LED light wattage question

After years of service, my old mh/hps unit finally konked out. Could be a ballast, could be the unit itself, but I'm wasn't spending anymore time or money on it.
Not to mention it gobbled up energy, and generated a lot of heat in my 4x4 tent which burned a few buds on my last grow.

Been wanting to make the move to LED for some time, but was waiting for an excuse. Now I have one. So I bought a dimmable, full spectrum 480w LED. Price was excellent.
A good grower friend ( my cannabis mentor) told me 480w is more than suitable. However a few others told me I'll should never have considered anything below 700w minimum.

Thoughts anyone?

Which light did you purchase? Manufacturer and model?

MickFoster said:

Which light did you purchase? Manufacturer and model?

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Phlizon Spider SE5000

Just barely. 600+ watts be a fair bit better.

I use a 480watt QB in my 5x5. May not be the ideal, but it's fine for someone with realistic expectations. In your case, you're getting 30 watts per square foot, which isn't too shabby for LED.

I built 2 200w cob light bars a score of grows ago and they are fine for about a 2x4 space. I think a 4x4 space would benefit from 200 more watts.

i flower at 480w in my 4x4 and pull 700gr dry + some for edibles. i think thats not a bad yield. using 4 lumatek attis 200w at 40% in veg and 60% in flower. so not the top notch most efficient leds either.

Beard-o said:

Phlizon Spider SE5000

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It's fine for a 4x4.
With a quality LED you want to figure 30 actual watts per sq. ft.
Good luck and welcome to RIU.

Here's another thought.

I also have two small 100w full spectrum LEDs, about 12"x7" each. If I were to feel my new 480w LED wasn't quite enough, would it make sense to add these two small lights and run them in conjunction? Then I'd have the 480w plus two 100w. Total of 680w. Or doesn't it work that way? Electricity is not my forte.

Beard-o said:

Here's another thought.

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As long as you can manage the extra heat, go for it.

I pulled 588g dried out of my 4X4 with 385W (75% power) last grow. 4 plants.