Whats the most important thing im looking for with my lighting choices ?

Rico2016

Active Member
Im looking to spend a little so Gavita or Luxx is okay to me ( or others too im open) but what am I most going to be looking at with my lights purchase? What are you guys recommending I look to and make the good decision? how important is the light specturms because i see charts and shit all the time. or should i be looking more at wattage? efficiency umol?

Thanks fellas
 

OSBuds

Well-Known Member
 

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
It honestly seems like the Chinese companies have the best lights atm. I am doing research now to find figure out which ones to buy. I’m looking for 10 fixtures. I got a good quote from Meijiu which would save me about 4K dollars. But I’m still thinking of buying local if can decide which light I want. I can the meiju fixtures for right around 600 per fixture. I got a quote from my local shop for a few different ones.

Loriflux 8 bar was 875 per fixture(and in stock)
Growers choice 680 was 799 per fixture
Luxx was 965 per fixture
10 bar mammoths 910 per fixture
Photon tek x600 875 per fixute
Gavita 1700 950 per fixture.

would rather buy from a shop if possible. I was hoping to find one similar with a lense maybe cause I keep seeing how you can’t really clean the conformal coating most companies are using.
 

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
We need a sticky thread with fixture info: diodes used, diode count. Par maps and all other available info for the fixture. I was gonna make a list myself but there are so many different brands it’s over whelming, plus it seems a lot of brands don’t just make the info readily available.
 

Alctrz8849

Well-Known Member
Im looking to spend a little so Gavita or Luxx is okay to me ( or others too im open) but what am I most going to be looking at with my lights purchase? What are you guys recommending I look to and make the good decision? how important is the light specturms because i see charts and shit all the time. or should i be looking more at wattage? efficiency umol?

Thanks fellas
I have a Spydr 2P by Fluence I am currently using that is top of the line! $1,400 though and dimmer is extra. I literally just got the below light today made by Medic Grow to see how it will compare to my Fluence light which is spectacular! I have really high hopes for this light below and it is half the price and comes with a dimmer instead of paying an extra $125 and wiring it in yourself like I had to with the Fluence! They also have a badass controller that is on backorder for another two weeks! It auto dims when temps are too high by your set parameters! Sun up and sun down features too.

It came well packaged too!
20210623_170127.jpg
20210623_170115.jpg

https://medicgrow.com/products/ez-8-led-grow-light
 

Alctrz8849

Well-Known Member
I have a Spydr 2P by Fluence I am currently using that is top of the line! $1,400 though and dimmer is extra. I literally just got the below light today made by Medic Grow to see how it will compare to my Fluence light which is spectacular! I have really high hopes for this light below and it is half the price and comes with a dimmer instead of paying an extra $125 and wiring it in yourself like I had to with the Fluence! They also have a badass controller that is on backorder for another two weeks! It auto dims when temps are too high by your set parameters! Sun up and sun down features too.

It came well packaged too!
View attachment 4929645
View attachment 4929646

https://medicgrow.com/products/ez-8-led-grow-light
They also have this one which is a little lower UMOLS but if you have the dimmer I like having the max PPFD available personally but I'm sure the fold feature is more critical to some!

https://medicgrow.com/products/fold-8-led-grow-light

And sorry to answer your question look for PPF which is the MFR highest measurement of light output from the light. PPFD is the amount of that light that falls on your plants. Over distance it dissipates and spreads out. UMOLS are a measurement to determine how efficient a light is at converting electrons into photons.

Stay away from wattage, it is a measurement of power needed to create light. Nothing to do with plants.

Lumens. Humans see lumens. It is the spectrum people see. Stay away from MFRs that show their stats in lumens especially!
 
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Scuzzman

Well-Known Member
dont forget forum sponsor Grow Lights Australia also has a great deal for this month- check out the specs dude nothing out there offering the info on there products and backup - cost effective option for a top end lights -

 

2klude

Well-Known Member
It honestly seems like the Chinese companies have the best lights atm. I am doing research now to find figure out which ones to buy. I’m looking for 10 fixtures. I got a good quote from Meijiu which would save me about 4K dollars. But I’m still thinking of buying local if can decide which light I want. I can the meiju fixtures for right around 600 per fixture. I got a quote from my local shop for a few different ones.

