Input From Led Growers Wanted:

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lbristol

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Because of heat concerns in my cramped spaces I decided on going with a DWC LED grow. In my 4x8 tent I purchased three King Plus 1000w LED's and in my 2x4 space I purchased two ViparSpectra 450w LED's.

I've been reading varied opinions on using the actual wattage when comparing LED's to HPS or MH setups. In my case, the 1000w King Plus lights only pull 170w a piece. The 450w ViparSpectras pull 200w a piece. I don't really understand this difference. The smaller rated lights use less electricity than the 1kW lighting. Can anyone explain this to me?

For tge King Plis, using actual wattage I'll only have 510w total for a 32sqft area, or ~16w/sq ft. To get that up to the recommended 65w/sqft I'd need a total of ..... twelve 1000w equivalent King Plus LED lights. If i used their equivalence I'm at almost 94w/sqrt.

With the 400w equivalent lights, pulling more actual power than the 1000w setups, I'd have 400 actual watts in an 8 sqft area, or 50w/sqft. Using their equivalency I'd be at 100w/sqft.

So I'm at a loss. Has anyone actually used LED'S like this? Am I grossly underpowered on my larger tent?

Thanks in advance...
 
CBDfutute4

CBDfutute4

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You see how your 450 w n 1000 w were both the same price....

I would expect similar performance from all 5 lights.

I have a galaxy hydro 300, which retails for 80 on az. I consider it a 130/140w actually

I run that, a dual bulb 4ft t5, 8 23w cfl for 4 plants in a 3.5 x 4.5 x 8 space.

I am new on the scene but I have buddies n been reading for years in prep. I do not think one is getting true "LED" performance n perks from budget az led lights.

There are 300 w for $250-350, not that price is the sole determining factor, but I am a believer of you get what you pay for. The higher priced, highly reviewed lights that offer the leading tech really allow one to reap the true led benefits.

Sorry to say, I believe, from my 50 days running my galaxy 300 it's just a low cost in between light. One between a real hps and a real led.

It produces a good but not too much amount of heat, half to 1/3 the power it says it is, offers a pretty good spectrum but nothing that still wouldn't really benefit from extra 2700 & 6500 to really give good reds/blues
 
MW7945

MW7945

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Actual wattage is the only relevant wattage really. You don't need 65w /sq ft. Really 40-50 is fine. But yeah. You get what you pay for.
 
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lbristol

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I read that PAR matters more than actual wattage. If that's the case it makes sense as the ViparSpectra models are rated with a PAR equivalent to their wattage equivalency and have been tested accurately. The 400w model is ~400 PAR. By all accounts the King Plus LEDs are nowhere near their rated capacity ... In fact I cannot even find data on it. Decided I'm sending all 3 back to amazon and purchasing four 600w ViparSpectra units with the PAR rated at ~600 each. This is with the light at 24". Should give me the equivalency of 75w/sqft in my 4x8 enclosure.

Thoughts?
 
MW7945

MW7945

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Still don't need 75w a foot.

Do you have a budget in mind?
 
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lbristol

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MW7945 said:
Still don't need 75w a foot.

Do you have a budget in mind?
Click to expand...

75w/sq ft is overkill but I was operating under the assumption that I'm not uniformly receiving that anyway, as the sides of my tent will receive significantly less light. Plus the 600 watts weren't significantly more expensive than the 450's ;). No budget in mind ... I just want to maximize my space. I'll have two 4x8 grow tent and another 2x4. If I could pull a constant 2.5lb dried per harvest from the bigger tents I'd be pretty happy.
 
MW7945

MW7945

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If you have some know-how and can pay a little more money I'd look into cree cxb3590 or bridgelux vero29 DIY builds. There's a lot of YouTube videos or @sixstring has a thread on the subject. Always the option of buying these lights assembled as well obviously. Just cheaper to DIY it.

Cheap LED yields won't even compare. If you want to maximize your space, those are your lights.
 
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DiatomaceousE

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Well from a 4x8 tray on a good grow, the jungle boyz for example would run 2 and a half 630w cmh or 1000 watt double endeds and be getting 3# per light so up to 7.5 total, however their trays are going over the sides so its really more like 5-6x9-10 total space, but just saying your goals are reachable.

I am currently using some leds in my flower room, 10x25 with a row of 1000w mh hps down the middle alternating with 5 315w actual watt leds on one side and going to add 5 315 cmh vertically hanging on the opposite wall.

i really like the led/hid combo for early flower plants really stay bushy but for some reason led always drops yield big time. My panels are lile 6-7 band 4-5 watt led that draws 315w with 144 bulbs, heavy in reds and whites with good blue and some orange and a little yellow.

