Going from HPS to LED. Worth it?

[ttystikk]

Why do you say that?

Just a reference to police violence in the headlines these days.

 

[Lockedin]

what led lights do they use on the international space station, thats what i want to try growing with. them some super leds

Not from the space station - studio lights though.
Hard to find more even lighting, Arri's been doing it for a very long time. Dimmers, complete gamut spectrum adjustability, mounting options.
and $6,000 per unit on avg.
The staff there is happy to discuss tech specs, even if they steer you to someone else. I've used A LOT of their products - just never for growing lol.

S360-C | C-Series | SkyPanel | Lighting | ARRI

Immerse in vibrant, bright, and fully tunable light with ARRI SkyPanel S360-C. Tailored to your creative needs. Discover more now!

www.arri.com

 

[ttystikk]

Not from the space station - studio lights though.
Hard to find more even lighting, Arri's been doing it for a very long time. Dimmers, complete gamut spectrum adjustability, mounting options.
and $6,000 per unit on avg.
The staff there is happy to discuss tech specs, even if they steer you to someone else. I've used A LOT of their products - just never for growing lol.

S360-C | C-Series | SkyPanel | Lighting | ARRI

Immerse in vibrant, bright, and fully tunable light with ARRI SkyPanel S360-C. Tailored to your creative needs. Discover more now!

www.arri.com

Pricing like that says you're paying for features you'll never use. I can appreciate a quality light that's built for a specific purpose. That's what keeps prices reasonable.

 

[Archcity420]

I've just taken delivery of a dimmable kingbright 240w led 4000k it's really feckin bright, I've tested the lux watt for watt against a maxibright Ts x4 T5s at approx 2ft its around 10.000 lux the led at the same height reads of the scale at 30,000 lux so my I'm pretty impressed initially and optimistic about its ability to to cover clones/seedlings and vegitive growth.

I'll be sticking with mh/hps to flower until I can get a feel for the led, from what I'm reading watt for watt the old hps can still hold its own against the new technologies?

You are 100% correct I ran two cycles of hlg 550 with AC an co2 it was trash yeah they flowered faster but the overall yield was still half that of HPS ima veteran ran 1000 watt hps for years no problem keep a fresh bulb an dust them hoods off plug an go 1 gram per watt or .7 gram per watt average every time without co2 like to see led do that

 

[.Smoke]

You are 100% correct I ran two cycles of hlg 550 with AC an co2 it was trash yeah they flowered faster but the overall yield was still half that of HPS ima veteran ran 1000 watt hps for years no problem keep a fresh bulb an dust them hoods off plug an go 1 gram per watt or .7 gram per watt average every time without co2 like to see led do that

Bump.
Because posts like this always put a smile on my face.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

what led lights do they use on the international space station, thats what i want to try growing with. them some super leds

Speaking of NASA, this is cool shit. Ed Rosenthal helped NASA. Crazy shit.

Plant Food for Space Grows Crops on Earth | NASA Spinoff

spinoff.nasa.gov

I'd love some Outerspace Weed. The lack of gravity makes more potent nugs. Or maybe that's just more bro science, lol.

 

[NukaKola]

You are 100% correct I ran two cycles of hlg 550 with AC an co2 it was trash yeah they flowered faster but the overall yield was still half that of HPS ima veteran ran 1000 watt hps for years no problem keep a fresh bulb an dust them hoods off plug an go 1 gram per watt or .7 gram per watt average every time without co2 like to see led do that

This will be my first run with LED, I was intrigued to give it a go with all the LED growers claiming up to 1.5-2GPW of better quality buds. I will be honest though and say a good majority of LED grows I've seen don't look near the quality I'm used to seeing with old school air-cooled 600-1000w SE HPS. The buds usually look quite small in comparison so I'm not sure how many of them are pulling those numbers unless they're weighing every little popcorn/larfy bud. There are a few LED growers I've seen pull some impressive buds so that is proof that they have the potential. I think it comes down to LED requiring a much more dialed environment. Can't knock it till I try it.

 

[BBQtoast]

NASA's space grow is tiny and not very good and sure they didn't reach out to anyone but allowed companies to submit proposals and go from there, nothing seemed state of the art and quite basic and boring.

