tell me what you think, point out flaws and all sorts. i plan on redoing this calculation. there has to be something wrong no?
my goal is above 10,000 lumens.
i read somewhere of someone getting 7000 lumens for a 100w cfl. that is really good. but since i cannot find that bulb i am doin my own research. small bulbs put out too little per watt, and super huge ones do to. but larger bulbs cost more. so where is the happy medium? taking into account money spent at the counter and on teh electric bill what is the right way to go?
compairing products with their lumens output i have found that
1,700 lumens @ 26 watts = 52.17 lumens per watt.
3,000 lumens @ 40 watts = 75 lumens per watt.
9,200 lumens @ 150 watts = 61.33 lumens per watt.
clearly the biggest bang for the buck lookd like the 40 watt light. but after writing this i see it isnt. to demonstrate my point, lets go with a hypothetical set up, it is needed min 5,000 lumens per sq foot, and 10,000 lumens is what the sun puts out. so a good set up should have a bit more than 10,000 or around there. per foot. but for the sake of compairson...
lets use 18,000 lumens as our minimum goal so that the math adds up right and we have a comon denominator
11 x 26 watt = 18,700 lumens
6 x 40 watt = 18,000 lumens
2 x 150 watt = 18,400 lumens
now lets put some money value here.
using generalized prices
26 watt = $5 --> 1700 lumens/$5 340 lumens per dolar
40 watt = $35 --> 3000 lumens/$34 88.2 lumens per dollar
150 watt = $80 --> 9200 lumens/$80 115 lumens per dollar
so now lets apply the prices if we were to build our hypothetical 18,000 lumen grow box.
11 x $5 = $55
6 x $34 = $204
2 x $80 = $160
now that was the prices you pay up front at the check out line for the lights. now lets see how they will cost you when your in a 24 hour veg cycle for 4 week, or more specifically 31 days.
11 x 26w = 286w total
6 x 40w = 240w total
2 x 150w = 300w total
now lets pay for these lights to run for a straight month in a 24 hour veg cycle
286w total = $25.53 added to the bill
240w total = $21.53 added to the bill
300w total = $26.78 added to the bill
so the total you are paying for is
55+25.53= $80.53 for 18,700 lumens
204+21.53= $225.53 for 18,000 lumens
160+26.78 = $186.53 for 18,400 lumens
humm...... now this is where it gets subjective. for 80 bucks you can have 18,400 lumens from the little 26 watters. but you need 11 of them. it is going to be difficult to manage to make that happen. but if what you're aiming for is cheapest light source i think it is the 26w bulbs. so if you dont mind the hard work setting all that up then i gues these are the lights for you. I think the catch was that although the 40 watt does make more lumens to the watt, it is completely overpriced. and the overal difference in wattage is not important on the long run in the bill nor is it important on the short run, when u pay at cash register.
now to pack them together i dont know what kind of heat we are dealing with. i dont have any heat values. nor do i have size values. i bet it gets difficult to get 11 lights in a square foot above a plant.
Now please tell me what you think, point out flaws and all sorts. i plan on redoing this calculation. there has to be something wrong no?
