iPower 1000W Double Ended Grow Light System Kits VS SunStream 1000 Watt DE Double Ended HID Grow Light Kit

 If you are looking to start your indoor grow with HIDs, you are probably wondering what the best HPS grow lights of 2021 are!

Many new growers choose this lighting technology because it’s cheap, simple, and produces huge, dense blooms.

But, there are so many options out there, and they all more or less look the same. This can make the shopping process somewhat frustrating.

And for those who plan on using an MH bulb during veg, we will share a bulb you can use with each of these, so you can give your plants a full spectrum of lighting when they need each!

Which Type Of Grow Bulb Do I Need?

If you already know exactly which bulb(s) you need, you can skip this section and head straight to the reviews below.

If you’re not sure, there are basically 3 questions you need to answer:

Single-ended or double-ended?
HPS or MH?
Which wattage?
Let’s take them in order.

1. Single-ended or double-ended bulbs?
If you’re looking to only buy bulbs, chances are you already have a reflector. If that’s the case, get the type of bulb that fits in your reflector.

If you don’t have a reflector yet, I would actually recommend buying a kit that includes everything you need (reflector, ballast, bulbs, hangers, timer). Double-ended bulbs generally give you more output and they last longer. The main drawbacks are a higher cost (the bulbs are a little more expensive and the reflectors a lot more) and heat. DE bulbs generate more heat than single-ended ones.

My recommendation: if you’re just starting out, go with single-ended.

2. High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) or Metal Halide (MH)?
This one’s easy. Get both. Most kits will include one of each anyway.

The reason?

MH bulbs emit cooler light (i.e. light that contains a lot of blue), which is ideal for plant growth (vegging). But it is not suited for flowering and fruiting plants.

For the flowering stage, plants need a lot of red and orange light, which is exactly what HPS bulbs give you.

That’s why you get the best results if you use both bulbs: MH during the vegging stage and HPS during the flowering stage.

Naturally, if you are growing plants that do not flower, you do not need any HPS bulbs. Also, many growers like to veg plants in one room, while a different batch is flowering in another, so they can harvest twice as often. If you’re buying for a veg room, you obviously want just MH bulbs and if you’re buying for a flowering room, you only want HPS.

3. Which wattage?
We’re only going to focus on 400 watts, 600 watts,s and 1000 watts here. Anything else is too inefficient. The most efficient wattage of all is 600, followed by 1000 and then 400. For that reason, we generally recommend 600 watts, but it also depends on the size of your grow space.

In general, here is what the three wattages cover:

400 watts covers a 3 by 3-foot area
600 watts covers a 4 by 4-foot area
1000 watts covers a 5 by 5-foot area
Obviously, the type of reflector you use will have an effect on the coverage area, but that gives you a general idea.

iPower 1000W Double Ended Grow Light System Kits

Features:

The ipower Grow Light System Kit consists of a high frequency digital dimmable ballast 120V-240V designed specifically for double-ended grow lamps 1000W (HPS/MH), adjustable to 600/750/1000/1150W output. 3-Mode double-ended adjustable reflector VEGA98 aluminum layer of 98% reflection and excellent color rendering & outstanding high-quality VS lamp holder. Ultra-bright at 155,000 lumen CCT 2,050k, optimized red & blue spectrum encourages flowering growth. Provides 35% more available energy than the high standard pressure sodium lamp. This system will generate too much heat to be used in an enclosed area without ventilation. Adequate ventilation is required for all 1000w system

SunStream 1000 Watt DE Double Ended HID Grow Light Kit

Features:

This Sunstream complete fixture includes a built-in 120v/240v 1000w adjustable high-frequency ballast for running double-ended lamps. This ballast was designed with dimming features that could match different wattage lamps on the same ballast. When the grow HPS system is at a dangerous input or output voltage, the protection mechanism is activated, and the machine is automatically stopped to avoid damage to the machine or pose a threat to the human body. This DE fixture is certified by ETL. The production of each machine is subject to strict inspection standards, high-quality German materials, and superb manufacturing processes to ensure the durability and safety of the HPS system.

Can I use HPS for seedlings?

First, you might be wondering if you can actually use HPS lights for seedlings–especially given that HPS lights can produce a lot of heat.

The short answer is that, yes, with proper precautions, you can indeed use HPS lights for seedlings.

If you want to geek out a bit more, you can learn even more about how the different colors of light affect plants.

However, you’ll want to keep an eye on the seedlings so that the heat and intensity from the HPS lights don’t burn your seedlings.

This is especially crucial, given that some seedlings are fast-growing. For example, you might position your HPS lights 14 inches from your seedlings, only to find a few days later that the seedlings got burned as they grew too close to the lights.

Estimating Distance

Choosing the perfect distance for your seedlings is not always easy because there’s no one size fits all. However, here are some general tips for growing healthy and edible plants:

If you’re growing your plants without lenses on the surface, your lampshade should be 1 to 2 inches (2.54 to 5.08 cm) from the leaves. You want to make sure that the light is not too intense. Otherwise, your plants may burn as they grow toward the light.
If you’re growing your plants with lenses of the surface, you should put your light a little further away.

These are different HPS light bulbs for growing plants indoors:

250W. Many growers use these bulbs for smaller projects. These bulbs are cheap to set up and are easier to keep cool.
400W. These bulbs are the most common. Although these bulbs emit a lot of heat, they also provide more PAR light to your plants than a 250W light bulb.
600W. These bulbs are the most efficient because they don’t waste a lot of heat, and they can produce around 150 lumens per watt. In other words, these bulbs convert a massive amount of electricity into usable light.
1000W. These bulbs are the most powerful (and hottest). These bulbs have to be placed at least 5 feet above the plants.

Conclusion

There are many high-quality 1000W HPS grow lights on the market that will make your plants happy.

But even though HPS lamps can produce excellent results, LED grow lights have emerged to become more optimized for growing.

There are many great LEDs that will work for your plants and that can replace your high-maintenance HPS lamps forever.

Yet, if you have achieved great results under HPS lamps in the past and you want to replicate your success, you can choose one of the HPS lamps we recommended above.

Happy growing!