Humple
Well-Known Member
So I've been planning for a while now to redo the lighting in my cab. The cab has three chambers: the top is approximately 19"x48"x23" (D/W/H), and is where I keep seedlings and clones; the two bottom chambers are both 19"x23"x48" (D/W/H). This post concerns the two bottom chambers.
Currently, each chamber is lit by a single QB288. As these spaces are roughly 3 square feet each, the 288s are a bit overpowered; I've never run one past 100w. Been thinking of grabbing a new 2'x4' tent and moving the two 288s there, replacing them in the cab with something more appropriately powered. I love my QBs, so when the 132s hit, I started considering a 4-pack. I could put one QB132 in each chamber, and have two spares for any other projects that might come along. But then I started thinking about strips. After all, strips are the best bang for the buck, right? Well... Maybe not. At least not always.
I'm shooting for 75w to give me around 25w/sq foot, which is more than enough for veg (the normal use-case for the cab), and sufficient for flowering if I have any overflow from the clone chamber (the cab doubles as a backup bloom space). Pricing out Samsung F Series Gen 3 strips, with a no-heatsink requirement (for simplicity and economy), I discovered that QB132s are actually the better bargain. If I understand the F Series specs correctly (and someone set me straight if I'm wrong), I should be able to hit 75w at nominal with three of the 2 foot, single row strips, yes? Add an HLG-80H-24A, and I'm at about $80 per chamber: $15 per strip for $45 total, and $35 for the driver. So $160 to light both sides of the cab, and that's without any aluminum for frames. In comparison, a QB132 costs $35, and an HLG-80H-36A costs $40 (actually a little less than $40, but let's round up). And there's no need for a frame.
Even if I couldn't order the 132 in singles (I know the Amazon 4-packs take precedence for HLG, and understandably so), I feel like I'd be getting more bang for my buck with QBs in this scenario. And to top it off, it's far less work to wire and hang a single board than it is to wire, frame, and hang three strips. The only advantage I can see in the strip build would be controlling the light-spread, but in a space this small, I don't think it would make much difference.
Make sense? Can anyone point out any flaws in my reasoning?
Currently, each chamber is lit by a single QB288. As these spaces are roughly 3 square feet each, the 288s are a bit overpowered; I've never run one past 100w. Been thinking of grabbing a new 2'x4' tent and moving the two 288s there, replacing them in the cab with something more appropriately powered. I love my QBs, so when the 132s hit, I started considering a 4-pack. I could put one QB132 in each chamber, and have two spares for any other projects that might come along. But then I started thinking about strips. After all, strips are the best bang for the buck, right? Well... Maybe not. At least not always.
I'm shooting for 75w to give me around 25w/sq foot, which is more than enough for veg (the normal use-case for the cab), and sufficient for flowering if I have any overflow from the clone chamber (the cab doubles as a backup bloom space). Pricing out Samsung F Series Gen 3 strips, with a no-heatsink requirement (for simplicity and economy), I discovered that QB132s are actually the better bargain. If I understand the F Series specs correctly (and someone set me straight if I'm wrong), I should be able to hit 75w at nominal with three of the 2 foot, single row strips, yes? Add an HLG-80H-24A, and I'm at about $80 per chamber: $15 per strip for $45 total, and $35 for the driver. So $160 to light both sides of the cab, and that's without any aluminum for frames. In comparison, a QB132 costs $35, and an HLG-80H-36A costs $40 (actually a little less than $40, but let's round up). And there's no need for a frame.
Even if I couldn't order the 132 in singles (I know the Amazon 4-packs take precedence for HLG, and understandably so), I feel like I'd be getting more bang for my buck with QBs in this scenario. And to top it off, it's far less work to wire and hang a single board than it is to wire, frame, and hang three strips. The only advantage I can see in the strip build would be controlling the light-spread, but in a space this small, I don't think it would make much difference.
Make sense? Can anyone point out any flaws in my reasoning?
