LED Lighting 4 Commercial Grow Ops

PhatPhuker · Mar 25, 2014

hyroot said:
sounds like you haven't seen much led grows then

Well, All the lights I have seen were "Gotham Hydroponics Lighthouse Black-Star 240W Flowering" Lights.

So, does that speak for itself? ( Lol @ Lighthouse Hydro !! Thanks Victor !! )
At almost 300 a pop, it seemed like a rip.
It took 4 of those to power up an area similar to a 1000 HPS.

Bad Karma · Mar 25, 2014

PhatPhuker said:
Well, All the lights I have seen were "Gotham Hydroponics Lighthouse Black-Star 240W Flowering" Lights.

So, does that speak for itself? ( Lol @ Lighthouse Hydro !! Thanks Victor !! )
At almost 300 a pop, it seemed like a rip.
It took 4 of those to power up an area similar to a 1000 HPS.

You actually just proved the point that everyone else was making.
Those "240W" Black Star LED panels, really only pull 135-140W, each.
So you were able to cover an area similar to 1000W HPS, with about 560W's of LED, shitty Black Star LED's, but LED's none the less.
I'm sure your yield didn't compare to what you got with you HPS, because as stated, Black Star's are shitty.
With high quality LED panels, you only need a fraction of the power, to produce top shelf buds.
Depending on the manufacturer, I would say around 700W of LED is the magic number, to compare against an 1000 HPS.
Some LED lights have even better ratios, like the Hans Panel, but that light is in no way designed for commercial growing.

chazbolin · Mar 25, 2014

With high quality LED panels, you only need a fraction of the power, to produce top shelf buds.
Depending on the manufacturer, I would say around 700W of LED is the magic number, to compare against an 1000 HPS.

A savings of 300 watts is not too sexy unless you're a commercial grower paying >0.25/kWhr. For that commercial grower converting to LED would not be worth the risk unless the bud was proven to be better under the LED, area coverage and weights were equal or greater than HID, thermal contribution was significantly lower and the lifespan of the panels was >4X greater than HID.

Some LED lights have even better ratios, like the Hans Panel, but that light is in no way designed for commercial growing.

I have serious respect for Hans' panels and would like to see him come up with a solution that would be suitable for the commercial grower. That is where the future lies and he has the talent to make it happen.

PetFlora · Mar 25, 2014

Now that's exciting 411

I think the CREE overheads you linked to a week or so back would work well for green house supplementing (typically dawn and dusk)

PSUAGRO. said:
hard to dethrone hps in commercial operations............it's VERY reliable over a decade/just bulb changes

No one cared for cmh due to only low wattage options available until recently. Philips agro line is still just only 315w, won't do shit twenty feet above the canopy. Plasma is not a viable alternative because of price/complexity/weight ATM. Induction has a waaaaaay to go until considered an option as well, people still question it's tech/intensity; let's be honest most think it's a fluoro, tough stigma to shake.

Led is an unstoppable force which just keeps improving per year............other techs don't have the same $$$/research behind it no question.......it's an inevitable outcome for horticultural industry.

Cree is astounded at the level of praise/consumer absorption of their current household bulbs(talked to a rep at HD), and their in the works for entering the horti-market(got zero info/ ETA of product release, I begged ), it will be the end of all these small led grow light "manufacturers". I mean the CREE brand is almost main stream now and synonymous for quality/best product. The medical mj scene in a country as large as ours has the BIG sharks smelling blood, It was only a matter of time for them to join. Their infrastructure is set-up to undercut all other companies using their products obviously.

I could be wrong, but I think cree horti-products will be a "game changer" ..........Philips hasn't because of worry (self-cannibalism) for their profitable HID division.

PetFlora · Mar 25, 2014

Based on the useful life of R/B I read in the current ledmagazine, I doubt the same Pro Source ufos are in place. Duplicates perhaps.

