l.e.d.s the wave of the future

bicycle racer

bicycle racer

Well-Known Member
:mrgreen:ive been looking at the new l.e.d lights no heat no electricity cost(90watts equal in light output to 400hps) any spectrum needed no infared signature. besides initial cost these look like they make the whole halide hps debate obsolete. the possibilites are endless with this technology. anybody currently using these lights or have experience with them?
 
4

40acres

New Member
bicycle racer said:
:mrgreen:ive been looking at the new l.e.d lights no heat no electricity cost(90watts equal in light output to 400hps) any spectrum needed no infared signature. besides initial cost these look like they make the whole halide hps debate obsolete. the possibilites are endless with this technology. anybody currently using these lights or have experience with them?
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As of right now, anytime these words are used in a paragragh with L.E.D.'s it is describing them and where your plants will go if you use them.
 
thunderchunkie

thunderchunkie

Well-Known Member
before you go out and spend a fortune on LED's. check out my grow and see if you like the results in the end. im doing an experiment so anyone on here curious about LED's can know what results to expect. after that the choice is up to you. keep in mind also, the ones im using are the cheap, readily available ones you can get off ebay. im not saying there could be better results using higher cost LEDS, these are the ones that everyone seemd to be asking about
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/45296-full-led-grow-room-aeroponic.html
 
bicycle racer

bicycle racer

Well-Known Member
im currently growing w/hps but liked the low heat low electricity concept with the led's. most of what i have read on here is negative towards led's. has anyone used that 90w ufo led light?
 
FilthyFletch

FilthyFletch

Mr I Can Do That For Half
LED such as the one your refering to the UFO are ok for additional light but nothing compared to HID lighting not even close. Go to youtube and search led grows and you will see they pretty much suck as stand alone lighting. The future will be plasma lighting. A tic tac sized bulb with no ballast outputs more then a 400 watt light and uses a third the power
 
J

jtl567

Active Member
I am using them now, so far no problems really cool lights no noise, they are cheap and you can put them right up to your plants and they wont burn them.
 
bicycle racer

bicycle racer

Well-Known Member
well for now i have two 400hps and eight 42w cfl. there doing well so far the only problem sometimes is heat in summer.
 
kittybitches

kittybitches

Well-Known Member
i agree about plasma lighting. thats the new technology that theyve been working on for the last decade or so in projects to slow down the speed of light. if youre going to spend on the latest and greatest, then id save my pennies for a sulphur plasma.
 
M

mcdandc

Well-Known Member
I have been using LEDs for auxilliary lighting on my mc's for several years, and the one drawback is they can be VERY directional. As far as a plant goes, it may not matter, but for the human eye it does.
 
STANDOX

STANDOX

Well-Known Member
hightimes did a test grow with the led ufo light and found it while did the job for plants in both phases of life it was yet to be considered optimal for mj growing.The chineese have been working with this tech. for years and we are just begining to optimize this for growing. I went into my local hydro shop and they had one i saw its intensity and i was suprised but i am just sceptical to spend 600 on something i know i can repplicate results with what i already have...
 
Puff

Puff

Well-Known Member
Like any new technology just give it a few years. It will take off exponentially if its proven to be a better method. Unless you want to be part of the testing and design of the hardware I would wait until they are a bit more evolved. Im very interested, but I think that Im going to go with a tried and true technique before I jump off the deep end.
 
atavistic

atavistic

Well-Known Member
I think the optimal curve right now is still HID, but likely to change in 2 - 3 year. Most of the LEDs i've seen don't replicate tight, dense nugs. I'd say they kind of approach CFLs in the current evolution, at a pretty healthy price premium.

It's cool to test (I haven't), but $500+ on a system compared to HID right now just doesn't pencil, for me. Even if you're buying right now, can still get a few years worth out of HID system - bunches of killer while the technology catches up.
 
STANDOX

STANDOX

Well-Known Member
totally agreed let the japs make things better beforew you dish out the cash on what there now...
 
OneCanSam

OneCanSam

Well-Known Member
atavistic said:
I think the optimal curve right now is still HID, but likely to change in 2 - 3 year. Most of the LEDs i've seen don't replicate tight, dense nugs. I'd say they kind of approach CFLs in the current evolution, at a pretty healthy price premium.

It's cool to test (I haven't), but $500+ on a system compared to HID right now just doesn't pencil, for me. Even if you're buying right now, can still get a few years worth out of HID system - bunches of killer while the technology catches up.
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You don't need to spend a fortune on a UFO type light, if you know a little bit about electronics you can make your own CREE XLAMP blue, red and higher lumen P4 Q emitter 6500k emiters for your panel or fixture. I've made two so far, one red panel, one blue panel and now making a red/blue and 6500k hybrid. Reason I made them separate was I was lazy as the blue and red are different voltage, as I wanted parallel simplicity when I started soldering and wiring, but I should have taken the time to do it properly the 1st time.

