I’ve pretty much decided to only grow HPS lights during the winter. Now I’m buried under LED research. My friend essentially said to build a LED light setup but the price tag that’s attached to that is not what I want to do until I know Led is where I want to stay. So for this experimental stage I have one big question. For overall bud weight and quality, should I go with a white, red/blue, or a mixture of all 3
Switching HPS to LED
- Thread starter budman410
- Start date
Chip Green
Well-Known Member
Use 3500K white as a base. Its already fairly balanced as it stands. For an entry level, simplistic, and cheap DIY setup, check out the numerous threads in the LED and other lighting subforum…..
Search for Bridgelux EB series.
Search for Bridgelux EB series.
a mongo frog
Well-Known Member
Dude please don't..... Please stay with HPS for life and all seasons!!!! Is there anything we can do or help with to keep from going LED?
rob333
Well-Known Member
dude in the long run led will cost u more in fixing replacing drivers and diodes 2nd cold nights u gunna have to replace heat also leds give off just bout the same amount of heat as hps so inlines and aircons in summer will be a must and also leds are 600-1000 bucks to build a good one something fails thats another 200-400 to replace hps is still 80-120 bucks
rob333
Well-Known Member
also u can get away with 1 hps were u will need 3 up to 20 leds even more so its gunna cost u about the same in power maybe a saving of 18 cents lol
a mongo frog
Well-Known Member
When you say "We" are you talking big time shop or something? I don't understand "we"
I don't think we qualify as a 'big time shop'. Collectively, we have a lot of grow experience but we only came together about 18 months ago. Right now we're running a few prototype grow boxes that we created ....well, 70 to be exact. We're working on fully automating the process. We use 10 boxes per strain for data gathering purposes and spent the last 12ish months streamlining the process for 7 strains and are getting ready to choose another 7 strains to work with. We just started another thread that will explain what we're doing better, if interested. It's in this same forum. But I don't really want to get into that on this thread - I don't like the idea of hijacking someone else's thread.
Our initial grow box configurations tested all the different lighting options and we've had the best results with COB setups, so we've now reconfigured all our boxes with a COB setup. But our choice was the result of a vast collection of data that was being logged 24/7 over the course of a year and certainly includes factors that may not be factors for other people - things that may be unique to our grow boxes. In other words, what works for us (per our setup), may not be the best for others (and their setup).
Covetsculitvars
Well-Known Member
Hhahah hps guys trying to mislead at riu ....NO WAY!
Screw in LEDs
Shhhhh don't let the knkw it alls tell yeah you can't do it....shhhhhh
Screw in LEDs
Shhhhh don't let the knkw it alls tell yeah you can't do it....shhhhhh
ChiefRunningPhist
Well-Known Member
All I know is the empire don't give a shit..
ChiefRunningPhist
Well-Known Member
Mixture. Start with a majority base and add supps on top. That's my recommendation.
HPS is good and yields well per ft^2 but it just costs more watts to run them. CMH is really good. I used to grow with HID but giving LED a go, you can definitely get good product. I'm using QBs but run household bulbs in the past with good results (just more heat). I haven't hit any of the big numbers people state on here, I'm about 1.5gpw but that's acceptable for me (working on getting better). I was around 1gpw with HPS.
All input is welcome, I have a nice amount of hps fixtures they are defiantly still going to see use for my big potted plants. This being something I want to try out I’ll be interested in trying different forms of LED. They are going to be used over my flood and drain tables 4x4. For two setups could I get some leds that would closely equate a 600-1000 hps. My hydro guy talked about cmh and basically told me I would need to put in 1,000-1,500 for a “good” led setup. 1-1.5 gpw would be a great start. I have plenty of space for lights.
ChiefRunningPhist
Well-Known Member
Most LED guys recommend 35-40w/ft2, so if doing (2) 4× 4, then I'd say shoot for 600w each area (37.5w × 16ft2). Then add supps ontop. If you calculate chip or light needs at 66% of their max rating you'll get a good ballpark guesstimate, and means you'll have pretty good effeciency but will still be able to have lots of light.
100w COB = 66w for your calculations or 66%.
120w QB = 80w for calculations or 66%
Just ballpark to get you close.
I wish this hobby was more open where I’m at cause I have a nice led fixture I’d sale fairly cheap compared to what it cost. But just a warning I do fairly well and have filed in cmh and hps no problem but my QB setup is a bitch to dial in. To the point I have a 500 dollar paper weight. I am still not convinced either that any kind of light can compare to the quality from the 315 cmh. I am building a new room and got all new de hps and should be happy about it but I’m going to miss my personal stash being cmh for sure.
Thanks a lot clearer these terms are like a new language to me lol..I’ll research y’all advice and come back with some reply’s.. quantity is more important than quality right now
The hlg 600 diy kit is the cheapest I’ve seen a 600 watt led, it’s cheaper than the 550 from the same company and growers lights .com (or something close to that) will assemble for you before shipping. I honestly hate my QB but it’s most likely my fault. Turned me off of led kinda wish had tried cobs instead.
