Guys is this price too good to be true for a VIPAR 400w?
Looks way too good to be true
Yes, its not putting out anything near 400W of LED light power. Check out the spec "Actual Draw". Its approx 200W.
Thats 1/2 the wattage that they reference the Grow Light with. Its a Chinese piece of junk and its typically deceptive advertising.
What does it mean that its a "400W" light? All that really means is "this light contains 132 LEDs rated at 3W each = ~400w."
Does that mean they will be driven at the full 3Ws each?
Absolutely not. In fact, do the math, they are driving this light with only 200W, so the actual light out of this product will be: (Actual Power Draw(W) - 8%)*100 = Light output in lumens or about 18.4K lumens. At the rule of thumb for light (5K lumens per sq. ft) thats only enough for almost 4 sq ft, they say its good for 6 sq ft, again, untrue data there. (BTW, the -8% if for the loss in the LED drivers)
Its super irritating that LED grow lights are represented by the "potential" power they could be providing, rather than the actual power they are using. This vendor is putting out these low level lights, really under driven, so that they won't have any more returns than they already do.
Just remember, the so called wattage rating of LED lights is not actual, but a value that the light can't possibly produce. Instead, look for the actual power draw, and do the calcs with that. If the light doesn't give an "actual draw" I would pass.
