I am fortunate enough to have had all three of these in my possession to test and decide which one was the best for me. These reviews unfortunately do not reflect each light's ability to grow plants (i know, i know..), but do reflect an intial inspection, build quality, and function test of each one. I have a high attention to detail so figure i'll throw this up to help anyone else decide. I was looking for the best, possibly slightly overkill, LED setup for a very small grow space, 2x2x4. These were the three that I ended up testing.
These lights vary in price from $160-275, so this is a relatively large window, but each pull between 198-235W from the wall so they are relatively equal in that aspect.
Quick rundown of each one with a more detailed review below:
Phlizon CREE 1000 - $160. Pulls 235W w/ 2 onboard fans. Amazon special, good initial build quality, runs warmest, noisest (2x fans) and the most 'blurple' color of all three but seemed pretty bright, comes with hanging hardware & temp/humidity sensor, no experience with customer service.
California Lightworks SolarXtreme 250 - $260. Pulls 198W w/ 1 onboard fan. Very poor initial build quality for the price, slightly noisy, yellowish / purplish color, customer service seemed a little inadaquate for the price of the lamp, comes with no hanging hardware.
Horticulture Lighting Group HLG 225 - $299 (270 with discount). 60-220W passive cooled. Neat looking design, silent operation (passive cooled), whiteish light output, extremely good customer service, great quality hanging hardware included, need a kill-a-watt meter to use effectively.
Rated in build quality, simply inspecting out of the box:
1) Phlizon 1000w COB
2) HLG 225
3) California Lightworks 250
Rated on operation (not growability, but on /off function, noise, eyeballing light output):
1) HLG 225
2) Phlizon 1000w COB
3) California Lightworks 250
Rated on price for what you're getting (Again i do not know the growability of these lights which could be a critical flaw in this review)
1) HLG 225
2) Phlizon 1000w COB
3) California Lightworks 250
The absolute winner in my book is the HLG 225.
The customer support (kindness and willingness to help when i've called), fixture reputation and the fact that it is dimmable made it the easy winner for me due to a small growing space and heat concerns. The light output also looks the best, but i have no real info to back that up. The hanging hardware it came with was very high quality. I currently have it dimmed to 120w and even with my AC Infinity 4" fan set to speed 2 (hardly moving any air) it only raises the small tent's temp by about 3-5*F. Also, considering it is passive cooled, all of the current is heading to lighting and not running fans, however small the fan loads might be. I also feel like this is the most efficient lamp of the three, so less energy turned into heat is a giant plus here.
Only have 2 cons for this lamp:
1 - The light shroud/reflector is cracked at 3 of the mounting bolts, almost certainly from being overtorqued. This does not effect functionality, but if i'm being fair, its defintely a flaw in the build quality. (you can see it in the photo i attached, although that was not the point of that photo)
2) - You will also need to purchase a Kill-a-Watt meter to dial it in. The driver apparently overpowers the LED, so its not just a "turn full clockwise for full power" kind of thing. Being relatively new to this type of driver/led setup i did not know what to expect. If you just eyeball it to the brightest point before it flickers you may still be 10-20% from full power, but with the kill-a-watt meter i was able to fine tune it up to 220w before any flickering occurs.
Phlizon 1000w CREE COB
If you're on a budget and have adaquate tent space to facilitate a warmer running lamp, i'd say give this thing a shot! (again, no clue how well it grows plants!!!)
One attached photo of this thing on and lighting my tent with some veggies under it.
I was geniunely impressed when I unboxed it, hung it and flipped the on switches to test. For the price it seemed spectacular. comes with somewhat chintzy hanging hardware, adjustable hangers and a temp/humidity sensor. I was quite happy with the thing for a while running it in the test with just the 'veg & bloom' switch on as tempuratures were fine. I eventually flipped on the 'stronger' (lol, what?) button to kick on both of the CREE COBs... while they are certainly brighter, they also made the temp skyrocket in my little tent, even with the exhaust fan to 8 or 9 my temps were at 90*F. This was the 'break moment' for this lamp that caused me to look into other options (the CLW and HLG).
Cons:
1) Runs warm
2) Slightly noisy
3) Obvious "youre growing something.." light output
4) Non Dimmable
California Lightworks SolarXtreme 250 COB LED
I hate to say that i am motivated to write this review just to help people not choose this light, but i kind of am. Is it a plug and play light that requires no thinking and will likely produce decent plants in a small space, but overall, i feel there are far better options for the price. There are obviously other $2-300 lamps that could be tested and i would absolutely pick a different one before going with this thing.
Build quality is very poor for a $250 lamp. The heat sink edges are rough cut showing the blade marks, still sharp, and there are pieces of aluminum still inside the damn fins. The body of it also does not fit together well, the 'flushness' of the joints is not even and the whole thing just feels kinda chintzy. I've attached two photos of this.
It produced far less heat than the Phlizon, but also pulls 198w from the wall with some going to the cooling fan. Being concerned with heat, i reached out the CLW to see what the efficacy of the lamp was. I appreciate them actually responding, but the response was not what i was expecting. This is a direct quote, misspelling and all:
"We haven’t don’t those tests on this fixture as it is our entry level model. What I can tell you is that the light produces a Heat Output of 640 BTU."
Perhaps this makes me sound entitled, but even if its your 'entry level model', its still $250. Get the tests done unless you dont actually want the results....
