I can't really be messing around with Cooltubes and all the fancy ventilation where I live. I'd like to give the LED's a shot since I've seen a couple grows on here now and they seem to do pretty darn good for the veg state. I just hope some LED users can help answer my original question about the unit I'm thinking of getting.
I own the 90w 2009 LightHouse Hydr 90w LED Grow Light and have just ordered a 2010 model. I think they are best in there class and have gotten good veg. results thus far.
Lumens are not everything and is based on how well a human eyeball can detect light, not how well a plant can use the light to grow. To plants, certain wavelengths are more useful than others for growth. That's why LED grow light manufactures try to blend different color LEDs to get a complex spectrum. The 2010 model gets closer to the spectrum of pure sunlight better than other LED lights through LED blending. The 2009 model has just two colors, red and blue, but the two colors were picked because they are the peaks of photosynthesis action spectrum. It is unknown which light will do better for growth and Gotham Hydro is currently testing the lights on tomato growth.
Here's a quote from an e-mail from Gotham Hydro who distributes the LightHouse Hydro lights describing the advantages of the 2010 model and:
"Well lumens/watt is one thing, the other is lumens/wavelength. At the
moment, pound for pound or lumen for lumen, it is easier to get more red
than blue lumens out of an LED. Now we find that evolutions in the white HO
LED actually produce more blue than blue LED's. The action spectrum is an
study on the rate of photosynthesis (measured by O2 production) when
exposed to particular wavelengths. Thus it is very accurate. The rate i \s
influenced by the active usable wavelengths of chlorophyll (there are 3
actually) as well as the absorption spectrum (i.e. reflectivity) of plants
as well. Needless to say it is an important graph. Matching it may or may
not be important but it is very useful in determining the "efficiency" of a
light or artificial light.
That said, for years many have known that "Blue" wavelengths promote veg
stages and "reds" are more important for flowering, although I am egar to
see how with the introduction of LED's those "colors" can be tweaked to
possibly increase yield under artificial light. I would love to have about
50 of these lights and 50 identical clones and have at it for a year or so.
We are testing tomatoes now in the UV vs. HO White now, I will let you know
the results in about 90 days."
Here's another quote describing the 2010 light and speculating on how to use both the 2009 and 2010 model lights:
"Now to answer your question. It [2010 model] matches the action spectrum almost
PERFECTLY. At least it matches the blue and red peaks in the same ratio
(about 50%/50%. Hence the ratio of HO white vs red. The whites actually put
out more blue than blue LED's do, hence the switch to white HO LED's. There
is an excess of light in the blue to orange wavelengths. The main purpose
of the HO whites are for the Blue (100% efficient) it contributes also to
the mid-range 500nm-600nm (20% efficiency) as well as the red (76%
Efficiency).
Breakdown is as follows (Usable Lumens per LED): Efficiency had been
calculated for.
White Cree HO Warm: Blue 22 Lumens, Middle 20 lumens, Red 8 Lumens
White Cree HO Cool: Blue 33 Lumens, Middle 13 lumens, Red 5 Lumens
Cree 660nm: Blue 0 Lumens, Middle 0 Lumens, Red 18 Lumens
Cree 630nm: Blue 0 Lumens, Middle 0 Lumens, Red 30 Lumens
From there is it math. Compared with a standard Gro Pro UFO Blue/Red Model
Bridgelux Blue 460nm: Blue 10 Lumens, Middle 0 Lumens, Red 0 Lumens
Bridgelux Red 660nm: Blue 0 Lumens, Middle 0 Lumens, Red 8 Lumens
Now compared with the Lighthouse UV [2009 model]
Cree 660nm: Blue 0 Lumens, Middle 0 Lumens, Red 18 Lumens
Cree 425nm: Blue 15 Lumens, Middle 0 Lumens, Red 0 Lumens
So there is the numbers.
Keep in mind that the coverage on this new one. Id not quite as good as the
UV model. You want to cover no more than 4sqft with this white HO in SOG or
ScrOG growing method.
So.. these new HO are awesome for Veg and Cloning as they have way more
Blue than anything else. UV is nice for Late Veg / Early Flower and then
the last 2 weeks I would hit the plants with the HO again. I am curious to
see if the intensity of the HO will do more for yield than the Red of the
UV."
Note that Lumens are broken down to Blue, Middle, and Red and are not a good description of the full spectrum of the light. Having more high output (HO) white LEDs will certainly boost boost eyeball lumens, but the effects on growth are not known and are currently under study. My guess is that the 2010 light will out perform the 2009 overall and is the best UFO style 90w light available at the present time!
Oh yeah, I don't think the IR and UV light put out by the LightHouse Hydro LED grow lights is not harmful to people and much appreciated by the plants! On the other hand, I think the unfiltered spectrum of a HP or MH light can be detrimental if given enough exposure...
-ThaiBoy
and best of luck....
