Reflective walls

[GreenGuitar]

A mate of mine assures me that brilliant white emultion paint is just as effective as foil for reflecting light. I've tryed both in my room. I'm using white at present and this has had no negative effects on yeild or quality. It's much easier and cheaper to paint walls white, rather than pissing about with foil.

[Garden Knowm]

ditto!!!

[duppy man]

white matt emulation paint works just as good as anything else..

[notanovice]

there`s only one thing better than flat white paint to reflect light, and that`s mylar. foil isnt a good choice for reflection.

[altwnyguy73]

heard that you get 90% light reflexion if you use roofing paint...15 buck, but mylars the way to go:
Mylar reflects about 94% of the light.
One of the best materials on the market for light proofing.

Mylar is a product that serves many purposes. The insulation industry developed this product to withstand severe temperatures. It acts as a moisture barrier as well as a reflector. The United States Navy uses Mylar aboard all of its Freight ships, Cruisers, and Destroyers.

Mylar comes in several different types:
# White

# Black

# Metalized

# Aluminized

# Dimpled Metalized is available also.

# Threaded Aluminized (reinforced)


What we OGer's are interested in is the obvious, we want to wrap our grow space, large or small, with the best reflective material available. Aluminized or Metalized Mylar.

[duppy man]

there`s only one thing better than flat white paint to reflect light, and that`s mylar. foil isnt a good choice for reflection.

here is the light reflective properties of

foylon......94...95%
mylar.......90...94 %
matt white....85....93%
gloss white....75....80%
foil...............70....75%

[JoeCanadian]

foil is some of the most bunk material to use as a light reflecter someting like only 70 to 80 % light is reflected and causes bright spots. Flat wight paint give back about 85 to 93 % of your light. and its cheap too

[del...]

yeah, lose the foil but save it for baking potatoes...

i've tried the mylar (thicker version) and found it hard to work with and a real pain to keep clean. flat white paint has been my choice for years. i also have roof paint but what'll ya do when it's time to repaint...or move? it would be excellent on a false wall tho...

[Zandor]

Well lets think about this a second. I use only Mylar 2 mil my self and hereâ??s why.

One standard HPS bulb puts out 140,000 Lumens. If White paint reflects 86% light you only end up with 120,400 lumens reflected. Sidelight is as important as top light but all to much people forget it all together. You lose 19,600 lumens that is absorbed by the paint.

With Mylar you reflect back 98% of the light that hits it. So the same 140,000 lumens HPS light as before you only lose 2800 lumens so you get 137,200 lumens reflecting back. Thatâ??s like adding a 150w HPS light for free. If you have more lights like I do then it ads up even more. With 6 1000 watt HPS light and Mylar you get another 100,800 lumens of light just for using Mylar. Thatâ??s like the 7th light of 1000 watts is free.

Thatâ??s why you should use Mylar Itâ??s all in the math.

[Atom Bong]

zandor...you are my pot idol. you know everything. like some kind of machine. :-O

[del...]

damn near anything beats a light-eater like foil. lose that stuff asap and go with flat white paint or mylar. if you want to get fancy use white, aluminum reflective paint for a roof. foil is the worst...

[Atom Bong]

would you atleast agree with me that foil is better than nothing until you get something?

[Zandor]

Noâ?¦..I would not want to take the chance of hot spots my self.

[Zero Revolt]

I do belive a can of flat white spray paint for 99 cents reflects between 97% to 99% of the light back onto the plants and lasts for about 2 years. Shit you can't get much cheaper than that. Foil is the worst thing you could use as it only reflects 60% of the light back onto the plants and causes a magnifying glass effect onto the plants causing burn holes in the coumpound leaves. If you living in the fucking ghetto and have no choice but to use foil use the dull side atleast.

[Zandor]

I do belive a can of flat white spray paint for 99 cents reflects between 97% to 99% of the light back onto the plants and lasts for about 2 years.That's not correct White paint reflects 86% + or - a few % either way not the 97% to 99% you are suggesting. The properties of paint absorbs more light then that.

