I was going to speculate on that but saved it. But now that you're on the subject :D
This is directed to the cannabis growing community and HPS growers. What seems to be important to cannabis/HPS growers? Lumens no? Isn't that why the whole 600w vs. 1000w issue is a big debate? Most claim the 600w is most efficient as it creates more "lumens" with less wattage. But yet we don't care about lumens right? Not directing this at you as I know you're a wise knowledgable individual. But just saying lol. Directed more so to the comment.
my thought is that people talk about lumens only because it's the most accessible information available . . . after wattage. the problem is that the lumens produced by a lamp doesn't tell us what is produced by the light
fixture, or how much light or what kind of light is getting to where we want/need it). it's kinda like telling us how much horsepower an engine produces. that doesn't tell us how fast the car will do a 1/4 mile in. the 1/4 mile time will depend on a lot more (torque, transmission, rear-end gearing, tires, etc.). the effectiveness of a light fixture for growing is a combination of a similar number of factors, the lumen output of the lamp is just the starting point.
unfortunately, the led growlight community has a large population of people in it that are ignorant of illumination engineering basics . . . . and they take advantage of the typical buyer who hasn't done their homework.
re: your comment
"Isn't that why the whole 600w vs. 1000w issue is a big debate? Most claim the 600w is most efficient as it creates more "lumens" with less wattage. But yet we don't care about lumens right?"
i didn't know this was a
big debate, but the fact is that 600w hid lamps are typically more efficient than 1,000w lamps at producing visible light. that means that lumens/watt is higher. it does not mean that "it creates more "lumens" with less wattage." a 1,000 watt lamp provides more lumens, it also uses more electricity, it just provides less lumens per watt used. so if you are running two rooms and each room has 6,000 watts of hps lighting, one room has six 1,000 lamps and the other room has ten 600 watt lamps . . . . the ten 600 watt lamps are actually producing more total visible light than the six 1000w lamp room. this isn't debatable, it's a fact.
if there's a debate, it might be about which of those two rooms are
better . . . . and of course this depends on your
criteria of better.
if better means more light, then it's the ten 600w lamps (other variables like fixture efficacy being equal). if better means lower initial cost, then it's the six 1000w lamps (buying six fixtures/ballasts rather than ten). if better means getting more of those lumens that are produced by the lamps onto the plants, then it's likely the ten 600w lamps hung vertically within the plant grouping. if better means showing off a larger phallic shaped lamp to your buddies, then it's the six 1000w lamps.
but my main point is that a properly designed lighting solution for a growing environment is not determined by the output of a lamp (which for flood lights is measured in lumens) . . . . but rather by acquiring and utilizing specific knowledge and established vocabulary accurately, and that is something that is oftentimes missing from the led marketplace.