Air cooled lighting; efficient or inefficient?

First off, I would have posted this in the sticky but the thread is closed, so I continue on. After reading subs thread on venting, I bought into, and loved, the idea of cooling the lights in order to save money on cooling. However, after watching the video I've posted below, I begin to question whether this is the most efficient way of going about lighting my room.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TUPlaKadogc

According to the guy above, who seems reputable (although he is selling a product), the reflective material loses 5 to 10 percent reflection a year. Additionally, he goes on to add that cooling the bulb dims the light by 25 percent, and that glass in front of the bulb on reflectors diminishes light by another 10 percent. That's 65 percent efficiency in year one, and 55 percent in year two (when using air cooled reflector).

Currently I am set to run 4 1000w air cooled magnum 8" Ochos, with one or two 8" inline fans pulling air off of them (depending what it needs). However, I'm wondering if i shouldn't run 4 large adjust a wings (same dimensions as Ochos) and just run a mini split to the room instead? If this guy is correct, you should cool your room, not the lights?!

advice, nerds?

sampras

Ill call BS on this guys numbers. I havnt watched the video(cant seem too load it) but easiest way to test this is with a basic light meter. You forget the pro's that a cooler light means the closer you can get it which means more light.

Edit: Just watched it and i ended up skimming over it from the get go, the guy smells of cheap cologne and BS facts, as he talks you can tell hes trying to remember what BS % he just gave you so he can say it again. Unless i am missing something a simple light meter with one under a barebulb and one under a air-cooled would prove his point, which could then be beat by lowering the light.

Personally i would rather cool down a room without 4k in lights heating it up rather than a room with 4k heating it up. I am sure there is some true nerds here though that have real info on the subject.

Making way here myself to toss my Adjust A Wing .. I would rather use a parabolic than one of these over priced Bat Wings ..
And no matter the technology involved I still think the old Industrial lamps running bare bulb were superior to most of this modern shit .. But I will add that I do use Inline cooled lamps as well in my grow , being old school I like to use both .. Nothing compares to a bare bulb if you can maintain proper temps .....

I'm not sure about the 25% loss just from cooling the bulb, that just sounds absurd to me, however the glass definitely has an effect on the output.... I run my vented hoods without the glass and the end opposite where I hook my vent line to capped. I grow in tents and they tend to run warmer when I keep the glass out because the air isnt passing across the bulb like it would with the glass in... I would actually think letting the bulbs run hot without any cooling would diminish the life as well as the output rather cooling it, I would think cooling it would keep them bright longer actually but I'm no lighting engineer so.... Anyhow as I said I grow in tents and use the heat from the bulbs to actually heat the room the tents are in which helps keep my heating costs down in the winter, I have still yet to master my grow area during the summer as I usually only grow until late june/early july....

I would be weary of anyone trying to go against the grain of something proven like air cooled hoods.... However..... no matter what you'll need to cool your rooms, and even more so if your not cooling your lights..... I couldnt get the link to load either though.....

There is loss when glass is involved. However, in small spaces cooling is a must. I run 1500 watts of blended spectrum and I lose a bit I know but my grow is good and I heat my home too.

The cost to run a 8" fan is much lower than the cost of an air conditioner running to keep those bulbs cool, distance from bulb to bud.... etc. lots of factors there,

just watched the vid....

those are standard green house supplemental lighting systems. They are designed for supplemental lighting. the spread isn't even close to adequate for an indoor setup. Great for greenhouse applications though. I am actually going to have 2-600w light systems similar to those in my gh next season. But in a gh you set these lights 4-6 ft above your plants.

Thanks for the responses.

geekmike: I understand that, and I'm not interested in buying those lighting systems. I'm running 1000w dim able lumateks, but I'm wondering if the air cool hoods are the way to go for efficiency, or if running with adjust a wings cooled with a mini split would be more efficient? Taking all factors into account, such as air cooled can be closer bulb to bud, but also, you aren't getting a efficient light source, 35 percent loss according to the video. Where as adjust a wings have to be further away for bulb to bud, however the light won't be diminished by 35 percent (going by the videos stats again) because there is no glass and it is not air cooled.

Bottom line: which is more efficient for a 4k grow?

Sampras1489 said:

Thanks for the responses.

geekmike: I understand that, and I'm not interested in buying those lighting systems. I'm running 1000w dim able lumateks, but I'm wondering if the air cool hoods are the way to go for efficiency, or if running with adjust a wings cooled with a mini split would be more efficient? Taking all factors into account, such as air cooled can be closer bulb to bud, but also, you aren't getting a efficient light source, 35 percent loss according to the video. Where as adjust a wings have to be further away for bulb to bud, however the light won't be diminished by 35 percent (going by the videos stats again) because there is no glass and it is not air cooled.

