PAR ratings. how do CFL's stack up to HPSV/(HID) in ratio?

[Skaphetti]

i have been on youtube and all over forums and google and just about everywhere i could find. the research has been mostly done.
here's my standing question (in a few parts):
1) what is the PAR rating of a 300w Feliz 2700K flowering stage cfl?
2) do smaller supplementals (let's say 5600K 42w cfl in a 8" trumpet reflector) have the same to-scale PAR rating that larger ones do.
i know that lumens are the calculation of what the human eye sees and processes, which is as irrelevant as our color spectrum is to a dog.
so if no one is measuring these "grow" lamps to see how well plants actually grow under them, then how do i even know where to start buying?
i have already made my purchase as my research could only lead me far enough to make a leap of faith decision. many people i know do well with head stash closet home grows with a slightly smaller cfl then what i have, so i look forward to seeing my end results at the current location i'm growing in. if anyone knows more, please share.

as a side note, i am working with less than 5ft square and can only put in an outtake (with charcoal filter) and circulating wall fans (one 4" desktop fan attached by a wall hook) to control my environment. this is the main reason i won't mess with a HPS in this space. i'm also vertically unlimited but am going with a SoG since my space and veg time are as short as rabbit poops.

 

[sedate]

300w Feliz 2700K flowering stage cfl?

Those are crap.

as a side note, i am working with less than 5ft square and can only put in an outtake (with charcoal filter) and circulating wall fans

CFL's are fine for vegging clones and smaller plants but they really don't have the punch to grow buds.

And the big CFL's are pretty pricey anyway -

Why don't you try a 150w HPS - get a easy 4oz off something like that - probably be cooler than that CFL you want and certainly grow wayyy more wayyy faster with wayyy better quality.

 

[Skaphetti]

i happen to have watched someone go through with one of those. heat is still higher than my cfl, and the lumens are about the same (not that that actually means dick to a plant). i'm scroggin an LA variation from a buddies collection and expect no less than 6oz. (1/3 - 1/2 gpw) maybe you havent used cfl before all the way through?
also. this didn't answer a single part of my issue, although i do appreciate the input my good sir lol.

so thanks for the comment and does anyone happen to have a PAR tester or know where i can get one? haven't done any research for that, and people with experience know where to get good stuff for cheap faster than i can dig through google and cannabis related forums to find it.
just still SUPER curious to see a side by side par rating like monstergarden does on youtube with lumitek vs micromole and many others with many wattages, but only hps. i know everything about how all the lights work and whats the best for everything, but that still doesnt tell me the facts and number differences so i can dial shit in with what i have. going by lumens and wattage per square foot is becoming obsolete as technology advances, just tryin to keep up with the times. :)

 

[Badmf]

If you want better PAR get LEDs

 

[Skaphetti]

numbers is all i'm looking for. these are all opinions so far. please, does anyone have a light meter?

 

[LexLuthor]

The PAR value is a rating for the amount of usable light that a bulb can emit. Sorry, I don't know the exact numbers you are asking, but if a 300w CFL has a Kelvin temp of 2700 and a 600w HPS has the same Kelvin temp, then I think they are emitting the same wavelengths of light, but the higher wattage and more intense HPS would be better because it emits more of the usable light. I don't know this to be fact, but thats my guess, I even checked Google for PAR values and I couldn't find any exact numbers for a 300w CFL.

 

[sedate]

numbers is all i'm looking for. these are all opinions so far. please, does anyone have a light meter?

A couple of points Skaphetti:

1) No one has the information you are looking for - do you think PAR is some sort of rated number you can find on the box?

Numbers is all your looking for? Do you understand that PAR is valued at micro-mols/square meters/seconds?

I understand you are trying to be clever - lumens for humans PAR for plants and all that - but this isn't a measurement that is valid for a lightbulb. Look at the lumen rating at a given color temperature - this will provide you with the information you need to compare bulbs.

This statement:

i know that lumens are the calculation of what the human eye sees and processes, which is as irrelevant as our color spectrum is to a dog.

is completely wrong. The lumen rating is useful in evaluating one bulb to the next - particularly as the lumen rating values visible light - and PAR is valued at 400 - 700nm - smack fucking dab in the middle of the human-visible spectrum.

If you are so dead set on over-thinking your bulb's rating - at least get around to googling "photosynthesis" and "photosynthetic spectrum"

2) A light meter is - again - not going to provide a PAR value. Light meters measure foot-candles - not the precise quantity of light between 400 and 700nm in wavelength over a given period of time.

For someone to have a 'light meter' like you are talking about is really a light spectrometer and to have it function at the intensity you are talking about is really a piece of equipment that one would find in a college laboratory - with the attendant several thousand dollar price tag - not a grow room. Never mind one would still need a fair decent bit of algebra to convert the readings into a PAR value.

3) Whatever grows you think you've watched throw off headstashes with a CFL or two - these are simply not quality grow bulbs. Sure they work okay - but they take forever and the quality is pretty middling at best. This is not an opinion either - this is an absolute statement of comparison between two different methods of growing that I personally have extensive experience with.

As a general rule you can figure watt-for-watt, a CFL will produce about 1/2 to 1/3 the light that a HPS would produce with the same input power.

 

[Skaphetti]

take forever? i get the same flowering time from start to peak with cfl as hps or outdoor sunlight, as long as i use the same stablized strain. and yes, they have quantum meters to measure an average (therefore giving one estimated number that i'm looking for) to measure how many micromoles or the PAR rating of a light. it's not an instant read, and i referenced the monstergrow.com youtube videos to show examples of such tests. and i realize that cfl's are sub par to hps but i dont have the area for that heat in this season. thanks for not being a nice guy about it either. and you obviously didn't understand my dog/color spectrum metaphor either. it's ok.

 

[sedate]

i get the same flowering time from start to peak with cfl as hps or outdoor sunlight, as long as i use the same stablized strain

You are seriously suggesting that CFL's flower as fast as HPS bulbs or - sunlight?!

and you obviously didn't understand my dog/color spectrum metaphor either

No I understand it - it is just completely wrong and inapplicable - for reasons explained in my above post.

thanks for not being a nice guy about it either

Oh whatever like you are totally here to make friends.

Look - if you are going to run a 300w CFL - then just get the thing and stop dithering on the board about it. Why do you want to know the PAR rating of something you know works and you are dead set on buying and using anyway?

If you are competent I think a bulb like that could produce a good 3 or 4 oz's in 10 weeks or so - given the right strain a good big trumpet reflector.

I also think that 150w HPS would produce about the same amount of heat and produce 4 or 5 oz's in 8 weeks and cost you a bit less money up front. But I will totally stop trying now.