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self
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wow, who knew LED's were so polarizing? (is that a pun?)
I'm really curious about this technology so I just spent about twenty hours browsing forums, retailers and manufacturers websites. More flame wars over this on the forums than anything else really, even autoflowering!
So at this point my general observations are:
- LED's work, in under a year I expect this to be universally accepted.
- LED's can grow healthier plants more efficiently than HID systems, and I won't be surprised if LED's are proven to grow more potent plants
- Quality and power are everything. If an LED grow light doesn't use high quality, high power LEDs, all bets are off.
- Really, you want CREE or equivalent, at least 3 watt LEDs. 1 watters might do it, but it seems the wrong direction to go in.
- a few brands that fit these criteria and are documented on the forums (with no ledgirl bs) are:
procyon, stealthgrow, advanced LED, lumigrow, and kessil, probably the magnum too.
Now, this is just me trying to organize my head. I seriously just spent two full days researching. This subject is a mess on the web, with way to many scammers, haters, misinformers, and people out to make a quick buck by putting a bunch of cheap chinese LEDs onto a panel and calling it a grow light.
I do not grow with LED's, but I plan on it. If not in the next six months, then in the next year. It is a more elegant solution.
If anyone else who's similarly interested knows of more manufacturers who fit my description, by all means contribute. I did not chase down every LED grow light maker, nor did I send out emails asking for specs on companies that did not post them. I assume that if a company does not give specs for their LED's, they're not worth talking about. The legit LED grow light manufacturers are usually very upfront about their components, as this dictates the high cost of quality lights, and sets them apart from the ripoffs. Hope that helps somebody.
have a good one,
~self
wow, who knew LED's were so polarizing? (is that a pun?)
I'm really curious about this technology so I just spent about twenty hours browsing forums, retailers and manufacturers websites. More flame wars over this on the forums than anything else really, even autoflowering!
So at this point my general observations are:
- LED's work, in under a year I expect this to be universally accepted.
- LED's can grow healthier plants more efficiently than HID systems, and I won't be surprised if LED's are proven to grow more potent plants
- Quality and power are everything. If an LED grow light doesn't use high quality, high power LEDs, all bets are off.
- Really, you want CREE or equivalent, at least 3 watt LEDs. 1 watters might do it, but it seems the wrong direction to go in.
- a few brands that fit these criteria and are documented on the forums (with no ledgirl bs) are:
procyon, stealthgrow, advanced LED, lumigrow, and kessil, probably the magnum too.
Now, this is just me trying to organize my head. I seriously just spent two full days researching. This subject is a mess on the web, with way to many scammers, haters, misinformers, and people out to make a quick buck by putting a bunch of cheap chinese LEDs onto a panel and calling it a grow light.
I do not grow with LED's, but I plan on it. If not in the next six months, then in the next year. It is a more elegant solution.
If anyone else who's similarly interested knows of more manufacturers who fit my description, by all means contribute. I did not chase down every LED grow light maker, nor did I send out emails asking for specs on companies that did not post them. I assume that if a company does not give specs for their LED's, they're not worth talking about. The legit LED grow light manufacturers are usually very upfront about their components, as this dictates the high cost of quality lights, and sets them apart from the ripoffs. Hope that helps somebody.
have a good one,
~self
LED's look like a way that a person could grow a room full with nothing more than a cheap window unit.
1. Leds will still be considered bunk in a year.
2. I really don't think that is the case. Time and again, MJ has proved that all it cares about is intensity of the light source and spectrum comes in second place. Also, ever notice the more intense the light the more trics? I sure have!
3. None of them use high quality parts. The markup is over 700% on led panels right now. (they cost 100 bucks for the 700 dollar panels)
4. For smaller grows bigger than what led can do now the 3 watters willwork. No trees for led users till they can get the 15 watters.
5. The cost of Leds, you can get a dimmable HPS setup with ventalation, grow more weed for less dosh..
1. How come? I grow with them in a PC case and they are performing as well as anything I've used before.
Lost: I know you love your HID and you are probably going to flame hard on me for this being my first post on this forum (I mainly stick to RUI) but your facts are all wrong. The new 3 watt technology running multispectrum LEDs can penetrate the shit out of a plant.
I have the ISIS-FX1 that country84 was talking about (which is made by the parent company that also makes the 357 Magnum), I also have a 400 watt HPS system and guess what I have seen much better results from the LED in a small 2x2 grow tent not to mention completely solved the heat issues I have had in the past.
I will agree with the fact that the Chinese knock-off LED's are terrible and will never be worth it, but when you spend $500 to replace a $250 400 watt HPS system you are actually probably saving money in the long run. You don't have to shell out the extra $100 for a good fan to cool the HPS, you aren't spending $30-50 a month extra on electricity, and you don't have to replace a $90 bulb once every few grows.
The GOOD technology for LED's has been around for a while but the prices have been way to high for enough people to prove that they work (your average MJ grower wont shell out for something they don't know for sure to work) instead people have been buying the cheap Chinese stuff at low prices only to find that its cheap Chinese stuff for a reason and will not work. What this has done is cause people like you to go around saying you know for a fact that LEDs dont work when you probably havent ever seen one in person, much less grown with a high quality one.
If you want an LED light to replace a 1000 watt HID system check out the 357 Magnum, that light uses all 3 watt LED's which have huge penetration on all the right spectrums (11 to be exact, fine tuned to marijuana). Yeah its $700 dollars but you are going to be spending $700 easily with a 1000 watt system over a year, maybe a year and a half.
YOU HAVE NO FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE!
YOU DO NOT KNOW THE FACTS!
GOOD LED TECHNOLOGY IS FINALLY COMING DOWN IN PRICE, ONCE MORE PEOPLE GET THERE HANDS ON A 357 MAGNUM OR AN ISIS PRODUCT YOU WILL BE EATING YOUR WORDS AND I WOULD GUESS YOU YOURSELF PROBABLY PICK UP AN LED PANEL WITHIN A YEAR AND HALF!
I just don't believe they can yet compete with HPS. :rain
:harvest:
you are right
they dont compete... they surpass
watt for watt they surpass the potential of HPS all day and MH all night
So many quality companies to choose from
ISIS
Magnum LED
Hydroponics Hut
Grow Led Hydro
Stealth LED
stick with any of those brands and i think you should be headed in the right direction
you are right
they dont compete... they surpass
watt for watt they surpass the potential of HPS all day and MH all night
So many quality companies to choose from
ISIS
Magnum LED
Hydroponics Hut
Grow Led Hydro
Stealth LED
stick with any of those brands and i think you should be headed in the right direction
The problem is that LED marketing has always claimed that a xxx watt LED is "comparable to" a much higher wattage HPS and that the high price of entry will be paid for over time. When the comparison grows didn't pan out, they started doing WATT-for-WATT comparisons. Now your talking 5x the cost.
1000 watts of LEDs HAD DAMN WELL BETTER outperform 1000 watts of HPS for all that coin it takes. What else would you expect for laying out $2k vs $400 ... equivalency?!!?
Also, the idea that LED's don't generate heat is utter BS. I have a GLH 180 for veg, which runs at about 240 watts. It definitely kicks out some heat, and guess what ... you can't cool it directly like a reflector/cool tube.
LEDs have their place. The "which is best" argument is a faulty paradigm.
you are right
they dont compete... they surpass
watt for watt they surpass the potential of HPS all day and MH all night
The "which is best" is clearly not for everyones situation as HPS might be better for some and fit their budget better... in my case LEDs have been much better for my situation and grow.
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