Is there a reasonably priced LED that performs as well as HPS?

TerrapinBlazin

TerrapinBlazin

Well-Known Member
I’ve only been growing for 10 months so bear with me. I’ve done two grows to completion indoors under LEDs and they both resulted in mostly larfy, small buds.

I know I made other mistakes but then I started doing some math. I was given a 600 watt HPS setup by a friend and I compared its 90000 lumens to the 20000 from my LEDs. That’s 4.5x the light and only 3x the electricity. I haven’t been able to find a solid, trustworthy comparison on PAR.

Now that I’ve got some trial and error under my belt, I’m inclined to grow indoors with the HPS during the colder months and just grow outdoors when it’s warmer. I can afford to run the HPS or the air conditioning, but not both.

In my online research, I got the impression that LED companies have tried to make every search result an ad for their products. I can’t find a single comparison that isn’t sponsored by an LED company.

I’m sure there are LEDs that work as well as a HPS, such as the CXB 3590, but I don’t want to spend that much money. My 600 watt HPS was free. If I only plan to grow indoors in the colder months and outdoors during the summer, I should be good. I know that I’ll get killer nugs with the HPS and I’m sick of wasting my time with this larfy shit.
 
TerrapinBlazin

TerrapinBlazin

Well-Known Member
Renfro said:
No.

The Timber products are good true replacements.
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Thanks. I’ll look into that. There’s so much total garbage info online I just don’t really trust a lot of what I’ve been reading. I’ve thought about going the DIY driver and chip route but I just don’t know if it’s worth it. I have the HPS all up and running and I want to see what it can do after these two disappointments.
 
Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
TerrapinBlazin said:
Thanks. I’ll look into that. I’ve thought about going the DIY driver and chip route but I just don’t know if it’s worth it. I have the HPS all up and running and I want to see what it can do after these two disappointments.
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They are expensive.

Probably best to stick with the HPS if thats what works for you. If it aint broke, don't fix it. Getting a good LED is an expensive proposition. I could see changing to LED if you can afford something totally bad ass thats an upgrade over an HPS. A cheap LED is a downgrade.
 
TerrapinBlazin

TerrapinBlazin

Well-Known Member
Renfro said:
I built my own LED lights with parts from @CobKits and saved some money. Might be an option for you to consider.
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If I were gonna seriously invest in LEDs that’s the way I would go. I’ve had this HPS in storage for years and frustration with these two indoor grows led me to bust it out. I know I’ll have good results with it and a disappointing grow is a huge waste of 2 months. Right now I feel like since it’s getting cold the heat will work to my advantage. It’s not worth messing with in the summer so I think I’ll just not grow indoors when it’s really hot out.
 
Kenpark

Kenpark

Well-Known Member
Hi....
I cultivated for about 13 years with 600 watts hps with good results 1gpw 0.9 gpw.
for about 2 years I switched to LED DIY Cob, Quantum Board etc.

initially the results were better than the HPS but not the stratospheric numbers as I saw on the forums, the temperature and certainly the key and consequently the humidity another trick and the cal mag also in soil a very good circulation of the internal air and if you can also the co2 with LEDs if you run with 600 watts or more in 4x4 it's a good idea ...
first cycle parallel to hps same strain (clone)
led cob 500 watts 4x4 1.36 gpw
600 watts hps 4x4 0.89 gpw
second run without hps low temperature problems
600 watts cob 4x4 1.05 gpw
third run same setup but with higher temperature 1,22gpw adding cal mag finally even with 600 watt led I managed to hit 1.36 gpw in 4x4

I think I can improve maybe in the future adding co2 but anyway for me to be an organic cultivation these for me are crazy number compared to 10 years ago that with a hps I did yes and no 0.7gpw of average and anyway I have never been able to go beyond 1 gpw very carefully and with difficulty
my 2 cent :)
 
Kenpark

Kenpark

Well-Known Member
p.s par meter in my opinion is essential to hit high numbers since the luxmeter is useless
 
Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
One of the best deals around for a US grower is the qb96 from horticulture lighting group, on sale now for 69$ each, with heatsink. It has a red supplemented white spectrum. They will run up to about 250w each, recommended to cover around a 2x2 each, but as always with leds the softer yoou run them with more units, the better.
250w power supply is about 50$. HLG are sponsors here on the forum @Stephenj37826 so its easy to get info and check grows.

There are also the possibility to buy leds from china/alibaba but opinions are very divided about that. Personally ive got nothing to complain about them but you sorta have to forget about aftersales care and see them as consumables.

For a fully backed up product id rec the HLG qb96, i wouldnt expect them to last at that price. A 100w cob fixture would already be about 50$ or so.

Cobkits is also very good, takes good care of the forum.

OP: have you missed that there is a led section on riu or are just too famous for lightsnobbing and trollin?
 
TerrapinBlazin

TerrapinBlazin

Well-Known Member
Rocket Soul said:
OP: have you missed that there is a led section on riu or are just too famous for lightsnobbing and trollin?
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Yeah man I’m kind of a noob. I did not see there was a forum just for LED discussion, and if a mod wants to move this thread there I won’t be upset.

