Cheap vs. Expensive HID Bulbs

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guitarguy10

Well-Known Member
So I see on 1000bulbs that there are 400W HPS lamps for $10 (Plantmax), a lamp that is $65 (Hortilux) and local shops want nearly $100 (Sunmaster) for a bulb.

Is there really that much of a difference from what look like otherwise (other then company name) identical HPS bulbs? $10 to $100 is quite the spread and either these companies have expertly pulled the wool over our eyes or there is just something I don't see that makes these expensive bulbs better (10x better) then the cheap ones.
 
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Lstforlife

Well-Known Member
Lets look at it this way.

If I eat pizza every day I'll probably be fine
But if I eat healthier foods every day, Ill likely be better off.

Buy the hortilux. Dont skimp out on bulbs and also replace them at least every other grow.

I run Hortilux and replace every grow because I want every grow to turn out the best it can be.


And just because it cost 5x more doesnt mean its 5x better. But do you really want to spend $10 on the bulb that is gonna be the powerhouse for your entire grow?...
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
guitarguy10 said:
So I see on 1000bulbs that there are 400W HPS lamps for $10 (Plantmax), a lamp that is $65 (Hortilux) and local shops want nearly $100 (Sunmaster) for a bulb.

Is there really that much of a difference from what look like otherwise (other then company name) identical HPS bulbs? $10 to $100 is quite the spread and either these companies have expertly pulled the wool over our eyes or there is just something I don't see that makes these expensive bulbs better (10x better) then the cheap ones.
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I don’t know about 10X better but the bulbs you listed are worth the differences in price. A cheap ballast is going to probably be fine but cheap bulbs give poor results comparatively. Hortilux is a good choice.
 
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GoBrah

Active Member
different in brand value and product quality. Always find the one suit for urself, if you are willing to spend much, buy expensive one with higher expectancy, if you can only afford cheap one, they will work out for you as well.

As @Kushash said spectrum does matter for grow lights, also for grow lights you need to look at PAR output other than lumens. Lumens can tell something but there is a trick in it. we can add crazy amount green in spectrum to achieve high lumen output, but its no good for grow.
 
Gemtree

Gemtree

Well-Known Member
The cheapies work fine but the hortilux will work better. Depends on your budget I've grown lbs with the htg house bulb when I couldn't afford new hortilux
 
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guitarguy10

Well-Known Member
I have looked at the PAR spectrums of these bulbs and they are all very close almost identical.

I feel as though a bunch of light bulb salesmen are trying to sell me expensive grow lights here because all of your responses have just been basically 'they just are [better]'

I'm asking for a quantitative and scientific explanation but o well I give up I think I'll just buy one of these cheap $10 plantmax ones because no websites article or persons 'opinion' (vs. proof) have actually described anything and I am being convinced more and more that they are pretty much the same just a lot of fanboys who follow the brand name or expensive name stuff .. because they think it's better (kind of like apple fanboys, a company whose products are shit).

This has led me to believe the cheap bulbs are just as good so i won't throw away my money.

Unfortunately I'm not in the market for any bulbs, I was just hoping to get some quantitative and scientific reasoning, too much to have asked I suppose.
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
guitarguy10 said:
I have looked at the PAR spectrums of these bulbs and they are all very close almost identical.

I feel as though a bunch of light bulb salesmen are trying to sell me expensive grow lights here because all of your responses have just been basically 'they just are [better]'

I'm asking for a quantitative and scientific explanation but o well I give up I think I'll just buy one of these cheap $10 plantmax ones because no websites article or persons 'opinion' (vs. proof) have actually described anything and I am being convinced more and more that they are pretty much the same just a lot of fanboys who follow the brand name or expensive name stuff .. because they think it's better (kind of like apple fanboys, a company whose products are shit).

This has led me to believe the cheap bulbs are just as good so i won't throw away my money.

Unfortunately I'm not in the market for any bulbs, I was just hoping to get some quantitative and scientific reasoning, too much to have asked I suppose.
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It’s like a Squier Affinity versus an American Strat basically. Look at it that way. A bolt on neck Epiphone compared to a Les Paul Jimmy Page model. But YOU sound like you wouldn’t know the difference there either. What a squirrel.
 
Thundercat

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
guitarguy10 said:
I have looked at the PAR spectrums of these bulbs and they are all very close almost identical.

I feel as though a bunch of light bulb salesmen are trying to sell me expensive grow lights here because all of your responses have just been basically 'they just are [better]'

I'm asking for a quantitative and scientific explanation but o well I give up I think I'll just buy one of these cheap $10 plantmax ones because no websites article or persons 'opinion' (vs. proof) have actually described anything and I am being convinced more and more that they are pretty much the same just a lot of fanboys who follow the brand name or expensive name stuff .. because they think it's better (kind of like apple fanboys, a company whose products are shit).

This has led me to believe the cheap bulbs are just as good so i won't throw away my money.

Unfortunately, I'm not in the market for any bulbs, I was just hoping to get some quantitative and scientific reasoning, too much to have asked I suppose.
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I can tell you from experience that the cheap bulbs don't always work. I have mostly used Horitlux bulbs in my last 14 years of growing. But I decided to try cheap bulbs twice. Once the bulb wouldn't even fire in my brand new ballast, I took it back, and it fired in the shops ballast, but I decided to go back to the hortilux, and it fired right up in mine.

I replace my bulb about once a year normally. Well the other cheap bulb I tried only lasted 6ish months before it actually blew out. Again when I put in a fresh hortilux it fired right up and worked perfectly till it was replaced.

While I don't have a list of the materials each manufacturer uses I do believe that Hortilux must use better quality materials in their products. The hortilux super HPS should also have more added blue to the spectrum then any of the other cheap or standard HPS.

I know these are just anecdotal reasons, but they are the reasons I choose the Hortilux every time now, not just "it's better".
 
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