Coolest running grow lights
- Thread starter 4me2kn0
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Not sure there's a lot of info available on that subject, but your best bet will be to find a LED where you can locate the driver outside the tent, that will be the best way to combat heat in the tent. You'll be looking in the 300 watt range for that tent. You're gonna have to up your budget to get what you want, more like $300.
Edit: What strain are you growing that doesn't like mid 80's temps? General concensus is that low-mid 80's is what you want in LED grows.
Edit: What strain are you growing that doesn't like mid 80's temps? General concensus is that low-mid 80's is what you want in LED grows.
What kind of light are you running now? @zigzagman1960 and myself will tell you that you should be running at 85F under LEDs for almost all of your grow. I only drop down in the last 2-3 weeks of flower. The strains are irrelevant to this, it’s to ensure proper uptake and microbial activity. I just finished off running indicas at 85
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The strain is Banana Purple Punch Auto by Fastbuds, breeder recommends low 70's.
Lights are 2x VIPARSPECTRA P1000.
Low 70s isn’t correct. I don’t want to step on the breeders toes but low 70s will inhibit optimum growth and nutrient uptake. Your lights are LED so you’re just fine going up to 85F.
I too stressed about 80+ temps in the beginning and tried to keep my room at 78 during lights on. However through a bit of research I realized under LEDs you’ve gotta go higher than 78. I think the temperature recommendations for the 70s came from the time of using HPS lights. Those lights were heavy on the red and would warm up the room and plants wayyyy more than LEDs.
When I switched over from using a cabinet for flowering to using a tent I quickly noticed that the tent would get up to 90 plus within the first hour of lights on. And, the humidity reading was right up there hitting 80% or more.
After two days of trying to lower the numbers using the various vent ports in the side of the tent I decided that the easiest thing to do was open the tent door when the lights came on and 11 hours later close the tent door. Another day or two of learning how much to open the door and I had the temperatures holding in the mid 80s and humidity running between the upper 30s to mid 40s depending on how moist the soil in the pots was.
By the end of the first winter I realized that I had not had a need to use a heater in the basement room. Between the tent lights and the lights over the vegetating shelves it all balanced out. Mid-January to mid-Feb are the coldest weeks and the temp in the room and in the tent will drop to upper 70s, mid-70s when it is really cold outside. The section of basement walls that is above ground level for a couple of feet and then the first foot or two of dirt has an effect on the wall temps.
PurpleGunRack
Well-Known Member
First of all, you don't have to worry about that temperature, you can successfully grow cannabis at over 90°F, so don't sweat it.
Ambient temperature is only an indicator measurement - leaf surface temperature and root zone temperature are what's important.
The lights you have are fine, if it's possible to detach the drivers, it helps a little to keep them out of the tent.
When it comes to heat all lights are equal.
The heat a light (or any source) generates is 100% dependent on the wattage (actual draw wattage) no matter the type of light. See BTU conversion rate.
A 600w HID generates the same heat as a 600w LED, but the LED light (if it's a good one) generates more photons.
The only difference between different types of lights is how the heat is directed.
HID is mostly downwards into the plants as irradiation and LED mostly upwards through the heatsinks as dissipation.
There is no such thing as a cool running light, only heat management
Ambient temperature is only an indicator measurement - leaf surface temperature and root zone temperature are what's important.
The lights you have are fine, if it's possible to detach the drivers, it helps a little to keep them out of the tent.
When it comes to heat all lights are equal.
The heat a light (or any source) generates is 100% dependent on the wattage (actual draw wattage) no matter the type of light. See BTU conversion rate.
A 600w HID generates the same heat as a 600w LED, but the LED light (if it's a good one) generates more photons.
The only difference between different types of lights is how the heat is directed.
HID is mostly downwards into the plants as irradiation and LED mostly upwards through the heatsinks as dissipation.
There is no such thing as a cool running light, only heat management
I disagree, I think
Are you saying that all lights are going to generate equivalent amounts of heat at equivalent wattages? For example a 1000w LED is going to produce the same amount of heat as a 1000w HID?
I was under the impression that HID gets so warm because of the way it generates light. So if I were to run a comparable LED it wouldn’t waste the energy the HID does generating unusable light therefore it wouldn’t get as warm.
I’m confusing myself slightly so let me know if you need me to clarify
Skunksta
Well-Known Member
all the above.
But two p1000's with the psu' on top and cant be removed as i own one.
On full power i image pump out some heat at 100% in a tight space.
IF you got to look at new lights i would say bar but your tent is not square.
So anything with a psu you can remove will help.
A great example I have a grow now with a XS3000 and a XS4000.
Now the XS4000 has the psu on top and its only at 50% and its warm to touch psu and the light.
Now the XS3000 with the psu removed out the tent at 100% is alot hotter light and psu burn hands if left on them to long not bad but enough to make you remove it quick and the led defo lets of more heat inside the tent.
My experience with VS lights
But two p1000's with the psu' on top and cant be removed as i own one.
On full power i image pump out some heat at 100% in a tight space.
IF you got to look at new lights i would say bar but your tent is not square.
So anything with a psu you can remove will help.
A great example I have a grow now with a XS3000 and a XS4000.
Now the XS4000 has the psu on top and its only at 50% and its warm to touch psu and the light.
Now the XS3000 with the psu removed out the tent at 100% is alot hotter light and psu burn hands if left on them to long not bad but enough to make you remove it quick and the led defo lets of more heat inside the tent.
