What light is the best for supplementing light for northwest US

[Anthony Payne]

HI I'm new to this concept. I'm in the stage that I have a green house drawn out, I have a layout. But now I live in the northwest so I will need to supplement the plants in the gh to grow through the winter. The lighting that I know is from an underground business of years ago, I don't think that lighting would work in this situation.  

[John McCaw]

Anthony;

 

     Lighting can be one of those items that can cost a LOT or as LITTLE as you want it to. Everyone may tell you to go with T-5 lighting, which currently looks to be the coming down in  price, and could be the way to go if you are supplementing lighting. The cost may still be a bit much.  I live in the Northeast, with my system in the basement, and I am using T-8's. They seem to be working well, and the plants are "growing like weeds". I purchased simple 3-bulb / 4-foot shop lights, and am using the 6500K lights. Make sure the hood is a reflecting hood, and not a black hood. I have both, and I can tell the defference in the amount of light on the plants. Also, the T-8's put off practically no heat, so if they get to close to the plants, you stand a better chance of not burning them. The best thing to do is look around in local papers or on local web sites, such as creigslist to see what you can find. Hope this helps...

[Anthony Payne]

Thanks  I'm thinking that having lights going till 9 pm or so to give the plants a full day of light I have gotten the buzz on T5 What do you think of LED at this time.
John McCaw said:

Anthony;

 

     Lighting can be one of those items that can cost a LOT or as LITTLE as you want it to. Everyone may tell you to go with T-5 lighting, which currently looks to be the coming down in  price, and could be the way to go if you are supplementing lighting. The cost may still be a bit much.  I live in the Northeast, with my system in the basement, and I am using T-8's. They seem to be working well, and the plants are "growing like weeds". I purchased simple 3-bulb / 4-foot shop lights, and am using the 6500K lights. Make sure the hood is a reflecting hood, and not a black hood. I have both, and I can tell the defference in the amount of light on the plants. Also, the T-8's put off practically no heat, so if they get to close to the plants, you stand a better chance of not burning them. The best thing to do is look around in local papers or on local web sites, such as creigslist to see what you can find. Hope this helps...

[Daniel Carter]

I have used HID and phosphorus before, nut would like to experiment with LEDs.  Does anyone have any experience with LEDs?

[Alex Veidel]

LED's are the bomb.

I'll be testing their power consumption soon...I'll let you know what they cost to run.

[R.K. Castillo]

In Sylvia's comparison chart in her lighting videos and articles, it seems like LEDs are more expensive to start off with but in the long run end up being the most cost effective with lower power consumption and you don't have to replace the bulbs like you do with T5s or T8s

[Daniel Carter]

Thanks Alex and R.K.  I am new to this sight and haven't seen Sylvia's comparison chart yet.  Where can I find Sylvia's comparison chart?

I seen some companies that are LED lights that are VERY expensive and some that are about the same as HIDs. 

[Alex Veidel]

Hey guys, tested my LEDs the other day. My 400w HID light fixtures (Hydrofarm Sunburst 400W) were costing me about a $1 per day to run and cost somewhere around $150 for each fixture, not including the bulbs. LED fixtures: $800 each and $.40 per day. I'm getting waaay better results with the LEDs. (Lumigrow Pro 325)

[Anthony Payne]

Hay thank, this is great info sounds like LEDs may be the way to go over all. Tony 
Alex Veidel said:

Hey guys, tested my LEDs the other day. My 400w HID light fixtures (Hydrofarm Sunburst 400W) were costing me about a $1 per day to run and cost somewhere around $150 for each fixture, not including the bulbs. LED fixtures: $800 each and $.40 per day. I'm getting waaay better results with the LEDs. (Lumigrow Pro 325)

[David - WI]

How many square feet of plant area does a Lumigrow Pro 325 cover?  The "lens" area doesn't look very big in the photos,

Alex Veidel said:

Hey guys, tested my LEDs the other day. My 400w HID light fixtures (Hydrofarm Sunburst 400W) were costing me about a $1 per day to run and cost somewhere around $150 for each fixture, not including the bulbs. LED fixtures: $800 each and $.40 per day. I'm getting waaay better results with the LEDs. (Lumigrow Pro 325)