Indoor Grow lights:Which Reflector is Best for HID Grow Light ?
Why Use Reflectors At All?
Reflectors are, along with the light-bulb and the ballast, one of the three main components of indoor lighting systems. They have the purpose to support the bulb-holder and reflect the light emitted by the bulb downwards the plants (in the most uniform possible way). It isn’t difficult to imagine that both the manufacturing materials and especially the design of the reflector will largely determine its quality and features.
The reflector is then responsible for directing the light emitted by the bulb toward the plants. The light reflection and distribution capacity of the reflector mainly depends on the shape and the material of which it’s made of. Most grow tents and growing spaces are square, so the shape of the reflector should distribute the light evenly in this space, avoiding illuminating one area of the crop more than another, which would create heat pockets.
What Makes One Reflector Better Than Another?
While there are many factors at play, the best way to measure your hydroponic light reflector is going to be its uniformity. Simply put, how good is your reflector at creating a light footprint that is evenly distributed?
The last thing you want your reflector to do is create a “hot spot” or pocket of light that is more intense than other areas in the garden. This is not good, because the hot spot will determine how far away you can place your lights from the surface of your plants.
Too hot and you may be forced to hang your light further than you’d like, reducing the overall light output to your plants.
One way to solve hot spot problems is to use the mottled or dimpled reflector surfaces we talked about above. These surfaces are built to diffuse light so the photos are approaching your plants from more angles than they would if you used a polished surface reflector. If you buy a reflector with a surface meant to diffuse light, be aware that they come in deep, medium, or wide varieties.
Benefits of a Hood/Reflector for Grow Lights
Why should you consider a hood/reflector to begin with? Here are some of the main reasons you should consider investing in one:
Light Efficiency
If you just use your hydroponic lighting to light your indoor plants, you’d “waste” lots of light. That’s because it would bounce more than a rubber ball off walls and ceilings. This makes you cannabis grow light less effective since less light gets to the plants.
It also causes higher energy bills. The longer you have to provide light for your plants, the higher your bills will be. This can be especially tough if you’re on a shoestring budget.
Keep in mind your bills will also be exponentially higher based on the number of plants you have. Each one will be affected by a bad lighting system.
Sufficient Light
A hood reflector not only makes sure your plants are getting light efficiently. It also helps to ensure they’re getting enough light. When there’s energy lost from an inefficient grow light system, this can affect how much light they’re actually getting.
One example is flowering plants. They need 12 to 16 hours/light daily. This is based on various factors. One is the type of plant you’re growing since some plants need more light while others need less.
Another factor is the efficiency of your grow lights. A hood/reflector can boost the light’s intensity and thus reduce how many hours of light they need. That provides several benefits including light that’s more intense, efficient, and affordable.
Wing Reflectors
One of the most popular grow light reflectors in the game are wings. Also known as “bat wing” reflectors, they’re known to help give a focused yet wide spread of light over your plants. Whether it’s a DIY wing you built or a professional double-ended wing, they’re used by first-time growers and pro’s alike.
The theory of how a wing works goes like this: when the light from your bulb shines it will hit multiple points of the wing and bounce back down on to your plants (and even a little further).Wings with a high arch give you a little more focus, whereas wings with less of an arch give you a widespread.
What makes them so appealing is their cost. Most are pretty cheap, and for the reflection, you get it’s a pretty good value. While they give you a good spread with decent focus, both spread and focus are slightly sacrificed with these types of reflectors. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you’re a beginning grower who’s not too sure what they want out of a grow light or you’re growing in a confined space- like a closet.
Pro’s: Very inexpensive, simple to install and use, good coverage for the price
Con’s: Limited lighting area, non-air cooled (not a huge deal, but know that exposing the bulb to your open environment will raise temperatures and humidity levels)
Best for: Beginners and Experienced Growers on a budget
These are also known as “parabolic” reflectors. They’re often used in greenhouses for supplemental lighting due to their ability to cover a wider area. This is one of the most popular types of reflectors on the market.
You have two main options. Horizontal reflectors include horizontal-mounted lamps, and the light/heat are directed down to the area under the reflector.
Then there are parabolic reflectors in which the lamp has a vertical mounting. This directs the heat away from your plants.
A big benefit of umbrella reflectors is the plants experience less heat stress when a big area is covered. Another plus is the soil remains fresher longer, and the chance of later nutrient imbalance is less likely.
When you use grow tents the light is reflected towards the plants instead of getting aimed at them. The results seem to be better than standard horizontal reflectors in terms of healthy plants and bigger yields.
