Howdy,
I’ve been growing for a few years now and am hoping to upgrade the setup. I’m running a 4’x4’ tent with a MH/HPS rig and a few cheap LED boards; they get the job done but it gets too hot in there and it’s not terribly efficient. I’m looking to replace everything with a more convenient single light source- would the HLG Tomahawk 650 be a good pick? I’m admittedly not well enough versed in the science to get much out of the technical descriptions on HLG’s site. Could afford one of their other offerings (Diablo?) if it’s better for my purposes, and am open to other companies, I just recall seeing lots of good things here about HLG.
My main concerns are lowering the electric bill and not burning the plants. Happy growing, friends!
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HLG uses Samsung LM301b, h, or EVO diodes. The least efficient of the group is 2.8 umol/J and the most efficient is 3.1 umol/J. These are the most efficient diodes available on the market. A higher efficiency rating means that less of the total wattage used will go toward making heat rather than light.
It can also be helpful to locate the light ballast outside of the grow area.
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Personally I would consider two lights to illuminate your space for these reasons:
-small plants don’t need as much light or space so can use one until the other is needed.
-if a light fails you still have a backup in the event of a problem.
HLG lights will blow away your MH/HPS setup and do it with much less energy consumption and heat.
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Thanks for the prompt and informative replies, guys.
I’ve been doing lighting research for the past few hours and am now leaning toward HLG’s Diablo 750 plus their UVA board, since UV is another thing I’ve hoped to play around with and it would affix nicely. My instinct tells me if I’m going with the UV bar then the more red-heavy “Diablo X” would make more sense than the default spectrum, but idk if there’s anything to that. May or may not incorporate the UV bar for the maiden voyage, but it will be nice to have. It’s great to hear that any of these will probably be a near-total upgrade over what I’m running now, but I will miss the HID rig. Something about that old-school industrial charm…
I could still be swayed into getting two lights instead, but for various reasons I’m leaning toward a single rig. HLG offers a five-year warrantee and I have two perfectly good smaller LED boards (the spider farmer especially has put in good work) already; that also steers me away from the “Scorpion” Diablo since it seems to be just two more quantum boards and I can just add one of my existing LEDs if I feel the need.
I haven’t used this forum in a while because I just wasn’t excited about growing, but now I’m looking forward to the upcoming run; will probably be posting more or at least lurking again.
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