Bottom line: which is more efficient for a 4k grow?

Click to expand...

geekmike said:

The cost to run a 8" fan is much lower than the cost of an air conditioner running to keep those bulbs cool, distance from bulb to bud.... etc. lots of factors there,

Click to expand...

I think he answered your Q right there.... I have a decent 8" inline fan and it draws about a 100-120 watts I think....

As I said before you will end up cooling your room no matter what but much more so if you werent cooling your lights obviously.... Dont get wrapped up in bullshit like that, especially when someone is selling something will the #'s sound even more real yet reality wise they are farther from it..... Vented hoods are the industry standard, I'd go with that..... If you wanted to go one step further spend the $ on the best/most efficient equipment possible, you will get much better results using proven methods.... New lighting technology like LED and a few other things are getting better all the time but HID's and vented hoods are how you will get those big sexy dense buds right out of the gate as long as you do everything else right....

I'm not saying dont invest into other lighting setups, but I'd get yourself setup with those vented 1000's before anything else...

air exchange rooms, with air cooled hoods are way cheaper to run. however not all strains get chunky this way. sealed rooms that never waver with co2, temp, and humidity have always yielded the most for me (with bare bulbs). but have been the most costly to run.

Can't comment on the percents that guy gave (haven't watche the vid, either)... But, I will say that air conditioning is the EPITOME of inefficient.

Whatstrain said:

Ill call BS on this guys numbers.

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Yeah I'm gonna have to agree with Whatstrain here ^^ I stopped reading the thread after you listed his numbers honestly lol. If you really believe clear glass dims the light by 10% then I'm not quite sure what to tell you lmao.

Could you run air cooled hoods with c02? Pull off the hot air from the lights, run that air into a carbon filter and in turn that air gets scrubbed and released back into the room. Although you wouldn't be able to vent that hot air out of your room, you could pull it off of your lights, allowing the bulb to get closer to the bud. Additionally, the c02 would get sucked through the lights and carbon filter and then right back into the room.

What do you guys think?

Sampras1489 said:

Thanks for the responses.

geekmike: I understand that, and I'm not interested in buying those lighting systems. I'm running 1000w dim able lumateks, but I'm wondering if the air cool hoods are the way to go for efficiency, or if running with adjust a wings cooled with a mini split would be more efficient? Taking all factors into account, such as air cooled can be closer bulb to bud, but also, you aren't getting a efficient light source, 35 percent loss according to the video. Where as adjust a wings have to be further away for bulb to bud, however the light won't be diminished by 35 percent (going by the videos stats again) because there is no glass and it is not air cooled.

Bottom line: which is more efficient for a 4k grow?

Click to expand...

If money is not a issue and you have the funds to afford a mini split, the installation and electricity cost then yes go with a Mini Split. Like the guys who posted before me, its much cheaper to cool your hoods with fans than run a mini split.

Sampras1489 said:

Could you run air cooled hoods with c02? Pull off the hot air from the lights, run that air into a carbon filter and in turn that air gets scrubbed and released back into the room. Although you wouldn't be able to vent that hot air out of your room, you could pull it off of your lights, allowing the bulb to get closer to the bud. Additionally, the c02 would get sucked through the lights and carbon filter and then right back into the room.

What do you guys think?

Click to expand...

I run two 1000W's in Raptor hoods and use co2. Here's what you need to do: You need to pull air from a entirely different room, run the ducting through the hoods and exhaust into a different room. Buy another fan and just keep your carbon scrubber running 24/7 on the floor.

Beaver: what do you mean pull air from a different room? Do you mean pulling air from a diff room to cool the lights?

They make a low ambient control for systems,allows unit to run when below 50f outside.Need a good load tho on unit to perform correctly.
It stops condensor fan to let head pressure rise.
I had this problem before going to 8inch Air cooled hoods.


Beech

Sampras1489 said:

Beaver: what do you mean pull air from a different room? Do you mean pulling air from a diff room to cool the lights?

Click to expand...

Yup pull air from an entirely different room and exhaust into a entirely different room

With glass and depending how dusty it gets (use an intake filter...pantyhose works great...dust shrooms even better but pricy) you lose 4 to 8%. With air running through the hood...and depending how cold that fresh air is you lose another 5 to 10%. That guy is full of shit. Double ended lamps are where its at though but air conditioning is a must to cool the room and preferably in a mini split version to keep co2 where it needs to be. With most tent growers...single ended hps in a properly air cooled reflector is standard. I just dont understand how people are keeping plants alive in open hoods in smaller (4x8 or less) tents fully zipped up. Unless the room the tent is in is cold itself. I dont get it. Now i hear people running double ended lamps in them. Wtf? How is that even possible?