Loriflux 8 bar was 875 per fixture(and in stock)
Growers choice 680 was 799 per fixture
Luxx was 965 per fixture
10 bar mammoths 910 per fixture
Photon tek x600 875 per fixute
Gavita 1700 950 per fixture.

would rather buy from a shop if possible. I was hoping to find one similar with a lense maybe cause I keep seeing how you can’t really clean the conformal coating most companies are using.
I wasn't ready to swap out my flower room lights but decided to take the leap into LED's and swap out my entire veg room. After countless amounts of research and weighing in on the pros and cons I decided on the 8 bar 650w Meijiu. I'm very impressed with them and decided to buy 3 more. During this time the 2nd largest shipping port in the world was shut down due to covid and I got the bad news that my lights were going to be delayed a few weeks. During that time my friend placed an order for 3 lights. The rep I was dealing with said they would send me 3 lights express air, shipped for free and my friend could take the 3 sitting at the port delayed as he didn't need them right away. Literally covered the cost for express air shipment because of a port closure they had no control over.

The customer service at Meijiu has been exceptional and the lights are awesome, especially considering what I paid for them. Dealing with China was my biggest concern but these guys really value their customers IMO and are trying hard to grow their company. Theres no stock of these in north america but for the price I would order an extra light... by air you can get these in hand in 2-3 weeks if you needed it shipped from China.
 

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
I wasn't ready to swap out my flower room lights but decided to take the leap into LED's and swap out my entire veg room. After countless amounts of research and weighing in on the pros and cons I decided on the 8 bar 650w Meijiu. I'm very impressed with them and decided to buy 3 more. During this time the 2nd largest shipping port in the world was shut down due to covid and I got the bad news that my lights were going to be delayed a few weeks. During that time my friend placed an order for 3 lights. The rep I was dealing with said they would send me 3 lights express air, shipped for free and my friend could take the 3 sitting at the port delayed as he didn't need them right away. Literally covered the cost for express air shipment because of a port closure they had no control over.

The customer service at Meijiu has been exceptional and the lights are awesome, especially considering what I paid for them. Dealing with China was my biggest concern but these guys really value their customers IMO and are trying hard to grow their company. Theres no stock of these in north america but for the price I would order an extra light... by air you can get these in hand in 2-3 weeks if you needed it shipped from China.
I have heard nothing but good things about meiju, really wish they had a us based warehouse. Hell I have a garage they could use lol. Why just for veg? I would think those 650 are overkill for veg.

has anyone here every ran hps and led together. I’m thinking a 300 ish watt led fixture in between each de hps. Maybe one of those fixtures that are for greenhouses where the led chips are spaced real close together so I can get similar hang heights.
 

Alctrz8849

Well-Known Member
I have heard nothing but good things about meiju, really wish they had a us based warehouse. Hell I have a garage they could use lol. Why just for veg? I would think those 650 are overkill for veg.

has anyone here every ran hps and led together. I’m thinking a 300 ish watt led fixture in between each de hps. Maybe one of those fixtures that are for greenhouses where the led chips are spaced real close together so I can get similar hang heights.
Buying HID lights now will be like buying a gas car in 10 or 15 years.. the HID lights are outdated technology that is filling a very niche area right now. HID lighting isn't bad for plants, but all that heat, expensive bulbs, more energy, but to each their own. I get personal preference.

Although @MedicGrow is new to the industry, I highly encourage anyone to watch the info @OSBuds posted, great info in both! Osram is just killing it and is the industry leader, but Medic Grow is new as of last year and focused on building a reputation before they're worried about making a profit. The review above says it all, 20 minute video!
 

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
Buying HID lights now will be like buying a gas car in 10 or 15 years.. the HID lights are outdated technology that is filling a very niche area right now. HID lighting isn't bad for plants, but all that heat, expensive bulbs, more energy, but to each their own. I get personal preference.

Although @MedicGrow is new to the industry, I highly encourage anyone to watch the info @OSBuds posted, great info in both! Osram is just killing it and is the industry leader, but Medic Grow is new as of last year and focused on building a reputation before they're worried about making a profit. The review above says it all, 20 minute video!
I’ve already got the double ended hps, that’s what I’ve been running. Averaging 3 lbs per fixture, once I got 4, but haven’t been able to do that again yet. So I was thinking since I cover like a 6 ft wide area with the de which is stretching coverage I could just add leds between the lights I already have to make for more even coverage.

There are so many different led companies making those bar style fixtures it’s hard to choose one over the other. I even saw floraflex is releasing a new led light, no details yet. And then mammoth has one they are about to release that is brighter than the 10 bar they currently have.

one thing I don’t see mentioned much is how sticky the conformal coating is on most of these leds and that there is really no good way to clean them. I’m almost thinking a lens would be better even if there was a small amount of loss to it.
 

