FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I just have a quick question. I'm thinking about switching to LED but I'm confused about the wats . When they say 300w is that ashiwel or is equivalent? I look into the old post and couldn't find the answer .

My MarsHydro 300 draws about 125 - 130 Watts of AC power.

Good growing,
Mike

It depends on what they have light source regulated too. Some company's rate the wattage at what the lights take, while others just state what wattage the lights should be able to take. An example would be my diy lights. I could rate the lights at 300 watts (their potential), but I have my lights regulated to ~50 watts. Usually it will state what equivalent the lights are separately from the wattage of the lights.

Many LED plant light fixtures advertise the maximum power rating of the LEDs they use, not the actual power output. As Mike brought up, the popular Mars Hydro "300w" fixture has 100x 3W LEDs, but only draws about 130W from the wall. This includes efficiency losses from the driver (2 drivers in this case I believe) and the cooling fans, so realistically the LEDs are being driven at no more than 110W.

Comparing that to other types of lights is difficult, since most lights advertise lumens and that scale can't be used to properly measure the red/blue light of these fixtures. However based on power usage, the cost of these fixtures, and what I know about LED power efficiency, I would estimate this type of fixture produces the equivalent of about 15,000 lumens (possibly as much as 20,000, similar to a 4x4' T5HO fixture.)

Thank you. That clears up quite a lot for me. Love this place!


Good growing