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LED Grow Results: Grams per Watt

H

Herborizer

Active member
Veteran
My room isn't dialed. I also run 6 plants total, 6 strains, 4x4 table, 600w hps, with a magnum xxxl hood. Last round I got 571g. That is nearly 1gpw. 3 of my strains grow small, 3 of them fairly large. All scrog.

I follow these led threads because I hope one day this technology will be my future garden light. My biggest issue today is that I feel that led lights are working for people with small footprint grows. I have yet to even see a 600w led that will provide the same 4x4 coverage that my magnum xxxl hood and 600w hps provides.

Another thing to consider here is that for the cost of LEDs, that we should be seeing 2-3gpw results to even come close to the manufactures claims. Though, we are still just hoping that LEDs can even match hps in a watt for watt comparison. Not good.
 
F

FreedomGrower

Active member
Veteran
That's one problem never look at the manufactures claims :) they are trying to sell you something right? Think used car salesman and vagueness

Only the HIGH bin quality LEDS are going to do well ... some are already getting 2gpw way higher than HPS.

LEDS do cost allot but last longer than a hps bulb by 15X they are not for everyone just like solar tech; But will pay off for some; lower pge and cooling costs.

I have just set up my custom 200 watt 660nm red led array (18,000lm) )(1k in parts) with a 1kw mh in a test room after seeing a friend get a gpw with a higher quality Chinese LED array.

I'm not switching 100% over to leds I'm just trying to make my rooms more efficient ...

I will make decisions to spend $ based off this test room (will cost me 6-10k just to hybridize my main room )
 
GP73LPC

GP73LPC

Strain Collector/Seed Junkie/Landrace Accumulator/
Veteran
FreedomGrower said:
I have just set up my custom 200 watt 660nm red led array (18,000lm) )(1k in parts) with a 1kw mh in a test room after seeing a friend get a gpw with a higher quality Chinese LED array.

I'm not switching 100% over to leds I'm just trying to make my rooms more efficient ...

I will make decisions to spend $ based off this test room (will cost me 6-10k just to hybridize my main room )
Click to expand...

gotta thread?
 
4

420ish

Active member
the cheap ebay ufos suck.the blackstar180 is much better even though it only draws around 74 watts actual.i have the round blackstar180,it looks like the newer ones are rectangle.
 
S

Shafto

Active member
GP73LPC said:
thanks Milhouse,
to me, LED's are the way to go
- no heat
- longer life
- very efficient (no unused spectrums)
- about half the wattage needed per sq ft (as compared to HID)

startup costs is the con. but prices should come down over time...
Click to expand...

Cool thread, I love LEDs, work with them every day. I would like to point out though, that they do indeed make heat, a similar amount to an HPS. Seems to be a common misconception around LEDs. The most efficient blue LEDs are still only converting about 30% of the power going in photometric power, the rest goes to heat. Red LEDs are far less efficient.

The difference is that with LEDs the heat is conducted out the rear and with HPS it's mostly emitted as radiated heat.

Photometric power can also cause heat, just like a laser, especially blue wavelengths. Too much blue won't reflect back off a green leaf, much will absorb and turn to heat on the leaf's surface, which isn't good.

LEDs are amazing, but I think about 0.01% of people using them actually understand them.
 
GP73LPC

GP73LPC

Strain Collector/Seed Junkie/Landrace Accumulator/
Veteran
Shafto said:
Cool thread, I love LEDs, work with them every day. I would like to point out though, that they do indeed make heat, a similar amount to an HPS. Seems to be a common misconception around LEDs. The most efficient blue LEDs are still only converting about 30% of the power going in photometric power, the rest goes to heat. Red LEDs are far less efficient.

The difference is that with LEDs the heat is conducted out the rear and with HPS it's mostly emitted as radiated heat.

Photometric power can also cause heat, just like a laser, especially blue wavelengths. Too much blue won't reflect back off a green leaf, much will absorb and turn to heat on the leaf's surface, which isn't good.

LEDs are amazing, but I think about 0.01% of people using them actually understand them.
Click to expand...

thanks for joining the discussion and adding that information for us. and yes, they do produce some heat. however with that said, i can touch my hand anywhere on my LED array and hold it there with just the slightest warmth. not enough heat to hurt my hand or my plants.

however i really can only speak for my LED array. my LEDs are more widely spaced than some others i have seen...

i did just go check mine to see if blue was warmier than red. it is !!! thanks shafto...
 