2klude

Well-Known Member
I have heard nothing but good things about meiju, really wish they had a us based warehouse. Hell I have a garage they could use lol. Why just for veg? I would think those 650 are overkill for veg.

has anyone here every ran hps and led together. I’m thinking a 300 ish watt led fixture in between each de hps. Maybe one of those fixtures that are for greenhouses where the led chips are spaced real close together so I can get similar hang heights.
Its overkill but I am hanging them a little higher, I can maintain anywhere from 300-700 par over a 6x6 space, and fixtures are fixed, I'm using the meijiu controller to adjust the par levels. When my other 3 come in, I will be using 6 fixtures to cover (3) 4x16 tables.
 

Alctrz8849

Well-Known Member
I’ve already got the double ended hps, that’s what I’ve been running. Averaging 3 lbs per fixture, once I got 4, but haven’t been able to do that again yet. So I was thinking since I cover like a 6 ft wide area with the de which is stretching coverage I could just add leds between the lights I already have to make for more even coverage.

There are so many different led companies making those bar style fixtures it’s hard to choose one over the other. I even saw floraflex is releasing a new led light, no details yet. And then mammoth has one they are about to release that is brighter than the 10 bar they currently have.

one thing I don’t see mentioned much is how sticky the conformal coating is on most of these leds and that there is really no good way to clean them. I’m almost thinking a lens would be better even if there was a small amount of loss to it.
I'm telling you, I work for a distributor for my day job and service a utility that still buys HID. We sell them but prices are going up on the old tech also means that the industry is dying and can't support itself for much longer. The only people and utilities still buying these are either for grows or because the initial investment to switch cost so much more. But when you add up sending a lineman to change light bulb at $75 an hour, it adds up quick and the extreme longevity and lower maintenance and operating cost is a better option, an LED with 50,000 hours of life for an equivalent price offsets the lower cost of HID. Same is true for us to a lesser extent of course. Medic Grow Fold is $655 and more than enough light for a 5x5. I challenge anyone to touch their specs for that price!

The EZ 8 is more light than you'll need and not much more money at all! Under $700!
 
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Apalchen

Well-Known Member
I'm telling you, I work for a distributor for my day job and service a utility that still buys HID. We sell them but prices are going up on the old tech also means that the industry is dying and can't support itself for much longer. The only people and utilities still buying these are either for grows or because the initial investment to switch cost so much more. But when you add up sending a lineman to change light bulb at $75 an hour, it adds up quick and the extreme longevity and lower maintenance and operating cost is a better option, an LED with 50,000 hours of life for an equivalent price offsets the lower cost of HID. Same is true for us to a lesser extent of course. Medic Grow Fold is under $600 and more than enough light for a 5x5. I challenge anyone to touch their specs for that price!

The EZ 8 is more light than you'll need and not much more money at all! Under $700!
I don’t know much about led chips, but I’ve been looking for fixtures with the 301b/h. I think the chips they use are 301z. Not sure how much difference that would be. I’m not sure what chips the ion 720, GC 720 or loriflux uses. I know a lot of people at my local store been snatching up the loriflux 8 blades and coming back for more with great reviews. But that could mostly be because the price is good and since we are in Michigan and they are local the supply is easier to get than some other fixtures.

As far as my barn lights go, I don’t think many street lights are double ended. And the yield from them is just easy to get. As far as electric use goes, I don’t much mind the cost to run them when they pumping out 3lb per light. The main reason I’m considering switching is air conditioning, the mini splits just have a hard time keeping up with the double ended lights. So it’s drop 10k on ac or buy leds.
 
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Apalchen

Well-Known Member
Anybody know how good the growers choice 680 is? I hate to buy what seems like last years light but the store I’m thinking of going to get a mini split at has them in stock for 675 per fixture.
 

Alctrz8849

Well-Known Member
Anybody know how good the growers choice 680 is? I hate to buy what seems like last years light but the store I’m thinking of going to get a mini split at has them in stock for 675 per fixture.
This light won't stay at this price once the company gains name recognition I believe. They started last summer and as a person who has made a career out of distribution, this company has their sights set on all the right benchmarks for success. I believe these lights will start going up once a few test grows make it around the internet, there are already stellar technical third party review @OSBuds posted on this thread. I'm telling you, check out the third party review!!! Steal of a deal for this light at $655!!
Screenshot_20210624-142506_Samsung Internet.jpg
 
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