[OR Freebird]

I use Panda plastic, black on one side, white on the other ... and throw in a little Mylar for extra reflectivity at the lower levels. Plastic cleans easily and resists mold and mildew. Seems to be working okay.

[Zero Revolt]

Listen to Zandor because he knows a bit more than I do. But keep in mind I'm not an idiot myself. He's just a math whiz. God I fucking hate math. :confused:

[AngryJohnny]

how boot this?

5/16" thick, seven layer, reflective insulation
Two outer layers of aluminum foil reflect 97% of radiant heat. Each layer of foil is bonded to a tough layer of polyethylene for strength
Two inner layers of insulating bubble pack resist conductive heat flow while a center layer of polyethylene gives Reflectix® high reliability and strength

[HARDDON]

Angry Johnny,

Sounds great if you are looking for insulation or radient heat barrier for the attic.

[snow owl]

I use reflectix for my ceilings only as to not sweat the neighbors out upstairs. Don't need that suspicion. For walls I use Duraflect which I think is a brand of foylon. Better than white paint, slightly inferior to mylar, but easy to clean.

[Zandor]

The Reflectix stuff is fine. I know several KBS growers who use them to wrap around their buckets. I think Wal-mart sells something called Space Blankets. They are made from mylar and will work also.

[austinmc]

but how evenly will Reflectix actually reflect the light?

[Ziggy Stardust]

Zandor - if you would sir please define defussion and how does it relate to scattering and if mylar is more mirror like than foylon why is mylar more desireable?
thank you

[altwnyguy73]

flat white paint does the job for those on a budget, or just starting out.... mylar, foilon, etc. are VERY expensive

[BlakeCarrington]

Zandor is the grow god

[Garden Knowm]

visqueen is better than paint.. and actually.. because mylar can/does get so damn filthy..

there is an argument that visqueen is the best refelctive product available...

[oldsanclem]

When you flat white :dance:
You can cover the walls , beams, buckets, floor, boxes:dance:
You can clean it and sanitize it:dance:
Mylar get stains on it from misting , dust on it.:confused:
Mylar causes a vapor between the space between it an the walls , good for bugs and mold.:confused:
If you chasing every % than go with a parabolic reflector,,, adjusted,,,for the heigh of the plants. d:dance:
If you think it has a dead spot in the middle , use white paper and a good light meter,,, lots of luck finding it. :thumbsup:
Snell book of optics is a good place to start.:thumbsup:
To see how good or bad a reflector is just use a photo program and darken the picture to see hot spots and dead spots. box and batwing are good for parking lighting, but not good for a short distance like a grow room.
Watts has the power , so make everyone of the damn things work.
gwm grams/watts/month is the bottom line, OHMS, Ohms, Ohms I feel the power of the pot.:) :eek:

[LIP]

A mate of mine assures me that brilliant white emultion paint is just as effective as foil for reflecting light. I've tryed both in my room. I'm using white at present and this has had no negative effects on yeild or quality. It's much easier and cheaper to paint walls white, rather than pissing about with foil.

Foil absorbs light, white paint is the best apart from mylar to cover walls with. White pain will be fine :0

[the image reaper]

has anyone noticed almost every post here, said the same thing ?? .. Mylar best, flat white paint next best, foil Bad ... maybe one more time, just for memory retention .... Mylar #1, flat white paint #2 ... foil #10,000 ... :D

[ToKnoIsToGro]

are those space blankets made from mylar or do they by contrast contain some mylar?

[the image reaper]

I've used those cheap 'space blankets' from walMart and kmart. the ones I used were sheets of Mylar, maybe 4'x6' ... work fine, :smokin:

[ToKnoIsToGro]

i c. so do then those too reflect 98% of light?

[turtle420]

gwm grams/watts/month is the bottom line
Yeeeesssss....