Lighting Choosing the right HID lights for your growspace

[CappY]

I'm new to the forums and growing, but I'd like to share useful information whenever possible. I don't often see a lot of detailed information on common wattage HID lights, so I hope this helps someone.
This is meant to give new growers or people considering using HID's an idea of what kind of wattage would be optimal for their grow-space, how much space they would generally need to safely hang the lights, as well as some general information.

150W MH/HPS
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Coverage Area: 2' x 2' (0.6m x 0.6m)
How Far From Plants? Keep 4” - 11” inches (10cm - 28cm) away from tops of plants
Total Height Needed: ~25” (64 cm) + size of your plants in their containers
Notes: Nearly all 150W MH/HPS have a “Built-In Ballast,” which means everything is actually attached together and you just plug the light directly into the wall - please note these tend to run a bit hotter than lights with a separate ballast since the ballast is built directly into the hood, and the ballast will be giving off heat in the grow area. This light does not get very hot compared to all other HID grow lights.

250W MH/HPS
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Coverage Area: 2' x 2' (0.6m x 0.6m) up to 2.5' x 2.5' (0.8m x 0.8m)
How Far From Plants? Keep 5” - 13” inches (13cm - 33cm) away from tops of plants
Total Height Needed: ~26” (66 cm) + size of your plants in their containers
Notes: Some (but not all) 250W MH/HPS have a “Built-In Ballast,” which means everything is actually attached together and you just plug the light directly into the wall - please note these tend to run a bit hotter than lights with a separate ballast since the ballast is built directly into the hood, and the ballast will be giving off heat in the grow area. Some 250W lights have a traditional ballast, which means that the ballast is a separate piece from the hood.

400W MH/HPS
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Coverage Area: 3' x 3' (0.9m x 0.9m) up to 3.5' x 3.5' (1m x 1m)
How Far From Plants? Keep 6” - 19” inches (15cm - 48cm) away from tops of plants
Total Height Needed: ~33” (84 cm) + size of your plants in their containers
Notes: 400W is one of the two most popular sizes for small-scale growers. A 400W grow light is relatively cool compared to other HID lights, but packs quite a punch when it comes to yields. Generally it’s a good idea to set up an exhaust for a 400W grow light.

600W MH/HPS
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Coverage Area: 3.5' x 3.5' (1m x 1m) up to 4' x 4' (1.2m x 1.2m)
How Far From Plants? Keep 8” - 25” inches (20cm - 64cm) away from tops of plants
Total Height Needed: ~40” (102 cm) + size of your plants in their containers
Notes: 600W is one of the two most popular sizes for small-scale growers. A 600W grow light is the most efficient of all HID lights, which means it produces the most amount of light per watt of electricity. To prevent heat problems, It is highly recommend to install an exhaust or other means of temperature control when using a 600W light.

1000W MH/HPS
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Coverage Area: 4' x 4' (1.2m x 1.2m) up to 5' x 5' (1.5m x 1.5m).
How Far From Plants? Keep 10” - 31” inches (26cm - 79cm) away from tops of plants
Total Height Needed: ~47” (120 cm) + size of your plants in their containers
Notes: 1000W is the biggest standard HID grow light size. A 1000W grow light is extremely powerful but can also get very hot. To prevent heat problems (which can adversely affect your plants), it is important to set up an exhaust or some other way to control temperature.

 

[TaNg]

Thanks for sharing bro.

 

[SiriusB]

Awesome post! Simple, detailed and on point. This is very useful information for any grower. Thanks

 

[Tony]

Wow impressive detailing showing the actual differences between wattages.

 

[SOUR JERZY]

HEY IF YOU HAVE A HPS OR MH HID LIGHT... MAKE SURE YOU CHANGE YOUR BULB LIKE EVERY 3 GROWS THEY LOSS THERE POWER OVER TIME...

 

[Kulgan]

Great post. Simple to read and has every part of info you need.

 

[Ladyluck]

love this, thank you!

 

[Autoimmune]

Thank you for your post. Very useful information for a dummy like me.

 

[simranpatel]

LEDs are now used everywhere. LEDs have witnessed an enormous growth during the last several years. https://www.kodakledlighting.com is a biggest supplier of LED lights

 

[jayp]

@SOUR JERZY I used my 600 watt hps bulb for over a year before replace one it (couldn't afford to buy one at the time) but now that I'm using a new bulb there isn't much of a difference in yield. I think you can use a bulb longer than what people say . I think a lot of the reason they say to replace them is to make $$ I used my new bulb for a grow and then put my old bulb back in for my next grow and the new bulb just yielded a bout a quarter of more. So I'm not sure if the bulb made that difference or if it was just the strain. But I'm no expert at this so I'm just speaking from my own experience but I am using my new bulb now but keeping my old one for backup.