rillos
Well-Known Member
Air cooled hoods, heat won’t be a issue. I’ll be using Eyehortilux bulbs for both lights.
How big a space can I realistically using a 600W and 1000W
- Thread starter rillos
- Start date
The old rule of thumb still applies. With good quality reflectors 50 watts per square foot for flowering. A bit more for pure and nearly pure sativas. Growth phase and flowering autoflowering strains can go 18 (or more) hours light per day, so figure "your wattage stretches 1.5x" (so to speak), so a little more than 30 watts per square foot. Match the footprint of the space to the light footprint (broadcast pattern) of the reflector at the height you intend to run it. Walls as reflective to light as you can get - Orca film if possible, otherwise very bright flat or eggshell white paint.
If you're running both lights in the same space, things will be complicated due to one light being significantly more powerful than the other. I suppose you'd need different types of reflectors, to hang them at different heights, or possibly both in order to have a chance at ending up with a relatively even amount of light all across the area. Also (regardless of whether they'll be in the same space or two separate ones), consider things like square vs. non-square rectangular light pattern. You'll need to do some research regarding the many different brands/models of reflectors currently available and the footprints they cover; hopefully, you'll be able to find reviews that test multiple ones with the same brand of bulbs and chart the PAR of each reflector. Choice of reflector is very much going to affect things, both in terms of efficiency and size/shape of your useful grow space. It has been a long time since I had to sit down and figure all this stuff out, and the reflectors I used haven't been manufactured for years.
With luck, the reflector model(s) you decide on will have those insulated covers available. They seem to help somewhat in keeping the heat from radiating into the grow space. I always favored running a completely separate ventilation run for the light(s) instead of drawing air from the grow space to run through them. That has several potential benefits. Less so if you do not need to worry about odor and, therefore, won't be using a carbon filter on the stinky air from the actual grow space. Also less so if you don't plan on adding supplemental CO2. Still... I'd probably use two separate runs anyway if I had the option of using air-cooled reflectors. I don't, currently (not using HIDs).
I'd be interested in reading what size/shape space(s) you end up with, what reflector(s), etc. And how you end up liking the combination.
If you're running both lights in the same space, things will be complicated due to one light being significantly more powerful than the other. I suppose you'd need different types of reflectors, to hang them at different heights, or possibly both in order to have a chance at ending up with a relatively even amount of light all across the area. Also (regardless of whether they'll be in the same space or two separate ones), consider things like square vs. non-square rectangular light pattern. You'll need to do some research regarding the many different brands/models of reflectors currently available and the footprints they cover; hopefully, you'll be able to find reviews that test multiple ones with the same brand of bulbs and chart the PAR of each reflector. Choice of reflector is very much going to affect things, both in terms of efficiency and size/shape of your useful grow space. It has been a long time since I had to sit down and figure all this stuff out, and the reflectors I used haven't been manufactured for years.
With luck, the reflector model(s) you decide on will have those insulated covers available. They seem to help somewhat in keeping the heat from radiating into the grow space. I always favored running a completely separate ventilation run for the light(s) instead of drawing air from the grow space to run through them. That has several potential benefits. Less so if you do not need to worry about odor and, therefore, won't be using a carbon filter on the stinky air from the actual grow space. Also less so if you don't plan on adding supplemental CO2. Still... I'd probably use two separate runs anyway if I had the option of using air-cooled reflectors. I don't, currently (not using HIDs).
I'd be interested in reading what size/shape space(s) you end up with, what reflector(s), etc. And how you end up liking the combination.
Fuzzy Duck
Well-Known Member
As TS mentioned it is all down to the reflector design to get that light foot print & ye I still use hps working on that old hippy maths of watts per square foot.
Divide bulb wattage with total square foot of tent = aprox wattage per square foot.
Technical sizzle say it is not even as you can find some guides which show lumen per square foot this often tailors off to the out edges of the tent.
Lets just say I use a 400w hps in 9 foot area = 44 w per foot, I upgrade tent to 12 foot area = 33 w
Divide bulb wattage with total square foot of tent = aprox wattage per square foot.
Technical sizzle say it is not even as you can find some guides which show lumen per square foot this often tailors off to the out edges of the tent.
Lets just say I use a 400w hps in 9 foot area = 44 w per foot, I upgrade tent to 12 foot area = 33 w
Plus wall reflection quality.
6 feet wide 8 feet long would be good coverage for those two side by side.Give or take just a ballpark.