Pro’s: Huge coverage area, lightweight and easy to use
Con’s: Low grow light intensity, physically large so you’ll need lots of room
Best for: Growers with lots of room and in need of a wide coverage area; Warehouse/large greenhouse growers that need a less-intense light to fill in gaps of coverage
Pro’s: They come in a variety of shapes and sizes for lots of needs
Con’s: They offer a limited coverage area directly down on to plants (not a lot of spread)
Best For: Beginner and Advanced growers in small spaces or large grows with supplemental lighting
Air Cooled Reflectors
Ah, everyone’s favorite reflectors: air cooled reflectors. They can lower the heat your bulbs give off, they’re pretty compact, and being hybrids of other reflectors they offer something for everyone.
Air cooled reflectors have two key features: a glass lens and air ducts. The glass helps a lot of the heat generated from your bulbs stay confined inside of that reflector. Air ducts let you connect high output fans to the reflector for you to move the air in the reflector out of the reflector. That helps reduce heat stress to your plants which allows you to hang your lights a little closer for more intense light on to your plants.
One of the great things about them is their versatility. Except for the umbrella, there’s an air-cooled version of any type of reflector you’d like. There are air cooled hoods for hood lovers, cool tubes have small wings to help spread light a little like wings do, cool tube hoods for growers who want the best of both worlds, and in loads of sizes.
There are no drawbacks to using an air-cooled reflector, especially if you’re already used to growing with the non-cooled version. The only thing is that they don’t usually through a big coverage area, so if you have lots of plants to grow you’ll want multiple lights
Pro’s: Keeps your bulbs cool and limits direct heat down on to your plants
Con’s: Their glass shells take lots of the heat from the bulbs, so they will need some distance between themselves and your canopy
Best for: Any type of grow room and any level grower!
Conclusion
There’s no question a hood reflector can make your grow light more efficient. It does this by making the light more focused so more hits the plant. Fewer rays bounce around and end up heating up the grow room. The key is to pick one that best suits the plants, lighting, and system you have.
While there are many factors at play, the best way to measure your hydroponic light reflector is going to be its uniformity. Simply put, how good is your reflector at creating a light footprint that is evenly distributed?
The last thing you want your reflector to do is create a “hot spot” or pocket of light that is more intense than other areas in the garden. This is not good, because the hot spot will determine how far away you can place your lights from the surface of your plants.
Too hot and you may be forced to hang your light further than you’d like, reducing the overall light output to your plants.
One way to solve hot spot problems is to use the mottled or dimpled reflector surfaces we talked about above. These surfaces are built to diffuse light so the photos are approaching your plants from more angles than they would if you used a polished surface reflector. If you buy a reflector with a surface meant to diffuse light, be aware that they come in deep, medium, or wide varieties.
Benefits of a Hood/Reflector for Grow Lights
Why should you consider a hood/reflector to begin with? Here are some of the main reasons you should consider investing in one:
Light Efficiency
If you just use your hydroponic lighting to light your indoor plants, you’d “waste” lots of light. That’s because it would bounce more than a rubber ball off walls and ceilings. This makes you cannabis grow light less effective since less light gets to the plants.
It also causes higher energy bills. The longer you have to provide light for your plants, the higher your bills will be. This can be especially tough if you’re on a shoestring budget.
Keep in mind your bills will also be exponentially higher based on the number of plants you have. Each one will be affected by a bad lighting system.
Sufficient Light
A hood reflector not only makes sure your plants are getting light efficiently. It also helps to ensure they’re getting enough light. When there’s energy lost from an inefficient grow light system, this can affect how much light they’re actually getting.
One example is flowering plants. They need 12 to 16 hours/light daily. This is based on various factors. One is the type of plant you’re growing since some plants need more light while others need less.
Another factor is the efficiency of your grow lights. A hood/reflector can boost the light’s intensity and thus reduce how many hours of light they need. That provides several benefits including light that’s more intense, efficient, and affordable.
Light-Reflectors for growing cannabis indoors
Wing Reflectors
One of the most popular grow light reflectors in the game are wings. Also known as “bat wing” reflectors, they’re known to help give a focused yet wide spread of light over your plants. Whether it’s a DIY wing you built or a professional double-ended wing, they’re used by first-time growers and pro’s alike.
The theory of how a wing works goes like this: when the light from your bulb shines it will hit multiple points of the wing and bounce back down on to your plants (and even a little further).Wings with a high arch give you a little more focus, whereas wings with less of an arch give you a widespread.