Addicted2Grow

Addicted2Grow

Member
spunion said:
Wow, kinda makes me rethink the use of HID or HO (PL-L isn't HO right?).


Did you grow before using LED? What kind of gpw were you getting before?
Click to expand...


Hi,

0,45-0,55g/w with HPS.. counting on a 600w using 600w.. the actuall draw 640w..

Soil, 16 plants under each 600w..

So I have about dubbel my yeild since I start using LED..
 
S

sm0k4

Shafto said:
Cool thread, I love LEDs, work with them every day. I would like to point out though, that they do indeed make heat, a similar amount to an HPS. Seems to be a common misconception around LEDs. The most efficient blue LEDs are still only converting about 30% of the power going in photometric power, the rest goes to heat. Red LEDs are far less efficient.

The difference is that with LEDs the heat is conducted out the rear and with HPS it's mostly emitted as radiated heat.

Photometric power can also cause heat, just like a laser, especially blue wavelengths. Too much blue won't reflect back off a green leaf, much will absorb and turn to heat on the leaf's surface, which isn't good.

LEDs are amazing, but I think about 0.01% of people using them actually understand them.
Click to expand...

Yes, I wish people knew more about LEDs, but that will never be the case.

Heat is a non-issue with LED growing provided you have decent thermal transfer and ventilation. If your heat sink is too hot to touch, you will have issues. The fact they do not radiate heat is a beneficial trait so that you can use wide lense angles closer to the plants for very effective intracanopy lighting. 1W LEDs of course for maximum efficiency and less heat.

I love LEDs and their incorporation to my garden. They provide side lighting where my HPS doesn't get to very well. Being that you can mount them to any aluminum surface, it allows for endless configurations. I have a couple DIY LED arrays in my cabinet to supplement my HPS and the buds are better all around. I get a more complete spectra as well as light hitting the plants where HPS doesn't. They can be mounted anywhere without risk of burning leaves.

Buying an overhead LED lamp as the only light source is probably not going to live up to the hype. You need a lot of LEDs to equal a 1000W HPS, about 850-900W worth. Still a big misconception with LEDs that will probably never go away is that you get the same output as HID for half the wattage. Simply false on every level.
 
GP73LPC

GP73LPC

Strain Collector/Seed Junkie/Landrace Accumulator/
Veteran
sm0k4 said:
Yes, I wish people knew more about LEDs, but that will never be the case.

Heat is a non-issue with LED growing provided you have decent thermal transfer and ventilation. If your heat sink is too hot to touch, you will have issues. The fact they do not radiate heat is a beneficial trait so that you can use wide lense angles closer to the plants for very effective intracanopy lighting. 1W LEDs of course for maximum efficiency and less heat.

I love LEDs and their incorporation to my garden. They provide side lighting where my HPS doesn't get to very well. Being that you can mount them to any aluminum surface, it allows for endless configurations. I have a couple DIY LED arrays in my cabinet to supplement my HPS and the buds are better all around. I get a more complete spectra as well as light hitting the plants where HPS doesn't. They can be mounted anywhere without risk of burning leaves.

Buying an overhead LED lamp as the only light source is probably not going to live up to the hype. You need a lot of LEDs to equal a 1000W HPS, about 850-900W worth. Still a big misconception with LEDs that will probably never go away is that you get the same output as HID for half the wattage. Simply false on every level.
Click to expand...

maybe not half, but close to half. at least on the grows I have seen and those that compared HPS to LED side by side...

over head LED's can be the answer... here's a pic from stra8outtaweed's LED GROW SHOW on another forum...

mighty tasty looking for LED's... almost everything growing in this pic is under 3 150 watt LED arrays. 600 watts looks damn respectable :respect:

picture.php
 
B

bonsai

Member
#1cheesebuds: if your room is 93* you need more air transfer. 3 fans blowing hot air around will only dry out your plants, not reduce temps.
 
F

FreedomGrower

Active member
Veteran
Can't wait to see how my hybrid systems finish... especially seeing all these fat led buds ...

attachment.php


150 watt of osram red overhead; with hps mh uvb cfls giving ambient light from the sides for full spectrum
 
GP73LPC

GP73LPC

Strain Collector/Seed Junkie/Landrace Accumulator/
Veteran
FreedomGrower, please explain your hybrid system...
 
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