slayer6669
New Member
what do you think is the best led light and why should i or shouldnt i get an led any opinions welcome
Thinking of Buying an LED, What is the Best One for the Money?
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shadowdarker
Well-Known Member
all depends on how much you want to spend the best led lighting costs big bucks there are a lot of people using them but there are so many inferior led's on the market you have to be carefull do your research if buying on line or go to a hydro store and ask them. i was going to do a led grow done weeks of research on them and decided to go for 400w hps instead it just made sense for me. and come in cheaper bonus!!!! what scale you thinking on how much space you got? how many plants you want to grow? how you going to keep room warm using led's they dont give out hardly any heat. all questions you need to think over then decide on what route you want to go down. hope this helped dude
do your research before buying its a mine field of inferrior quality led's but there are decent ones out there. And there are loads of growers in this forum using them they might give you some advise happy growing
do your research before buying its a mine field of inferrior quality led's but there are decent ones out there. And there are loads of growers in this forum using them they might give you some advise happy growing
slayer6669
New Member
thanks for the reply and the reason i wanted it was its low heat and low watt usage but was wandering how they would compare to a 600 watt hps, thats what ive used in future
growledhydro Spectra LEDs is definitely in the top 3, don't let anyone fool you into thinking any less than at least 400w of LED could compete with a 600w HPS. You'd be rocking better htan a 600w HPS with a couple 290w lights (if your grow space is 4x4 or larger) or a 500w Light if your space is less than 4x4. The pictures are out of date on the website but the info in the products section is up to date. If you wanna see proof they grow, look up Irishboy and Settingsun over at 420mag.com
I myself ended up getting a 395w 2011 Spectra for my 2.5x2.5ftx6ft tent. My grow tent is in my bedroom and has a 190cfm exhaust filter/fan. Above the light the temps get up to 8 degrees higher than my room temp, the space between the light and the top of the plants gets up to 3 degrees above room temp, and below the tip of the plants the air is room temp. My filter/fan is able to suck all the heat blowing out of the LED and vent it out of the tent, and there isn't enough hot air to warm my bedroom at all with the window, door, and heat vent closed. Before with my 400w HPS the entire tent would be about 15 degrees above room temp and would continue to raise the temp of my bedroom if I didn't keep the window open. I can expect this light to perform at least as well as 500w of HID and possibly even as well as a 600 since the light is more even spread out and targeted in SCROG
PS: it is rather cold outside lately in the 30s-40s so thats probably why my bedroom isn't heating up at all with the LED. It puts out heat for sure, but a HELL of a lot less per watt than HPS
slayer6669
New Member
how much money would i be looking at for 4 to 5 hundred watt spectra led
A 500w Spectra is $1349 so you could do that, nice 5 year warranty and built to last (finned heatsinks, safety feature so if 1 LED dies only that LED dies and not a whole row or column, running LEDs at a wattage appropriate between power and longevity, something about breakers I think, etc) and grow cannabis specifically. If your space is greater than 3x3 then I would instead buy mutliple smaller watt lights. Say two 290s or 4 180ws for a 4x4
And those are actual watts. A lot of other companies mislead and so you think you are getting an amazing deal compared to these prices but you aren't getting the watts. Since these lights are expensive up front they will make much greater use of light movers than HID
My tent is 2.5ftx2.ft with a 395w 2011 Spectra here are some sexy pics lol Although my plants have only had these LEDs the last 4 weeks after getting a few days into 12/12 before the LED arrived. Yellowing because I underfed with my organic nutes didn't realize the N-P-K values were as low as they were
Thing cost me $1145
I would either go with Spectra if you can afford or Blackstar perhaps if you can't (but they mislead about the true wattage so be sure and ask and do your calculations based on the true wattage)
I liked Kessil but I'm not sure if they are worth it with the many defective units lately
smhsmichael
Active Member
Interesting info. I recently bought a sunshine systems grow panel 45. Its only 26w tho. This will be my first grow with it so I'll see how well it petforms before I place any of my own judgments on led lights
dnkfrmthasoilz7
Active Member
There are no good led's that aren't supper pricey. To get the led equivalent ( I mean the real side by side match up, not what the company tell's you it equals ) to a 1000w hps you will be paying 2 time's as much. Let me just say this if led was worth it I being a full time grower or any other professional grower would be using it. Were not, and their is a reason why, I need output and I am willing to put up with cooling and high electricity bills to get that. HPS is the only option on the market right now worth its money. Even when led drop's it's price they won't be used, the best "NEW" technology in the making is sulfur plasma. LED's SUCK!
