Induction Grow Lights

mangosnapper

Well-Known Member
Inda-Grow induction grow lights make the claim that all the light spectrum's are covered and they get far better results than just about anything on the market today. ~ well if this is the case, why isn't everyone growing with them? ... I don't want to invest the money in this type of light, if LED's are comparable and getting better all the time. - " does anyone have any thoughts on this matter? " ...I would sure appreciate it, Thanks.
 
Probably the reason why everyone doesn't have it is because there isn't any significant gain from switching over to them. Any time I see bar graphs without the Y-axis having any numeral indicators is a cause to raise question in my book. Sometimes you have to say "doth protest too much." All companies are trying to sell you something and they all have sale pitches; however, when they try really hard it should make you wounder if the product is any good. That said, from what I've read is that they are good to keep down the heat and you don't have to deal with bulbs, but for the cost I'd probably go with LED but that is my opinion.
 
I never even thought of the "Y" axis... seams like my HPS is still batting clean up on my team. Thanks for the info.
 
I looked into the big 400 watt induction rigs when I went shopping for an upgrade to CFLs, and I think the claims are reasonable. You can look up the journals here by Mcloadie, who has used an induction for several grows, and is now doing a direct comparison with a 1000 watt hps. They're pretty close.

One thing to take into account with the inductions is that you can place them MUCH closer to the plants for increased foot candles. And the bulbs last 100,000 hours, 30-40,000 before they even begin to lose potency.

There are a couple enticing sub-$400 prices on the inductions, but I think hps still wins the lumens/watt contest, hands down. Hps needs better venting, of course. There are also some interesting lower-wattage circular inductions out there, too - some good sale prices on them (or were last month).
 
The true induction lights out there do well. They produce ~93 to 100 lumens per watt. There are a few journals that show their potential. The company that added the "pontoons" have shown in direct testing that they are missing 660 and 730 nm red lighting. When you add Those deep and far red the growth rates increases by at least 25%.

This is a newer lighting version being introduced into the grow industry. Just as the shitty LED companies out there used marketing and ploys to attempt to sell their sub-par products, you can guarantee that these companies will do the same. ANY company that claims to have an induction light that produces less than 75 lumens per watt is selling you a CFL tube at an exorbitant price. As for the 100,000 hour claim. I don't believe there has been a company producing induction lights for 11 years on a commercial scale (I could be wrong). That being said, I think they are highly overstating the longevity of the bulbs and would say 30,000 to 40,000 hour total life is more reasonable and most likely drop below 70% power output at around 10,000 hours (about double that of HPS).
 
Induction florescents have been used in warehouse and other industrial lighting for a long time - far more than 11 years, IIRC from my research. Longevity without a significant reduction in lumen output is one of their upsides. The tube is sealed - no internal igniters - so no degradation of the gas. If you're gonna pay to light a warehouse floor, a 10 year cost analysis matters. HIDs require frequent bulb replacement - inductions don't.

My opinion is that inductions only make sense for our purposes if heat output is critical, which was the only reason I was looking into it. The cost analysis makes no sense - they're not even close to HIDs. Probably better to compare them to LEDs.
 
The induction lighting that you are referring to being used in warehouses starting in the mid '90's. These systems are/where only slightly better than tube florescent in terms of efficiency. The induction systems used for growing are a bit different in their technology and function. They use RF to make a solid waveguide and give higher efficiency/output. With the old GE version of induction lighting used in warehouse, the bulbs did last for 100,000 hours but the magnetic ballast usually only lasted around 20,000 to 50,000 hours. The new systems claim the same bulb life but without hardware failure. Even with the sealed tubes, there is still degradation of the internal gases. Last report I looked at stated that they had a 30% degradation between 50,000 and 75,000 hours. With LEDs we get 10% degradation after roughly 35,000 hours. With HID lighting you get about 5000 hours before 10%.
 
I have been looking very hard at induction lights to replace my 6X43Watt CFL.
I am a sucker for anything Tesla, so when I found out about his development of the technology in 1891 I had to find out more.
What I think I know about induction lighting is that they use most of their energy to create light- not heat- so they are very efficient, using little power relative to the light output, and does not require complex venting, fans and HVAC to dissipate excess heat =Lower power bills and a safer growing environment. The other thing that is remarkable is because they have no internal electrodes the lifespan of these lamps is 80,000 to 100,000 hours... that is like about 9 or 10 years running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
When I first started looking into induction lighting I saw a lot of commercial lighting that was designed provide light in wavelengths for human vision...but plant growth uses different parts of the light spectrum so these lamps, although efficient weren't ideal for plant growth. What I am looking for is light in the spectrum that plants can use to grow... in general referred to as PAR wavelenths. That is what I think the LED and T5 CFL users are looking to create by customizing their light color selection... and it goes way beyond the simple 6500 vegetative/ 2700 flowering regimen I was using with my CFL grow (FWIW, the plants I grew under CFL made great buds, but not very productive and took a long time to mature)
I know that there are a few companys making induction grow lamps and they are probably great and very expensive also.
These grow lights use propietary phosphors in their tubes that create specific bands of spectrum that are most useful for plant growth (PAR spectrum). One company was a Canadian outfit who copied/pasted the manufacturers engineering data into their website... that of course led me to the source of their induction lamps
EconoLux Industries - HOME PAGE
Now I don't know if all the induction grow lamp makers are sourcing their key components from this company, but I think it is a possibility because I believe this company has a patent on the proprietary mix of phosphors used to create their PAR specific lamps.
I would encourage anyone who is curious about induction lights to visit the website. It has the usual 'marketing' descriptions of their products, but also has access to the hard data as well.
Also those who are interested may want to go here
CannaMedsGro Grow Light Lamps
who is the Hong Kong distributor for these lamps to see prices and the newest products being developed from the factory.
I can't endorse the lamps or the distributors as I am still in the discovery phase, but what I am seeing looks very interesting
 
with the sealed tubes, there is still degradation of the internal gases. Last report I looked at stated that they had a 30% degradation between 50,000 and 75,000 hours. With LEDs we get 10% degradation after roughly 35,000 hours. With HID lighting you get about 5000 hours before 10%.
Here is a graph showing lumen degradation curves for some common grow lamps
Plant_Grow_Light_-_Lumen_Maintenance.png

View image in gallery
 
a quick update for Econolux ....
I wired the money for a new 400 watt dual tube fixture about 10 weeks ago- still am waiting. I think I got fuc**d. Stay tuned
 
Shame. I was looking forward to seeing how these lights performed for ya.

I won't wire money cuz if they stiff me it's not like you have any means of recovery. Much better to put it on a cc and if they don't take cc or paypal I won't use them. Did they tell you it was going to be that long?
 
Production time was stated to be 21 days... basically 4 weeks if they get weekends off in China.
I was informed of a delay because a traditional week long lunar festival was the week before a week long worker's holiday so nothing was being done for 2 weeks. I have been in touch with the CTO (presumably chief technical officer) who is from a Canadian design group, who has apologized profusely for the delay as it turns out the actual light fixture was-or is- still in prototype and they are still working on getting the components to build the product.
I knew I was taking a chance with this company as they have no distribution in the USA. Good news is that I was also interested in setting up USA distribution for this product because the technology is sound and the Econolux company appeared to be a reliable manufacturer... not so hot on that idea anymore.
You are absolutely right about international wire transfers of funds... once you send it is is pretty much gone. I did it with full knowledge that I was placing my faith in the company on the other end and I would have little recourse if things went bad. I wouldn't recommend that anyone would make a payment this way unless they were prepared to lose their money. I am still hopeful that I will get the light and it will be worth the wait.
 
Did you ever get your light? I hope you did and the plants do well under it.

I've seen posts talk about the comparisons in induction lamps by lumen comparisons. This is not an area I'm expert at but I did find this article informative and on page 6 they show technical comparisons between different technologies. Perhaps it will be of interest to those who consider how much energy their lamp emits in the plant regions not the visual.

Inda-Gro Induction Lighting Sunlight in a box.

I just ordered two of their vertical lights. I really look forward to seeing what that can do on my taller plants for lower bud development.

Inda-Gro Induction Lighting Sunlight in a box.
 
Did you ever get your light? I hope you did and the plants do well under it.

I've seen posts talk about the comparisons in induction lamps by lumen comparisons. This is not an area I'm expert at but I did find this article informative and on page 6 they show technical comparisons between different technologies. Perhaps it will be of interest to those who consider how much energy their lamp emits in the plant regions not the visual.

Inda-Gro Induction Lighting Sunlight in a box.

I just ordered two of their vertical lights. I really look forward to seeing what that can do on my taller plants for lower bud development.

Inda-Gro Induction Lighting Sunlight in a box.

Still waiting...
seems the lamp I ordered was still a prototype and production issues were not yet resolved. I have another, smaller lamp coming from them in the interim so when it is all done I should be set for both vegetative and flowering spaces.
IndaGro has a great reputation for quality and service.
The technology, efficiency and PAR spectrum with pontoons is comparable to the Econolux that uses a two lamp design -both induction- in the RedShift fixture I ordered.
One thing Econolux does not yet have -and needs- is a reliable US distributor to contact for sales, warranty service and actually has products on the shelf ready to deliver to buyers.
I will post with a review when I get my lamps.
stay tuned
 
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