205w LED vs 400w HID Let the battle begin!

[killerweed31]

hey blaze...looks so beautiful bro, congrats for your grow , i have a question...how is the different when you touch the bud?? the flower in HID side is more hard or just the same at led side?
thanks for reply bro, your thread is incredible good for grower like me want no or try different style, this can help me in the next future for sure, great +++ for your job bro blazeoneup!!

 

[Piffsburgh]

Great thread blaze!
And after reading through the entire thread, I'm going to have to give props to ledgirl too. Just seems like a smart move, bringing an innovative new product to a dynamic market place.

Blazing one for you two!

 

[Chomas]

Looks like the LED is not going to produce the plump buds you would want. Thanks a lot for the journal bro, it helps out quite a bit. Looks like I will use LEDs for veg and mothers, then switch to my HPS for flowering.

 

[blazeoneup]

hey blaze...looks so beautiful bro, congrats for your grow , i have a question...how is the different when you touch the bud?? the flower in HID side is more hard or just the same at led side?
thanks for reply bro, your thread is incredible good for grower like me want no or try different style, this can help me in the next future for sure, great +++ for your job bro blazeoneup!!

It's very close man, Both sides are rock hard, The HID nugs just seem thicker and larger is all. However in the past week the LEDs seem to be thickening a bit....

I'll get some pics up soon, I'm gonna post one last update here this weekend and then I wont be posting again until harvest around the 15th or 20th of this month.

 

[killerweed31]

i can't wait for harvest day mate !!
sure i'll be watching!!

 

[BORNaSMOKER]

can't wait to see how this turn's out!

 

[GrnMtnGrwr]

It seems like everyone is looking for different things in this side by side... I can't wait to see gpw vs gpw. I'm thinking LED will be 75-125% more.

Looking great blazeoneup, thanks again!

 

[habeeb]

am I getting this correct?

24 watts a square foot for LED?

 

[blazeoneup]

am I getting this correct?

24 watts a square foot for LED?

Yeah thats correct, I am running the 400w mh which equals around 47wpsf, Which is around the normal 50wpsf HID that I run, If this light is comparable then it should perform equally as well with the same space I am using for the HID. I guess I could have smashed them in tighter and kept them inside the 30"x30" reccomendation but I am not a scrog/sog grower more of bush grower.

To answer the question though the LED side is getting around 24wpsf and the HID side 47wpsf.

My thinking is this, If this light is supposed to be the equivilent of a 400w HID then it should perform well in the same square footage that the 400w uses. If it doesnt perform equally as good with less wspf then its not equal imho, I grow bushes so I figured I'd bush em up looks pretty good for the LEDS at 20+ wpsf short of the HID they are still producing decent nugs little smaller but close, I'm interested in the final weight more then anything else. Looks like its gonna be pretty close in the end.

I do as of now firmly believe LEDS work and work pretty well, Taking everything into consideration, I am fairly sure a 345w LED light will outperform the 400w using less power. As far as gpw goes I am also fairly sure the LED is gonna win that battle in this comparison.

Who knows only time will tell couple weeks and harvest will come. I took a cola comparison shot tonight, Thought I'd share it...

HID


LED

 

[SumDumGuy]

This has been an excellent side by side and I have to admit that the LED has actually caught up!!

 

[blazeoneup]

This has been an excellent side by side and I have to admit that the LED has actually caught up!!

It's deffinantly a lot closer then I initially expected prior to signing up for the test light.

Which means it's not looking good for the HID in the gpw department though the HID appears to be a little more overall weight, It's not no qp or half lb difference, Which makes it clear the LED will have the higher gpw average.

 

[danimarie193]

I have to say blaze that you have changed my mind about led lights. Now the price needs to come down some.

 

[Dorje113]

I'm guessing GPW will be close. The pics on 6/21 show the HPS in the lead by quite a bit. I think a HPS/Blue LED combination might be the way to go. I'll prolly build one in the next 6 mo. or so, something that can be added to a 1kW HPS that is compact and doesn't add too much heat for the extra blue output.

Also, keep in mind a modern HPS setup might do a little better... but not by too much.

Great comparison though, I am really enjoying it.

 

[habeeb]

I might be very rusty ( been out of growing for like 3 months now ) but doesn't a ballast use energy also? so considering that and that the LED once plugged in pulls less then stated... keep that in mind

well, blaze, I think your test is the best up to date test we've seen..

on a side note, I would like LED girl to start doing more test with color combination's and led's as I know the new cree white led is out, and I am sure others too, which I hear a new red to kick all reds is out but will come down in a 5 months.. just a thought as it would be nice to see 10 different panels being tested, as we really can't advance without testing.. I know knna uses completely different leds to produce, and I believe they were using some yellows / greens? just know, were nowhere near done with led testing, and there needs to be movement if we want to advance in best growing out plant for the least possible watt

 

[EmpireSeeds]

The pics on 6/21 show the HPS in the lead by quite a bit.

