Questions from a newb to LED lighting

O

Old Name

Member
Hi all, I'm new to LED but it is my only realistic option for indoor growing due to the costs of electricity in my country... which is not the USA - this is kind of important because it means that my options are vastly more limited; there's no way for me to bring an expensive LED panel back from the States, for example, so I have to work with materials that might cripple growers used to the variety of products in North America.

I've a few very basic questions. Hopefully I'm not embarrassing myself with any of them. :P

1) How can I calculate kilowattage with LED lights vs other types like HIDs, HPS etc? This is to help me prepare for my bills after starting, haha.

2) What explains the massive discrepancy I'm seeing between professional growlights and the kind I can buy at my local shop for domestic use? I realize that they probably use much better chips, but on my humble budget they seem completely inaccessible. For example, this link. Is this merely because I'm looking at a super high end product?

Basically, I would like to know if I will still be able to grow some decent-relatively good quality bud with a handful of100w 6500k/2700k lights for my 3x3 tent, or if it's a waste of time because I'll only be growing larfy dwarves.

Thanks for your help, rollitup. :)
 
G

Gingerbee

Well-Known Member
i dont know myself but there are a bunch of growers here who have good to great results with household a19 socket led bulbs. hope one of them can speak up
 
canadian1969

canadian1969

Well-Known Member
1. My electricity company has a calculator on its website that you can plug in the wattage of a "device or appliance" and select the time of day and duration and calculate cost monthly. If your utility company has no such thing you can do the math yourself.

2. Apache is insane, ignore them, their pricing has always been wack. Some panel manufacturers are smoking something other than weed. $1-2 PER ACTUAL watt (thats power consumed at the wall outlet) is what I look for. Efficiency these days is in COBs there are many threads to follow here at RIU

3. You are going to need maybe 300 watts of LED, maybe less. Not all lighting is created equal nor are all LEDs. While all LEDs may be more efficient than other lighting there are major differences between manufacturers.

something like http://timbergrowlights.com/200-watt-cree-cxb3590-4-cob-grow-light-kit/ would work well

something like 10x this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1X-High-Quality-Full-Spectrum-18W-28W-40W-E14-E27-GU10-110V-220V-LED-Growing-Lamp/32668786297.html? ...would not, even at the 40watt model that would be 400 watts and likely give you similar results to the 200 watt above. I have not tried this so just speculation. Of course you would have to build a frame and buy the sockets for the frame and wiring etc. Total cost might be comparable to a DIY COB setup, but would be way less efficient.
 
Rudi I&I Automan

Rudi I&I Automan

Well-Known Member
50w LED COOL WHITE FLOODLIGHT (cool white = daylight)
popped on the day b4 and xmas day. under 20/4 lighting and believe me, the 4 hrs of darkness make all the differance (many thanx to rollitup growers for that info, they were kind of stagnant under 24hrs light. Rudi :weed:
 

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Olive Drab Green

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
Old Name said:
Hi all, I'm new to LED but it is my only realistic option for indoor growing due to the costs of electricity in my country... which is not the USA - this is kind of important because it means that my options are vastly more limited; there's no way for me to bring an expensive LED panel back from the States, for example, so I have to work with materials that might cripple growers used to the variety of products in North America.

I've a few very basic questions. Hopefully I'm not embarrassing myself with any of them. :P

1) How can I calculate kilowattage with LED lights vs other types like HIDs, HPS etc? This is to help me prepare for my bills after starting, haha.

2) What explains the massive discrepancy I'm seeing between professional growlights and the kind I can buy at my local shop for domestic use? I realize that they probably use much better chips, but on my humble budget they seem completely inaccessible. For example, this link. Is this merely because I'm looking at a super high end product?

Basically, I would like to know if I will still be able to grow some decent-relatively good quality bud with a handful of100w 6500k/2700k lights for my 3x3 tent, or if it's a waste of time because I'll only be growing larfy dwarves.

Thanks for your help, rollitup. :)
Click to expand...
Fuck panels. Go COB or you will wish you had. 3500k/80 or 90 CRI.

@Rahz @Stephenj37826 @CobKits @Growmau5
 
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Olive Drab Green

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
Not to hijack your thread, but check this out. These are my two plants under only 241w of COBs (Chip On Board LEDs, which is pretty much one giant diode compared to the multiple 3w or 5w diode panels that do next to jack shit.). I still have 3-4 weeks left minimum, with nearly 6 weeks in. You'd be hard-pressed to find 241w of anything else that can do this.