Because I’m a noob and have yet to pull a decent indoor harvest (outdoor is a different story), and because there is so much bad info out there on lighting, and finally because I don’t want to sink anymore money that I don’t need to into equipment, I just wanted to get the honest opinions of some people that have already been down this road.

One thing I saw in a post here was pretty interesting. I saw there was a higher GPW yield with the 500w LEDs vs the 600w HPS. The problem I see with LEDs that I was unaware of is the temperature. I’m growing in the winter in a room with no heat. I think the plants will really benefit from the warmth. On the flip side, 300-500 watts of LEDs is still too expensive to run in the summer alongside the air conditioning. On our current budget, it’s sort of one or the other.

Anyway all my questions have been answered, and I really appreciate everyone’s input. For me the best course of action will be to run the HPS in the winter and grow outdoors during the summer. If the 600 watt is too expensive, I’m sure a 400 watt is still plenty powerful for this closet. All year I’ve been trying to light up the closet like this without spending shitloads of money. I’m only 10 months into this hobby though so I’ve still got a lot to learn.

9DBAF428-0CFC-406A-A6F9-E534AA924C50.jpeg
 
coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
TerrapinBlazin said:
Yeah man I’m kind of a noob. I did not see there was a forum just for LED discussion, and if a mod wants to move this thread there I won’t be upset.

Because I’m a noob and have yet to pull a decent indoor harvest (outdoor is a different story), and because there is so much bad info out there on lighting, and finally because I don’t want to sink anymore money that I don’t need to into equipment, I just wanted to get the honest opinions of some people that have already been down this road.

One thing I saw in a post here was pretty interesting. I saw there was a higher GPW yield with the 500w LEDs vs the 600w HPS. The problem I see with LEDs that I was unaware of is the temperature. I’m growing in the winter in a room with no heat. I think the plants will really benefit from the warmth. On the flip side, 300-500 watts of LEDs is still too expensive to run in the summer alongside the air conditioning. On our current budget, it’s sort of one or the other.

Anyway all my questions have been answered, and I really appreciate everyone’s input. For me the best course of action will be to run the HPS in the winter and grow outdoors during the summer. If the 600 watt is too expensive, I’m sure a 400 watt is still plenty powerful for this closet. All year I’ve been trying to light up the closet like this without spending shitloads of money. I’m only 10 months into this hobby though so I’ve still got a lot to learn.

View attachment 4416875
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How bigs that closet fella?
 
Delta9THC90

Delta9THC90

Member
Hi guys, I’m new here just like to say hello to everyone first. Secondly I would like to know if anyone has any previous experience with mars hydro LED’s, I was thinking of putting two Mars hydro full spectrum 250w led lights above 2-3 Skywalker in 20 gallon pots, the temperature of the room generally sits between 80-85c with rhino 6 inch extractor fan and small desk fan for ventilation ?? What you guys think and any advice ? Thanks Delta
 
TerrapinBlazin

TerrapinBlazin

Well-Known Member
Delta9THC90 said:
Hi guys, I’m new here just like to say hello to everyone first. Secondly I would like to know if anyone has any previous experience with mars hydro LED’s, I was thinking of putting two Mars hydro full spectrum 250w led lights above 2-3 Skywalker in 20 gallon pots, the temperature of the room generally sits between 80-85c with rhino 6 inch extractor fan and small desk fan for ventilation ?? What you guys think and any advice ? Thanks Delta
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Kind of a strange place to ask, in my “fuck LEDs, I’m switching to HPS” thread, lol. That setup should work, although someone else on here could answer your question better. I’m kind of a noob too. You generally don’t need an exhaust fan with LED lights because they have cooling fans built in. The desk fan is probably enough for air movement. If there’s one thing a new user should gain from reading this thread, is that you have to spend a lot of money on LEDs to get results on par with HPS. If I were you, since it’s cooling off in the northern hemisphere, I’d save some money and get an HPS. Do what I’m doing and run it all winter. I’m guessing I’ll get 3 harvests before it warms up.
 
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Herb & Suds

Herb & Suds

Well-Known Member
Delta9THC90 said:
Hi guys, I’m new here just like to say hello to everyone first. Secondly I would like to know if anyone has any previous experience with mars hydro LED’s, I was thinking of putting two Mars hydro full spectrum 250w led lights above 2-3 Skywalker in 20 gallon pots, the temperature of the room generally sits between 80-85c with rhino 6 inch extractor fan and small desk fan for ventilation ?? What you guys think and any advice ? Thanks Delta
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I hope 80-85 c is a typo?
 
calvin.m16

calvin.m16

Well-Known Member
I run Mars Hydro TSW-2000 panels and they seem to produce similar results to a 1000W HPS ish maybe? They cost several hundred dollars less per/month to run and end up producing 7 ounce dry yields from 5 gal coco potted autoflowers. LED are never going to replace HPS, ever.
 
dandyrandy

dandyrandy

Well-Known Member
I run a 16 cob diy plus 80 watts of 660nm. Even diy it was expensive. But cheap to run. No failures in 5 years. I need extreme stealth due to the state I live in. So very little air flow is needed with the heat spread across two 45"x10" heat sinks. I run a 4" blower and carbon filter at 100 cfm or so. I run around 550 watts in a 4x4. If I lived in a legal state I would definitely go with a cmh or other options to compare. Or just buy it.
 
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