Is HPS and HID the same?
Back to our two types of bulbs associated with HID lighting; high pressure sodium (HPS) and metal halide (MH) -- there are also "dual arc" bulbs which are a sort of combination of both. The main difference between the two bulbs is the type of light spectrum they produce (because of the gas inside).
Is HPS better for flowering?
HPS lamps emit a lot of light in the red spectrum, which improves the flowering stage, and more than average light in the blue spectrum, which is beneficial during the growth cycle of the plants. This is where LED lamps stand out.
What's better HPS or metal halide?
HPS is about twice as electrically efficient as metal halide. Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) is what really matters to plant growth, and delivery of usable PAR is better with HPS than metal halide. The enhanced blue in metal halide does not lead to increased plant growth compared to HPS in the “veg” stage.
How can you tell the difference between MH and HPS?
MH lamps provide a more natural appearance in color and are typically the choice for plants that have little to no natural light available. High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lamps provide more yellow/red spectrum, which is ideal for most plants that are actively fruiting and flowering.
What lights do professional growers use?
Today, the most widely used lights for professional use are HIDs and fluorescents. Indoor flower and vegetable growers typically use high-pressure sodium (HPS/SON) and metal halide (MH) HID lights, but fluorescents and LEDs are replacing metal halides due to their efficiency and economy.
Can you use HPS for the whole grow?
If you are growing plants that flower and your budget only permits one grow light bulb for the full grow cycle, we recommend going with an enhanced-spectrum HPS because it still provides good vegetative growth and the higher intensity tends to produce better yields.
Is HPS better than LED?
Essentially, we're talking about different technologies and calling them both “HPS.” LEDs are much the same. Though they're generally more efficient than HPS (with some clocking 2.8 µmol/joule), some LEDs are less efficient than high-quality HPS fixtures, and they give you less light.
Do high pressure sodium bulbs need a ballast?
HPS lamps require ballasts to regulate the arc current flow and deliver the proper voltage to the arc. HPS lamps do not contain starting electrodes. Instead, an electronic starting circuit within the ballast generates a high-voltage pulse to the operating electrodes.
Can I use both LED and HPS together?
The way HPS lighting should be installed is so that the light overlaps so shadows are reduced, and light penetrates in a horizontal direction. Having a mix of both HPS and LED lighting provides an ideal distribution of both diffuse and directional light.
What HPS bulb is best for flowering?
HPS Bulb Review RoundupBulb TypeBest OverallBest Value1000wEye Hortilux Super 1000Ushio HiLUX Gro Enhanced Performance 1000600wEye Hortilux Super 600Ushio HiLUX Gro Enhanced Performance 600400wEye Hortilux Super 400Ushio HiLUX Gro Enhanced Performance 4001000w DE HPSUshio Pro Plus 1000No good recommendations currentlyMay 18, 2021
What's better CMH or HPS?
High Lumen Output — A 1000w HPS bulb gives you 130,000 lumens in a single light! Meanwhile, the highest amount of lumens CMH lights can offer you is 72,000 to 75,000 — and that's with 2 bulbs. That means a single HPS bulb is 3 times more powerful than a CMH bulb.
What are HPS lights used for?
High-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps are part of the family of high intensity light bulbs that put out large amounts of light generally needed for street lighting and security lighting. The combination of metals and gasses within inside the glass tube produces an orange-white light commonly found in street lights.
Is HPS better than LED for growing?
LED grow lights are more energy efficient. They produce the same amount of light as HPS lights but consume substantially less energy. LED grow lights do not produce as much heat as HPS lights, avoiding the need for additional ventilation or airflow systems.
What yields more HPS or LEDs?
LEDs are far more efficient than HID lighting. Pound-for-pound — or rather kilowatt-for-kilowatt — they produce more light than HPS fixtures. The diodes of an LED fixture are inherently superior at converting electricity into light.
Why is HPS better than LED?
The heat per watt is far greater with an HPS fixture compared to LED. This technology is far more efficient in transferring energy in to light, as it produces less heat and has a higher wattage equivalency to HPS (600w vs 1000w).
Is CMH better than HPS?
CMH and LED grow lights are much more energy-efficient than HPS setups but historically haven't had the capability to provide enough light for plants during flowering growth.
What is a HID bulb?
The bulbs inside HID grow lights are tubes filled with gas and electrodes on either end. Electricity jumps from one electrode to the other, reacting with the gas to generate bright light. While HID technology is older than LEDs, these lights have higher light output and brightness.
How many colors can a HID bulb produce?
Unlike LEDs, which can shift color depending on which diodes are illuminated, HIDs can only produce one color. The type of gas inside determines the light spectrum a bulb generates. To switch from a vegetative or full-spectrum light to a bloom configuration, you must physically change the bulb.
Why are LED bulbs cooler than HIDs?
While HIDs become more efficient the hotter they burn, LEDs are more efficient when they are cool. Too much heat in the grow room can increase moisture and condensation, which reduces airflow to the plants. Since home growers often risk overheating their grow room with HIDs, cooler LEDs are easier to work with. An LED grow light will produce more photons per watt when it is cooler.
What type of light do I need for a grow room?
When choosing grow lights for your home grow room, you have plenty of options. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are an increasingly popular choice. You’ll also find many high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting systems on the market. Even within HIDs, you have a choice between high-pressure sodium (HPS), metal halide (MH) and ceramic metal halides.
How many diodes are in an LED grow light?
LED grow lights contain a grid of hundreds or even thousands of individual diodes or chips. The chips convert electricity directly into light, which is more energy-efficient than other bulb types. Each diode produces a specific color. Blending different chips can create a broad or partial light spectrum.
What color diodes do LED lights use?
