Which LEDs to Buy?

Gastanker said:

http://www.advancedledlights.com/products/NEW-%252d-360w-Extreme-Flower-LED-%252d-3w-USA-LEDs-%252d-11-Wavelengths.html

Aim for cree and other US made LEDs. Also pay close note to the wattage rating. You want to look at actual wattage not LED wattage (generally LED wattage is twice that of the actual pull). Most companies would market that light above as an 864w system versus the 360w actual draw (90w UFOs pull ~35w). Aim for high Wattage LEDs over higher quantities of smaller LEDs - don't settle for smaller than 2-3w a piece. Spectrum wise you want at least two reds a blue and either an orange or white. That one above has 11...not sure if that's completely necessary but you might want to look into each of the nm they include.

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There are many different peaks (haven't seen anyone go for more than 12 yet), but it might not actually be worth it to go into all of those for mass production instead of concentrating on 3-4 colors. But I think the extra expenses are worth it for smaller grows, I have a 12 wavelength panel and the results I've seen others get with 12s always seem to make higher quality bud than those that use fewer (definitely did way better flowering than my 400w Hortilux Super HPS with a uber digital ballast did). But of course buying for 12 cost more than buying for 3-4 so you won't get as many watts or as much coverage for every $ you spend (but the quality won't be as high). I think if you are going LED you should either go affordable/good/many or the expensive/great/fewer (personally for that I would go with 3w diode Blackstars, or growledhydro* *website pics out of date)

Nice and fast response guys . I will look for some LEDs that i can buy/get and post them here so you can tell me if they are good choice or which choice will be better.

blad321 said:

Nice and fast response guys . I will look for some LEDs that i can buy/get and post them here so you can tell me if they are good choice or which choice will be better.

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Stick with 3w diodes (better than a 1 or 2w don't think anyone is really selling >3w diodes), lens angle less than 120 (preferably 60-90), at least 3-4 wavelengths (no one sells more than 12 yet) or you could probably get all white cree (white diodes often put of 2-3 differen't wavelengths), make sure the unit has cooling fans, and by now there must be at least 4 or 5 companies that make it so when 1 LED dies you don't lose an entire section/row/column of lights so that is a great thing to look out for to (but a lot harder to find than any other feature). Warranties vary, the best I've seen is 5 years (and a 120 day return policy), but most are only 1-3 years.

The companies I've personally heard/read the best things about Growledhydro, Blackstar, Isis, one of the 'UFO' LED companies, and Kessil. Many companies are still trying to catch up to the 3w diode bandwagon, and some might not have the most up to date websites (some of the UFOs have switched to 3w diodes but didn't tell people or update the site? and GLH was leading the curve for the first 4 months this year but still haven't updated pics and some of the info on their site (I went with their units)