backwood grower
Member
People have to start somewhere right??I have a hard time trusting claim about LEDs when someone has less than 20 post
**ULTIMATE LED TEST** *GLH Spectra 290* VS *Blackstar 500* VS *Hydro Grow LED 336X*
- Thread starter WeJuana
- Start date
I'm doing a comparison grow now about to compare 4 diff led. I'll be starting a thread soon. to answer all this I think the LEDs I have are some top contenders to knock out mh n hps. Well see though
Ya I saw your earlier post. What is the solar storm thing you mentioned? What company made this white led you're talking about?
I have a hard time trusting claim about LEDs when someone has less than 20 post
Edit: One post closer to being taken seriously!
backwood grower
Member
see the one problem i have so far with LED is this, the only LED that can put out a manufactures claim of 1000Watts of light has a few issues that I can see,
1: it cost 3000$ !!!!! http://stealthgrow.com/products.htm#SG1250
2: it still pulls 600Watts
So at these numbers with some basic math heres what I come up with (these numbers are based on 12/12 light cycle for constant year round grows)
Numbers for HID system come from
https://cheaphydroponics.com
Based on the Below Chart It would Take 11 years to make up the cost difference of the HID system, Actually if you replaced your bulb in the HID system every 3 cycles it would actually take about 5 years, but still its 5 years worth of grows to cover the cost of ONE LED light that can output the same weight as a HID 1000watt system. I really hope someone can prove me wrong here.
1: it cost 3000$ !!!!! http://stealthgrow.com/products.htm#SG1250
2: it still pulls 600Watts
So at these numbers with some basic math heres what I come up with (these numbers are based on 12/12 light cycle for constant year round grows)
Numbers for HID system come from
https://cheaphydroponics.com
Based on the Below Chart It would Take 11 years to make up the cost difference of the HID system, Actually if you replaced your bulb in the HID system every 3 cycles it would actually take about 5 years, but still its 5 years worth of grows to cover the cost of ONE LED light that can output the same weight as a HID 1000watt system. I really hope someone can prove me wrong here.
| LED | Standard | Cost Difference | |
| starting cost | 3499 | 553.58 | -2945.42 |
| Cost per month | 44.1 | 64.8 | 20.7 |
| Cost per Year | 536.11 | 788.4 | 252.29 |
Beefbisquit
Well-Known Member
What about not running an A/C? Monthly and startup costs...
Not to mention if you're starting from scratch you need extra power boxes, wires, etc. etc. to run the extra fans, A/C, and higher wattage drawing lights.
Swiftowl11
Active Member
Lets just say I paid a lot less then 1 penetrator 336x 1w.
My post before spectras arrive. Then journal when there here.
https://www.rollitup.org/led-other-lighting/500763-im-offically-led-grower-spectra.html#post6883308
Catchin22
Well-Known Member
It's nice to see the LEDs getting more attention. I really feel this is the way of the future. Prices will come down the more people support them. Really the price to build your own if you have the know how is pretty small! Read up online on tutorials and experiment. Problem is to get the real cheap LED prices you have to purchase them in bulk from China. I've thought about building my own cheaper to sell them cheaper but I would almost have to do a group buy on them to do so.
Yea think about the cost it takes to keep your room cool add that to the equation and it prob take a year to pay for itself!
Lighthouse hydro has a YouTube where they compare there LEDs to the Chinese LEDs the Chinese one draws more actually watts then the black start but registers less under the light meter. So I'd be cautios when ordering Chinese crap lol. My black star 900 draws 550 actually watts and my full white spectrum led day star draws 750, the solar storm draws 450 in veg and 550 I'm bloom so it will be interesting to see which is better!
Beefbisquit
Well-Known Member
For a shitty, small, 12k BTU, A/C to run 24/7 you're looking at $65/month to cool a 600sq/ft room.... and that's @ $0.06/Kwh, it's more expensive here...
If that gives you an idea...
If you're running a bunch of lights, you're going to need more than one A/C....
$780/year in A/C + at least $350 for the A/C.... is over $1100 extra just for 1 year.
Plus $780 x 5 years = $3900 over 5 years.
So,
LED Standard Cost Difference starting cost 3499 903.58 -2595.58 Cost per month 44.1 129.8 85.7 Cost per Year 536.11 1557.80 1021.49
That's not counting watering your plants less due to less evaporation, or maintenance costs on A/C when it breaks from running 24/7 all the time.
I love how you also picked the most expensive LED system you could find.
Personally, to get 680watts, I'd use x5 PG-180's or something similar. Smaller units, that you can maneuver to your liking.
PG180 (160 actual watts) = $300
$300 x 5 = $1500 (Hydrohut will give you a discount for buying 5 so the price won't be $1500) Gives you 800 watts of actual power, with less than half the startup cost. So, within 1 1/2 yrs you'd make your money back.
EDIT: Also, x2 Advanced LED 400watt panels is 800 actual watts drawn, for less than $2000....
Exactly so if your running a few of them your talking over a grand a year to keep your room cool
so the led is worth the initial start up cost!
I just realized that the black star isn't a true 900 it's 288 3 watt chips 864 watts prob why it only reads 550 on the watt meter
As oposed to the day star white led that registers 750 it has 300 3 watt chips! Seems like every company is cutting corners these days from the cans of food we buy to the lights we grow with!
As oposed to the day star white led that registers 750 it has 300 3 watt chips! Seems like every company is cutting corners these days from the cans of food we buy to the lights we grow with!
It doesn't necessarily mean they're cutting corners. It just depends on how much power they want to give to the leds. More juice per chip can actually lower life while not getting back the equivalent in performance. I believe it's getting better though.
backwood grower
Member
Ok thats a bit better in the price category, I didnt purposely pick the most expensive unit I just looked for one that claimed equal or better yield size than a 1000HID system, Also i didnt add an AC cause in the 10 years i have been growing i have never Used an AC unit, one of the benefits of mountain growing i guess. So for me the first chart with that specific LED system was accurate, but Now that i have been looking around I thinking my next upgrade will be magnetic Induction lighting, I have always been a fan of induction for home lighting since they last for fucking EVER, but now it seems there are some grow spectrum lights on the market as well so i might pick one of those up and do a grow off vs LED to see if they are comparable, I really do want to try and LED grow, they do seem really effective for there size.
curly604
Well-Known Member
also about the 600w of led you could go with 2 of the blackstar "500w" models they actually run at 300w and you could nab em both for about 1000$ and ive seen some real nice grows done with them , if ya work out the math on that plus the cost of a/c and additional fans and other things led's become a very real very competitive option ...... just sayin 
yea ive seen some great grows with the 500's.also about the 600w of led you could go with 2 of the blackstar "500w" models they actually run at 300w and you could nab em both for about 1000$ and ive seen some real nice grows done with them , if ya work out the math on that plus the cost of a/c and additional fans and other things led's become a very real very competitive option ...... just sayin