LED Grow Lights....

[Nanook]

My electric bill is absolutely mental. I am considering trying a couple LED grow lights but in honesty, theres so much out there I am bamboozled!
Opinions on them - best types etc. I am looking to replace 2x1000w 400v on 825w each.

[The Aspie Toker]

Hi mate,

Watt for watt, a HID will out perform a LED light.

The really decent LEDs cost two arms and a leg. Don't believe the hype LED sellers give about how much watts the light is listed at, or what HID it is compared with.

If I were you, I'd use the same light as you're using now, but just one and not both. You'll grow less, but so will your bill.

[Nanook]

Say price isnt an issue.... which ones are good? I see a few diaries in here with some LED's that look pretty good - I tried before and failed misserably ( £750 down the tube ) with a 1200w Vipar but that was a long long time ago tbf.

[The Aspie Toker]

COBs are good, but I've only used mine for a couple of grows. I mainly stick to my Mars II 400w (real draw 180-200w) as it is slightly quieter than the COB.

There are some high-end LEDs. I cannot remember the name/type as they are well out of my price range. Someone else maybe able to help on that.

Even if you reduced your wattage, the HID would still outperform the LED (watt for watt)

[Nanook]

Even if you reduced your wattage, the HID would still outperform the LED (watt for watt)

really? thats disappointing :( sorry I thought you meant the marketed ones at 600w but draw 250 not real draw to real draw - whats the point in them then?

[The Aspie Toker]

Even if you reduced your wattage, the HID would still outperform the LED (watt for watt)

really? thats disappointing :( sorry I thought you meant the marketed ones at 600w but draw 250 not real draw to real draw - whats the point in them then?

Take the Mars II 400w for example.

It actually draws 180w to 200w.

According to Mars....

"The Mars II 400 effectively replaces a 250 watt HPS while consuming 162 watts of actual power. Perfect for a 2.5ft×2.5ft growing area. Seriously no led light that draws 150 watts is going to replace a 1000W HPS. "

That is bollocks. For starters, they mentioned just prior to that...
"Wattage: 200W "

Also, if it "effectively replaces a 250 watt HPS" then I'd like to see the results of these claims.

True, LED has better penetration than a CFL, but they don't have better penetration than a HID. So they are saying that 200w LED will out perform a 250w HID.

All LED sellers are like that. I just used them as an example. They may well use 5w LEDs, but they are "toned down" to around half that. (Think of a Bugatti Veyron, but the engine is restricted to 100mph)

[Keeno]

In my opinion the cobs are the way forward. They are the closest ive seen to HID. I will be going over to cobs full time when i can afford a custom build. If you dont fancy building one the prakasa are spot on, not ridiculous money either, £1 per actual watt. They run as stated. You may find a deal on ebay, i got a 300w one for £190. Bulls recently pulled 7oz under the 200w version in a 60x60cm tent, and i know he coulda done better if he really wanted to. Buster is your man when it comes to custom builds, he has a 500w, i think it set him back about £600, although he will have to clarify on that.

As far as other types of LED go, the vipars while good lights for the money are not up to the cob`s, standard boards like mars ones are outdated. Top end LED like budmaster claim great things for low wattage, they may well be true, but if spending that sort of money then a custom build will get you more for your money.

The beauty of a custom build is you can space your cobs to your growing area, getting maximum coverage from your wattage. I looked in detail at LED lights, top end to cheap as chips, they all shared a common flaw, the coverage dropped off massively the further you got away from your light. Something like busters is very efficient, he is getting the maximum umol to all of his grow area and he has full control.

Busters cob is dimmable too, i cant recall the exact figures but when the thing is run at lower output the efficiency is mental. Ill send him a link to this thread.

[JasonBourne]

I will put it simple brother
600 w of light is still pulling 600w from the wall.
it ain't matter If it HPS, LED, CFL or the sun..it's still bloody 0.6 kw
you will not expect to harvest 900 grams of buds growing under LED 900w which is ACTUALLY pulling 450 true watts..it's all advertisement and conspiracy and fuckin bollox man..
1850 w of lights will cost u just under 80£ to run on 12/12 for 31 days if you pay 15p per KW.
Don't waste your money on leds if u can manage the heat of the hPs.
I have got 3 x 300 true watt cobs but they cost fortune and not getting better result than hps..

[Buster]

HPS if you're on a budget mate, a cheaper led panel still pumps heat out. Save some money if you want to go the LED/COB route. As Jason said, on LEDs they actually put the maximum the LED can be run at. If run at that sort of wattage it would blow very quickly. You want a true pull from the wall to get your figures from and even then I wouldn't trust what you told. Get a plug in wattage meter

[Thrasherdude]

I use 2x Spectrum King Closed Case 100 watt LED in a 120x60x180 cm tent and this works nice for me! The 'cheaper' leds I would recommended the Mars Hydro's altough I think the older versions are the better one's.

Ps: of you are a real led lover the spectrum kings are amazing also with light penetration ( I grow and flower in the same tent without highering the veg plants to equal hight). This is something I couldn't do with the Mars Hydro's. I am just claiming my own experience so it could work out differently for yourself.

The prices for the Spectrum Kings doensn't come cheap but the wattage is perfectly for micro indoor. Personally I don't need the 400-600 watt because it's like Aspie already mentioned that lower wattage = lower bill costs!


Hope to help you out mate!