New Light Help

[heisenberg85]

Hello I in the market to get a new grow light and have been considering led but dont know much about them. I was leaning towards a 300 watt mars hydro until I read a few reviews about light going out and the hassle of getting them fixed. One of the reasons I considered led was heat issue but I also read leds can produce a lot of heat. So my question is for anyone with experience how much heat do leds produce compared to a 400watt hid, what is a good quality led thats not super expensive, or should I avoid led and get hid with an air cooled hood? Any info/input is appreciated. I am growing in a 2' × 4' × 6' tent.

 

[The Terps]

Check out the search bar it will answer most of your questions if not all

 

[ShroomKing]

I would go with air cooled hood just to have the option of removing some of the heat.
I bet you could do real good with a 400w cool tube.

Best of luck.
Peace

 

[Papa Indica]

I agree with @ShroomKing , the 400 HID with an air cooled hood would be the way to go. I started with LED's and grew with them for a few years, the biggest reason I decided to make the switch was replacement costs. Having to replace an LED unit when it goes to hell is crazy compared to just replacing a bulb occasionally, or even a ballast. The LED's do put out a fair amount of heat also, the one's that I've had anyway, enough so that it needs to be exhausted out the same as an HID set-up. Since I made the switch I've never looked back.
Actually, you may want to consider just going with a 600, most ballasts these days are dimmable so, if you wanted to run at 400 watts you could and you'd still have the ability to jump up to 600. Most people end up wanting to expand and go bigger after starting small, I know I did. I'm still a small grower but, I started out growing start to finish in a closet, after a few years of continual growth I've consumed the whole room with a 4 x 4 flower tent, a 2 x 4 veg tent, and the closet it all started in is now my clone room.

 

[keiksweat]

What he said...600 dim,then you got....250,for cuts....400,for veg..and 600-640 ,for full bloom.ive got 2 led mars panels,450reflector series,and a 600 dimmable.I need to run the 2 led together to cover 4 of my babies in a 4x4 end of my tent.a bare 600 watt bulb gets much better spread of light in a 4x4 area.led are good in small spaces don't get me wrong bro.but I'm selling mine.stick with mh,hps until I build my own.a lot cheaper bro.

 

[keiksweat]

Mars warranty ain't worth the paper its wrote on.

 

[LI grows]

Dimmable 600 sounds like a good idea.
I use cheap Mars as side/supplemental lighting, theyre pretty good for that, but i wouldnt want to rely on cheap lighting solely.