IF you are new to LED and want help choosing what to buy, POST HERE!

StevieBevie · Jun 21, 2016

StevieBevie said:
Hello,
Newbie here~ I am definitely not an electrical DIY person, my profession is nursing! My grow area will be 5x5 area that I would like to cover nicely with good LED coverage. I am not looking for the cheapest or most expensive lights, just whatever will give me the best coverage, and quality for good growth. Any suggestions will be much appreciated!!! Thanks in advance! Little history here, my husband has epilepsy. Simply can't afford to keep buying anymore as prices where I am located have become insane, no choice but to grow. I have a green thumb, but this will be quite new to me. Plan on autoflower to start and soil...I have read a lot, much is over my head, but trying to make the best decision, and get best bang for the buck...

Hey Guys....any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

weed-whacker · Jun 21, 2016

StevieBevie said:
Hey Guys....and help would be greatly appreciated!!!

hi so i guess u wanna buy not build right?

so id suggest you consider 3 of these
http://www.tastyled.com/product-p/t4-1750r.htm

or 3 of these
http://www.pacificlightconcepts.com/product/cx-bar/

these two lights use essentially the same components and are what all the DIY people(myself included) are using now

the parts alone would only cost about 20% less if you wanted to build so yeah this is what you want

good luck with everything btw

a 5x5 seems pretty big for 2 ppl though...

puffenuff · Jun 21, 2016

StevieBevie said:
Hey Guys....and help would be greatly appreciated!!!

For a 5x5 you're going to need +1000w of good quality leds spread over multiple led units. My recommendation is to look into Pacific light concepts, Apache Tech, NextLight, or Fluence Bioengineering. Mostly just stay away from cheap low quality stuff. Good luck!

cuddlesthesheep · Jun 21, 2016

Hybridway said:
These are the Pro-3's
View attachment 3713528 View attachment 3713529 View attachment 3713530 View attachment 3713531 The Solar Pro-4's use the bigger CXB-3590's & are 100 more watts. These above are 32"x8" I believe. The 4's are 36"x9".
Everything should be on the web-site soon. This company upgrades every chance they get. Like right now they're switching from the XP-G2's to XP-G3's for their colored monos. Also went aluminum on the case to lighten it up, lower hieght requirement for closer growing options, & another 2 really cool ones that I won't mention here. But I'm sure he will tell you.
Gotta check my e-mails for MSRP. But your best bet is e-mailing.
-$675 on the Pro-3 , 300watts, MeanWell drivers, top-bin Cree CXB-3070's, XP-G3 monos (5watters), 2'x4' coverage on a single unit. 2 units covers 4'x4'.
-$895 on the Pro-4 , 400watts, MeanWell drivers, top-bin Cree CXB-3590's, XP-G3 monos (5watters), 2.5'x5' coverage on a single unit. 2 units covers 5'x5'.

I saw the SpectrumKing 600 is new. Looks cool but is still just an all white unit I believe. Same with the Johnson. Never heard of SK using top-bin either, leaving a pretty high fluctuation in binning (quality of COB or diode) and again, plain white so no veg option either. Johnson makes good lights I hear though. Just not for me.
I hope this helps. I enjoy helping others if I can as I was lead down many differant paths leading me to buy 3 major lights & comparing them to find out Amare was the best for me. I speant big bucks to figure this out along with many hours of studying info here.
Thing is, if you choose the light that yeilds less, that adds up very quickly to be Thousands or hundreds of thousands less on your ROI (return on investment) Which to me is the most important factor when rating efficiency & product performance. It is a very important decision & not one that can afford misinformation.
GoodLuck! Stop by my thread of you want to see the SE-450 smash on the Hydroponics Hut X5-500. Literally smash it by yielding 2/3 more almost.
-18.5 oz SE-450
-7 oz X5-500
That's with no attention to my grow & a few problems on my part.
Did you say 2 Maximizers would run you around $4000? That's crazy. The SE-450's will outperform them I'm pretty sure, & I never heard of anyone paying full price which was listed at $1045 I think.

