Possible lighting upgrade

Basic Growing Info
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21

Thanks so much for posting up those charts, i love being able to look at black n white numbers, super helpful.

I def wanna keep HID as my main light source. Starting this thread i was originally looking to upgrade to 1k but after reading everyones opinions and thoughts im thinking otherwise now.

I c alot of ppl continuing to recommend LEDs. Im not totally against them just not as my main light source.

W that being said, i think ive widdled it down to a few possible options, keeping in mind added electricity, heat management, and space. This would b added to my 600.

  1. 315CMH
  2. Another 600
  3. I just thought of this this morning, 4ft LED bars

If i added the 315, which has a bluer spectrum, i could run the 600HPS and have both spectrums

If i added another 600, i could run a HPS and MH giving great coverage and spectrum mix

Thoughts on the LED bars, which im actually kinda leaning towards, weirdly enough, but
to have 4 of them, 1 on each side of the 600. I think this would give excellent coverage on the edges, which is where im lacking, and i could get 2 different spectrums for the LEDs n then have 3 different spectrums and 5 soirces of light. Idk

Lemme hear ur thoughts and opinions!!

Any suggestions on the LED bars would b super helpful, thanks again for everyone chiming in!!

22

Thereā€™s quite a few companies now making single, high output bars that are ideal for supplemental side lighting. They can be mounted on side walls or hung overhead. Thereā€™s also quite a few companies with under canopy bars made specifically for it with lower wattage and less far red to avoid photo bleaching.

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23

Hey man what kind of environment are you going to be using? Thatā€™s kind of a starting point when it comes to picking out a light especially hid. Iā€™ve got a 400 watt dimmable MH HPS and like to combine it with LEDs. As you know they put off plenty of heat esp 600 and 1000. CMH are great options too

24

So i actually fogured put what im gonna do. I have an extra hood and plugs laying around, im gonna grab a 315 ballast, 315 to mogul socket adapter and a bulb. Should b able to do that for around 150!! I was thinking the 3100 and using that w the 600MH or should i reverse and get the 4200 and do the 600HPS??

Thanks again for the input as well, rly appreciate it.

25

There are some 315 w CMH for under $100 including shipping I believe the website is HTG supply

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26

I was checking them out this mormimg and they do have some great deals, it was jist wvery package deal that interestsd me no bulbs were available and wouldnt let me contonue without picking one.

I happened to stumble on a thread about converting old hoods and looked into it. The most expensive thing is the bulb lol. 80 for the bulbs, 40 for the ballast and 10 for the adapter

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27

Oh yeah man must have went out of stock recently. Those bulbs are expensive as hell esp compared to the ballast and reflector.

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28

If youā€™re supplementing a metal halide with a cmh you might want consider using one that leans either into the red or uv, whichever the mh you already have is lacking.

If your mh doesnā€™t have either than that gives you something to think about if you go that route. Otherwise you can just match your existing spectrum and focus on getting more even coverage over your area.

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29

For ballasts I went with a simple dimmable one so I could adjust heat when needed, and a decent air-cooled hood helped a ton in summer. If youā€™re trying to keep it near $300, piecing it together secondhand might stretch your budget better.

Around the same time I was redoing my house lights and ended up browsing seuslighting.com for ideas, some cool modern chandeliers there that actually inspired my setup.