Post by sherkas on Dec 30, 2008 0:59:04 GMT -5
*NOTE: I give everything in 100's for lux readings, the meter gives me those readings and they are actually x 10. So my plants in the best spots are getting 10000 lumans per square foot however I just say its 1000 as those are the units the meter gave them to me.
So I just did a whole setup remodel. Im either going to burn my plants or they are all going to skip pink and red and go DARK purple from love!
Basically I got a lux meter today (tells you the amount of lux at a given spot, eg. a lightbulb emits 1000 lux but up to 6 inches away its easily 4-500 lux tops)
So I checked all spots thoroughly then I did a planned change, then I tested my tin foil reflective amount, if places would increase if I placed tin foil here and there and you name it. I know my lux readings in every spot in every situation. So I added 2 lights in the back of my setup (2 CFL 13 watters) and now I can easily say this, I had 4 rows of 6 plants each. Before the lux amts where: 300, 450, 550, 400. The back wall had tin foil on all 3 sides so the back got a bit better light then the first rows. I dropped my lights 2 inches, added a small bit of tin foil on the top of my light fixture (captured some excess leakage) and now I can EASILY say my rows are as follows: 550, 750, 850, <varies>.
The row that varies has the CFL's and some indirect from my T12's. It ranges from 600-1200 LUX. Some plants that require more light to go red where placed under the CFLS and are getting 1000+, the plants beside them and around there are anywhere from 6-900 lux (its a row only lit by CFLs and indirect T12).
So now every plant has a huge amount more of light, and those demanding ones hopefully will have enough lux now that they will turn red (if they burn I can move the lights up an inch in a second so no worries). The whole setup is hung by chains and can be tweaked in a quarter inch in any spot. So im hoping now they will all love me and go red. The main addition to my setup was 2 cheap CFL's 13 watters that provided enough light for 2 pots that I didn't need anything more. (I know a 20 some watt would be better but then the luxes would be easily 2000+)
So im glad to say now ive removed all excess leakage of light from my setup (refined it alot more since it did improve my lux readings ALOT) and ive added a few lights (I never really wanted to add more lights or anything because I didn't want to spend anything) and now my setup I would say is easily 25-75% more efficient in lux. All of this was from just getting my lux meter and actually finding out what spots had very little light (alot actually surprised me) and that my setup, what I thought was doing alot of light actually wasn't. I found out that my bulbs atleast lost alot of light after the 4-5 inch mark for distance, so my plants were raised up to that (although now its hard to see the plants because they are so close). I also found out that just adding a tin foil wall in front of the plants (kinda like a lid but for the front) easily boosted my lux readings by 250 on the plants beside it and to the wall the plants received a 50 lux bonus. I also found out that putting tin foil above my fixtures (where there was a 6 inch gap to the wall) added another 100 lux to the plants under it (or very close). Its amazing what a little tin foil (or alot) can do and how just lowering your lights a inch can boost your lux's ALOT.
EG. My meter showed 2000+ against the lights, an inch away was about 1400, two inches was just below 1000 (which is pretty much sun quality). So I placed mine just below that by an inch and a half so they are getting about 800 ish for winter.
So in the end, I think you should all atleast borrow a lux meter for a day to check out what plants get how much light and see if you can improve it in any way.
So I just did a whole setup remodel. Im either going to burn my plants or they are all going to skip pink and red and go DARK purple from love!
Basically I got a lux meter today (tells you the amount of lux at a given spot, eg. a lightbulb emits 1000 lux but up to 6 inches away its easily 4-500 lux tops)
So I checked all spots thoroughly then I did a planned change, then I tested my tin foil reflective amount, if places would increase if I placed tin foil here and there and you name it. I know my lux readings in every spot in every situation. So I added 2 lights in the back of my setup (2 CFL 13 watters) and now I can easily say this, I had 4 rows of 6 plants each. Before the lux amts where: 300, 450, 550, 400. The back wall had tin foil on all 3 sides so the back got a bit better light then the first rows. I dropped my lights 2 inches, added a small bit of tin foil on the top of my light fixture (captured some excess leakage) and now I can EASILY say my rows are as follows: 550, 750, 850, <varies>.
The row that varies has the CFL's and some indirect from my T12's. It ranges from 600-1200 LUX. Some plants that require more light to go red where placed under the CFLS and are getting 1000+, the plants beside them and around there are anywhere from 6-900 lux (its a row only lit by CFLs and indirect T12).
So now every plant has a huge amount more of light, and those demanding ones hopefully will have enough lux now that they will turn red (if they burn I can move the lights up an inch in a second so no worries). The whole setup is hung by chains and can be tweaked in a quarter inch in any spot. So im hoping now they will all love me and go red. The main addition to my setup was 2 cheap CFL's 13 watters that provided enough light for 2 pots that I didn't need anything more. (I know a 20 some watt would be better but then the luxes would be easily 2000+)
So im glad to say now ive removed all excess leakage of light from my setup (refined it alot more since it did improve my lux readings ALOT) and ive added a few lights (I never really wanted to add more lights or anything because I didn't want to spend anything) and now my setup I would say is easily 25-75% more efficient in lux. All of this was from just getting my lux meter and actually finding out what spots had very little light (alot actually surprised me) and that my setup, what I thought was doing alot of light actually wasn't. I found out that my bulbs atleast lost alot of light after the 4-5 inch mark for distance, so my plants were raised up to that (although now its hard to see the plants because they are so close). I also found out that just adding a tin foil wall in front of the plants (kinda like a lid but for the front) easily boosted my lux readings by 250 on the plants beside it and to the wall the plants received a 50 lux bonus. I also found out that putting tin foil above my fixtures (where there was a 6 inch gap to the wall) added another 100 lux to the plants under it (or very close). Its amazing what a little tin foil (or alot) can do and how just lowering your lights a inch can boost your lux's ALOT.
EG. My meter showed 2000+ against the lights, an inch away was about 1400, two inches was just below 1000 (which is pretty much sun quality). So I placed mine just below that by an inch and a half so they are getting about 800 ish for winter.
So in the end, I think you should all atleast borrow a lux meter for a day to check out what plants get how much light and see if you can improve it in any way.