Smokemedprop215
New member
How high is the ceiling?
I just pulled the trigger on two of the 1000s for a large room with 10 ft ceilings. I'm waiting on a 14" fan rated at 2K++ cfm and a large Phresh filter before firing them up for real though, as a little test firing proved I needed to up my airflow game to run these lights. I wonder, since I have the room to run either way, if I should configure the footprint end to end 4X12 or side by side 6X8 or does it matter as far as most efficient? I'm thinking it doesn't matter.
yall are confusing me with the distance from canopy. Ive heard some say keep them no more than 2 ft from canopy, others have said you need um 4 ft from canopy. now 4 ft seems way to far for me. Can someone who knows break down the proper distance for each setting (1125, 1000, 800, ect) or provide a link to the information?
Here's a picture from a recent trip to Holland where these lights have been in use in greenhouses for a long time. The photons don't evaporate. The intensity might decrease at certain focal points but these bulbs are producing a lot of quanta at a wavelength the plants use. Really soak in the size of that greenhouse and get a feel for how many lights and how valuable an operation it is. If there was a better way, they'd be doing it.
Play around with the lighting layout tool from Sunlight and I bet that will help.
https://www.sunlightsupply.com/content/lightingtool/lightingtool.html
I'd go with a 6x8 personally. The calculator adds about 10% more LUX to the measurement in that config.
I just watched a review of these Gavita copies made by a company called Yieldlab. Apparently they outperform the Gavitas. Anyone tried them?
You don't need an AC unit with sufficiently low intake temperatures and adequate ventilation, although an enclosed grow with CO2 enrichment in addition would pay for itself in yield gains.
I don't think 30" is all that much height. You can always get the Sun Supply AC/DC hood, Philips or Ushio DE bulb, and use a standard 1000w high-frequency digital ballast. The hood doesn't directly air cool the bulb, but the glass holds the heat in quite a bit and allows you to be as close as 6" from the top of the canopy. Although, the additional IR from the bulb will probably bleach out the tops at that distance.
It is still a solid $450 investment to upgrade, but the bulb lasts for 2 years at over 90% efficiency. If the yield increase is there, and it should be just looking at the PAR readings, then these really can be worth it for even a 1-2 light operation.