I'll be phasing out my MH and HPS in the near future. The CREE XLAMP emitters are about $5 each. I totally agree about your timeframe of 2-3 years, last year the intensity of some XLAMPS went up roughly 70%, not quite Moore's law, but close. The future will be high intensity LED emitter fixtures, not those silly 15 watt LED panels sold on Ebay, which are about next to useless compared to XLAMP and other LED emitter types. Gotta love technology and these LED emitters, they are they future no doubt.
 
S

Senior

Active Member
we bought and tested a UFO and contrary to the High Times revue it was garbage. the plants didn't get nearly emough light out of it and grew up small and skinny. also from looking at a few grow journals no one seems to be getting the same results you can with an HPS bulb. That said this will take over if it can match the results of an HPS for less electricity.



OneCanSam said:
You don't need to spend a fortune on a UFO type light, if you know a little bit about electronics you can make your own CREE XLAMP blue, red and higher lumen P4 Q emitter 6500k emiters for your panel or fixture. I've made two so far, one red panel, one blue panel and now making a red/blue and 6500k hybrid. Reason I made them separate was I was lazy as the blue and red are different voltage, as I wanted parallel simplicity when I started soldering and wiring, but I should have taken the time to do it properly the 1st time.

I'll be phasing out my MH and HPS in the near future. The CREE XLAMP emitters are about $5 each. I totally agree about your timeframe of 2-3 years, last year the intensity of some XLAMPS went up roughly 70%, not quite Moore's law, but close. The future will be high intensity LED emitter fixtures, not those silly 15 watt LED panels sold on Ebay, which are about next to useless compared to XLAMP and other LED emitter types. Gotta love technology and these LED emitters, they are they future no doubt.
Click to expand...
 
OneCanSam

OneCanSam

Well-Known Member
Senior said:
we bought and tested a UFO and contrary to the High Times revue it was garbage. the plants didn't get nearly emough light out of it and grew up small and skinny. also from looking at a few grow journals no one seems to be getting the same results you can with an HPS bulb. That said this will take over if it can match the results of an HPS for less electricity.
Click to expand...
I agree with you about that HT article, I read that myself, and thats about the time I decided to make a hybrid LED emitter panel myself, as I suspected that UFO was a bit overhyped, good in concept, just not in reality, hey if you used a bunch of them, you'd see results, but at $599 a pop, it's a bit hard on the wallet, as the high powered emitters get better, the prices will drop, right now is just the infancy of LED emitters used for horticulture.. And new cutting edge products always are pricey. :roll:

You should have tested the Procyon 100 instead, its a good product, much better imho than the UFO 45w and UFO 90w made by Quasar Light Co.,Ltd.

Besides, I'm far to cheap to buy the Procyon or the UFO, because a little soldering, a bit of wiring, and a whole lot of CREE XLAMPS, one can make one of these almost as good as the Procyon, although I have to admit, the Procyon 100 is a really good product. I sent Procyon a suggtion to make their product better for the end user, perhaps he'll use my idea.

Regards,

OCS :blsmoke:
 
bicycle racer

bicycle racer

Well-Known Member
the only problem with water cooling is the loss of lumens and spectrum when light passes thru a MEDIUM SUCH AS WATER. I WAS CONSIDERING A UNIT LIKE THIS ANYWAYS. MY ROOM IS GETTING HOT THIS TIME OF YEAR(SORRY HIT CAPS LOCK) I JUST WISH HIDS'S WERE NOT SO HOT WHEN OPERATING I LIVE IN THE SAME ROOM AS MY PLANTS AND WE BOTH SUFFER AND THATS AFTER A 80 MILE RIDE IN THE SUN. HOPEFULLY LED OR SOME OTHER TECH WILL SURPASS HID IN PERFORMANCE SOON:peace:
 
OneCanSam

OneCanSam

Well-Known Member
PowerTrance said:
If you want to use less electricity, then water cool the lights.
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That actually uses a fair bit of power because you still need to cool the water. The current water-cooled HID jackets make use of water chillers, these are power hungry devices and fairly pricy devices, the other method to cool the h20 HID water-jacket is the same way you cool your water cooled computers, with heater cores (and generally 12v fans) used in auto heating systems or very small auto radiators and fans. If the water in the h20 loop isn't cooled, it won't work properly and defeats the entire purpose of the h20 HID water jacket.

People don't watercool to save electricity, they watercool because water is a much better conduit than air cooling. Just look at any automobile, excluding a handful like older VW's, not many are air cooled, and for a reason. Water is a better heat conduit than air.
 
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