MH Grow Light Fundamentals
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Metal Halide Lamps (MH) are also gas-discharge lamps and are quite similar to HPS lamps in most aspects. Where as the HPS lamps make use of mercury and sodium, MH lamps make use of a mixture of argon, mercury, and a variety of metal halides. The blend of the halides controls the color temperature and the output colors of the lamp. The internals are also similar to the HPS lamps with the solids residing in an arc tube through which current is passed.
The methods of operation are the same as an HPS lamp so they will not be repeated here. Please read the earlier posting about HPS lamps of you’re curious on the inner workings of the HPS bulb.
The two lamps do differ in several important aspects; efficiency, bulb life, and color rendition.
HPS lamps are approximately 50% more efficient than the MH lamps.
MH lamps have a life expectancy of 10,000 hours as compared to the 20,000+ for the HPS lamps. As they near the end of their own lives they will also exhibit the cycling behavior that HPS lamps do.
Finally, color rendition is much more accurate for the MH lamp. While HPS lamps tend to be in the orange and yellow range, the MH lamps can deliver very clean white light. This makes them not only suitable as plant grow lights, but many salt water aquarium owners tend to favor them over other types of lighting to provide artificial sunlight for their coral reefs.
Check back again about more information on grow lights online.
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