LED Grow lights - success??

1st grow & I love the idea of using LED grow lights - no electricity or heat issues -

I am just building out my room. Currently I have 1 - 4' ft florescent light box over the seeds, I bought 2- 240 watt LED lights & 1 90 watt LED for Veg & bloom - Anyone have success with a similar setup? Any room for improvements? I have 12 plants & 12 clones with a DWC system -

Thanks

sounds like a great start. i love led's. the more powerful the better. don't let anyone tell you they don't produce because they absolutely do

And dont let any one tell you that they out produce hids.....

a good led panel will put out more par for half the power. it's not about producing more it's about producing an equal amout for less cost.

Strange topic - People tend to have VERY strong beliefs about this - Hard to find an objective opinion - people are either pro or con, no in-between. Seems like people that have grown for a while and have been successful w/ conventional lights are unwilling to change w/ technology -
I could be wrong - I am just hoping someone that has used both can provide there opinion - perhaps a 400 watt HPS & a 240 watt LED together may work best - Please let me know -

Thanks

I'm fairly objective about it. I use to use 2x400w HPS plus CFL sides (probabaly 300w total). I effectively replaced them with 600w of LED output broken up into four different panels (1 per plant). No drop in yield, big drop in power consumption and zero heat management issues. If you're a small(ish) operation and don't want to deal with high speed vents for cool tubes look into LEDs but do a lot of research before you buy. If you're lights are under a 3 year warranty you'll recoup the initial investment over 2 years easily with the money you'll save on power and the cost of replacing HID bulbs.

cassius1 said:

Strange topic - People tend to have VERY strong beliefs about this - Hard to find an objective opinion - people are either pro or con, no in-between. Seems like people that have grown for a while and have been successful w/ conventional lights are unwilling to change w/ technology -
I could be wrong - I am just hoping someone that has used both can provide there opinion - perhaps a 400 watt HPS & a 240 watt LED together may work best - Please let me know -

Thanks

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i think you are right about people being ether Pro or con and nohting inbetween, HOWEVER i do not agree that people are unwilling to change with technology........ The way i see it we are consistantly changing as tech. advances.... EX. we had records, then tapes then cds then Ipods....... we had pagers then cell phones now smart phones......We had magnetic ballast now people are using digital.... So for me the reason i dont use LEDS is NOT because im unwilling to change its because i feel they dont do what they promise... Have you ever talk to a LED salesman?? they will tell you that you can replace your 1000w light with an LED and simply be done and get the same results.....and we all know one Led is not going to replace my 1000w light thats silly talk...... Once LEDS improve so much that we have no reason not to switch then i will switch just like i went from tapes to cds to ipods.....

I didnt switch to cds because i thought they were better i switched because they were PROVEN BETTER........Thats the difference, having an opinion about something being better is not the same as it really being better as a PROVEN fact...... FACT, cds are better then records... FACT ipod is better then CD, but its not a fact that LEDS are better then HID lights.......

So once LEDS tech. advances over HID lights then i will switch just like i switched from cd to ipod and magnetic to digital.....

Led users like to tell excusses for why more people dont use them stating things like its the cost that keeps people from buying them or its the industry that tells people there no good etc etc there all excusses the truth is if LEDS were really as good as Led users claim then they would have cought on by now leds been around for a decade already and any new advances that have been around for a decade would have taken over if it was really better.......

did it take cds a decade to catch on ?? or ipods?? or cell phones?? ok maybe cell phones but really come on now.....look at it logical here... 10 years and still no LEDS in hydro stores?? what does that tell you?? and dont tell me its the industry that is against leds cause i work at a hydro store and the owner dosent not stock them because hes spreading propeganda, he dosent carry them because no one buys them.......lol

we do use LEDS for clones at the club and they work GREAT! they also make a pretty light

plus ive heard rumors that the diods go bad after awhile which would be an issue for me espically if you cant change the diods yourself or have to send the panel back.....is this true? does anyone know if this rumor is correct?

As far as replacing the diodes it varies. Some new leds replacing the diodes are not an issue.

Mindmelted said:

And dont let any one tell you that they out produce hids.....

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don't listen to haters like ^this^ who have never used LED lights.

I'm in the middle on this one I use both...I veg under them and I use a floros to start seeds...I use them all for different things...I love to test things and see what works for me...just my 2 pennies

Icannabis said:

I'm in the middle on this one I use both...I veg under them and I use a floros to start seeds...I use them all for different things...I love to test things and see what works for me...just my 2 pennies

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Hi mate, how's your grow with leds in comparison to hid?

FootClan said:

plus ive heard rumors that the diods go bad after awhile which would be an issue for me espically if you cant change the diods yourself or have to send the panel back.....is this true? does anyone know if this rumor is correct?

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That is going to depend on which brand your diodes are and if you bought a light that is from a US company. CREE didoes are well tested and will go the distance advertised by the manufacterer. If it is a no name good luck. Orsam, Bridgelux, Xenlex, and Epistar are also excellent diodes. Changing them will depend on if they are wired in a serial circuit (makes it easier if they are not). I had some shitty Chinese one's that blew rather quickly. My Cree lights are going on two years now - no issues and little to no output deterioration.

Well I discovered alot about growing using leds...water consumption is different nutrient uptake is different in flower anyway...no one listens they beat you over the head with it can't out yield a HPS or MH or the companies lie to you and it becomes a compare every detail of the light and par and then lumens...then spectrum...blah blah blah...a few years back I had a 3 watt per led panel constructed out of china with the cree leds/diodes in it...it was like 990watts...it yielded about the same as a 1000w hid...but it got pretty warm but nothing like the hid...this was new back then and I think they got it figured out now...I used and returned it to the owner and that's that's...I used to use 3 ufo the old 1 watter 5 specs for veg...I never had a problem with them...I still believe they cut a week off my veg times...anyway Im ranting...good growing