Grow light efficiency is here to stay and that’s because electrical costs are poised to increase substantially. Energy inflation means being green matters on a couple of fronts. We’ve come a long way in getting more grow light efficiency from our grow light systems. We now have quality LED grow lights, along with the traditional standbys of double ended grow lights, LEC grow lights, and plasma grow lights. Each provides grow equipment advantages for grow light efficiency. And, we have robotic grow light efficiency available to get the most out of these grow light systems.
So, to specifically boost grow light efficiency, we have robotic grow light movers that fire these powerful indoor grow lights closer for higher, penetrating Ppfd. And, that’s to more leaf area. Here is how that works.
Stationary grow lights positioned too high
Whether we have a vertical grow, a shipping container grow room, a basement grow room or even a greenhouse with greenhouse lighting, we see this. We might have multiple grow lights positioned for grow room coverage. That’s as we do the grow room design for our indoor grow room setup. But, just throwing up our grow light systems without putting in the grow room design time means we are probably doing it wrong. We will likely have grow light gaps and entire areas without ideal plant light.
We will also likely have too many grow lights, positioned inefficiently. And, because we start out with stationary grow light systems, we might be forced to position them too high. Those stationary grow lights might be placed multiple feet above the canopy. And, that’s just to avoid the intense damage of these high output grow lights. Even the larger LED grow lights might be positioned too high above the canopy just trying to get a little more grow light spread for what are costly investments.
Diminished Ppfd but increased electrical draw
Here is the problem with this type of grow light recommended setup. First, we are being wasteful in that we are likely purchasing too many grow lights and too many grow lamps to fill in each gap. Those will all end up in a landfill one day. And, buying more than we need also involves the production pollution. Right there, we should stop and think it through before we make this kind of a grow room design mistake. And, with this plan of grow light coverage, each grow light might be a meter and a half (4’6”) above the canopy.
That is wasteful on another level in that we are now almost half for Ppfd at that distance. And, it’s geometrically diminishing. That’s an Inverse Square Law example where a grow lamp positioned at 5 feet above the canopy is 50% less powerful. So, for our grow room design, we are now doubly inefficient. Then there is a third level of inefficiency in that we will be using extra electrical draws from our extra indoor grow lights.
Ppfd comparison link
This is all the opposite of what we should be doing to be as green as possible with our grow light systems. The best way to get grow light efficiency from quality grow lights is to move them on Light Rail light movers. That can be a Light Rail 3.5 Kit, a Light Rail 4.0 Kit or a Light Rail 4.20 Kit. And, the grow light Ppfd comparison readings give us the easiest way to see how this works.
Light Rail light movers for no hot spots and perfect Ppfd
A stationary DE grow light at 1,000 watts at a distance of 20 inches gives us a damaging 1472 Ppfd under the grow light. But, at two and a half feet off center, we only have 122 Ppfd with that same stationary grow light. Conversely, if we move that same DE grow light on a Light Rail light mover, we see this. At 20 inches for distance and along the 5 foot run, we have 460-616-614-616-460. And, at 15 inches the readings are 700-800. It’s evened out grow light coverage with evened out Ppfd distribution and with no hot spot, no shadows.
But, for the poorly performing stationary grow light at 20 inches (double ended), the exact numbers are 122-602-1472-602-122 along the 5-foot length. So, what stationary growers do is they get that grow light higher to get the middle spaced reading down. And, that is why they have to have so many grow lights. They can only aim for a series of middle readings all over their grow room. It’s a shocking waste of potential and a shocking waste of resources.
Larger LED grow lights are the exception for the extreme Ppfd waste. But, even then, the dispersed light pattern of most larger LED grow lights diffuse the Ppfd numbers making plant light penetration a challenge. So, again, using Light Rail light movers helps to correct this for grow light efficiency.
Grow light efficiency, better yields and gap areas covered
The Light Rail light mover difference is we no longer have to think this way. We can now aim for grow light efficiency throughout. And, with this better grow light efficiency, we get a more even grow light output over distance traveled. That’s per grow light. That is the ultimate grow light efficiency and it means gaps are filled, shadow patterns are gone and efficient grow light penetration is taking place. And, we can cover up to 50% more linear area per grow light.
Just as importantly, because we are getting better, higher Ppfd indoor plant light to more plant surfaces, we also have much faster growth and better yields. And, that level of grow light efficiency counts, just as much. We can absolutely have it all. We can have grow light efficiency while, at the same time, we can expect much better results from our indoor grow room setup. Adding grow light movers to our indoor grow room setup gives us the ultimate advantage. Whether in a greenhouse or grow room, and whether for indoor farming or cannabis cultivation, LightRail light movers are the perfect solution. Better yields, fewer lights. LightRail light movers are rated the best grow light efficiency product on the market.
