rumple ive been reading all your info for past year. ive been growin for three years outdoors an u have taken me from a plant that put out a half ounce tops to one that yields 4 oz easy. i was wondering if you could point me in the right direction with a led grow light. i dont wanna shell out hundreds of dollars on a china light. i also dont wanna purchase a led light that someone recommends purely based on they make money for referal. i have never bought one. i have heard ufos are best way to go. i have a room that is 2.5 by 8 ft but im gunna start small proberly 2.5 x 4 just 2 plants to start. i will make room bigger when i can afford more lights. thanks man i appreciate all the work you do helping the novices. i respect your opinion.
Ok, first thing, this is a little off topic. I will try and answer the question regardless.
Myself and a few colleagues have been testing LED lamps for quite some time now (I will send you some links to published results), but I am not one who thinks LEDs are going to out perform HID lamps of the same wattage. In fact to harvest the same amount in the same time it is my opinion you will have to use more wattage if you choose a LED lamp (opposite of what the LED sales guy will tell you). Most of the tests done comparing HIDs to LEDs are done by folks with a vested interest in the sales of the product, or a guy who is real impressed to get a bunch of free lights.
That said, LED lights will grow some nice bud. But you have to keep the plants short (3' tall or less) and keep the tops real close to the source of the light. Bud not placed close to the lamp will be undersized and fluffly. So short small grows do well with LEDs. You won't yield as much in the same amount of time, but you will get some decent harvests and good quality bud (if done correct). You still need to ventilate your grow room (regardless of what the sales guy say), they do make heat. 360 watts of LED lights made my grow room cycle hourly during the cold season, but that is a good thing, you need to control the humidity. We did use a lot less CO2 during the tests.
I have lots of LEDs in my attic (almost brand new) that I did not pay for, but I am growing today with a HID system that I bought myself.
I will send you links to the grow tests and some lamps I feel work well.
Some pictures of bud grown by me using LED lamps: