My Grow Room is Almost Done
When I started this project, and by I, I mean my husband Natty and our carpenter friend Billy, it originally was slated to take a week. So, naturally, two weeks later, I have a room! Click to check out the before shot. But basically, it was some storage off my laundry room. And now, it’s the bones of a great grow room.
I didn’t help much with the construction, but I am very good at scrubbing the trays, running the pumps in peroxide, and telling Nat where I want him to hang the lights. I also lent a hand with gluing some pvc, and being chill while the power to the house was off while the 220 was wired in. What can I say? I’m a great grower, but not a very good construction worker.
The set up is built with room to expand. Right now, as you can see in the shot, we’ve got two thousand watt lamps, and two 3×3 trays. I’m still working on my ideal configuration. The original thought was to try to run 4 lamps. But, I think starting slow is the way to go. I kinda want to set up more trays, but keep the same two lamps, just running them on light movers. I recently saw a light mover in action, and I was super impressed.
I would really love suggestions, and I’d especially like to hear about your favorite lamps. Oh, and if you run a light mover, let me know how you like it.
Posted: June 29th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
Comments
Comment from graphics
Time June 29, 2009 at 10:37 am
Uhhh… yeah. It really is that dirty. That filter has been running continuously for about 4 years and still works great. YMWV, but I’m obviously really impressed with the GH carbon filters.
Comment from Tiger Lilly
Time June 29, 2009 at 10:42 am
Yeah, the filter is nasty. In the past, we have pulled off that batting around it, and vacuumed it. But, it’s our exhaust filter, so as long as it scrubs the air, and removes smells, then we don’t worry about it too much. Our intake filter on the other hand, is kept much cleaner.
Comment from Tiger Lilly
Time June 29, 2009 at 10:42 am
Oh, and Jesse, did you notice a yield drop when you switched to 400′s, or just a drop in your power bill??
Comment from Ragnar
Time June 29, 2009 at 11:17 am
The efficiency of HPS grows with it’s power, a 2 x 600W is better than 3 x 400W and 5 x 400W would be better than 8 x 250W, regardless of the additional losses in the ballasts, which are horrible anyway. IIRC the 1000W have a lower efficiency again, so 600W is the way to go. 3 x 600W (maybe 4?) would cover the room nicely and you wouldn’t need a mover. As cool as they are, you might double the space with light, but you only have roughly half the amount light over time in a given space. (My hydro guys rule of thumb = 600W for up to 1,44m² and 400W is good for 0,64m², 250W for 0,36m²). If you want to save money, just use your two 1000W systems, are you sure they are not strong enough for your space?
Maybe you can even convince a LED-Company to have one of their lights in a GH-Blog, that way you could build up your own opinion, use bleeding edge technology, save some power and use something sustainable (no bulb-change for years, how does that sound?). But thats just me, happy with my DIY LED light 
Comment from Lady Green
Time June 29, 2009 at 11:31 am
I throw my filters in the washing machine with bleach.
Getting all that nasty out will increase the airflow and make your charcoal filter last even longer.
I vote that you keep the 1,000w lamps.
A real woman doesn’t use less than 600w.
Comment from Red Icculus
Time June 29, 2009 at 5:07 pm
I have a rail light mover with a 600 HPS and 400 MH. The 600 is way more efficient. My buddy’s 1k’s caused nothing but trouble with heat and uneven light distribution, even with heat spreaders.
I have an old power box. When you went to 220, did you put in subpanels? My house is being rewired this fall, and this is one thing I want to get upgraded.
Comment from Tiger Lilly
Time June 29, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Ragnar, you rock! I wanna hear more about your DIY LED! PS, did you get my email?
Comment from graphics
Time June 30, 2009 at 8:57 am
Hey Red, we had an electric dryer circuit that wasn’t being used, so we just ran new wire to the unused 220 breaker. We then used the last two slots available in the box to run two 110 circuits for fans, etc. So luckily no subpanel project for me, but at this point it is completely full of breakers and wires, so we’ll see what the future holds.
Comment from The Cheap Vegetable Gardener
Time June 30, 2009 at 8:54 pm
I kick it with CFLs in my grow box, though I am cheap and have a much smaller space top light up. Though does produce enough light to get cucumbers and pepper blooming 
Comment from Ashley Barrett
Time July 2, 2009 at 6:43 am
I’m with Ragnar on this one. I haven’t gone this route myself, but we got a tip from one of our customers on this but using the ceramic 400w. Results have been excellent.
Comment from Ashley Barrett
Time July 2, 2009 at 6:44 am
PS
Looking forward to seeing you all at the Max Yield show in Frisco!
Comment from Tiger Lilly
Time July 2, 2009 at 7:06 am
Yay!
Comment from Jesse
Time July 8, 2009 at 8:57 am
Because of the better light spread and the ability to place them closer to the plant canopy, I actually noticed a decent yield increase when I switched to 400w. This was when using both air-cooled cylinder style reflectors in the past, and especially when using my current H2O-cooled setup. Because of the heat transfer capabilities of the water cooling, the lights can be placed so close that photo-inhibition (too much light = lack of photosynthesis) can occur.
30% of an HID’s light can be lost in the first 8-12 inches from the arc tube. Since a 1000w bulb averages 4500 btu’s, I’ve found it them to be counterproductive in most indoor settings.
At 80% of the light output and only 60% of the IR output of a 1000w, a 600w lamp is indeed the most efficient; however, with H2O-cooled the light output was still overkill for my garden.
All of my lights run on 240v. I’ll be adding another 400w light (total of 4) soon, and will still only be drawing 7 amps. Since I run kilns (www.jessehull.com) in my home studio as well, this keeps my overall amperage draw down, allowing me to keep within the range of a typical 100 amp breaker box.
Comment from Jesse
Time June 29, 2009 at 9:27 am
I’d really suggest going with your original 4 light concept; however, switch to 400w. In this space, I think even 3 400w lights would be sufficient.
I’ll never go back to using 1000w (except perhaps in my greenhouse).
Light movers should also be considered as your budget allows.
BTW- What’s up with your Charcoal filter… is that a coco mat wrapped around it, or is it really that dirty?