I am well aware that there are quite a few other options in the 200-250W, $150-300 dollar LED fixture arena, but these are the three that I had hands on with in short time and hope this helps someone out there trying to narrow it down.
These lights vary in price from $160-275, so this is a relatively large window, but each pull between 198-235W from the wall so they are relatively equal in that aspect.
Quick rundown of each one with a more detailed review below:
Phlizon CREE 1000 - $160. Pulls 235W w/ 2 onboard fans. Amazon special, good initial build quality, runs warmest, noisest (2x fans) and the most 'blurple' color of all three but seemed pretty bright, comes with hanging hardware & temp/humidity sensor, no experience with customer service.
California Lightworks SolarXtreme 250 - $260. Pulls 198W w/ 1 onboard fan. Very poor initial build quality for the price, slightly noisy, yellowish / purplish color, customer service seemed a little inadaquate for the price of the lamp, comes with no hanging hardware.
Horticulture Lighting Group HLG 225 - $299 (270 with discount). 60-220W passive cooled. Neat looking design, silent operation (passive cooled), whiteish light output, extremely good customer service, great quality hanging hardware included, need a kill-a-watt meter to use effectively.
Rated in build quality, simply inspecting out of the box:
1) Phlizon 1000w COB
2) HLG 225
3) California Lightworks 250
Rated on operation (not growability, but on /off function, noise, eyeballing light output):
1) HLG 225
2) Phlizon 1000w COB
3) California Lightworks 250
Rated on price for what you're getting (Again i do not know the growability of these lights which could be a critical flaw in this review)
1) HLG 225
2) Phlizon 1000w COB
3) California Lightworks 250
The absolute winner in my book is the HLG 225.
The customer support (kindness and willingness to help when i've called), fixture reputation and the fact that it is dimmable made it the easy winner for me due to a small growing space and heat concerns. The light output also looks the best, but i have no real info to back that up. The hanging hardware it came with was very high quality. I currently have it dimmed to 120w and even with my AC Infinity 4" fan set to speed 2 (hardly moving any air) it only raises the small tent's temp by about 3-5*F. Also, considering it is passive cooled, all of the current is heading to lighting and not running fans, however small the fan loads might be. I also feel like this is the most efficient lamp of the three, so less energy turned into heat is a giant plus here.
Only have 2 cons for this lamp:
1 - The light shroud/reflector is cracked at 3 of the mounting bolts, almost certainly from being overtorqued. This does not effect functionality, but if i'm being fair, its defintely a flaw in the build quality. (you can see it in the photo i attached, although that was not the point of that photo)
2) - You will also need to purchase a Kill-a-Watt meter to dial it in. The driver apparently overpowers the LED, so its not just a "turn full clockwise for full power" kind of thing. Being relatively new to this type of driver/led setup i did not know what to expect. If you just eyeball it to the brightest point before it flickers you may still be 10-20% from full power, but with the kill-a-watt meter i was able to fine tune it up to 220w before any flickering occurs.
Phlizon 1000w CREE COB
If you're on a budget and have adaquate tent space to facilitate a warmer running lamp, i'd say give this thing a shot! (again, no clue how well it grows plants!!!)
One attached photo of this thing on and lighting my tent with some veggies under it.
I was geniunely impressed when I unboxed it, hung it and flipped the on switches to test. For the price it seemed spectacular. comes with somewhat chintzy hanging hardware, adjustable hangers and a temp/humidity sensor. I was quite happy with the thing for a while running it in the test with just the 'veg & bloom' switch on as tempuratures were fine. I eventually flipped on the 'stronger' (lol, what?) button to kick on both of the CREE COBs... while they are certainly brighter, they also made the temp skyrocket in my little tent, even with the exhaust fan to 8 or 9 my temps were at 90*F. This was the 'break moment' for this lamp that caused me to look into other options (the CLW and HLG).
Cons:
1) Runs warm
2) Slightly noisy
3) Obvious "youre growing something.." light output
4) Non Dimmable
California Lightworks SolarXtreme 250 COB LED
I hate to say that i am motivated to write this review just to help people not choose this light, but i kind of am. Is it a plug and play light that requires no thinking and will likely produce decent plants in a small space, but overall, i feel there are far better options for the price. There are obviously other $2-300 lamps that could be tested and i would absolutely pick a different one before going with this thing.
Build quality is very poor for a $250 lamp. The heat sink edges are rough cut showing the blade marks, still sharp, and there are pieces of aluminum still inside the damn fins. The body of it also does not fit together well, the 'flushness' of the joints is not even and the whole thing just feels kinda chintzy. I've attached two photos of this.
It produced far less heat than the Phlizon, but also pulls 198w from the wall with some going to the cooling fan. Being concerned with heat, i reached out the CLW to see what the efficacy of the lamp was. I appreciate them actually responding, but the response was not what i was expecting. This is a direct quote, misspelling and all:
"We haven’t don’t those tests on this fixture as it is our entry level model. What I can tell you is that the light produces a Heat Output of 640 BTU."
Perhaps this makes me sound entitled, but even if its your 'entry level model', its still $250. Get the tests done unless you dont actually want the results....
I am well aware that there are quite a few other options in the 200-250W, $150-300 dollar LED fixture arena, but these are the three that I had hands on with in short time and hope this helps someone out there trying to narrow it down.
