I'm flattered that you asked.
Per the spec on this
page, it looks like a good light. The pluses for me are the spectrum and the PPFD map with the underlying assumption that you're running in ambient CO2 and with the caveat that you're not looking for get >1kµmol on your grow. I add those latter two items because, even though I'm in ambient CO2, I run at >1k and, if you're thinking about running CO2, this light will not take full advantage of that enhancement.
The spectrum is standard - enough blue and "lotsa" red. Blue photons are good to have for a handful of reasons, one of which is that it tends to make branches strong.
The PPFD map is pretty good. Not setting records for peak values but, if you compare the how even the values are against other lights, it looks pretty nice. If you're so inclined, fire up Excel (doesn't
everyone have Excel?
), put the PPFD values in a table, and create a surface chart (Insert/Chart/…). When I was looking around for a new flower light, I found surface charts helpful in understanding the uniformity of the light.
Here's the table I created for my flower light:
View attachment 5450811
and here's the surface chart:
View attachment 5450810
When I look at that, I see a lot of light fall off at each end. That's just an example of the data. It's for a 12" hang height so that has the least even light cast because uniformity increases as hang height increases.
Here's the data and chart for a light I was thinking about using:
View attachment 5450812
And the chart:
View attachment 5450813
The pictures make it pretty obvious that the SE4500 does a better job at putting an even spread of photons across the canopy.
If you run the numbers from the Digi-Lumen, I think you'll see that they hold up pretty well until you hit the edges of the 4' space.
One item about the DL is that it's only IP 45 rated for water resistance (so don't use it underwater) and some of the competing lights might be 60 rated. Not sure and also it only matters if it matters.
The DL is sold without a driver so you'll have to factor that into the $$.
Overall, this looks like a good, mid-range product that will deliver a high PPFD with a very even lightcast.
I haven't compared it to other lights for a 4' tent. I'm that familiar with lights for that sized tent but, frankly, with a decent spectrum and a dismountable driver, the next issue is the PPFD map. It's a numbers-based approach for me (no surprise) because grow lights are now a commodity product so there's not that much to distinguish one product from another.
If this light is a contender for you, allow me to assume that you're Down Under. If that's the case, check out the offerings from Grow Light Australia. A couple of years back, I ran across one of their lights and my jaw dropped when I saw the spectrum. It had lots of 660, less 480, and just the right amount of 730. The downside was that the price here in the US was pretty steep but, if one of their products is in your price range, I would rate them as a serious contender.
Another option is to go with 2 lights designed for a 2' x 4' space. My reasoning for that is that it provides some redundancy (though it's unlikely that they would fail) but, more important, it makes it easy to handle an uneven canopy. That's a personal bias, I admit, because when I try to grow two plants in my 2' x 4' tent, I always end up with a "
Twins" grow. This photo is from my current grow.
I use the main light for the larger plant and feed the smaller plant with a Vipar XS 1500.
View attachment 5450814
It's unusual to have a grow that's this uneven but if you have one light and an uneven canopy, you're SOL.
This does not work.
View attachment 5450815
Again, a personal preference but having two smaller lights does have some advantages. Food for thought.
Interesting - I read the posting of mine that you've quoted and I ended up returning the SE4500 and have continued to use the Growcraft. The SE4500 was a better light but I returned it because I wanted to trial another light. Spider replaced the 420 watt driver in that light with a 300 watt (IIRC) driver. The 430 watt driver was exactly what I wanted because it generates a huge amount of light. I suspect that Spider changed the driver because growers were frying their plants and/or they could reduce manufacturing cost with the lower power light and still sell a decent product. After testing the another light, I went to order the SE 4500 again and that's when I found out that they had gelded the light.
Not to belabor that point but I think this is good news, regardless of which light you get. After trialing a few different lights to replace my aging Growcraft, I ended up getting a set of Spider R80 deep red accessory lights. 660nm light is great to add in flower because red diodes are very electrically efficient and, at $60, it's a no-brainer purchase. I'm getting about 300µmol on my grow (12"± hang height) for only 60 watts and that allows me to drop the input wattage on my Growcraft by 130 watts. IN addition to saving $$ on electricity (about 45¢ per kWh!), by reducing the wattage from the Growcraft, I was able to drop the ambient temperature by 2°F. That's a big win because secondary metabolites don't handle temps >78°F very well.