BlazeOneUp, I'm curious...You refer to the HID side only as such (Not HPS or MH). The light projected from the HID appears to be MH (white glow opposed to the reddish/orange of HPS).

to you for your Dedication and Discipline to Properly and Effectively see this experiment through

Excellent work, K+

for your non-biased, devoted efforts for the greater good of the community!!

Keep IT Up Blaze!!

-Capt Dutch

 

[GrnMtnGrwr]

HID ballasts use ~20% more power than their advertised wattage. HGL's lights use ~10% less than their advertised wattage, making it around 480w vs 180w. I am very anxious to see the results.

 

[AOD2012]

looking sweet brotha. led is definitely looking good, the fact that it draws so much less power really is a plus. nice job blaze.

 

[hazy]

Yeah thats correct, I am running the 400w mh which equals around 47wpsf, Which is around the normal 50wpsf HID that I run, If this light is comparable then it should perform equally as well with the same space I am using for the HID. I guess I could have smashed them in tighter and kept them inside the 30"x30" reccomendation but I am not a scrog/sog grower more of bush grower.

To answer the question though the LED side is getting around 24wpsf and the HID side 47wpsf.

My thinking is this, If this light is supposed to be the equivilent of a 400w HID then it should perform well in the same square footage that the 400w uses. If it doesnt perform equally as good with less wspf then its not equal imho, I grow bushes so I figured I'd bush em up looks pretty good for the LEDS at 20+ wpsf short of the HID they are still producing decent nugs little smaller but close, I'm interested in the final weight more then anything else. Looks like its gonna be pretty close in the end.

I do as of now firmly believe LEDS work and work pretty well, Taking everything into consideration, I am fairly sure a 345w LED light will outperform the 400w using less power. As far as gpw goes I am also fairly sure the LED is gonna win that battle in this comparison.

Who knows only time will tell couple weeks and harvest will come. I took a cola comparison shot tonight, Thought I'd share it...

HID


LED

That light footprint thing is really the bane of LEDs right now. My 345 and 205 might out do my 400. BUT..... the spaces are about 2' by 5'. The leds can't cover much more, but the 400 can cover twice the space if I had it. Growing of course twice the nugs? I'm going to do a run soon with just a 345 led in the space the 400 is in now. That will tell how good it does in a wider than it's footprint space.

Good comparison grow and thread Blaze.

 

[LEDGirl]

That light footprint thing is really the bane of LEDs right now. My 345 and 205 might out do my 400. BUT..... the spaces are about 2' by 5'. The leds can't cover much more, but the 400 can cover twice the space if I had it. Growing of course twice the nugs? I'm going to do a run soon with just a 345 led in the space the 400 is in now. That will tell how good it does in a wider than it's footprint space.

Hazy, our 345W covers a 3x3 area at 12" above your plants. That's 9 square feet using only 290W of actual power. If you ran a 400W HPS in that space you'd be at 44.44W per square foot of bulb wattage (not actual power draw). If you went any bigger than that, you would only diminish the results from your 400W, and spread smaller buds out over a larger area. So do you want more smaller buds in a larger space, or bigger buds in less space that come out to the same yield in the end? After all, you can only get so much yield out of one light, regardless of the area you grow with it. If we're talking about maximizing the efficiency of indoor gardening, then the goal is to get as much yield per square foot as possible, not to max out each light and try and get a lot of popcorn in a huge area. If you truly did double the space of your 400W like you say to 4' x 5', that would be 20 square feet! That's only 20W per square foot with your HID, which is NOWHERE near enough for quality results. We all know that. I think a lot of you HID guys are drastically out-stating the coverage area of HID's in relation to LED for some odd reason or another, as I have seen no one use a 400W in a space that large, they usually use a 1000W, giving them roughly 50W per square foot. A 400W light is best used in a 3x3 area, there is no denying that. Sure you can go bigger, but you reduce light intensity at the same time, spreading it out over more area, which also reduces bud size and shape.

What it comes down to is that Watt for Watt, LED's will give you larger coverage areas with better results. Your 480W HPS would equate to roughly 3 x 205W LED's, with a 30x30 coverage area for each. So that's 30"x90", or almost 20 square feet. Good luck getting your 400W HID to cover that with the same results. I already know that you know it won't happen.

 

[Strapped]

Say what you will about LEDGirl; she knows her shit and I really wouldn't want to piss her off

I know exactly where I'll be getting my LED lights from, that's for sure. HGL has done the research, and this thread is proof positive. Half the wattage, same results, no heat. A must have for any cab grower imo.