Not all of us can afford to do things right from the start. We learn and we buy when we can. That's why I have 600 w lights and you probably have 1000s!
break a sweat.
It has nothing to do with money my friend. If you look at the stainless steel project
@Wavegem has going on, you will see he has a great example of how to properly insulate on the cheap. Just take some of that time you surf the web and just take a moment to look up insulation materials and how to apply them. The few bucks you spend now will save you hundreds on your power bill down the road as well as not strain your equipment so hard.
As far as comparing lights, that is not a metric that makes one persons setup better than the next. The equipment I have is from a slow evolution of trial and error. Mostly error because I believed in the marketing hype. When I got into this, it was right on the cusp of the new generation of digital ballasts breaking on the scene challenging the old magnetic ones. Then right behind that was the new DE tech that changed everything in my game. I was just fortunate that I was able to sell off my older equipment and recoup the money I invested to get new gear. There is nothing wrong with 600's bro. I have to start my cycles with the lamps dimmed down and then gradually raise the wattage in stages so that only the last 3 weeks or so do they get full power. And with these fixtures becoming more affordable, I am thinking about getting a couple of the 650 Flex
Gavita units to see if they can indeed match or beat a 1k SE unit. I budget myself for this just like I do with any other hobby I have so it isn't like I have a swimming pool filled with money (just the hot tub) :) My garden is for my personal enjoyment and I don't sell or give anything away. I like it that way.
