? about LEDs, current HPS 600w and MH 400w user, experience 10 successful grows

[gwhunran]

I use a 600w HPS for flower now, I want an LED that at least gives me the same yield given everything else being equal

I have had my HID bulbs go out and one ballast go out and I have replacements ready to install. Most of LEDs I am seeing are one unit, Is the whole thing a piece of garbage if it goes out or is it easily fixable? The price seems to negate having spares.

Are LEDs equally good for veg and flower? At present, I have a veg room and a flower room, Will I be able to just go to 12/12 and now have two rooms to both veg and flower without moving them?

I now just get any 600w HPS or 400w MH bulb. I found the expensive bulbs to be no better than the cheapest ones. For two 4x4 grow areas do the less expensive LEDs perform just as well? I also can't tell the difference in $20 stereo speaker wire and $500 speaker wire.

 

[bk78]

So what are your yields from a 600 in a 4x4 currently?

What’s your budget to replace said 600?

 

[gwhunran]

Personal use, so I don't get to caught up in exact yield but probably as much as 1/2 lb and as little as 1/4 lb depending on strain.

Money to spend depends. If it's one of the "all in one" units and it goes out, do you just have to replace it or are they easily repairable. If they go out and are now junk. I will stick with my HPS.

 

[PJ Diaz]

Personal use, so I don't get to caught up in exact yield but probably as much as 1/2 lb and as little as 1/4 lb depending on strain.

Money to spend depends. If it's one of the "all in one" units and it goes out, do you just have to replace it or are they easily repairable. If they go out and are now junk. I will stick with my HPS.

Depends on what you get, and whether or not the company will sell you replacement panels. Parts to an LED fixture are pretty basic: LED board, LED driver, a heatsink, possibly a potentiometer for a dimmer, and wire and cable to connect it all together. Those parts are all easily replaceable, often for less cost than a replacement HPS lamp, however you need to choose a fixture which you can easily get replacement parts for.

 

[PJ Diaz]

.. as an example, if you bought this board and one of the LED panels went out after the warranty expired you could get a replacement panel for $80:

HLG 600 Rspec®

High Efficiency Commercial Indoor Horticulture LED grow light designed to replace a 1000watt HID with just 490 Watts. 1522 PPF @ 2.55 PPF/W. Full-spectrum. Reliable passive-cooled design. Powered by Samsung LM301H LED and Deep Red LED 660nm

horticulturelightinggroup.com

QB288 V2 Rspec Quantum Board

Ultra High Efficiency LED Boards for DIY. QB288 V2 has 288pcs Samsung LM301H LED

horticulturelightinggroup.com

 

[bk78]

As PJ said. Go with boards, they will be readily available for years to come from many different sources


And going with them will double the yields you’re currently pulling easily imo

 

[gwhunran]

I think I will just stick with my HIDs.

 

[bk78]

Well that lasted a whole 39 minutes

 

[PJ Diaz]

I think I will just stick with my HIDs.

Why? Boards will last 5x as long as your bulbs will, so even if you only replace your bulbs once a year you would still be spending more in the long run, not to mention the extra power you need with HID vs LED due to efficiency differences. Another option is to just go buy some cheap amazon LEDs and treat them as disposable.

 

[Rurumo]

When you say "less expensive LEDs" that can mean anything, because they are selling $10 led "grow bulbs" on Amazon. If you mean lm301b samsung diodes/meanwell drivers but cheaper than HLG, then yes, watt for watt those will yield significantly more than HPS. My current grow is my first with LEDs after first using HPS and then my last grow was with a DE 630 watt CMH. I'm 2-3 weeks from harvest, but it's obviously quite a bit more than the CMH, and I'm only using 550 watts. If you are getting 1/2 lb from a 600watt HPS, I wouldn't get an LED just yet. You can at least double your yield under that light (possibly triple), by working on other things, like filling out a perfect scrog, mainlining or just topping for a planned # of bud sites, tuning in feeding and media, etc.

 

[MidnightSun72]

I think I will just stick with my HIDs.

LeD up front cost can seem expensive. But when you factor in bulb changes, increase in yield and decreased wattage use the time to payback is usually pretty short. Especially if you do several crops a year. If you kinda just do a crop whenever your stash gets low prob not worth spending all that money.

I think the best replacement for you would be 450-480W Quantum board style light. Should easily spank that 600 in yield and just ease of growing. One of the best features of an LED light is not always wondering if your house/grow is gonna go up. In flames because you are growing with fire balls of heat. Lol

I saw you had two 4x4 areas maybe try LED in one of them first.

 

[gwhunran]

Last grow, a few day before harvest. Black Domina, Sensi Seeds

 

[gwhunran]

LeD up front cost can seem expensive. But when you factor in bulb changes, increase in yield and decreased wattage use the time to payback is usually pretty short. Especially if you do several crops a year. If you kinda just do a crop whenever your stash gets low prob not worth spending all that money.

