Ok, well after running some numbers I may have been dead wrong.
Say for a commercial operation.
50 lights
ACDE complete setup 550 per
27,500 total light cost
COB 1,500 per
75,000 total cost of light
So lets say 1.5GPW.
So about 3LBS per light for both give or take.
150LBS of Medical Quality Bud in one grow.
If selling wholsale at say 2k a LB thats 300k a harvest.
Now I am not factoring in electricity here or c02 , but you get the idea.
So paying off COBS would not take long at an industrial level.
However, warehouses get really cold, so this is where it goes down hill.
In a warehouse you will for sure need to add heat for the COBS which isnt cheap, with DE you must cool them, which also isnt cheap.
You will always have fans and airflow regardless of what setup, so thats not a factor.
Regardless of winter or summer warehouses are cold.
In the summer you will still need heat for COBS and AC for DE, in the winter you will need a heat for COBS even more, but DE you will need less AC.
So the conclusion is that DE and COBS are on the same level basically.
They cost more for the same job and even though they dont require AC, they do need heat.
So case proven in theory, commercial COBS are a waste of money over DE.
Again, prove me wrong, but I have mates who operate warehouses and they are cold as hell in the winter if he was not running DE as well as much less AC in the winter and the summer uses AC, but ROI is just not there for COBS.
I grow LED and enjoy it, but will be moving to ACDE HOODS.
Growers could cut costs on the fixtures by going non ACDE.
From the numbers and experience COBS are just more expensive for commercial. Smaller grows they work well, but price is just not justified.
Again, I am not biased on DE or LED or anything else. Just facts.