To many choice what led light should I choose.

So im kind of overwhelmed at this point ive been researching led light and it seems the more I dig the more stuff I find to take into consideration. Im also concerned sense the technology is ever changing that my research isnt exactly helping my decision.
Some of the brands im considering are apache, black dog, area 51, California works.
Our flowering tent is 5x9 which we would like to eventually flower 4 plants at a time in. We arent sure if we should buy smaller units and have one over each plant or go for the larger versions and only buy two. I personally think 4 smaller units would be better for one I could buy one at a time as needed and if one ever quit I have some back ups.

I would love some input on this but I would like to stick with one of these brand and not some Chinese knock off.

If you want great efficiency but higher up front cost, cxa 3070

If you want great efficiency (almost as good as cree) but lower up front cost, vero 29.

Or any of the smaller cree/bridgelux cobs.

Roughly how much would it be to build a cxa 3070 which could replace the at200?

skorch said:

. We arent sure if we should buy smaller units and have one over each plant or go for the larger versions and only buy two. I personally think 4 smaller units would be better for one I could buy one at a time as needed and if one ever quit I have some back ups.

Click to expand...

I would suggest more smaller LED's than Less Larger LEDs... In my opinion you will get better coverage as most LED's I have used are great for directly under the panel, but when you move out 1' you lose a tremendous amount of Umol. If you were able to put a panel directly above each plant you probably would get best results vs I large light. Just my personal opinion though as I read that penetration has a lot to due with multiple offset light sources and not just "brightness and throw"

as far as recommendations for LED... Ive used the Mars II and reflector by top led (they work, but they don't have very high umol readings) but did give me a slightly better gram/watt (mars II) than HID. I also have used Intelligent Gro LED and had my best Gram/watt yet out of any LED panel and HID that I previously used. I currently am testing the 2nd Generation ones if you want to stop by my journal to check them out. (BTW just sharing what I have used, not pushing, recommending or vending)LOL

There is a lot of choices out there, I would suggest picking your budget, searching grow journals for actual results and not "marketing hype" crap on company websites.

If you can afford a panel with better chips like OSRAM, Cree or Lumiled you typically will get more efficiency out of the diodes and longer life, with less color shift, but instead of pennies on the dollar, you are looking at a few bucks per LED diode...so typically they run a little more expensive...

skorch said:

Roughly how much would it be to build a cxa 3070 which could replace the at200?

Click to expand...

You would have to ask Greengenes or google it, I do believe the At200 is around 200watts Actual, but may be a little higher.

Simple estimate
50w modules

• Z2 3000k Cxa 3070 @$40 ea [Z4's the next higher bin might be in by Oct1....Add $6]
  • http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Cree-Inc/CXA3070-0000-000N00Z240F/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu4Prknbu83y0bObCPMgyC%2fFdVcxHfFPn8A%2fzybauEP1w%3d%3d ]
• Meanwell LPC 60-1400 @$20
  • http://www.trcelectronics.com/View/Mean-Well/LPC-60-1400.shtml
• Arctic Alpine 11 + CPU cooler @$10
  • http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186070
• 12v 2amp Regulated Power Supply [for fans] @$7
  • http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10003749/1270304-12v-2a-regulated-switching-power-supply

Roughly $77 for each 52 watt [1.4 amps x 37.3 volts] module.

Add for a final cost Maybe $10-15 per module........

• solder
  
• kapton tape [anchoring LEd to the heatsink]
• Thermal adhesive
  
• etc
• soldering iron
• wago connectors
• fuse
• GFCI plug

4 modules maybe 5......would probably...start to compete with an AT200 while putting out roughly 208 watts @ 1.4 amps.

Supras thread is pretty much the definitive place to start....
http://rollitup.org/t/diy-led-cree-cxa3070.789575/

Our first grow we did a single plant and did a scrog which made the canopy about 2.5 x 2 that we grew under cfls. I figured that a 5x9 tent would give us plenty of room to move around each plant and allow us to expand as well.
Ive been leaning toward the at200 myself but wanted to get more info from more experienced growers. I was hoping to start my purchase this week. I have a seedling just breaking ground now and wanted to get the panels ready. That leads me to my next question can one light veg and flower. I noticed that Apache advertised that the rw was meant for blooming. Also as far as the apache goes what rw scale fits my needs 2:3 or 1:4.
The perfect situation I would be buying two lights. One for the veg tent and another for flowering. That would get us going for now then I could get more panels as needed.

There really is nothing that compares to top bin 3070s.
if you want to go the simple route go with four Ab bin 3000k and one ad bin 5000k. This will veg and flower perfect.