Led grow

[outofthecloset]

i have been looking for some information between led in the 300 watt (at wall-kill a watt) range commercially made vs. diy fixtures. I am pretty skilled in tech. building so the fabrication is not an issue if building is the best solution. Is there a led fixture made that can compete with top of the line diy led / COB builds? i know this question has been asked but i have not found any real conclusive info on the very best. i respect the members here so i wanted to air this before wasting $1400. All my experience is with mh hsp lighting. I appreciate any feedback.

 

[RockinRobot]

i have been looking for some information between led in the 300 watt (at wall-kill a watt) range commercially made vs. diy fixtures. I am pretty skilled in tech. building so the fabrication is not an issue if building is the best solution. Is there a led fixture made that can compete with top of the line diy led / COB builds? i know this question has been asked but i have not found any real conclusive info on the very best. i respect the members here so i wanted to air this before wasting $1400. All my experience is with mh hsp lighting. I appreciate any feedback.

There are good commercial units but IMO they are all way overpriced.

If you have the technical ability for DIY then you can build a great fixture at 1/4 the cost of a commercial fixture if not less. Shop carefully for drivers. I found a wide difference in prices for the same driver all over the place.

IMO most commercial fixtures are way overpriced.

 

[outofthecloset]

thanks for the reply rockin. i think where i am stuck is between, the diy ers look to be farther advanced with light spectrum then commercially. unless i am missing them, i do not see much other then blue and red ranges commercially. in the diy world it is white with lots of talk about green spectrum and larger COB units. i enjoy building things. If i did not factor the money spent either on a fixture or parts, what would be the best? I have been pricing the components needed to make a quality fixture. I figure it would cost me roughly about 2/3 to build what a high priced fixture cost. i used Kind as my high priced bench mark (and possibly my light ?). So what are the best Led fixtures out there? What are the best components? I will document the build or grow depending. Thanks in advance.

 

[mommyhen42]

Suggestions - How many watts led do I need?

Suggestions - How many watts led do I need?

I am setting up an 4' x 10' flowering area inside an outbuilding. I plan on running 3 plants at a time in there and figure that I need 1 light per plant, so I am planning on 3 lights for that room.

My question is with LED lighting, how many watts per light should I be considering?

I have seen good prices on 300 w full spectrum, but dont know if that is enought light or if I should be looking at 800 w lights instead.

Any suggestions?

My husband has the medical card, but I run the grow for him as he is unable.

We have hot summers here, so I dont want to run hps, plus we are both disabled and on a fixed income.

 

[outofthecloset]

momma, the watt per square foot most use is 30 watts per square foot of canopy. Your garden will be 4' x 10' = 40 sqft. with that size you would need 1200 watts of led light. a couple things to keep in mind when looking at factory made led fixtures.
they never run these at full power, the 300 watt just as an example pulls roughly 130 watts at the outlet. The 300 watt they refer to is the total of all then leds if used at full power. the foot print of your garden does sound fairly large for 3 plants. i myself like the large plants or trees but this size of the plant is in your control. maybe think about tuning the size of the plants down. 3 plants could fit in less then half that space which means you only need half the watts. there is alot of info on growing with led's. i would hate to see you waste your money on a fixture that will not give your the results your husband needs. i myself am looking to build a fixture to handle my needs. there is a world of difference between a cheap ebay led light and a high performance light being offered to the horticulture industry. in my search i found only a few top leds fixture manufactures which i would consider. the way i am looking at this is for a dollar per listed watt you get lowest quality. i am looking at 4 to 5 dollars per watt as my bench mark in comparison to what i can buy vs. build. i am looking for quality. read up before making a purchase.

 

[ReikoX]

If you are comfortable with the DIY COBs then I would go that route. It gives you more options and you can get exactly what you want. However there is a steep learning curve to design your own light.

I have used comercial units (Blackstar Chrome), COBs (Vero 13), and off the shelf LED lighting all in a micro grow. So far the COBs are the best value, while the comercial unit was the easiest to use.

 

[Phaeton]

I just finished a side by side bud room LED comparison.

Black Dog 400 watt, they come in 200, 400, 600, or 800.
Advanced XTE 335 watt, which is the largest available, they have four models going down to 80 watts.
ILS 144 PRO 300 watt, this is a passive cooled bar without the intensity for budding, more of a high power T5 replacement, also available in 2' models at 150 watts.
Hydrogrow 168X2 315 watt, a fan cooled bar.
Platimum P600 345 watt, they are offed from 87 watts to 690 watts.

The black Dogs are in the bud room with the ILS as side lights. They were the clear winners in this group.
The Black Dogs imitate the sun and are high intensity, The ILS have complete customize controls for both intensity and spectrum and a separate Far Red system for twilight after the rest of the lights are off.
Any strain can be dialed in with this setup.

All the LEDs tested were usable, units with missing or bad specs were not purchased.

The Platinums have a wide footprint and a strong red spectrum that is driven at a higher level than most requiring more distance from the plants.
The XTEs have a narrow focus with high intensity and must be kept far away to avoid bleaching.
The Hydrogrow also have a narrow focus but are less intense and although the spectrum is good it does not cover the whole plant.

Hanging them all together at different heights made a very nice row for vegging.

All these lights ran from $2 through $4 per watt. I tried two brands under a dollar per watt and they would not grow marijuana, period.

Home made could be less expensive if the builder is not charging for his time. And better if the builder understands plant biology and lighting well enough to blend the proper spectrum and footprint for the exact plant being grown.
Mass produced units are a compromise by definition.

 

[outofthecloset]

thanks reiko, pretty comfortable with the build, just want to be sure it is possible to out perform the top of the line fixtures. i am planning on roughly 400watts of true led. thinking about 8 cree cxb3590. maybe 6-3500k & 2- 5000k's. depending on availability.

nice comparison phaeton. was looking at the black dog's along with the bml 1200 spider. good info. thanks