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Sprout & Spectrum

AC Infinity IONBOARD S22

The highest efficacy we can attribute to a named diode, paired with a PPFD figure published without the one detail that would make it mean anything.

By Scooter M. — An enthusiast who's genuinely into this. I read the manuals, compile the published specs, and do the math. No lab coat.

Published · How we pick

A thin aluminum LED grow board above a row of potted houseplants

Photographs on this site are licensed stock and are illustrative of the fixture type. We do not own the units we write about.

How this page is funded: the buy links here are Amazon Associates links, and we earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. We have not been paid to feature anything on this page, we accept no free product, and commission plays no part in the ranking. Full disclosure.

We have not tested these units. Everything below comes from the manufacturer’s own published specifications, or from arithmetic we have shown our working for. Where a figure is not published, we say so instead of estimating one. Read the method.

The reasoning

We have not tested this board. What AC Infinity publishes is more specific than most of this category — a named diode, a step-dimming spec, a thickness — and it also contains the single clearest example on this site of a number that looks informative and is not.

The good part: 2.7 µmol/J on a named diode

AC Infinity publishes 115 W, 2.7 µmol/J, 272 diodes, and Samsung LM301H as the white emitter with 660 nm and 730 nm reds and 3000 K / 6500 K whites. Naming the diode matters: it is a checkable claim about a component with published characteristics, rather than an unattributable assertion about a finished product.

Photon output implied by the two published figures

115 W × 2.7 µmol/J = 310.5 µmol/s.

AC Infinity does not publish PPF directly, so that is our arithmetic on their numbers rather than their measurement — and we label it as such everywhere it appears on this site.

For context, that sits between the Spider Farmer SF1000’s published 249.21 and the Mars Hydro TS 1000’s published 343.

The bad part: “1098 PPFD”

AC Infinity publishes a PPFD figure of 1098 with no measurement distance attached. Photon density falls with roughly the square of distance, so a reading at 4 inches and a reading at 24 inches would differ by a factor of about 36. Without the distance, 1098 cannot be compared to another fixture, cannot be used to place this one, and cannot be checked against anything.

Sanity-checking 1098 against the fixture's own output

Its derived output is about 310.5 µmol/s. For an average of 1098 µmol/m²/s you would need to concentrate all of it into 310.5 ÷ 1098 = 0.283 m², which is 3.0 sq ft — and that assumes perfect uniformity with nothing spilling outside.

Its stated coverage is 2 × 2 ft, which is 4 sq ft. So 1098 is not an area average over the stated footprint; it must be a peak reading at a close distance.

That is a perfectly legitimate thing to measure. It is not a legitimate thing to publish without saying where you measured it.

Distance published alongside AC Infinity's 1098 PPFD figure
None

Which makes the number unusable for placement or comparison. Our derived area average over its stated 2 × 2 ft footprint is about 668 µmol/m²/s at 0.8 uniformity.

Dimming that is actually specified

0 to 100% in 20% increments, which is a genuinely better specification than “dimmer knob.” With steps you can reproduce a setting; a knob position is a guess you make again every time you touch it. On a fixture that produces more light than most home shelves need, repeatable dimming is worth more than it sounds.

Form factor

At 30 × 30 cm and 1.1 cm thick, passively cooled, this is a board rather than a panel — designed to mount flat rather than hang. On a wire shelf that is the right shape, and it means no fan noise and no moving part to fail. It also means it needs air behind it, so pressing it flush to a solid wooden shelf works against the cooling it depends on.

Running cost

115 W at 14 hours is 48.3 kWh a month, about $8.86 at the US residential average — the highest monthly figure of the 100 W class here, because it is the largest draw. Per photon it is the cheapest, which is the point of buying on efficacy.

Who should buy it

  • Yes if efficiency is your criterion and you are running it long hours for months.
  • Yes if you are mounting flat under a shelf and want no fan.
  • No if you intend to place it by the published PPFD, because that figure cannot be used.

Its position in the efficiency field is in the µmol/J ranking.

The fixture in full

A thin aluminum LED grow board above a row of potted houseplants

AC Infinity IONBOARD S22

LED panel

The highest published efficacy of any fixture here at 2.7 umol/J, on Samsung LM301H diodes, with dimming in real 20% steps rather than a vague knob.

What AC Infinity publishes

Power draw
115 W (source)
Efficacy
2.7 umol/J (source)
PPFD
1098 PPFD (no measurement distance published) (source)
Stated coverage
2 x 2 ft (source)
Spectrum
Samsung LM301H, plus 660 nm, 730 nm, 3000 K, 6500 K (source)
Diodes
272 diodes (source)
Dimming
Yes, 0-100% in 20% increments (source)
Dimensions
30.0 x 30.0 cm board, 1.1 cm thick (source)
Rated life
50,000 hours (source)

Our arithmetic

  • Photon output implied by the published wattage and efficacy: about 311 umol/s
    115 W x 2.7 umol/J = 310.5 umol/s. AC Infinity does not print PPF directly, so this is our arithmetic from two figures it does print.

What AC Infinity does not publish

  • PPF in umol/s — only efficacy is given, so photon output has to be derived
  • The measurement distance for the 1098 PPFD figure, without which the number cannot be compared to anything

Who should skip it

Skip it if you want to place it by the numbers. AC Infinity prints 1098 PPFD with no measurement distance attached, which makes that figure impossible to use or compare.

Questions people actually ask

+What is the IONBOARD S22's actual photon output?
AC Infinity does not publish PPF. Multiplying its published 115 W by its published 2.7 µmol/J gives about 310.5 µmol/s, which is our arithmetic on their figures rather than a measurement they published.
+What does AC Infinity's 1098 PPFD figure mean?
On its own, very little, because no measurement distance is published alongside it. Photon density falls with roughly the square of distance, so the same fixture could honestly report wildly different PPFD numbers depending on where the sensor sat. Our own area average over its stated 2 × 2 ft footprint is about 668 µmol/m²/s at 0.8 uniformity.
+Is the IONBOARD S22 the most efficient grow light?
It publishes 2.7 µmol/J, second only to VIVOSUN's 2.75 among the fixtures we cover. The distinction is that AC Infinity names its diode and publishes a specific dimming spec, while VIVOSUN publishes no PPF to check its higher figure against.
+Does the IONBOARD S22 have a fan?
No. It is a passively cooled board 1.1 cm thick, which means silence and no moving part to fail, and which requires airflow behind it — do not mount it flush against a solid surface.

Sources

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Where this sits

This page belongs to Fixture Reviews and Roundups. Every figure on it is either quoted from a named published source or derived in view — the full method is on our methodology page, and how the site is funded is on the affiliate disclosure.