Idea for light mover,what do you think?

Indi

Active member
Do light movers actually work?
Theory sounds good but can a moving 1000watt bulb match the yeild or get 70% of 2 1000watt bulbs can that are stationary?
If light movers do increase yield maybe using leds on timers instead of movers might increase yeild using half the current.
Strips are available now and let’s say you put 16 strips over an 8 by 4 and arrange them so 8 light up when one timer is on,the other light up when timer turns up.
There are Bluetooth timers now that can be programmed by cell phones or tablets.
I don’t think it would work using plug in the wall type timers because getting two timers in sync would be a real pain but cell phones are on internet time so syncing timers would be cake with Bluetooth timers.
Hopefully you can follow my thinking and if light movers do work I will try it using leds.
Leds light up instantly and it takes 30-40 minutes for them to get hot so room could be so much cooler.
When a led lights the heat gets transferred to heat sink and it takes heat sinks a while to heat up so I think alternating every other strip over a 4 by 8 might actually work.
Thoughts?
 
if your plants can use all the light from a 1kw efficiently, then there is no reason to move it, right?

a mover would allow you to have a larger plant surface area with the same amount of lighting.
the question is, how can you use that to your benefit?
when can your plants thrive under less than ideal illumination.
what is ideal illumination?

i think it could be more useful in veg than flowering, although your vegging plants could do even better if they were lit more...
if you could yeild 60% per plant of what you normally would under constant lighting, but can grow twice as many plants, then your yield would increase based off electricity, your yield would decrease based on yield/sq'
do you have more square footage to use and are tight on electricity to spare?

led equipment/watt is expensive, and you wouldnt necessarily want to shell out for twice as much as you have to compared to what you will be using at any given time, would you?
 
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If hps light movers work it might be worth considering but if they worked I think more companies and people would be using them.
I watched a video on a hps light mover and it’s probably more advertising hype.
 
So, I love light movers. they DO NOT INCREASE YEILD SIGNIFICANTLY. they make a grow light cover its "true" footprint by breaking up hotspots on the canopy and averaging out the PAR reading across the whole canopy. you will have prettier flowers and denser lowers as the light penetrates around more leaves, branches and flowers. you might, pull an extra 2-4 ounces per 1k hps because of the added density to the lowers, but chances are the lowers will be prettier, denser buds, and there will be less of them because you were able to prune them sooner because they grew in sooner.

They do not let you cover 30% more space. they let you cover 30% more space, in one direction. I know that sounds dumb, but if your light covers a 5x5 square in flower, you dont figure out 30% the square footage of the space., you figure out 30% of 5. and add that to 1 direction. making a 5 x 6'5 or so rectangle.

Yes less yield per square foot, but also less cost input per square foot, so it balances out.

For example. my hlg 650r covers a 5x5 foot square for flowering when stationary. on a light mover it will cover a 6'5 x 5 foot square rectangle. both spaces will yield the same. in the larger rectangle, I wont have to do as much work to keep my plants from entering the "zone of avoidance" as I call it, where a light will bleach out your flowers. I have more space for my plants to stretch, or space for 2 more small plants.

In veg, the 650r covers a 7x7 stationary. it covers a 7x 9'5 inch rectangle on a mover. the light mover helps the inner nodes and lowest lower branches grow faster, so you can prune them sooner, encouraging your branches to grow up or out faster.

I currently do not use light movers as I have to get the room harvested and have the time to put them up at the same time. also I do not have enough of them.

If you do not have a wider space, the light mover allows you to choose lights designed to penitrate the canopy better like the mars hydro SP6500 type high wattage, small space led bar boards, and get those to cover more than a 2.5 x 5. it could do a 3.75 foot by 5 foot space if I did my math right. its the same as w/ the really narrow hps fixtures. they are made to concentrate light down, the XXL style wide hoods are for covering as much space as the light physically can.
 
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