is led worth it?

Red1966

Red1966

Well-Known Member
How expensive was it at what wattage? How long do the bulbs last? Any links to more info/grower journals or videos? What kind of spectrum does it produce? I looked into some of the white diodes Cree produces, and noticed that the spectrum they produce is heavy in blue and red and light in green and yellow. The white diodes are several multiples higher in luminance and cheaper too. An all white LED grow light would be cheaper than targeting spectra and may produce equal or even better results. Worth looking into.
 
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patrikantonius

Active Member
White LEDs being more efficient at producing light is a common misconception. In terms of radiance (watts of light produced) or in terms of PAR (quantity of photons), white LEDs are anywhere between a bit worse to much worse than color LEDs (blue, red), depending on the quality of the LED.
The luminosity, in lumens, does not account the quantity of light but the quantity of light as perceived by the human eye only. The real energetic quantity of light produced by a light source is the radiance, measured in watts. If you achieve to find out how many watts are produced by a white LED, you'll see that it's not necessarily larger than what's produced by a blue or a red LED.
If I recall correctly, the best whites are around 40% efficient (at producing light), whereas the best deep blues are more than 50% efficient and the best deep reds are more than 45% efficient. What that means is that a high end red LED will actually produce more light than a similar high end white LED.
 
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patrikantonius

Active Member
Unfortunately I don't know anything about induction lighting. I was just bouncing off what you said in the last few sentences of your previous post :)
 
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dabig

Member
Red1966 said:
How expensive was it at what wattage? How long do the bulbs last? Any links to more info/grower journals or videos? What kind of spectrum does it produce? I looked into some of the white diodes Cree produces, and noticed that the spectrum they produce is heavy in blue and red and light in green and yellow. The white diodes are several multiples higher in luminance and cheaper too. An all white LED grow light would be cheaper than targeting spectra and may produce equal or even better results. Worth looking into.
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Here is whole thread on the inda-gro, spliff is having great results, Im sold myself. They are about the same maybe cheaper then LED, full spectrum, the bulb does not go bad apparently.
https://www.rollitup.org/led-other-lighting/506257-inda-gro-induction.html
 
Red1966

Red1966

Well-Known Member
Unfortunately, I've found that people selling grow lights tend to exaggerate, a lot! I will check out spliff's grow. Hope he's not selling the things. Has anyone else here found the "search" feature somewhat lacking? I've been using Google to search this site and get more relevant returns.
 
oceangreen

oceangreen

Well-Known Member
again you have to match watt per watt to get similar results to hid...

just becuase you are using an hid does not mean its good either. use it right, then nothing iwll match..

a horilox bulb on a horitlux shredder will smash a regular HID
 
Red1966

Red1966

Well-Known Member
What's a horitlux shredder? If I have to use 600 watts of LEDs to get the same results as I get with a 600 watt HID, there's little reason to switch. My desire is too reduce attention my giant electric use may bring. The heat, I've gotten taken care of.
 
endive

endive

Active Member
Red1966 said:
If I have to use 600 watts of LEDs to get the same results as I get with a 600 watt HID, there's little reason to switch. My desire is too reduce attention my giant electric use may bring. The heat, I've gotten taken care of.
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I've found a trade off utilizing LEDs. Having done a few similar grows, my 600w HPS produces about 30% more than my 260w LED (full draw). Roughly it's a 30% loss in yield, but a 50% savings in energy.

I also think it takes a little more work with LED, but the quality in the end product makes it all worth it!

Also... I believe utility companies sometimes charge less per Kwh during off-peak hours. By running your light cycle at night, you may be able to save.
 
Red1966

Red1966

Well-Known Member
endive said:
I've found a trade off utilizing LEDs. Having done a few similar grows, my 600w HPS produces about 30% more than my 260w LED (full draw). Roughly it's a 30% loss in yield, but a 50% savings in energy. I also think it takes a little more work with LED, but the quality in the end product makes it all worth it! Also... I believe utility companies sometimes charge less per Kwh during off-peak hours. By running your light cycle at night, you may be able to save.
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A 30% loss in yield would require a 43% increase in potency to make up for the loss. Can't see that much likely. It's not the dollar amount on the bill, but the actual power used that attracts the attention I seek to avoid. But thanks for an informative reply. They have an off-peak rate here, but then your rate is higher during the day. You have to apply for the off-peak billing. I run my lights at night anyway, so I should look into it. I wonder if using 370+ watts of LED would bring the yield up to 600w HID levels?
 
Endur0xX

Endur0xX

Well-Known Member
endive are you sure those were grown under leds? they are not fluffy hairy buds, not to mention there is an abundance of trichs on them... you must be hiding an HPS somewhere right?
 
endive

endive

Active Member
Endur0xX said:
endive are you sure those were grown under leds? they are not fluffy hairy buds, not to mention there is an abundance of trichs on them... you must be hiding an HPS somewhere right?
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You got me! I hide my 600w HPS on top of the tents (during the several warmer weeks we get here). This year has been mild here, so all tents, lamps and spaces are firing.

In all 'on topic seriousness' though, I really do think LEDs have proven their worth. That said, I won't get into a "which technology is better" debate. Better than what? In different circumstances HID & LED do similar things, yet at the same time each can do things the other isn't efficient at.

In my humblest of opinions... Stepping into the fray for a newbie HID is certainly cheaper to purchase and easily available. LED is a much simpler and safer first set-up (in the hands of a klutzes like me) but more costly and requires research in finding the right LED light for your grow style. Growing with LEDs can take some rethinking & learning and can be a little more difficult to transition to if you are already a successful HID grower.

But I digress... Or wait, did I regress?
 
digimidgi

digimidgi

Well-Known Member
GODOFBUD said:
Ya i agree without hps beside the LEDS they are almost usless except for veg mabe
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Without sounding arrogant.. You don't know what you're talking about!
unless you've already grown several times with an LED panel containing top quality LED's. I've ordered my 4th panel from Plant photonics this week. Something must be working:)
 
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althor

Well-Known Member
Well I keep seeing more and more ads about LEDS saying "as efficient as HID".
So I am guessing, since ads are always misleading, they arent quite as good as HID yet.

I am anxious for the day when LEDS are worth using. They look interesting.
 
dank smoker420

dank smoker420

Well-Known Member
^ they are expensive but a pretty decent one for a small grow can be bought for 300-400. that is a ounce most places in the country. with it getting alot of use you can make that back in money saved pretty quick. and it uses less energy with similiar results.
 
hyroot

hyroot

Well-Known Member
I love my apollo 8 120 x 3w, true 276 w. Can fit 4 to 6 plants in 5 gals under it. It cost me $350.

I wish an ounce went for 300 to 400 here in socal. The going rate here is 200 for top shelf.
 
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