Holy hell thanks for dropping all that knowledge. Definitely gonna get in touch with Amare and Victor. Gonna light this 5x9 up like an Xmas tree!

StevieBevie · Jun 21, 2016

weed-whacker said:
hi so i guess u wanna buy not build right?

so id suggest you consider 3 of these
http://www.tastyled.com/product-p/t4-1750r.htm

or 3 of these
http://www.pacificlightconcepts.com/product/cx-bar/

these two lights use essentially the same components and are what all the DIY people(myself included) are using now

the parts alone would only cost about 20% less if you wanted to build so yeah this is what you want

good luck with everything btw

a 5x5 seems pretty big for 2 ppl though...

Thank you so much....actually only growing for one, I do not partake. Maybe we will only do a 4X4, it is a walk in closet, so the actual dimensions are 6x6 but obviously will not use the whole area. I will do autoflower plants in soil in the area. Could I ask how many plants you would suggest to be grown in a 4x4 or 5x5 area. Thinking of using 3 gallon smartpots....thoughts? Oh and yes, I am not building lights, not my thing! I actually hate anything electrical and have been hit by lightning not once but twice in my life and had a bedscale at work blow up on me when I plugged in at work, thank god baby was in isolette, and went boom and filled whole nursing unit with white smoke, scared the crap out of parents and me! I avoid electrical things like the plaque!

StevieBevie · Jun 21, 2016

puffenuff said:
For a 5x5 you're going to need +1000w of good quality leds spread over multiple led units. My recommendation is to look into Pacific light concepts, Apache Tech, NextLight, or Fluence Bioengineering. Mostly just stay away from cheap low quality stuff. Good luck!

Thanks for your quick response. I will look at these different manufacturers.

Hybridway · Jun 21, 2016

cuddlesthesheep said:
Holy hell thanks for dropping all that knowledge. Definitely gonna get in touch with Amare and Victor. Gonna light this 5x9 up like an Xmas tree!

Thank you!

StevieBevie · Jun 21, 2016

I just got a local opportunity to purchase a Lumigrow 650 unit for $900.00, new, any thoughts?

BM9AGS · Jun 21, 2016

StevieBevie said:
I just got a local opportunity to purchase a Lumigrow 650 unit for $900.00, new, any thoughts?

wouldn't buy it! For that money you could get 2 http://timbergrowlights.com/200-watt-cree-cxb3590-4-cob-kit-meanwell-hlg-power-supply-free-shipping/

Then have $100 left over for light hangers and aluminum channel to make the light to your specs. All the wiring is already done. It's dimable and there's not a bunch of bullshit like that website.

StevieBevie · Jun 21, 2016

BM9AGS said:
wouldn't buy it! For that money you could get 2 http://timbergrowlights.com/200-watt-cree-cxb3590-4-cob-kit-meanwell-hlg-power-supply-free-shipping/

Then have $100 left over for light hangers and aluminum channel to make the light to your specs. All the wiring is already done. It's dimable and there's not a bunch of bullshit like that website.

Okay, what size area will those 2 lights cover? I will check them out!, TY

BM9AGS · Jun 21, 2016

StevieBevie said:
Okay, what size area will those 2 lights cover? I will check them out!, TY

8-12 sq ft really well. More if you needed. The lumagro company tried to say they're 300 watt light is equal to 1000 w hid. So clearly they're just writing pretty words. Also they don't say ANYTHING about what leds they use....there's a reason for that.

StevieBevie · Jun 21, 2016

BM9AGS said:
8-12 sq ft really well. More if you needed. The lumagro company tried to say they're 300 watt light is equal to 1000 w hid. So clearly they're just writing pretty words. Also they don't say ANYTHING about what leds they use....there's a reason for that.

Not being a DIY person at all, but what do you mount these too? Where would I get the aluminum channel? Sorry to be or sound so ignorant, just really do not have a clue..lol I figured Lumigrows 350 light was not comparable to a 1000 w hid, but thought their 650 might be.

BM9AGS · Jun 21, 2016

StevieBevie said:
Not being a DIY person at all, but what do you mount these too? Where would I get the aluminum channel? Sorry to be or sound so ignorant, just really do not have a clue..lol I figured Lumigrows 350 light was not comparable to a 1000 w hid, but thought their 650 might be.