IMG_3875.JPG IMG_3876.JPG IMG_3881.JPG IMG_3892.JPG IMG_3885.JPG
 
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Stephenj37826

Stephenj37826

Well-Known Member
Old Name said:
Hi all, I'm new to LED but it is my only realistic option for indoor growing due to the costs of electricity in my country... which is not the USA - this is kind of important because it means that my options are vastly more limited; there's no way for me to bring an expensive LED panel back from the States, for example, so I have to work with materials that might cripple growers used to the variety of products in North America.

I've a few very basic questions. Hopefully I'm not embarrassing myself with any of them. :P

1) How can I calculate kilowattage with LED lights vs other types like HIDs, HPS etc? This is to help me prepare for my bills after starting, haha.

2) What explains the massive discrepancy I'm seeing between professional growlights and the kind I can buy at my local shop for domestic use? I realize that they probably use much better chips, but on my humble budget they seem completely inaccessible. For example, this link. Is this merely because I'm looking at a super high end product?

Basically, I would like to know if I will still be able to grow some decent-relatively good quality bud with a handful of100w 6500k/2700k lights for my 3x3 tent, or if it's a waste of time because I'll only be growing larfy dwarves.

Thanks for your help, rollitup. :)
Click to expand...

I see you are budget conscious. DIY is the way to go to get performance as good or better than the product you linked for a lot less. I see you are in a 3X3 space. 250-400 watts of cobs or Quantum boards will fill that space nicely. Timber has great kits as well as cobkits. Northern Grow Lights offer our Quantum boards. Any of these choices will work really well for you. You should be able to cover that space for less than 500 bucks easily.
 
O

Old Name

Member
Thanks for advice, everyone. I really appreciate taking the time out of your day to reply to my thread - and Olive, that is some beautiful bud.

I was looking into the Timber cobkits and also your Quantum Boards, Stephenj.

Specifically I was looking at the QB304. Besides the heatsink, is that product ready-to-go, or is it just a part with several other items necessary to complete the setup? I apologize, haha - though I'm enthusiastic about learning, I'm completely ignorant of the details of indoor growing. I've been growing outside for my meager career as a gardener.

So far that is looking like the best option though. While you're here I want to ply you with a few more questions,

The country where I live has 220 voltage. Would a transformer (110v to 220v) be enough to work with these Quantum Boards or would that be a fire hazard?

I'm definitely interested in getting some Timber cobkits eventually as well, but the importation laws where I live make the QBs more convenient in general. Next time I'm in the States maybe I'll be able to pick some up, but that will be over a year from now.

So, just in case the QBs aren't viable to me for whatever reason, I'd like to hear some more opinions: is it worth attempting a grow with a few hundred watts of typical domestic LED panels on the correct wavelengths, or should I just not bother till I can get my hands on better equipment?
 
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Stephenj37826

Stephenj37826

Well-Known Member
Old Name said:
Thanks for advice, everyone. I really appreciate taking the time out of your day to reply to my thread - and Olive, that is some beautiful bud.

I was looking into the Timber cobkits and also your Quantum Boards, Stephenj.

Specifically I was looking at the QB304. Besides the heatsink, is that product ready-to-go, or is it just a part with several other items necessary to complete the setup? I apologize, haha - though I'm enthusiastic about learning, I'm completely ignorant of the details of indoor growing. I've been growing outside for my meager career as a gardener.

So far that is looking like the best option though. While you're here I want to ply you with a few more questions,

The country where I live has 220 voltage. Would a transformer (110v to 220v) be enough to work with these Quantum Boards or would that be a fire hazard?

I'm definitely interested in getting some Timber cobkits eventually as well, but the importation laws where I live make the QBs more convenient in general. Next time I'm in the States maybe I'll be able to pick some up, but that will be over a year from now.

So, just in case the QBs aren't viable to me for whatever reason, I'd like to hear some more opinions: is it worth attempting a grow with a few hundred watts of typical domestic LED panels on the correct wavelengths, or should I just not bother till I can get my hands on better equipment?
Click to expand...
The drivers auto adjust to your voltage so no worries (no need to use a converter)........ If you see the 90 watt kit is everything you need to have a completely functional light.

If you can share a link to the lights scale to you locally that would help answer your last question.


Oh P.S. LEDs run in DC not AC so they all require an led driver.
 
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