Strips/QB ? CREE/Epistars ? I'm stuck !

Hey guys !

I've been growing for about 10 years under HPS (Gavita 750 DE lately) and i'm gonna go for the LEDs.
Been reading thousands of pages and i narrowed it down to some LM301b from KB

I'm just not sure about a few things, my setup is 8x6 and will be for flowering only.
I was thinking about getting 2x 480w and 2x 240w so the footprint would be optimal.

But i'm stuck chosing between the strips and the QBs.

In the end these are the choices i'm stuck with :

1 - Strips with CREE = 1194$
2 - Strips with Epistars = 1052$

3 - QBs with CREE = 1040$
4 - QBs with Epistars = 712$

I'm guessing strips have a better footprint but is it worth the extra 200-500$ ?

Also i wanna go for the far red but i'm not sure if it's worth the extra 200-300$ ?

And finally, for a flower room only, would you recommend 3000 or 3500k color ?

So that's about my 3 final questions after hundreds of others i managed to answer by myself reading this forum, thanks !

If you want efficiency then the cree would be the option.

I would go for multiple smaller set ups rather than 480s, gives you more even spread.

3000k.

You can run strips closer than boards.

Couldn't say if the far red is worth it.

Hey @coreywebster thanks for your answer.

After reflexion and running numbers i think i will go with the QB's since i can get more watt for less $$$

Thinking about spreading 8x240w over my 8x6, that's 1920w total but i need only about 1500w so i can run them dimmed, wich would increase their effeciency and lifespan if i'm correct ?

Pochonio said:

Hey @coreywebster thanks for your answer.

After reflexion and running numbers i think i will go with the QB's since i can get more watt for less $$$

Thinking about spreading 8x240w over my 8x6, that's 1920w total but i need only about 1500w so i can run them dimmed, wich would increase their effeciency and lifespan if i'm correct ?

Click to expand...

No worries, yeah they will be a bit more efficient at lower current, plus you can lower them a few inch if you like, with 8 twin board kits you will have a nice even spread.

That's perfect then, thanks.

Will go for something like that



Should be more than enough to start with LEDs !

Should be great. Be good to hear what you think in comparison to your 750DE , not many people veer away from DE.

Don't forget LED does require a difference in environment

Yeah, i will keep my Gavita's for a few months to compare before selling them.

Where i live it's in the high 90°F during summer so HPS are a no go.

That's why i want to try LEDs, might go back to the Gavita's for winter time.

When you say different environement what you mean exactly ?

Why don't you go for individual boards? That'll give you the best spread you can get with boards. Be the best compromise between that and strips

@DukeFluke I can't really do a DIY setup right now since we can't order or buy anything from anywhere ATM

8x240w seems like the easiest and cheapest solution i can come up with right now but i will probably upgrade after a few sessions.

Oh ok, so are you not using Alibaba?

Yes, for the plug and play QBs, but for a DIY i would buy most of the components locally which is impossible right now...

What about this

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Kingbrite-125W-qb288-v2-lm301b-board_62115173401.html?spm=a2700.icbuShop.41413.94.5a946beaIsFAVO&fullFirstScreen=true&bypass=true

Pochonio said:

That's perfect then, thanks.

Will go for something like that

View attachment 4540734

Should be more than enough to start with LEDs !

Click to expand...

You got the right amount of boards but id change the layout slightly. The way you got it setup each kit covers a 4x1.5' section. Id try to change that so that each kit covers a 3x2 section, its better suited to the spread of these kits.

Id go for cree diodes over the epis. Which company are you using?

Im still deciding between Meijiu and KB... Meijiu have thicker heatsinks and are offering train freight for $100 less than KB with air. Might go with that. They said 30 days. Dont really know about taxes on arrival though.

Pochonio said:

Yeah, i will keep my Gavita's for a few months to compare before selling them.

Where i live it's in the high 90°F during summer so HPS are a no go.

That's why i want to try LEDs, might go back to the Gavita's for winter time.

When you say different environement what you mean exactly ?

Click to expand...

I just mean warmer air temp mostly, but if you can stick within the correct VPD overall it makes a world of difference.

80-85 degrees f is good, where with HID your looking 10 degrees lower.

Lack of radiant heat with LED.

Pochonio said:

Im still deciding between Meijiu and KB... Meijiu have thicker heatsinks and are offering train freight for $100 less than KB with air. Might go with that. They said 30 days. Dont really know about taxes on arrival though.

Click to expand...

that extra 5mm of fin depth is overkill.
You can't get the crees with 301H from Meiju, just epi. Go Kingbrite

haven’t been on here since 2009 since I was a super noob anyways I’ve been using hps lights forever and now I’m looking into to switching it up for LEDs I came across this thread. I’ve purchased 3 light from alibaba the led type lm301h 670watt and 2- 240 LEDs the same LEDs I must say I’m very surprised as to how things are going. Especially for flowering. But I’m looking for tons more info as this is my first LED run. Please send me a link to any threads you think I should read on thanks.