Depends on what you mean by worth it. Sure I paid $1145 for my 395w (actual/true power draw), I only paid $400 for my 400w HPS system. Was it worth it? HELL YES I can now keep my window/door/heatvent closed and temps below the light in my tent never go over 70 unless the weather is warmer than that. Before with all the heat of HID the entire tent would be at least 15 degrees above room temp and the temps would go into the 90s in my room with the window/door/heat vent closed. There is virtually no heat put out compared to a 400w HID. The light also gets spread more evenly over the area that a 400w lighting system could handle, so while this has similar wattage to a 400w HID it should perform at least 20-30%, MAYBE even as well as a 600w HID for my 2.5ft x 2.5ft tent
Less electricity is wasted as heat, more light is reflected down towards plants, no heat is thrown onto the plants, spectrum's are more specific, and the light will grow a fair amount more plant matter watt for watt compaired to HID. It will EASILY pay itself off with the cash value of the first harvest, not that I am selling its all for my aunt/patient and myself/patient.
There are amazing LED lights out there that will grow amazing stuff. Its expensive though, for the vast majority of people its more sensible to go with HID. But if there is any chance you can you should certainly buy into good LEDs instead of good HIDs
LED vs HID each has its many pros and cons and advantages and disadvantages considering each other. Ex: If you grow in a cold climate/area it may be best to go with HID since it can produce the heat you need.
slayer6669
New Member
A 500w Spectra is $1349 so you could do that, nice 5 year warranty and built to last (finned heatsinks, safety feature so if 1 LED dies only that LED dies and not a whole row or column, running LEDs at a wattage appropriate between power and longevity, something about breakers I think, etc) and grow cannabis specifically. If your space is greater than 3x3 then I would instead buy mutliple smaller watt lights. Say two 290s or 4 180ws for a 4x4
And those are actual watts. A lot of other companies mislead and so you think you are getting an amazing deal compared to these prices but you aren't getting the watts. Since these lights are expensive up front they will make much greater use of light movers than HID
My tent is 2.5ftx2.ft with a 395w 2011 Spectra here are some sexy pics lol Although my plants have only had these LEDs the last 4 weeks after getting a few days into 12/12 before the LED arrived. Yellowing because I underfed with my organic nutes didn't realize the N-P-K values were as low as they were
View attachment 1473797View attachment 1473799
View attachment 1473801 Thing cost me $1145
I would either go with Spectra if you can afford or Blackstar perhaps if you can't (but they mislead about the true wattage so be sure and ask and do your calculations based on the true wattage)
I liked Kessil but I'm not sure if they are worth it with the many defective units lately
thanks for the post. them plant slook really good man, that lights looks neet i have never saw an led in use in person only hps
Go look up Irishboy and SettingSun over at 420magazine each of them have several completed grows done completely with Spectra LED lights, there are also other grows that have used them there. I haven't found any journals of people using them on this site, and if I had gotten my LED before i started 12/12 I would have made a journal myself. LED can grow but its quite expensive up front, but could/should save in the long run.
dnkfrmthasoilz7
Active Member
I will never get into led's they aren't prime for production growing, yeah you may get the same quality with a 1000w equivalent led but the 1000w hps will blow it out of the water in the weight department even if they say it is 1000w "equivalent" and the hps is most likely going to be just as dank/oily/resinous. Come on, led's are hobbyist shit and even if you just grow for just yourself if medicate alot an led is just not going to cut it. Like I said I'm willing to put up with all the variable's hps bring's to get the output. I don't even use MH for veg. HPS! HPS! HPS! P.S. by the time those led pay themselves off Ill have a 1500w sulfur plasma light for a fraction of the price.
