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reflective materials

do not use mirrors, they absorb some light and can cause hot spots. Its either mylar from a hydro store or cheap mylar ( those emergence blankets from the camping section at your local sports store ) and or flat white paint.


I believe mylar reflects like 99% of light and white paint is high 80s to low 90s in the percentile range.
 
MrOneEyedBoh said:
do not use mirrors, they absorb some light and can cause hot spots. Its either mylar from a hydro store or cheap mylar ( those emergence blankets from the camping section at your local sports store ) and or flat white paint.


I believe mylar reflects like 99% of light and white paint is high 80s to low 90s in the percentile range.
Click to expand...
Mylar 95%+, while Agro Mylar is 97%+.
 
I use a lot of Aluminum foil in my little experiments. I only use Mylar in the main growing chambers.
 
Unless you have a really flat surface that is easy to get to and work in, skip the emergency blankets as far as efficiency goes. First, they are 1 mil or less thick and tear in the blink of an eyelash. Second, they are folded very tight and it is almost impossible to get the wrinkles out, so the light doesn't reflect very well at all. White paint would be far more effective.

Now if you are frugal (not cheap!) like me and you don't have time to paint or buy Mylar, white cardboard works a treat. An offbeat source is cases of beer from the supermarket, though they are not very big pieces, which means you will need to consume mass quantities of brewskies to get the material. But, IMO, it is worth it.

Mike
 
if you're gonna do the white paint method (not saying its the best method vs mylar) just go & buy a couple spray cans of white paint & paint whatever you're gonna use for walls, or a roll-on can of white paint.

next question would be has the studies tested the difference between flat white vs gloss white ?
 
As said above, mirrors look more reflective but they absorb a lot of light. I think silver(or diamond) lite-tite is the best reflective material available but I personally prefer the white/black plastic since it is easier on the eyes, easier to clean, easier to work with and it can be used for mutiple other purposes in the growroom or greenhouse.
If you plan to use white paint, I think a flat white is what is recommended
 
I think mylar is also what is used in many (if not all) of those solar shields that people put in their car windshields to reflect heat and keep the interior cooler when parked in the sun. I have one in my trunk now. I need to bring it in!
 
if you decide to use mylar and not paint or mirrors, make sure you get the 2 mil stuff...more expensive but a heck of a lot more "tear" resistant..
 
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