Many LED lights use broad-spectrum or full-spectrum diodes, resulting in different hues of white or yellowish light. Others have higher concentrations of red or blue diodes, producing light for vegetative or flowering plants. Some LED grow lights let you control the color temperature using an app or control panel.
How much light should I dim for flowering?
During flowering, growers using lights that offer spectrum control may dim the blue lights to 50% while keeping the reds and whites at full strength.
Why is HPS used in high bay?
High Pressure Sodium (HPS) – HPS used to be a good choice for high bay applications due to relatively high energy efficiency, cheaper start-up costs and longer life.
What is MH in high bay lighting?
Let’s run down the basics regarding the older technologies when used for high bay lighting applications: Metal Halide (MH) – Metal halides were once the gold standard for high bay lighting. They provided good color rendering, color temperature, and lumen outputs in relation to other types of lighting.
Why are LED lights so expensive?
Although LED lighting is more expensive initially upon point of purchase, costs are more than made up in the long term due to the fact that they consume much less energy than conventional lights.
How far from the ceiling should a high bay light be?
In order to properly illuminate large indoor spaces with high ceilings (typically 20 to 40 feet from the floor), high bay lighting fixtures are required. Examples of such spaces are warehouses, factories, gymnasiums, department stores, and manufacturing facilities. Due to the distance between floor and ceiling, ...
What is omnidirectional light?
Finally, the other types of lights listed above are omnidirectional, which means that they produce a 360-degree output. With high bay light fixtures, the light needs to be directed down and out towards the floor. Much of this is wasted or needs to be directed using a reflector.
Why are HID lights better than halogen lights?
Increased Visibility. HID lights have a much larger light spread than halogen lights, which improves visibility in a driver's peripheral vision. More illumination means a safer experience on the road, especially in dark areas and during inclement weather.
How long does it take to install a HID light?
HID lights often require a conversion kit, but they can be installed on most car models in 30 to 60 minutes, even by people with limited experience. Oracle Lighting has a reputation for building high-quality lighting products that are on the cutting edge of innovation.
What are the components of a halogen light bulb?
Components. Halogen lights consist of a tungsten filament and halogen gas. The gas heats up and illuminates the bulb. With HID lights, electrodes charge the xenon gas inside the bulb to create illumination.
How long do halogen lights last?
The average halogen light lasts for 500 to 1,000 hours because their filament will eventually break down. The xenon gas in HID lights allows them to last for 2,000 to 3,000 hours of use.
What color are halogen lights?
Colors. Halogen lights typically come in either white or yellow. With HID bulbs, drivers can create a customized look with choices, including pale yellow, white, blue, and even violet.
How many lumens does a halogen bulb have?
The average HID light produces about 3,000 lumens, compared with 1,400 lumens for halogen bulbs (lumens measure how bright lightbulbs are). However, it's worth noting that HID bulbs may take a few minutes to reach full brightness.
Why invest in LED instead of HPS?
By investing in LED technology instead of HPS, you’ll help mitigate this heat production in your growing space. LEDs produce far less heat, partly due to their efficiency, partly due to the technology itself.
What are the advantages of LED lighting?
They found that for a hypothetical 10,000 sq. ft. facility, LED’s can result in savings of over $1.25 million with an ROI as quick as 1.6 years! This was derived from all the things we mentioned above that make LEDs a better light - these guys took things a bit further, and also pointed to advantages LEDs have such as: 1 Longer lifespans 2 Less hazardous waste with no bulb replacements 3 Less water evaporation (water savings) 4 The ability to grow plants vertically in racks 5 Fewer maintenance costs associated with bulb and/or reflector change-outs
How long do LED grow lights last?
They are built with LED diodes, which can have a lifespan of over 50,000 hours! HPS bulbs on the other hand, need to be replaced up to a few times every year.
How much does a 1,000 watt grow light cost?
You can get a 1,000-watt HPS grow light for under $300. On the flip side, a comparable LED grow light is going to cost almost twice as much. You don’t need as many watts to replace an HPS with an LED, but even still - this new technology costs more, and justifiably so.
Can HPS grow lights be used for flowering?
That would be - yet again - LEDs. HPS grow lights can definitely get you from seed to harvest, but they’re best for flowering because of the red wavelengths they’re more dominant in. That’s why many growers will also keep an MH grow light or at least a bulb on hand to use during veg.
Do HPS and LED lights have the same PPFD?
Lighting tests have shown that while HPS creates just as intense of light, it only does so in the very, very center of your canopy. LEDs, on the other hand, disperse similar PPFD levels across the entire footprint of the light - with minimal losses the further you extend outward.
Can LED lights be used for veg?
LEDs not only serve as a full spectrum of light - ideal for both veg & flower - on many of these fixtures, but you can also actually adjust the spectrum to fine-tune it to whichever phase your plants are in. Most of these include added IR & UV light to round out the spectrum, too.
What does MH do to marijuana?
Once you switch to a 12/12 light cycle to trigger the flowering stage, you would change from MH to HPS. It emits a reddish light spectrum that mimics autumn sunlight, telling the plants to begin their reproductive phase. Except for the new generation of LED marijuana grow lamps, no other lighting type comes close to HPS in promoting the production of dense buds and abundant trichomes.
Do you have to spend money on a HID light?
An HID light system will produce the best results for you. Yes, initially, you would have to spend on the equipment. Moreover, your electricity bill will surely increase. All these costs – investment and operational – may seem like a dealbreaker. As many growers know, the upside more than makes up for the money spent.
Is it hard to install a HID lamp in a grow room?
In reality, choosing from the plethora of brands available may be more confusing than the actual installation and operation. Sure, MH and HPS lamps require other pieces of equipment to function. Once you have figured out what you need, installing in the grow room is not difficult, but takes a bit of time.