My experience with VS lights
I disagree, I think
Are you saying that all lights are going to generate equivalent amounts of heat at equivalent wattages? For example a 1000w LED is going to produce the same amount of heat as a 1000w HID?
I was under the impression that HID gets so warm because of the way it generates light. So if I were to run a comparable LED it wouldn’t waste the energy the HID does generating unusable light therefore it wouldn’t get as warm.
I’m confusing myself slightly so let me know if you need me to clarify
Ok I think I got it now.. They will generate equivalent heat, the LED will just be delivering more, higher quality light for the same amount of heat. Due to the way LEDs generate light versus HID the heat dissipation is different for each.
My problem is this:
“LED grow lights produce significantly less heat than HID grow lights. The electroluminescence technology used in LEDs does not require heat to produce light, unlike HID lights which require heat to produce light by arcing electricity through selected gasses. This makes HID bulbs extremely hot, to the point that they can start a fire. In contrast, full spectrum LED grow lights themselves will not get hot enough to start a fire.
Much of the energy used by HID lights is emitted as infrared light, which is not usable by plants and only works to warm up the leaves and everything else under the light. This is why HID light feels warm on your skin, while LED light does not.
Our source also states that a 1,000W HPS grow light (1,060W with ballast loss) generates 3,617 BTU per hour heat, while a 500W LED grow light (550W with driver loss) generates approximately 1,877 BTU per hour heat 1. Therefore, a 1,000 watt LED grow light will produce significantly less heat than a 1,000 watt HID light”
So reading that at face value, it says the HID is hotter. However they’re doing the “a 500 watt LED is equal to a 1000w etc.” thing so they’re not actually comparing a 1000w LED to a 1000w HID. If you double the 500 watt LED to a true 1000 watts it generates even more BTUs per hour than the HID.
Interesting.
PurpleGunRack
Well-Known Member
Yes, exactly.
It's basic physics, 1W is equal to 3.412141633 BTU/h, whether it's generated by a light, a toaster, or a running deer.
No
550w is 51.88679245283019% of 1060w.
51.88679245283019% of 3617 BTU is 1877 BTU.
On another note; the driver/ballast loss is totally irrelevant, heat is about energy consumption, not energy conversion rate.
Some of the energy of HPS yes, not much of it, and IR is usable it stimulates PSI and affects plant metabolism (see photosynthetic system 1 and 2 and NASA's studies on light spectrums and plants)
HID is a term for both HPS and MH, and MH doesn't procduce any IR but some UV-A and a little UV-B.
The heat directionality of HPS is a huge advantage if you grow in a cold environment, e.g. an uninsulated shed or a drafty attic.
And there's no such thing as a full spectrum light, it's a marketing term originating from the blurple days, the only full spectrum is the sun.
PurpleGunRack
Well-Known Member
Sorry, scrolled to fast and missed this
Yes, a top tech LED light can produce up to around 50% more light at the same heat level as a top tech HID
Sorry, scrolled to fast and missed this
I do the same all the timeThat was a fun little rabbit hole to run down. I always appreciate the opportunity to learn something new, thanks for sharing!
Is a 1000w LED that is actually drawing the 1000 watts going to produce the heat that 10 incandescent bulbs of 100 watts each will?
I would assume so unless there’s a conversion I’m missing. Spread out it likely wouldn’t feel the same but if you ran 10 bulbs inside a tent you’d likely get the same result as the other lights
It occurred to me as another example to go with your LED vs HID thought.
Run the 10 incandescent bulbs over the same amount of space as the LED light fixture.
The heat from incandescent bulbs was considered wasted energy and one of the main reasons that bulb companies were looking for a new source of light bulb for consumers. especially residential. Commercial consumers already had the fluorescent fixtures and bulbs though the companies were constantly trying to come up with more economical versions.
I remember way back when we be kids and my brother says something along the lines of "watch this" and takes a wet cloth and touches an incandescent bulb that had been on for several hours.....the bulb instantly self-destructed because of the temperature differences between the cloth and bulb. Our parents were not happy with the shattered glass on the tablecloth. I still remember that because of the perfect example of the wasted heat in incandescent bulbs.
I still have a couple incandescent hanging around and they’re blazing hot to the touch.
It’s a good example to use because anyone who has encountered an incandescent has likely felt the heat from it. Stacking 10 in a tent sounds awful
and like a recipe for melting your tent. I imagine your viable photons for growth would be pretty poor as well, if you could even get growth off of it.I got tripped up in the efficiency of the lights. How they’ll say a 500 watt LED is a 1000w HID. So of course the LED “runs cooler” it’s using half the power
Even with the LED running at half wattage it should still be "running cooler" than a 500 watt HID bulb.How they’ll say a 500 watt LED is a 1000w HID. So of course the LED “runs cooler” it’s using half the power
Thing to keep in mind that running a LED fixture at half power allows it to last a lot longer than running full and burning out diodes in a matter of a couple of weeks.
PurpleGunRack
Well-Known Member
Yes, they both generate 3412 BTU/h.
So will 9 Volcanos, 1428 classic Nintendo Gameboys, or 28 sleeping Border Collies
I didn’t even think of this.. I keep trying to get my grow to take 100% of the light so I don’t have to move stuff up and down. There’s a very clear difference in how hard it works between 50 and 100, and being as stingy as I am, I want this light to last as long as possible, I should stop trying to run at 100.