And I hope those are clones. R/B dominant lights will likely degrade mj seed genetics starting as early as G3. Why? Because mj (a fruiting plant) needs full spectrum to stay genetically vigorous. Genes will eventually be compromised due to lack of ~480-580

This (white dominant) is why Apache Tech and A 51 hold the most promise for mj growers, commercial or otherwise.

My 2 cents. Keep the change

chazbolin said:
Good video BK! Exactly what I think the LED CannaAG industry needs to see. This video was shot in 2011 and in Colorado before the laws existed like we have now. Today there are hundreds if not thousands of licenses being issued for commercial cultivation and the time for making excuses is over. LED as an industry needs to make a compelling case for why they need to be taken as a serious contender for these farmers and their investors. If I was ProSource I would do a followup video that shows these same lights have been in use for the last 3 years and the crop production is as good today as it was then. That type of follow up is hard to dispute or ignore.

While everyone appreciates a good single lamp side by side I think the energy efficient grow lighting industry as a whole needs to provide compelling evidence, even anonymously, with images and/or video that supports larger scale installations as a legitimate alternative to HID setups. Until that occurs these commercial growers simply won't take the risks and LED remains the domain of the hobbyist grower.

Bad Karma · Mar 25, 2014

PetFlora said:
Based on the useful life of R/B I read in the current ledmagazine, I doubt the same Pro Source ufos are in place. Duplicates perhaps.

Based on my own results with ProSource lights, having used the same Illuminators for 4 years now, most of those lights in the video should still be running.
Also, ProSource carries a 3 year warranty, so if the light fails, you get a new one shipped to you for free.
Again, I know from experience, as two of my Illuminators had to be replaced over the years.

My plan is to flower with them for around 5 years, then retire them to a veg tent, where they will still be perfectly useful.
At which time, my flowering tent will be re-outfitted with some new Area 51 lights.

PhatPhuker · Mar 27, 2014

Bad Karma said:
You actually just proved the point that everyone else was making.
Those "240W" Black Star LED panels, really only pull 135-140W, each.
So you were able to cover an area similar to 1000W HPS, with about 560W's of LED, shitty Black Star LED's, but LED's none the less.
I'm sure your yield didn't compare to what you got with you HPS, because as stated, Black Star's are shitty.
With high quality LED panels, you only need a fraction of the power, to produce top shelf buds.
Depending on the manufacturer, I would say around 700W of LED is the magic number, to compare against an 1000 HPS.
Some LED lights have even better ratios, like the Hans Panel, but that light is in no way designed for commercial growing.

And you have in turn proved my point as well.
Cheap "240W" Black Star LED panels are just that, cheap ! But in fact they are about 300 bucks each or so. so for 4 of them I was looking at about 1200 buxx to replace a 1000W HPS with LED.
So, I am afraid to know how much the top quality LED panels cost, and I am thinking that commercial growers may also be looking hard at the price and life span of the LEDs.

Consider that out of my four "240W" Black Star LED panels , I still have 3. One still works fine and Two are half burnt out ! They are all only between 24-30 months old.
I was fairly happy with the light they produced, when they were working properly. I didnt like the cost of them. and the guys at Gotham hydroponics can be dicks. Yields were OK, but the HPS did have way better penetration for a fraction of the price, and will probably last longer by far.

Dont get me wrong, I am a fan of LED, but I'm out till they get a lot better (& longer) bang for the buck.

Best Buds Botanical · Jun 9, 2016

I know it's years later but just to give you guys a heads up! I am opening a grow in Co. We will be using all LEDs except for the mothers that will get fluorescent lights. My Company is Best Buds Botanical. I'm trying to build a brand known for its Eco approach and great quality. You can follow along with the build out and grow at Instagram.com/BestBudsGrow , Twitter.com/BestBudsGrow and snapchat @ BestBudsGrow

LED Lighting 4 Commercial Grow Ops

PhatPhuker

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Bad Karma

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chazbolin

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PetFlora

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PhatPhuker

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