What makes them so appealing is their cost. Most are pretty cheap, and for the reflection, you get it’s a pretty good value. While they give you a good spread with decent focus, both spread and focus are slightly sacrificed with these types of reflectors. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you’re a beginning grower who’s not too sure what they want out of a grow light or you’re growing in a confined space- like a closet.
Pro’s: Very inexpensive, simple to install and use, good coverage for the price
Con’s: Limited lighting area, non-air cooled (not a huge deal, but know that exposing the bulb to your open environment will raise temperatures and humidity levels)
Best for: Beginners and Experienced Growers on a budget
These are also known as “parabolic” reflectors. They’re often used in greenhouses for supplemental lighting due to their ability to cover a wider area. This is one of the most popular types of reflectors on the market.
You have two main options. Horizontal reflectors include horizontal-mounted lamps, and the light/heat are directed down to the area under the reflector.
Then there are parabolic reflectors in which the lamp has a vertical mounting. This directs the heat away from your plants.
A big benefit of umbrella reflectors is the plants experience less heat stress when a big area is covered. Another plus is the soil remains fresher longer, and the chance of later nutrient imbalance is less likely.
When you use grow tents the light is reflected towards the plants instead of getting aimed at them. The results seem to be better than standard horizontal reflectors in terms of healthy plants and bigger yields.
Pro’s: Huge coverage area, lightweight and easy to use
Con’s: Low grow light intensity, physically large so you’ll need lots of room
Best for: Growers with lots of room and in need of a wide coverage area; Warehouse/large greenhouse growers that need a less-intense light to fill in gaps of coverage
While “hood” and “reflector” are used somewhat interchangeably, we’re talking here about the basic hood shape. You can use this type of fixture in gardens of any size. If you’re using it in a big space, you’ll also need to use extra light sources.
One of the main differences you’ll see when picking a hood is whether it’s open or closed. An open-ended hood includes wing reflectors. These are the most popular ones due to the focused light and low cost.
The main drawback is there’s no system to decrease heat. As a result, you can’t place the hood close to plants, which can affect their growth.
Then there are closed hoods. This provides more focused/uniform light than open-ended units. The problem is while these can be plusses, they must be lifted higher versus open-ended hoods. If there isn’t enough venting, the heat can become an issue when using high-wattage grow bulbs.
One of the main differences you’ll see when picking a hood is whether it’s open or closed. An open-ended hood includes wing reflectors. These are the most popular ones due to the focused light and low cost.
The main drawback is there’s no system to decrease heat. As a result, you can’t place the hood close to plants, which can affect their growth.
Then there are closed hoods. This provides more focused/uniform light than open-ended units. The problem is while these can be plusses, they must be lifted higher versus open-ended hoods. If there isn’t enough venting, the heat can become an issue when using high-wattage grow bulbs.
Pro’s: They come in a variety of shapes and sizes for lots of needs
Con’s: They offer a limited coverage area directly down on to plants (not a lot of spread)
Best For: Beginner and Advanced growers in small spaces or large grows with supplemental lighting
Ah, everyone’s favorite reflectors: air cooled reflectors. They can lower the heat your bulbs give off, they’re pretty compact, and being hybrids of other reflectors they offer something for everyone.
Air cooled reflectors have two key features: a glass lens and air ducts. The glass helps a lot of the heat generated from your bulbs stay confined inside of that reflector. Air ducts let you connect high output fans to the reflector for you to move the air in the reflector out of the reflector. That helps reduce heat stress to your plants which allows you to hang your lights a little closer for more intense light on to your plants.
One of the great things about them is their versatility. Except for the umbrella, there’s an air-cooled version of any type of reflector you’d like. There are air cooled hoods for hood lovers, cool tubes have small wings to help spread light a little like wings do, cool tube hoods for growers who want the best of both worlds, and in loads of sizes.
There are no drawbacks to using an air-cooled reflector, especially if you’re already used to growing with the non-cooled version. The only thing is that they don’t usually through a big coverage area, so if you have lots of plants to grow you’ll want multiple lights
Pro’s: Keeps your bulbs cool and limits direct heat down on to your plants
Con’s: Their glass shells take lots of the heat from the bulbs, so they will need some distance between themselves and your canopy
Best for: Any type of grow room and any level grower!
Conclusion
There’s no question a hood reflector can make your grow light more efficient. It does this by making the light more focused so more hits the plant. Fewer rays bounce around and end up heating up the grow room. The key is to pick one that best suits the plants, lighting, and system you have.
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