The Heat Issue
LEDs GENERATE FAR LESS HEAT THAN HPS LIGHTS
HPS lights generate a lot of heat, which often requires additional ventilation equipment to maintain a proper grow room temperature. If not dealt with by extra ventilation, the added heat can make growing conditions difficult. This can be especially challenging if your grow area is already prone to heat issues.
LED grow lights run much cooler than HPS lights resulting in an obvious set of benefits for the indoor growers. LED grow light units also come as all-in-one fixtures, which are easier to work with in tight spaces so they can also be placed much closer to plants in confined areas, with very little risk of heat damage.
The Maintenance Costs of LEDs vrs HPS
HPS grow bulbs diminish in intensity significantly over time losing 30% of their light output in the first 6 months and must therefore be replaced regularly every 6 months, resulting in additional labor and other operating costs.
LED grow lights don’t lose intensity like HPS bulbs and are typically almost as bright until the very end of their life cycle with a general lifespan of 50,000 hours or 11 years if used 12 hours/day X 365 days/year.
THE COLOUR SPECTRUM OF LEDs VERSUS HPS LIGHTS
The HPS1000 Watt light has been the choice of the Commercial Greenhouse Industry and hobby growers for 30+ years - its powerful light delivers results but has a narrow light spectrum in the yellow and orange areas, as shown. Their typical Color Rendering Index (CRI) ranges from 25 to 65.
The Enlite SunDisk Spectrum was based on HPS1000 Spectrum and then upgraded, in order to provide the wide-spectrum, sun-like colors that plants love without the negatives of high energy requirements and high heat. Our Color Rendering Index (CRI) is up to 95 just 5% short of perfect.
LED grow lights are a truly remarkable feat of technology and are by far the most efficient lighting type available. LED grow lights combine precise spectral outputs, advanced optics, and thermal management engineering to convert nearly 80% of consumed power into growth-targeted light energy while HPS lights typically convert only 30 to 40% if the power. LED lights are unidirectional so most to the light they produce is directed downward whereas HPS lights are omnidirectional and the bulk of their light output must be re-directed by reflectors with a significant loss in efficiency.
This is how LED grow lights are able to produce greater yields while consuming far less energy than their HPS counterparts. LED grow light fixtures also require very little maintenance aside from the occasional cleaning. Typically, growers use just one LED grow light system from start to finish of a growth cycle as most LED lights are spectrums optimized for the full growth cycle or they can either be remotely or locally controlled to produce the best results at the important stages of growth.
Conclusion
Why LED?
LEDs HAVE HIGHER PPFDs AND ARE ABLE TO ACHIEVE GREATER YEILDS
Our 600 X 600 Watt LED SunDisks generate an average PPFDs of 900 umol/m2/s in this flowering room.. Higher PPFDs gives greater yields with 60% of the power consumption and more than 5 times the lamp life.
The 600 – 1000 Watt HPS lights in the same flowering room Average PPFD of around 550 umol/m2/s.
EXAMPLE:
A Flower Rooms with a lit area of 80ft X 120ft = 9600 Sq ft will require 600 Units of our SunDisk-600W lights.
There are 300 pcs of 4ft X 8ft tray tables in flowering room and each table uses 2 X 2 Unit SunDisk-300W lights.
These lights will typically be mounted 2.5 feet above the plants during the growth cycle.
For 1000 Watt HPS lights, this same area would require 600 X 1000 Watt lights to cover the 300 - 4 ft X 8 ft trays.
The Advanced result show as below.
The Enlite SunDisk Spectrum was based on HPS1000 Spectrum and then upgraded, in order to provide the wide-spectrum, sun-like colors that plants love without the negatives of high energy requirements and high heat. Our Color Rendering Index (CRI) is up to 95 just 5% short of perfect.
Who Are Rebates For?
There is a good chance you are eligible for some rebate if you:
a. Are a licensed commercial cannabis grower with your state or Province
b. Have an commercial electric account
c. Plan to purchase more than 30 efficient lights (but have not yet!)
Why Pay Me To Use Less Energy?
Cash rebates are paid by your local electric utility – yes the one who sends you a bill each month. Electric utilities pay you to reduce electric consumption because new power plants and sub stations are expensive. By investing in energy efficiency, utilities defer these other capital investments, while meeting the energy needs of their customers
Rebate Program
Get Organized
The smoothness and success of your rebate process depends on how organized you are. It is best to finalize your scope of work first. Changing your plans halfway through the process can set you back weeks or months and really mess things up. You will need to commit to:
a. Facility layout: Identify the areas for nursery, flower and veg plants. Know your operations and how many hours each day and days each year your lights will be used.
b. Efficient Lights: You need to commit to the exact efficient lights you want to purchase and the configuration of the lamps in your facility. This includes the number of lamps and the square footage of plant canopy each light covers.
c. Baseline Lights: Determining “baseline” lights is different depending on whether or not you already have lights. For lights already hanging, these are your baseline. Easy. However, if you are building out a new facility or adding new canopy, you need to describe to the utility the lights you would have purchased if you had not received their financial assistance. This is a bit subjective but should be whatever is considered industry standard. In 2017, I generally use a 1,000-watt single-ended (high pressure sodium or metal halide) fixture per 16 square feet of canopy, or an 8-lamp T5 fixture per 8 square feet of clones. You can ask a lighting vendor to create a bid for the number of inefficient lights you would have needed in your facility. Or you can find an online retailer and do the math yourself. Your inefficient lights don’t need to be a one to one replacement with your efficient lights but the cleanest applications will have the same total canopy square footage.
LED vrs HPS
If you look to any online grow forum, you will constantly find growers debating whether HPS or LED lighting is best. It is interesting that if you were to have checked this controversy 4 or 5 years ago, HPS would have been the clear winner of the debate. However, LED grow light technology has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few years, and the debate these days is much less clear. LED grow lights are now claimed by many to be the best way, dollar for dollar, to a successful grow operation with the best yield results.
The pricing of LED grow lights has also dropped substantially over the last few years, which makes the argument for LED grow lights stronger. Those who have been using HPS lights for years may resist the change to LED grow lights, particularly because of a higher upfront cost. However, LED grow lights are typically cheaper to operate in the long run thanks to reduced power consumption and elimination of regular maintenance. LEDs are electronic components and are easier dim or to control color changes manually or wirelessly. This allows for even greater power savings and deeper light penetration at various growth stages.
