Grow facility lights

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romex jockey

Senior Member
Location
Vermont
Occupation
electrician
I've been asked to spec a grow room out, never done it, have no idea

I found these googling ;grow room lighting'>>>



Is that what folks use?

~RJ~
 
The big ones i have done, HPS is still king. Usually it's a 1kw HPS per 5x5 to 6x6 area. This obviously gets up there quick, how big is this? May want to use 277 with MWBC's. Nanolux gavita, and dimlux are the ones I have experience with

I am sure LEDs will take over at some point, not sure when.
 

AC\DC

Senior Member
Location
Florence,Oregon,Lane
Occupation
EC

romex jockey

Senior Member
Location
Vermont
Occupation
electrician
My father, and I, currently have a indoor teir 1 grow in Oregon. We use 1k HPS in air cooled hoods. Though we are moving to LED now. Here are the ones we switched to. https://growershouse.com/growers-choice-tsl-led-roi-e680-horticulture-lighting-fixture-680w#!
They are very nice lights. We run them at 40% to 60% for veg. Power bill went down dramatically. They will pay for them self’s in 4 years. Also makes solar a viable option.


The overall color temperature of FSM's full spectrum is controlled at 3000-3300K, which increases the radiant energy of red light at 660nm wavelength in white light.


Do grow facilities opt for a certain spectrum?

~RJ~
 

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
The overall color temperature of FSM's full spectrum is controlled at 3000-3300K, which increases the radiant energy of red light at 660nm wavelength in white light.


Do grow facilities opt for a certain spectrum?

~RJ~

yeah, they do. i believe they also shift the frequency of the light to control flowering, iirc.

i have a light meter i use for lighting certs that has a target market for growers.
it does a full spectrum analysis, with apps for video and film production, and growing as well.

 

AC\DC

Senior Member
Location
Florence,Oregon,Lane
Occupation
EC
Yes, basically blues for vegging. Reds for flowering. It’s not quite that simple I’ll find some research papers and post them. It’s my kids birthday so might be a while
Just FYI, Lights only make up a fraction of what it takes to make a quality plant. Your medium, and what you feed them are just as vital, if not more.

A lot of people who never have grown anything, are getting into this game. It’s not as easy as they think.

Sorry if I went off topic a little
 

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
Yes, basically blues for vegging. Reds for flowering. It’s not quite that simple I’ll find some research papers and post them. It’s my kids birthday so might be a while
Just FYI, Lights only make up a fraction of what it takes to make a quality plant. Your medium, and what you feed them are just as vital, if not more.

A lot of people who never have grown anything, are getting into this game. It’s not as easy as they think.

Sorry if I went off topic a little

well, farming has always been a risky business.
now, you have to bring your own sun.
and security guards.

a machine shop i wired up in adelanto, calif. in the late 1980's
has been reconverted to a 30k sq. ft. grow house. it's saving
grace was he put in 2000 amps of 480 when he built it.
he didn't need that for what he was running, but it sure came
in handy to lease the building out with later.

i drove by it about a year ago. looks boarded up and abandoned,
except for some large 4x8 plywood signs that say KEEP OUT
spray painted, and two renta cops outside.
 

tortuga

Code Historian
Location
Oregon
Occupation
Electrical Design
I have worked on the design/build of commercial flower and tomato greenhouses and 'hothouses' and now that its legal this.
LED just is not there yet perhaps in 2021. I dont spec lights but they are typically 1000W-1200W HPS of some sort. Gavita is a good manufacturer we have dealt with.
Remember you have to go with the input VA of the ballasts 220.18(B) which can be significantly more than 1k and its a continuous load 210.19(A)(1).
All of the horticultural lights are typically hung in a cord and plug 'greenhouse style' directly below the receptacles, Take a close look at 210.21(B)(3) and 410.62(C).
UL 1029 and 410.62(C) don't play nice, you might end up with all 20A 240V circuits with 3 lights per ckt, you can theoretically use 30A circuits with four 1k lights per ckt and 15Aor 20A twistlocks per 410.62(C).

*Note the 2020 code is requiring GFCI for horticultural lighting (410.184)*.

If your looking at 3ph or over 112.5 kva of load I have learned to avoid 208 and 277 like the plague 208 just does not have enough punch, 277 the equipment and 70E requirements will price you out.
I do a 240V delta with 'straight' rated two pole breakers, or a 400/230 'euro star' (now used by 89% of the world). The advantage of the delta is you get some 120V and its 'in' the NEC 220.5. The 230V euro star or (415/240) has the advantage of single pole switching and GE at least makes affordable breakers, however 400/230 is non-NEMA (IEC standard) about as common as Plilly two phase so YMMV.
[All references now 2020 NEC]
Cheers
 
The one I did we brought in 1200 A 480Y/277. I used 20A MWBC's for the lights. With 277 you can squeeze in 4 lights per ckt or 12 per full boat. 277 lights are/were harder to find. They used dimlux which came with a factory twistlock. Another important thing to consider is control. The dimlux fixtures can be connected with a ethernet cable and a central controller will turn them all on and off so you dont have to deal with lighting contactors.
 

MrQF

New User
Location
Dallas
Occupation
Plumber
I have worked on the design/build of commercial flower and tomato greenhouses and 'hothouses' and now that its legal this.
LED just is not there yet perhaps in 2021. I dont spec lights but they are typically 1000W-1200W HPS of some sort. Gavita is a good manufacturer we have dealt with.
Remember you have to go with the input VA of the ballasts 220.18(B) which can be significantly more than 1k and its a continuous load 210.19(A)(1).
All of the horticultural lights are typically hung in a cord and plug 'greenhouse style' directly below the receptacles, Take a close look at 210.21(B)(3) and 410.62(C).
UL 1029 and 410.62(C) don't play nice, you might end up with all 20A 240V circuits with 3 lights per ckt, you can theoretically use 30A circuits with four 1k lights per ckt and 15Aor 20A twistlocks per 410.62(C).

*Note the 2020 code is requiring GFCI for horticultural lighting (410.184)*.

If your looking at 3ph or over 112.5 kva of load I have learned to avoid 208 and 277 like the plague 208 just does not have enough punch, 277 the equipment and 70E requirements will price you out.
I do a 240V delta with 'straight' rated two pole breakers, or a 400/230 'euro star' (now used by 89% of the world). The advantage of the delta is you get some 120V and its 'in' the NEC 220.5. The 230V euro star or (415/240) has the advantage of single pole switching and GE at least makes affordable breakers, however 400/230 is non-NEMA (IEC standard) about as common as Plilly two phase so YMMV.
[All references now 2020 NEC]
Cheers
Thx for this info about input and load. I wasted my time for 3 weeks
Frank
 
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