Why would I use LEDs in space when I'm right next to the biggest and brightest power source in the solar system, initially just for research on zero g, after that a few nuclear reactors or just a clear domed space greenhouse is reason enough to drop LEDs for less efficiency because I now have limetless energy.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

NASA's space grow is tiny and not very good and sure they didn't reach out to anyone but allowed companies to submit proposals and go from there, nothing seemed state of the art and quite basic and boring.

Why would I use LEDs in space when I'm right next to the biggest and brightest power source in the solar system, initially just for research on zero g, after that a few nuclear reactors or just a clear domed space greenhouse is reason enough to drop LEDs for less efficiency because I now have limetless energy.

How long does limetless energy last? How many limes do I need?

 

[PadawanWarrior]

NASA's space grow is tiny and not very good and sure they didn't reach out to anyone but allowed companies to submit proposals and go from there, nothing seemed state of the art and quite basic and boring.

Why would I use LEDs in space when I'm right next to the biggest and brightest power source in the solar system, initially just for research on zero g, after that a few nuclear reactors or just a clear domed space greenhouse is reason enough to drop LEDs for less efficiency because I now have limetless energy.

You've been watching too much TV, lol.

 

[BBQtoast]

How long does limetless energy last? How many limes do I need?

In my lifetime the sun is limitless, once food is needed to be grown in space there are better ideas than LEDs being developed. The space station can do better just putting the lettuce in a window and facing the sun, you know why it dosent as the goal is not yet food production.

Haha Mark Watney, no chance you could do any of that in real life, even if I gave you the same mars soil and dried shit you would struggle here on earth. Imo the guy got lucky with the final rescue, that's over a billion to one chance but the film's amazing I didn't watch it for grow ideas and I don't follow NASA for new leds when there are a lot of companies growing better lettuce here on earth.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

In my lifetime the sun is limitless, once food is needed to be grown in space there are better ideas than LEDs being developed. The space station can do better just putting the lettuce in a window and facing the sun, you know why it dosent as the goal is not yet food production.

Haha Mark Watney, no chance you could do any of that in real life, even if I gave you the same mars soil and dried shit you would struggle here on earth. Imo the guy got lucky with the final rescue, that's over a billion to one chance but the film's amazing I didn't watch it for grow ideas and I don't follow NASA for new leds when there are a lot of companies growing better lettuce here on earth.

It's a movie man. It's Not Real, lol.

 

[BBQtoast]

It's a movie man. It's Not Real, lol.

Course it's not real, there's no way they got that hab and orbital injectors to Mars in the first place and why are we going to Mars for science any rover can do.

But NASA does grow a tiny amount of lettuce with LEDs in space next to the biggest grow light in the system which is so frickken dumb in reality.

 

[Star Dog]

Every new technology that comes along will beat mh/hps, I heard with plasma, cmh, and now led etc I'm not convinced though, I've read a lot of disappointing stories.
That said I've seen some nice growing with them hence buying one for veg, initial thoughts are it's ideal, brilliant even if it can match a 250 mh.
That one light should cover every stage of veg, it's dimmable and I,ve no cfl, mh and T5s to replace.
Yes I'm pretty sure it will be a good light for vegging.

If I don't get a 1gpw I'm disappointed in myself using a 600w, to remotely complete with that I'd need 550w so in essence I'd be spending a shed load of money just to get the same results... Maybe?

 

[Archcity420]

Every new technology that comes along will beat mh/hps, I heard with plasma, cmh, and now led etc I'm not convinced though, I've read a lot of disappointing stories.
That said I've seen some nice growing with them hence buying one for veg, initial thoughts are it's ideal, brilliant even if it can match a 250 mh.
That one light should cover every stage of veg, it's dimmable and I,ve no cfl, mh and T5s to replace.
Yes I'm pretty sure it will be a good light for vegging.

If I don't get a 1gpw I'm disappointed in myself using a 600w, to remotely complete with that I'd need 550w so in essence I'd be spending a shed load of money just to get the same results... Maybe?

