The Beagle
Member
Hi everyone,
I currently grow in a 60x60cm (2x2ft) tent with two cheap blurple LED panels, an old Mars Hydro 300 and a Ortoled 4. I have my grow methodology more or less dialed in (just pulled 180g from a single auto) but I want to upgrade my lighting system.
My two main needs are to maintain the same amount of light (or even something more) and to switch to a fanless system to reduce noise as my tent is basically in my living room. Unfortunately is pretty hard for me to get Quantum Boards or similar products because I live in the EU and there's no one selling them over here. I would end paying a lot of money between shipping from the US and customs and not everyone is ok with shipping overseas (Photon Fantom Designs doesn't if I remember correctly).
So it looks like my best option are COBs but I would prefer to limit the DIY factor as much as possible (I can do a bit of soldering and I like tinkering with stuff but in the next 4-5 months I'll have almost zero time) and again living in the EU doesn't help. I can get plenty of thick, fan cooled boxes made like my crappy blurples and mounting some no name COB but nothing else. I found a german shop on Ebay who sells some seriously overpriced stuff (like 900€ for a light made from 4 CREE 3590) and a spanish one who resells chinese kits from Kingbrite at a higher price and this made me think about ordering directly from Kingbrite's Alibaba shop.
I really like their single LED lights as I could get 4 of them for around the same money than a DIY kit and I also like the idea of having several self contained units ready to be used.
And here comes the doubts: wich LED to choose? Lens or reflector? What temperature for a light that should cover an entire growth (3500K seems to be the favorite one)? How many of them for my area (I'd say 4 but maybe 5)?
I'm sorry to ask such basic things but after three day of reading a ton of notions I'm maybe more confused than before. Keep in mind I don't need the absolute best efficency or the last tech available, I just need to upgrade to a brighter and quieter system. Feel also free to suggest me different products/brand, it's possible that I just missed something that could be a better choice for me.
Thank you for yor time!
I currently grow in a 60x60cm (2x2ft) tent with two cheap blurple LED panels, an old Mars Hydro 300 and a Ortoled 4. I have my grow methodology more or less dialed in (just pulled 180g from a single auto) but I want to upgrade my lighting system.
My two main needs are to maintain the same amount of light (or even something more) and to switch to a fanless system to reduce noise as my tent is basically in my living room. Unfortunately is pretty hard for me to get Quantum Boards or similar products because I live in the EU and there's no one selling them over here. I would end paying a lot of money between shipping from the US and customs and not everyone is ok with shipping overseas (Photon Fantom Designs doesn't if I remember correctly).
So it looks like my best option are COBs but I would prefer to limit the DIY factor as much as possible (I can do a bit of soldering and I like tinkering with stuff but in the next 4-5 months I'll have almost zero time) and again living in the EU doesn't help. I can get plenty of thick, fan cooled boxes made like my crappy blurples and mounting some no name COB but nothing else. I found a german shop on Ebay who sells some seriously overpriced stuff (like 900€ for a light made from 4 CREE 3590) and a spanish one who resells chinese kits from Kingbrite at a higher price and this made me think about ordering directly from Kingbrite's Alibaba shop.
I really like their single LED lights as I could get 4 of them for around the same money than a DIY kit and I also like the idea of having several self contained units ready to be used.
And here comes the doubts: wich LED to choose? Lens or reflector? What temperature for a light that should cover an entire growth (3500K seems to be the favorite one)? How many of them for my area (I'd say 4 but maybe 5)?
I'm sorry to ask such basic things but after three day of reading a ton of notions I'm maybe more confused than before. Keep in mind I don't need the absolute best efficency or the last tech available, I just need to upgrade to a brighter and quieter system. Feel also free to suggest me different products/brand, it's possible that I just missed something that could be a better choice for me.
Thank you for yor time!