You wouldn't be talking about that if you read any of the many great LED grow journals over at 420 magazine, seriously look it up Irishboy and SettingSun just to get you started. And you only think badly of LED as a grow light source because you've seen too many crappy LEDs with misleading specifications (wattage) and lies about coverage area, plus they were just crappy lights. These GLH Spectra LED lights can really grow and so far everyone that has tried one is switching over to them from their HID. There are at least 7 completed journals with those lights at 420magazine. I wish those guys would come post their journals here I should try and get them to.
yowzza
Active Member
I am also in the market for a decent LED. For weeks I've been reading article after thread after article and there is obviously alot of contradicting info out there but there has been some grows posted if you look for them. So far, I myself am leaning towards purchasing ISIS or Blackstar units, but I am still researching! GL on your search for a decent LED! There are many ppl on RIU with more hands on experience than I, so hopefully perhaps some of them may chime in??
I am also in the market for a decent LED. For weeks I've been reading article after thread after article and there is obviously alot of contradicting info out there but there has been some grows posted if you look for them. So far, I myself am leaning towards purchasing ISIS or Blackstar units, but I am still researching! GL on your search for a decent LED! There are many ppl on RIU with more hands on experience than I, so hopefully perhaps some of them may chime in??
I've read over 7 completed grow journals between 4-5 people here and (mostly) on 420mag.com grown with growledhydro Spectra LED lights (If I remember correctly all the grows harvested between Jan 1st 2010 and up to a couple weeks ago). They all looked great, nobody had any issues with customer service, and all those who had used other companies LEDs before decided to switch to GLH over everything else including HID (except for during the winter when LED would be too cold). I can remember of those they had used before were kessil, blackstar, hydro grow, HSS. I don't mean to say GLH is the best or better than any of these guys, just saying what I've seen.
Personally I would either go blackstar for mass production as they are the cheapest per running watt of any of the reputable LED companies at $2-2.1 per true running watt (they take advantage of the fact most people don't know LEDs can only run about half to 3/4 their watt rating). If you are growing for yourself or your operation is a bit on the smaller side I would go with growledhydro/GLH/Spectra LED for quality. Compared to blackstar GLH units are built better to last longer, have the best LED warranty I know of at 5 years (and a 4 month refund policy with simple rules), 12 spectrums (again some debate thats overkill, others say it works better), and they only cost I think $2.85-$2.95 per true running watt (how much the whole units sucks from socket). What people don't realize is that when they see what a website says the 'w' of the light is (usually in the name) only a little over half of what they tell you (like a 300w usually only runs about 160w) and so people do the math and think they get a good deal when they get scammed.
Or you could always get a smaller blackstar like a 240w (really only 140w) and use that until the plants are big enough to justify your larger GLH LED. This is what I am thinking of doing... I have a 395w Spectra and am thinking of getting a cheaper LED under 200w to veg with until there is enough green to switch to the monster light).
BOTTOM LINE: If you can only afford about $2.25 in upfront cost for each watt (or care about how big your first harvest is for how much money it will cost you now) go with Blackstar. They are proven and cheap without being crap. If you can afford to spend a lot and up to $2.95 per watt (and care more about higher quality harvest than how much you can grow each season after your initial investment), then go growledhydo.
PS: Not to Blackstar grows more per watt it uses than GLH, I'm saying you could buy more watts total with Blackstar than GLH (but that GLH is higher quality watts
)
smhsmichael
Active Member
Excellent analysis jdizzle
Thanks, almost everything I ever read about LED now is between GrowLEDHydro and Blackstar. I really like my 395w spectra, but I feel its actually too powerful for how tall my tent is and how tall my pots are unless the plants are a foot tall or month old already. I have 2 plants that went under the LED at the same time as the sprouts, except one of these had 5 days and the other 10 under CFL, and while they are also a bit stunted from growing too many new nodes at once, are much larger in over all mass even with so little time under CFL first. I think the issue is the light is so strong the plant doesn't bother to build up a few pairs of supporting/feeder/fan before mass producing nodes.
So basically unless GLH doesn't come up with an even smaller light soon I might buy a 240w blackstar to grow my plants their first month. I feel the spectra lights are too powerful for seedlings or plants under a month old unless you can keep it at least 4 ft away that whole time. I don't think blackstar would have this issue because I think their lens angles are wider, there are fewer spectrums, and the units don't throw out as much light (the way they name them... ex: their '240w' 3w LED light only runs on about 133w, while a 180w Spectra actually pulls 180w from the socket).
LoL Each has its pros and cons
smhsmichael
Active Member
Ya man I can definately see your point. I thought the same thing about spectra panels being too powerful.
Led light is still quite a debate and a science that's being figured out
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