LEC & CMH grow lights offer considerable power savings versus HPS (high pressure sodium) and even LED grow lights. The main reason being is that the spectrum or light rendering color produced by high quality ceramic metal halide grow lights (Summit Lighting SUM315) is much closer to that of natural sunlight.
The take away here is that you get more light that your crop can use to grow, flower and fruit for every watt of power consumed by high quality CMH grow lights versus many other types of crop lighting.
Further, CMH & LEC grow lights provide light wavelengths plants get and use from natural light that simply aren’t delivered or in any significant quantity where HPS and LED growth lighting are used in grow rooms.
Natural Light Wavelengths
CMH grow lights deliver U.V. (ultra violet) light wavelengths that plants get from the sun. These are UVA, UVB and UVC. UV lighting for plant growth occurs in low levels, but it doesn’t take much to promote higher crop quality.
Crop quality improvements observed by a variety of growers using CMH grow lights as a sole source of light for growth or when combined with other grow light sources often observe the following:
-higher production of essential oils
-firmer or “harder” fruits & flowers
-less prevalence of plant insects or diseases
-squatter, tighter growth patterns
-higher yields and overall quality
Where’s the Power Savings?
It’s simple!
Because the light produced by CMH grow lights is of very high quality for plant growth, you need less intensity to achieve the same or better results. In the world of artificial lighting, less intensity typically equates to using lower wattages for the same results; exactly the case with CMH grow lights.
For example, a 315 watt high quality CMH grow light like an Summit Lighting SUM315 CMH grow light covers an area of three feet by three feet to four feet by four feet. Normally, growers might use anywhere from 600 to 1000 watts of other types of grow lighting like HPS or LED to cover the same area with the same or similar target yields.
Further Power Savings
Besides saving near 50% in electrical consumption on lighting for crop growth alone, 315 watt CMH grow lights will dramatically reduce the amount of heat that is generated in your grow room, greenhouse or grow tent that needs to be removed in order to prevent overheating of crops.
Cooling costs can be significant, both from an equipment and electrical consumption perspective. Needing half the cooling power can make a really big difference, especially where ACs (air conditioning) are utilized.
Run Cooler, Grow More
If you are able to maintain relatively cooler environmental temperatures, for example 75 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit, instead of 85F or greater, most crop varieties and strains will perform better. Plants that are stressed by hot dry air are highly prone to insects like spider mites and foliar diseases like powdery mildew. By operating CMH grow lights of lower wattages, the growing environment is much easier to keep cooler while using less power and equipment to do so.
Our goal at Summit Lighting, Inc is to continue to bring the most innovative products to market that allow the professional agriculture community to produce higher yields while consuming less energy and using fewer nutrients and additives.
We do this by constantly trying to create an environment that is closest to what the sun produces naturally. This approach reduces the amount of stress placed on the plants and allows them a chance to grow as natural as possible in an artificial environment.