Urban Farmer: LED light comparisons

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Urban Farmer: LED light comparisons
August 01, 2012


 


The Urban Farmer, Issue #050 *  LED Lighting test results

August,
2012:
 

 

           

       

“There are many tired gardeners but I’ve seldom met old gardeners. I know
many elderly gardeners but the majority are young at heart. Gardening simply
does not allow one to be mentally old, because too many hopes and dreams are yet
to be realized. The one absolute of gardeners is faith. Regardless of how bad
past gardens have been, every gardener believes that next year’s will be better.
It is easy to age when there is nothing to believe in, nothing to hope for;
gardeners, however, simply refuse to grow up.”


    ~

Allan
Armitage


 

 



 

LED Grow Light Comparison Test Review: Kessil v. California Light Works
v. ProSource v. Haight Solid State

 

“Hey everyone, it’s Nate from Growers House and today we’re going to be
showing you the LED comparison test that we just ran here. We ran a
comparison test on some of the most popular LED units in the hydroponics
industry including the

Kessil H350 90w unit
,

ProSource Jumbo Illuminator 180w unit
,

California Light Works SolarFlare 200w Full Cycle unit
, and finally
the

Haight Solid State PPF-800Rv2 180w
.

What we did to test these lights against each other was put them over
a grow area. That grow area was 3′ x 3.’ Within that 3′ x 3′ area, we
put a 2′ x 2′ square, a 1′ x 1′ square, and a point in the middle. What
we really wanted to do was test out what kind of PAR readings or
Photosynthetically Active Radiation readings these lights were giving
out at different heights above this 3′ x 3′ footprint. We measured them
at 12″, 18″, and 24″ above the footprint.

When we took our readings, we took them at the center, and then these
different point on every single square. That ended up giving us quite a
few readings that you can see in the infographic pasted below in the
comments section. Many people may ask why we didn’t test the lumens for
these LEDs. That’s because lumens are for measuring the intensity of
light as visible to the human eye. What we really wanted to measure was
the spectrum that plants use to photosynthesize. So that’s what the PAR
meter did versus measuring something that could be outside of the
spectrum that plants use to photosynthesize. So let us jump into the
video so you can see how we ran the test with some of these lights.

Okay, now taking a look at this infographic, which you can find a
link to below, it seems like the light that came out best was the
California Light Works [SolarFlare 200w Full Cycle] giving us some of
the highest PAR readings out of all of these lights. It also covered a
pretty good area, although we did see that once you get up higher that
the ProSource and the Haight Solid State did make up a little bit of
ground on the California Light Works unit when you’re talking about 18″
up or 24″ up and in those 2′ and 3′ squares. Another surprise was the
Kessil because it’s quite a bit lower in wattage than these units, it
actually did perform pretty well. So on a watt-per-watt basis, we think
the Kessil is also a very strong unit.

All this data is readily available to you in the infographic. Do what
you will with these numbers. We realize that some people may be looking
for a smaller footprint with their LED versus some people just want the
largest footprint with the most coverage. We just want to make this
information available so that you can make an informed purchasing
decision. This is Nate with Growers House, have a good one.”

 


Test Infographic: Kessil v. ProSource v. California Light Works v. Haight Solid State

LED Grow Light Comparison Test Review Infographic

 



           Article
provided by Growers House

 



Hydro Tip of the Month-  

Stay on top of your garden
daily. When you harvest one crop, be ready to plant a seedling immediately in
that spot. This is the secret to an astoundingly large bounty from very limited
space.


 



We hope you have enjoyed this issue of The Urban Farmer Ezine. Each month, we will bring you another inspiring photo, gardening quote or idea, plus fresh new hydroponics news, techniques & products.

Insiders tips to get you growing…

           

~Stella and Simon from
Hydroponics-Simplified.


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