Facts I paid $890 for 1-hlg 550 I could have got 1-1000 watt hps air cooled hood for $150 with filter fan ducting $180 4x4 tent $125 25-3 gallon bags for soil $9 bale of soil $50 full line of nutrients for all under $800 one LED $890

 

[Lockedin]

Pricing like that says you're paying for features you'll never use. I can appreciate a quality light that's built for a specific purpose. That's what keeps prices reasonable.

This post was somewhat in response to the "what does NASA use" --- these are similar panels.

Yeah - it is stupidly expensive. Mostly because the typical usage is for video shoots - a lot lower usage than us, so the units are more expensive because of their longevity. A lot of Arri's lighting kits see 20+ years of service life.

Just wishful thinking on my part - I really like the units. Spectral adjustability is really easy.
But, as you point out - this is a different horse for a different course.

 

[Xcoregamerskillz]

This will be my first run with LED, I was intrigued to give it a go with all the LED growers claiming up to 1.5-2GPW of better quality buds. I will be honest though and say a good majority of LED grows I've seen don't look near the quality I'm used to seeing with old school air-cooled 600-1000w SE HPS. The buds usually look quite small in comparison so I'm not sure how many of them are pulling those numbers unless they're weighing every little popcorn/larfy bud. There are a few LED growers I've seen pull some impressive buds so that is proof that they have the potential. I think it comes down to LED requiring a much more dialed environment. Can't knock it till I try it.

It's a different growing environment. Also, EVERY board and panel is different. The biggest issue with a lot of LED growers is they buy cheap shit, or overpriced cheap shit, then post it on competition forums. There are a few people out there who have figured things out. The buy in for LED is higher, but saves money in the long run. Quality LEDs will last a few years, depending on duty, and don't need to be replaced as often. But the growing environment and spectrum are wildly different. Panel to panel, diode to diode, the spectrum varies wildly, so it's harder to simply swap from HID to LED, and even between LED manufacturers.

 

[Flowki]

Facts I paid $890 for 1-hlg 550 I could have got 1-1000 watt hps air cooled hood for $150 with filter fan ducting $180 4x4 tent $125 25-3 gallon bags for soil $9 bale of soil $50 full line of nutrients for all under $800 one LED $890

Nobody who knows their shit is disputing that HPS gets good yield and quality in relation to the fractional initial investment over Led. Bluntly put though, while you can personally grow with Hps you obviously lack the ability to grow with Led. And that's ok.. I would likely suck with hydro, but I won't slander it on account of my own limited ability.

 

[Xcoregamerskillz]

Facts I paid $890 for 1-hlg 550 I could have got 1-1000 watt hps air cooled hood for $150 with filter fan ducting $180 4x4 tent $125 25-3 gallon bags for soil $9 bale of soil $50 full line of nutrients for all under $800 one LED $890

Personally, I think LED is best done DIY. Companies charge huge markup to put stuff together. Lots of people swear by HLG, but that kinda money for a light is nuts. You're better off buying a less expensive light and dialing in a smaller grow to LED and making comparisons on gpw there, as opposed to going all in on overpriced lighting. Costs will come down. The biggest issue with LED is there's new stuff every year as electronics improve. It's like the PC market right now. Every year or two there's a jump in output and efficiency.

 

[Star Dog]

Facts I paid $890 for 1-hlg 550 I could have got 1-1000 watt hps air cooled hood for $150 with filter fan ducting $180 4x4 tent $125 25-3 gallon bags for soil $9 bale of soil $50 full line of nutrients for all under $800 one LED $890

Ouch!

Nobody who knows their shit is disputing that HPS gets good yield and quality in relation to the fractional initial investment over Led. Bluntly put though, while you can personally grow with Hps you obviously lack the ability to grow with Led. And that's ok.. I would likely suck with hydro, but I won't slander it on account of my own limited ability.

I hear what you are saying but surely all being equall the yeilds should be similar at least, I think I commented on your grow looking well respectable and played a part in me buying one?
Have you grown with hps to compare?

Maybe I'm missing something but you can only hang any light at the right hight and grow your best, if you're familiar with the process I wouldn't expect much difference if the light was up to it, ime ability isn't light related it's everything combined?