They are like $1600 US
But, when you factor in your savings on electrical and the fact that you never have to replace a bulb again, or run chillers and air conditioning units to cool your grow room. These lights do not dimm for about 10 years or so. this one LED Light is 327 Watts which is equal than a 1000 watts HPS, but much more effective.
Take this into account: hps light is like a generic version of nutrients, This specific LED light is like a very specialized plant specific set of nutrients..
I think these lights might just be the next generation of grow lights. If they would only lower the price of these by say $600 US or so, they would probably see a substancial boost in sales. and we would be able to see many more grows with people using these lights.
The seller says they retail for $1600 US dollars, though that doesn't mean you might not be able to pick one up a bit cheaper than that.
He also claims that with electrical cost savings, heat savings, and not having to replace bulbs, the setup will pay for itself in two years vs. a similar HPS setup.
I think you have to take these claims with a pretty big grain of salt.
That two year number is making a bunch of assumptions about electricity cost, cooling/ventilation costs, and replacement bulb cost.
More important, there is a pretty big underlying assumption about yield parity. . .how many LED watts do you need to match an HPS watt to get the same yield?
Just because the salesman SAYS that his 327 watt LED panel matches a 1000 watt HPS, doesn't make it true. That parity number is absolutely critical, and I think the only way to know for sure is with a real world A-B test. Does he have the data to back it up? Lumen and PAR numbers on paper are one thing. . .ounces of dried bud are something else.
So without actual grow data, you really can't compare costs in a realistic way. Remember, even small differences in yield can make up for pretty significant differences in operating costs.
Next, the unit only carries a one year warranty, and that warranty does NOT include the LED's themselves. Lets say something goes wrong. Will the manufacturer of this LED panel even still be around a year from now to honor its warranty? Yes in theory, the LEDs should be able to run continuously for 50,000 hours (ie 5 continuous operating years) or more without dimming, but in practice, I think premature LED bulb failures are not unheard of.
Meanwhile HPS technology is time-tested. You know exactly how long your bulbs will last in the real world, the bulbs themselves are readily available, and anyone can easily change them. The same cannot be said about these LEDs. . .the diodes themselves aren't trivial to obtain or install.
My bottom line take on LEDs is that they're probably ideal for small stealth grows to minimize heating and ventilation issues, particularly if the grower has deep pockets and isn't concerned about startup costs. There may be other niches where the particular advantages of LEDs make themselves useful. For for big growers, the technology probably isn't mature enough to displace HPS lamps yet. Will it ever be? If costs come down enough, I'd assume they would, but that remains to be seen.
