While Moyboy and Huntsman and the rest of the crew on the wrong side of the planet get started on their crops outside, I'm in the process of moving mine back indoors- or will be, when I get back home from work next week. While in the past I've had good success in using standard T12 flouros for starting seeds and even overwintering a few plants, I'd like to actually get some growth during the winter out of a few plants without pissing away lots of money either on initial startup costs or on electricity. I know HID are extremely effective- however, I also know I pay almost 18¢ a kilowatt hour for electricity. HID would tear my wallet up.
So the UFO would save me about $230 a year in electricity over a conventional HID light in one year- again, if one presumes the UFO would be equivalent to 300-ish watts of HID lighting. The UFO costs about $185 more than the cheapest switchable 400W HID system I can find at HID Hut. If the UFO is insufficient on it's own, I could supplement it with my poor boy T12s
Up until now I hadn't done all that much research on T5 though it does look very promising as well. I'll have to contact local suppliers for ballasts and tubes but I'm pretty sure I could build a dual-tube T5HO setup with reflectors for about $100 at the most, including tubes.
While the HID puts out more light initially, they rapidly lose efficiency relative to the T5HO. Since I'm a cheap bastard, I'm averse to changing bulbs out that often- and I know the T5 will last WAY longer than any HID bulb will. A 4 tube T5HO setup would be 216W. Would that be equivalent to the UFO LED? Hell if I know, it depends on who you ask- those who aren't trying to sell the damn things say they're equivalent to 250W and up. Fatalii is definitely pleased with his, though I don't know if he's done much HID growing to compare it to. For conversations sake, let's say it's equivalent to 300W-ish of HID light. What's 216W of T5HO equate to in HID? If we go back to the lumen count, the T5HO will give an HID setup a run for the money, especially when considering ROI over time.
So the UFO would cost me about $140 less than a 216W T5HO setup in electrical usage in one year. I'm fairly certain that since the 80W UFO is being compared to anything from 250W to 400W, I'm sure it'll produce more than the 216W setup will. Unfortunately it'll also cost about $300 more than one 4 tube T5HO setup would cost.
So what say ye? I'm a bit torn between the UFO and building a couple T5HO setups, even though the T5s will cost more in electricity. I've already got 20 Luxeon III LEDs with Buck Puck drivers and a 28VDC power supply that I'm going to use to build an array this winter, so that somewhat lessens the appeal of the UFO- for the price of the UFO I could build a freaking array with 40 3 watt Luxeons, WITH drivers.
- The UFO is 80W, which on a 16/8 schedule would work out to be, coincidentally enough, $80 for electricity for the year.
- IF one were to say the UFO is equivalent to 300W, that would work out to be over $300 for the year for the same 16/8 schedule.
So the UFO would save me about $230 a year in electricity over a conventional HID light in one year- again, if one presumes the UFO would be equivalent to 300-ish watts of HID lighting. The UFO costs about $185 more than the cheapest switchable 400W HID system I can find at HID Hut. If the UFO is insufficient on it's own, I could supplement it with my poor boy T12s
Up until now I hadn't done all that much research on T5 though it does look very promising as well. I'll have to contact local suppliers for ballasts and tubes but I'm pretty sure I could build a dual-tube T5HO setup with reflectors for about $100 at the most, including tubes.
- HID initial output - 120-130 lumens per watt
- T5HO initial output- 92 lumens per watt
While the HID puts out more light initially, they rapidly lose efficiency relative to the T5HO. Since I'm a cheap bastard, I'm averse to changing bulbs out that often- and I know the T5 will last WAY longer than any HID bulb will. A 4 tube T5HO setup would be 216W. Would that be equivalent to the UFO LED? Hell if I know, it depends on who you ask- those who aren't trying to sell the damn things say they're equivalent to 250W and up. Fatalii is definitely pleased with his, though I don't know if he's done much HID growing to compare it to. For conversations sake, let's say it's equivalent to 300W-ish of HID light. What's 216W of T5HO equate to in HID? If we go back to the lumen count, the T5HO will give an HID setup a run for the money, especially when considering ROI over time.
- Again- the UFO is 80W, which on a 16/8 schedule would work out to be, coincidentally enough, $80 for electricity for the year.
- T5HO at 216W ~ $220
So the UFO would cost me about $140 less than a 216W T5HO setup in electrical usage in one year. I'm fairly certain that since the 80W UFO is being compared to anything from 250W to 400W, I'm sure it'll produce more than the 216W setup will. Unfortunately it'll also cost about $300 more than one 4 tube T5HO setup would cost.
So what say ye? I'm a bit torn between the UFO and building a couple T5HO setups, even though the T5s will cost more in electricity. I've already got 20 Luxeon III LEDs with Buck Puck drivers and a 28VDC power supply that I'm going to use to build an array this winter, so that somewhat lessens the appeal of the UFO- for the price of the UFO I could build a freaking array with 40 3 watt Luxeons, WITH drivers.