Lumigrow doesn't say what leds they're using so you can't say what their 650 compares to. If they used top bin cxb chips they would brag about it....which they don't. So I'd assume they're not
Much different than 600w mars hydros and make great paperweights.

The timber DIY lights are already put together. You only need some way to hang them up. You could simply hang each individual one up on strings but guys like to make it look professional and use all kinds of metal frames for they're light systems.

If you're in America lowes has good prices on metal bars to make brackets otherwise any metal manufacture distribution company local to you.

If you have money and it's not an issue then buy any of the pre made cxb grow lights

StevieBevie · Jun 21, 2016

BM9AGS said:
Lumigrow doesn't say what leds they're using so you can't say what their 650 compares to. If they used top bin cxb chips they would brag about it....which they don't. So I'd assume they're not
Much different than 600w mars hydros and make great paperweights.

The timber DIY lights are already put together. You only need some way to hang them up. You could simply hang each individual one up on strings but guys like to make it look professional and use all kinds of metal frames for they're light systems.

If you're in America lowes has good prices on metal bars to make brackets otherwise any metal manufacture distribution company local to you.

If you have money and it's not an issue then buy any of the pre made cxb grow lights

Thanks, yes I looked at there site and could not find what there lights/chips are, so I appreciate very much your reply's.!!!

StevieBevie · Jun 21, 2016

StevieBevie said:
Thanks, yes I looked at there site and could not find what there lights/chips are, so I appreciate very much your reply's.!!!

Also looked at Nextlights and could not find mention of their lights/chips.

BM9AGS · Jun 21, 2016

StevieBevie said:
Also looked at Nextlights and could not find mention of their lights/chips.

Yep. That's usually a sign and bogus claims. I'm swear I don't know why a class action hasn't go a up against a lot of these companies.

StevieBevie · Jun 21, 2016

BM9AGS said:
Yep. That's usually a sign and bogus claims. I'm swear I don't know why a class action hasn't go a up against a lot of these companies.

I certainly do not know enough, but at least learning about certain things to look for. Seems a lot of these units I am looking at really have very very decreased PAR levels outside the actual.real physical footprint of the unit itself, so a lot of claims that they can cover a large footprint are just bogus even per their own scientific literature. I am guessing that they believe the pictures of the studies convince a lot of people to buy without really looking at the information included in the pictures of their PAR light studies. Not sure how a company can claim their unit covers 5x5 flower footprint with PAR readings 40's to 200 at 24 to 30 inches from center of unit, with the unit set 12 to 18 inches from unit to floor, if that makes sense and I am reading correctly.

JorgeGonzales · Jun 21, 2016

weed-whacker said:
a 5x5 seems pretty big for 2 ppl though...

StevieBevie · Jun 21, 2016

JorgeGonzales said:
View attachment 3714027

LOL....as I said my closet is 6x6 so was thinking 4x4 or 5x5, and as I am not a grower, honestly I don't really have any great perspective on how much or little I can grow in any area this size. I am totally open to suggestions or help on the size area I should grow in and how many plants/pot size I should be growing in that area. I was thinking of doing autoflower using 3 gallon smart pots....any suggestions? To me, my hubby smokes a lot!

JorgeGonzales · Jun 22, 2016

weed-whacker said:
if chinese 100w cobs cost $2 and CXB3590 costs like 50, wouldn't I get better efficiency per $ using chinese cobs?

eg

25x100w chinese cob run at a total of 50w(so like 2 watt per cob)
vs
1x CXB3590@50w

like

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/High-Power-LED-Chip-10W-20W-30W-50W-70w-100W-Warm-White-Red-Green-Blue-Yellow/32503846346.html?spm=2114.30010308.3.125.UJq22P&ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_8,searchweb201602_2_10037_10017_507_10032,searchweb201603_10&btsid=1ebf1011-67c7-4f49-86f8-3e135ce66f53

No. And what is efficiency per dollar?

IF you are new to LED and want help choosing what to buy, POST HERE!

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