I think the best replacement for you would be 450-480W Quantum board style light. Should easily spank that 600 in yield and just ease of growing. One of the best features of an LED light is not always wondering if your house/grow is gonna go up. In flames because you are growing with fire balls of heat. Lol

I saw you had two 4x4 areas maybe try LED in one of them first.

I was considering doing one side first. My veg side so I could go straight into flower when ready, instead of waiting for the other side to finish

 

[gwhunran]

Last grow, a few day before harvest. Black Domina, Sensi Seeds

12 qt jars, down to ten now from shrinking and smoking

 

[Rocket Soul]

I think I will just stick with my HIDs.

There is always the possibility to upgrade to CMH. It's a really nice light: heats the space less but also allows you to grow in hot conditions. You can also supplement your hids with a few 50w draw led floodlights, for corners and such.

 

[gwhunran]

I use a 600w HPS for flower now, I want an LED that at least gives me the same yield given everything else being equal

I have had my HID bulbs go out and one ballast go out and I have replacements ready to install. Most of LEDs I am seeing are one unit, Is the whole thing a piece of garbage if it goes out or is it easily fixable? The price seems to negate having spares.

Are LEDs equally good for veg and flower? At present, I have a veg room and a flower room, Will I be able to just go to 12/12 and now have two rooms to both veg and flower without moving them?

I now just get any 600w HPS or 400w MH bulb. I found the expensive bulbs to be no better than the cheapest ones. For two 4x4 grow areas do the less expensive LEDs perform just as well? I also can't tell the difference in $20 stereo speaker wire and $500 speaker wire.

Update: I finally decided to get LEDs to replace the hps and mh lights.
I got two HLG 600 Rs. I have spent the last several days making the changes to the grow rooms. I have changed the exhaust set up since I am not pulling or pushing air through the lights. I already had a high mount fan in the old flower room to help with moisture and bugs, so now it can cool the top of the light too. I installed a high fan in the old veg room to do the same thing since it will now flower too.
Question about light power and height.
Is the dimmer linear? Does each click equal the same amount of change in power? If I measure the lumens at 24" and 30" and assume the PAR values listed in HLG's chart are correct can I extrapolate lumens at 75, 50, and 25% from full power lumens and use meter and turn dimmer to hit those values?
I will post pictures of the set up later.

 

[OneHitDone]

Update: I finally decided to get LEDs to replace the hps and mh lights.
I got two HLG 600 Rs. I have spent the last several days making the changes to the grow rooms. I have changed the exhaust set up since I am not pulling or pushing air through the lights. I already had a high mount fan in the old flower room to help with moisture and bugs, so now it can cool the top of the light too. I installed a high fan in the old veg room to do the same thing since it will now flower too.
Question about light power and height.
Is the dimmer linear? Does each click equal the same amount of change in power? If I measure the lumens at 24" and 30" and assume the PAR values listed in HLG's chart are correct can I extrapolate lumens at 75, 50, and 25% from full power lumens and use meter and turn dimmer to hit those values?
I will post pictures of the set up later.

Buckle up the led rollercoaster of a "Learning Curve". Hope your space is well climate controlled with parameters maintained tightly

 

[gwhunran]

I will have to learn but I'm thinking it should be easier to balance than it was using exhaust and A/C with hps and mh and that wasn't too hard and didn't raise electric bill too much. I'm thinking of using the exhaust on a timer just for air exchange and rely on the A/C.

 

[gwhunran]

Update: I finally decided to get LEDs to replace the hps and mh lights.
I got two HLG 600 Rs. I have spent the last several days making the changes to the grow rooms. I have changed the exhaust set up since I am not pulling or pushing air through the lights. I already had a high mount fan in the old flower room to help with moisture and bugs, so now it can cool the top of the light too. I installed a high fan in the old veg room to do the same thing since it will now flower too.
Question about light power and height.
Is the dimmer linear? Does each click equal the same amount of change in power? If I measure the lumens at 24" and 30" and assume the PAR values listed in HLG's chart are correct can I extrapolate lumens at 75, 50, and 25% from full power lumens and use meter and turn dimmer to hit those values?
I will post pictures of the set up later.

 

[resinhead]

Why? Boards will last 5x as long as your bulbs will, so even if you only replace your bulbs once a year you would still be spending more in the long run, not to mention the extra power you need with HID vs LED due to efficiency differences. Another option is to just go buy some cheap amazon LEDs and treat them as disposable.

The cheap Amazon LED board I bought came with a 5 year warranty! 240 watt meanwell driver bridgelux diodes… $89 bucks
Follow the best deals thread that @Marq1340 is running to get a great deal like I did. It’s called The Best Deals Thread. Post Best Deals And Lowest Prices Links

Don’t you guys think the name brands are from China too?