With all that said i would mix in some cmh or some 600w hps...maybe go led- 600w hps - led - 600w hps - led, but perosnally i would stick with cmh or hid air cooled which are tried and true and not go 100% led unless you have a master helping you whos crushing it. Leds are noob traps, sorry to say =/ but i do really like the ones i have for veg just seems like there is too much red so in flower they go crazy for a few days then stunt the growth.
 
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lbristol

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MW7945 said:
If you have some know-how and can pay a little more money I'd look into cree cxb3590 or bridgelux vero29 DIY builds. There's a lot of YouTube videos or @sixstring has a thread on the subject. Always the option of buying these lights assembled as well obviously. Just cheaper to DIY it.

Cheap LED yields won't even compare. If you want to maximize your space, those are your lights.
Click to expand...
I read the DIY guide but do you have any idea where I can find a 10" x 24" heat sinks? Assuming I use five cxb3590s like in the tutorial on this forum, what is the equivalent wattage per setup? How about PAR? Actual wattage per LED would be 50w x 5 = 250w equivalent? Doesn't sound like a lot of power for the price ... or am I missing something?
 
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DiatomaceousE

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Plus another problem with led is what is best? 20-50 watt modules, 3 watt leds, 5 watt leds, what spectrum, etc etc, every big grower i have seen using them ended up using them for veg, until someone you know is crushing it with leds, don't try to outsmart conventional wisdom. They are good for early flower or the corners but put too of the ones i have close together plants start wilting. While i have a friend crushing it with 8 315w cmhs over a 4x8 tray but most people would say thays overkill 6 is even alot.
 
MW7945

MW7945

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Cxb3590 and vero29 can both yield higher than hps while consuming significantly less power.

I'll agree cheap leds are just a mess of blue and red light. I have vipars, but will be upgrading once this run is over.
 
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DiatomaceousE

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I tried searching the names you said and didnt come up with anything, so your talking about white floro leds being the best?
 
MW7945

MW7945

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lbristol said:
I read the DIY guide but do you have any idea where I can find a 10" x 24" heat sinks? Assuming I use five cxb3590s like in the tutorial on this forum, what is the equivalent wattage per setup? How about PAR? Actual wattage per LED would be 50w x 5 = 250w equivalent? Doesn't sound like a lot of power for the price ... or am I missing something?
Click to expand...

5 isn't going to cut it in a 4x8. You'd ideally run a few strips of lights across. Sixstring would have more knowledge as to what would be needed for that space.

When it comes to those chips, wattage is actual wattage. None of that "equivalent" bullshit wattage.

I'd check out heatsinkusa.com for that stuff though. I can't remember which sizes are the best bang for buck. Or check out growmau5 on YouTube. Tons of info on the subject.

With cheap leds you can expect about .5 grams per wa tt. With a cxb3590 or vero29 1-2 grams per watt is much more realistic
 
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DiatomaceousE

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Oh i thought those were people i tried user name searching so those are 150-200 watt led modules of white floros...how do those compare with 315w lec?
 
MW7945

MW7945

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They make various sized chips. Just gotta make sure you're using the optimal drivers.

They're going to be more expensive than "traditional" lighting. But will yield the same if not better. And will pay for themselves quite easily in energy savings fairly quickly. Not to mention you're not replacing bulbs all the time.
 
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DiatomaceousE

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This homie did a real good job building his setups dropped 3k on the build for a 4x8 and pulled 3-3.5 total which is about 1.5 per 4x4.


Think he had 32 50 watt modules so 1600 watts so about a gram per watt, not bad =/
 
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DiatomaceousE

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I have heard of a grower doing one 3x3 plant per 315w cmh setup in a 6x6 plant grid getting 20-24 ozs per plant, so thats a similar 2 grams per watt, plus doubleD on this forum as well as quantum9 were getting 3-6 pounds per light per plant using conventional 1000w HID so alot depends on the skill of the grower plus quality is always a factor.

Thanks for pointing me in this direction i am currently thinking of ordering some 630w double ended lecs but these maybe better for smaller heat restricted tent grows.

Good stuff.
 
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DiatomaceousE

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Quantum9 aka desert squirrel was actually getting 3 grams a watt on some of his rooms but i think that was rare he said 4-6 pounds per light per plant...4 is 2 grams per watt, 6 is 3 grams for watt. I personally really like 1000w or soon to try 630w lecs vertical on light movers with large plants, looking to be in the 3-4 pounds per 1000w range, maybe even better with the 630w lecs, we will find out
 
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