LED Grow Lights, whats your take??

growindo420

New Member
I have seen so many new LED grow lights out there but only a few have caught my eye. I'm looking at Solar Storm, Black Dog LED and MKB Energy's HiOptiX LED.

all of these fixtures are so different and I guess I'm not sure what to look for in an LED grow light...
 
I have KIND leds. They are sweet but I have definitely had a few problems which they were able to fix by swapping out. They are definitely less expensive to run, but as this is my first grow with them, I've not done enough quality research to strongly recommend them. The plants look amazing and the LEDs don't run as hot as MH or HPS lights (though we put a few in as well, just to increase transpiration when they were smaller and for variety). They seem to use a LOT less electricity, so if they do what they say, I am very excited to be using them. So far, so awesome.
 

skunkd0c

Well-Known Member
I have seen so many new LED grow lights out there but only a few have caught my eye. I'm looking at Solar Storm, Black Dog LED and MKB Energy's HiOptiX LED.

all of these fixtures are so different and I guess I'm not sure what to look for in an LED grow light...

you should post this in the LED section to get more input
stay away from the purples blues/red,
go for the white/red or all white cool/warm whites
use a light thats using the latest genuine cree leds

peace
 

skunkd0c

Well-Known Member
He already did. In fact, he did it twice there. Then the Newbie section. Then the General section.

(Is he spamming for MKB?).
i don't know, he might be very eager or maybe he wants spoon feeding all the answers
possibly didn't get the answer he is looking for and is impatient too
 

growindo420

New Member
I do not work for any grow company, I am new to growing and I am new to forums in general so I didn't know where to post. I'm kinda a newbie sorry if I over posted.. Im building a 8 light set up right now and I really don't have past experience with LED's so was not sure what to look for. I just know that I will not be able to afford HPS on my electric bill:(
 

skunkd0c

Well-Known Member
I do not work for any grow company, I am new to growing and I am new to forums in general so I didn't know where to post. I'm kinda a newbie sorry if I over posted.. Im building a 8 light set up right now and I really don't have past experience with LED's so was not sure what to look for. I just know that I will not be able to afford HPS on my electric bill:(
folk here have had good results with these and the price of them doesn't seem too bad

http://a51led.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=65
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
I just know that I will not be able to afford HPS on my electric bill
In that case you'll want to consider the LEDs used in a fixture. Epistar/epiled are common and you'll need about 50w/sq ft. Produces about as much heat as a HID. However, these fixtures are inexpensive (Vipar-eBay, TopLED/MarsHydro).

The ones to be careful of are Kind, Lush, HydroGrowLED, Blackstar, GrowBlu, Blackdog, Cali Lightworks. But, they're expensive. And, they don't publish the LEDs they use. As hype-driven as these brands are, you have to wonder why they don't publish the LEDs they use. If it was anything to brag about, you know they'd hype that too. The silence can only mean they're not something to brag about.

@Smokenpassout said the last two are reputable. But, so are the others. They're reputable in terms of people having good grows. On that criteria, TopLED/Marshydro are reputable too. There are plenty of people running 50+w/sq ft who get good results. We still don't know what's in those expensive lights.

For the same money you can buy A51, Rapid/Onyx, Bonsai/Hans. They use Cree or Osram. You'll need about 35w/sq ft. Much less heat, which is less electricity cost for cooling your space. AdvancedLED appears to be good too. Not as informative as the others about their spectrum, but they use Cree.

Just be careful. Newbies to LED often get sucked into the expensive mystery lights which are believed to be little more than rebranded Chinese lights. If you have that kind of money, get one of the more transparent and efficient lights. If you're not prepared to spend that kind of money, try Vipar-eBay or MarsHydro. You should get something close to the mystery lights without the expense. (But, I think you'll find it's not better than HID.).
 

growindo420

New Member
Thank you for your input. I understand that HID has always been the way to go but with LED on the rise do you believe HID will last in this market???
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
Thank you for your input. I understand that HID has always been the way to go but with LED on the rise do you believe HID will last in this market???
It's a matter of time until LED is universally a better choice. DIYers believe the latest generation of COBs are there now -- and it's just a matter of time (months) until commercial COB fixtures become available that are "HID killers" (their words).

Right now LED does surpass HID in terms of efficiency. But, you have to weigh the initial investment. If you don't have high electrical costs, don't have heat issues, aren't cash cropping and trying to get more yield to sell while remaining below the radar in terms of heat signatures and exceptional electric usage... CMH is said to be a better value proposition in taller spaces, T5HO in shorter.

(In shorter spaces you can use Cree lightbulbs from home depot for relatively efficient LEDs at relatively reasonable cost. I think inexpensive Chinese imports which are 3w diodes on white backboard (not reflector) work ok in short spaces.).

Just be careful. If someone's charging $3-$4 per watt and won't publish even the brand of diodes they use, there's probably a reason for that which has to do with their profit margin, not them producing the best light for the money. If their marketing is slick (like the brands I mentioned), then you really have to wonder why they wouldn't play up the brand of diode they use if it was something they could hype. There's no reason an LED fixture can't compete on build quality, service, upgrade options, etc. They shouldn't have to keep diode brand and spectrum/ratio a secret because "the competition would kill for it." (If the "secret sauce" were that valuable, a competitor could simply buy a light and tear it apart to learn the secret.).
 
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Smokenpassout

Well-Known Member
I grow with LED but am far from handy enough to want to try constructing a panel. I personally use Kessil Led's and am pleased with the performance and quality of harvest, for small scale growing. The miniscule energy bills far outweigh the costs. HID still cant be beat for yield and larger scale growing.
 

Grow for fun only

Well-Known Member
Is the area51 led still available ?I see the lighthouse hydro LEDs now all made with white spectrum, and had talked with one led grow light company their spectrum layout Learn from area51. but they this spectrum was out of date now .
 

TheDifferenceX

Well-Known Member
I use 2 300watt bloomspect LEDS. Im sure they aren't the greatest but I run 2 autoflowers each run and yield 2-3 ounces total. I dont do anything in terms of top/lst/fim and only use tap water with calmag

Ive had them for about 18 months and they are still going strong
 

Kingrow1

Well-Known Member
The guy above was right, if you want to fanboy over leds and jump on hps as some hot electricity sapping redundant light you should stick to the led section as few of you have followed the educated conversation on the science of leds and hps weve been having in general for some time now.

Leds are ppfd frauds who overprice over market and make the same obviously wrong claims twice a year every year since the first ufos hit the market.

:-)
 
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