Reasons HPS Grow Lights Are Hot

What is HPS Grow Light?

The high-pressure sodium lamp (usually called the “HPS” lamp) was invented 50 years ago and was a very popular lamp at that time, mainly used as a street lamp. Today, HPS street light can still be seen in many places.

Soon after the invention of HPS lamps, scientists and cannabis growers discovered that these lamps are very effective for the growth and harvest of cannabis. Therefore, since the 1980s, HPS lamps have dominated indoor cannabis cultivation for nearly half a century.

Today, HPS lamps have existed for nearly half a century. Many plantations and commercial planting facilities throw in large quantities of HPS. With the advancement of science and technology, lighting products continue to introduce new ones. In addition to HPS lamps, there are many growing lamps such as LED, T8, CFL and MH that are alternative methods of cannabis cultivation.

At present, LED lights are better than HPS lights for cannabis cultivation, and many companies and scientific research institutions have confirmed this. But HPS light still has its value and significance, and its role is still irreplaceable!

 

Although it seems that HPS lamps are outdated technology, there are still many advantages! The fact is that their old-fashioned technology is one of the reasons that make them so great! And their importance goes far beyond this.

Inexpensive

High-pressure sodium lamps are not expensive at all. At present, the cost of LED grow light with the same power is at least 2 times higher than that of high-end HPS lamps with brand-name ballasts. In addition, the HPS system is a modular design. If any part of the system (such as a bulb) fails, you only need to replace the bulb instead of buying new light fixtures.

As ordinary people, we all know that sometimes the cheapness of a product means that its quality is inferior, but HPS is actually not only cheap, but the quality is not bad. Since the 1970s, HPS lights have been widely used as street lights in the United States, and the technology used in HPS grow lights is almost the same as that used in street lights.

In the era where cannabis growers live today, we will benefit from decades of actual lighting technology and improvements in manufacturing processes. Put it simple, for a long time, many people including growers, researchers and technical workers have refined HPS lights, so that even small companies have become very cheap. Nowadays, market competition is fiercer, and production access barriers are lower, allowing consumers and growers to enjoy lower overall costs.

Effectively promote growth and high ROI

The power of HPS lamps is that they have excellent performance and work well. The HPS growth lamp can promote rapid growth and germination of plants, increase the density of cannabis and high yield. The efficiency of the HPS lamp in converting electricity into light is as high as 48%, which is nearly double that of MH, and the spectrum of light emitted can promote better flowering of cannabis.

Compared with many other types of grow lights in the world today, HPS grow light is still one of the most common types of grow lights in widespread use. Most home growers and commercial growing operations have good reasons to use HPS grow lights. After years of development, HPS lamps enjoy a high reputation for producing high yields, so many new growers will consider using HPS at the beginning.

the Effectiveness of HPS Lights

HPS lights are very beneficial to the growth of cannabis.

Regarding the performance comparison of LED or CFL grow lights, you will find that there are many people who support both. Cannabis growers think that CFL is not worth worrying about, because T8 has eliminated them. It is very interesting that you will find that growers think that everything except sunlight is a fantasy.

Few growers believe that HPS lamps cannot grow high-quality cannabis, marijuana, hemp or indica. Although HPS lamps emit a lot of heat, are inefficient or bulky, almost everyone agrees that they do a good job and have a high output.

The manufacturing process technology of HPS lamps is very mature, and almost all manufacturers have mastered it, so there is no technical difficulty. In the course of half a century of development, HPS technology itself is very reliable, and no matter who makes the lamp, it is easy to replicate.

Scale Expansion

Although you may see a lot of using 1000W HPS grow light, in fact, 1000W power is too much for most people, so there are 150W, 300W, 500W HPS to choose from. It’s just that the current use of 1000W HPS lights is so common that many growers don’t realize how much lethality such a large light can produce at the beginning. Until now, the first thing that many start growers think of when growing cannabis is 1000W HPS grow light.

Now, many home growers are using 600W HPS lights. Many growers have realized that the baby plant using this kind of lamp has a long growth cycle, because 60% of the electric energy is converted into heat, and the electricity bill is twice that of LEDs.

Weaknesses of HPS Grow Light

In the nearly 40 years before LED lights were invented, HPS has been the best light because they did an excellent job of easily growing cannabis, promoting germination speed and increasing yield. However, this does not mean that they have no shortcomings. The following are the main problems of HPS lamps:

Requiring a grow tent

Different growing facilities have different lighting arrangements, but if home growers grow a small amount of marijuana in their own backyard or indoors, it is necessary to use tents on HPS, because the light of HPS is divergent and will affect the surrounding area. The environment or neighbors cause interference. One or several tents can solve this problem well, and can effectively concentrate the light for the growth of cannabis.

Dissipate too much heat

This is an unavoidable problem. It is a fact that any lamp will generate heat when it is energized, but the heat generated by HPS lamps is particularly prominent, which is several times more than that of CFL and LED lamps. This makes the exhaust system necessary for any HPS over 500w, and this problem has not been effectively solved until now.

Essentially, HPS lamps will not be hotter than LED or even CFL lamps. It’s just that most HPS lamps consume more power than LED & CFL lamps. Engineers have carried out actual testing work and installed a 400-watt CFL lamp in a closed space. As a result, the temperature is actually higher than when using a 400-watt HPS, because the electrical efficiency of CFL is lower than that of HPS growth lamp.

The three main specifications of HPS lamps are 400w, 600w and 1000w. Even with a small HPS (400 watts), the heat generated is still nearly twice as much as the heat generated by using 4 100W LED grow light.

In short, whether it is an HPS, LED or CFL lamp, the amount of heat generated by each watt used is about the same. But to achieve the same cannabis growth effect, the power of HPS grow light needs to be increased several times, and the result is to generate more heat.

However, High Pressure Sodium lights will make it easy for people to know what is happening. When a neighbor sees HPS light leaking from someone’s window, the first reaction is that the person inside is growing marijuana! Therefore, when using HPS grow lights, it is important to be invisible rather than exhaust, so that anyone outside the house does not know what is happening inside the house.