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lighting T5 Lights

I have 45x 4' T5 8 bulb assemblies in our indoor grow operation. I had problems with an online hydroponics shop shorting me on a big light order last year, so I chanced this vendor on Amazon at the last minute to keep my 2018 grow on track.
 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019J3UPUS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
I ordered 12 of the lights last year and another 7 this year (4' T5 8-bulb) and these lights are fantastic.
 
I own lights sourced from various vendors, and the build quality of these is superb. For the crazy low price you'd think they'd be substandard in some way but they are every bit as good or better than ones I'd ordered in the past that are 3x as expensive.
 
I did have one light show up with a bad ballast last year - they shipped me an entire replacement assembly at no cost, and rather than them paying to ship back the defective one, they let me keep the bad one for spare parts. Still one good balast and bulbs in it, so it's nice to have a little spare.
 
Packaging on the lights is great, no damage in transit to either bulbs or light, and they come with a nice latching pulley rope kit so you can easily raise and lower them.
 
Anyway the order this year went through without a hitch as well, and the lights are great.
 
The vendor I used on the order both times was D&K Mart (there's multiple sellers on the lights) 
 
Great price and a great set of lights.
 
 
 
Wow, their 4bulb 4ft is only $93 and has switches to turn off inner or outer bulbs. Thats a really nice feature for a 4 bulb. You cant get that on the Agrobrite unless you step upto the 6 bulb and their 4 bulb cost more too.
 
I got the exact same light to start seedlings indoors this year.

I too have liked it. My only knock is that Ive found it runs quite warm and the plants get pretty warm. I set up an oscillating fan which has helped. Plus itll also help toughen up the seedlings a little with some air movement.

But plants are a nice dark, deep green with zero stretching out. Even when I had to move light up due to some squash growing crazy fast, the shorter peppers didnt leg out.
 
Anyone daisy chaining the Hydroplanets with the Hydrofarm Agrobrites?  I have several of each in the T5 4' 4 bulb configuration.  Any issues? 
 
Harry_Dangler said:
Anyone daisy chaining the Hydroplanets with the Hydrofarm Agrobrites?  I have several of each in the T5 4' 4 bulb configuration.  Any issues? 
 
Just watch your wattage. I wouldn't daisy chain more than one light to another, unless you physically inspect the inside wiring in the light and make sure that you know it's gauge, or check the documentation and make sure it's rated for the load you're going to put on it.
 
4 bulb = 216 watt (4x54)
8 bulb = 432 watt (8x54)
 
A 20 amp circuit @ 120vac can supply 2400 watts, although on fixed loads you aren't supposed to exceed 1,920 watts (80% rating). Max you'd want to run on a single 20 amp circuit is 4x 8 bulb arrays. 
 
A 15 amp circuit @ 120vac can supply 1800 watts, 1,440w @ 80% rating for nameplate loads. 3x 8 bulb arrays max on one of those.
 
I've done 4x 8-bulb and an oscillating fan no problem on a 20 amp circuit, although that's getting close to pushing the limit. Make sure you know your fan's wattage or amps. I have some fans that draw much higher amps which I wouldn't want to plug in to a 20 amp circuit with 4x 8-bulb arrays.
 
I supplied my grow room at home with 4x 20-amp circuits (to handle mixed load of 15 light arrays, warming mats, fans), not all on at same time.
 
At the farm I ran 12x 20 amp circuits dedicated strictly to the grow area. 
 
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