Lighting Any decent silent LEDs out there?

[londonpeach]

Hello everyone
First of all I would like to say this is a great great forum and I have been reading a lot but couldn't find an answer to this question.
I am a total newbie and so many apologies if any content of this will show my inexperience or offend anyone.

Are there any good LED panels that emit no noise? Or alternatively, very little of it?
I grow in a 2x2 (60cm x 60cm) tent in a room I share with 1 more person so silent operation is of most importance to me. Because I can only fit 1-2 plants in there, it doesn't need to be high wattage and because I'm a newbie/hobbyist it doesn't need to be cutting-edge either. Just something that would work for my plants and keep them happy.

I bought a 150w panel with fans on it and was horrified by how much noise it made! Was absolutely unbearable. Now I switched to using multiple e27 45w bulbs using 3w diodes which work fine for seedlings, but they are 2 spectrum only (red + blue). I was looking to upgrade soon.

tl;dr my questions are:

1. Do I really need more spectrums than 2 for a hobbyist level plant grow?
2. Are there any decent SILENT LED panels that won't break the bank out there? (queenshiny makes some but they are massive and $300plus)
3. If not, are there any panels you kind people could recommend that are near-silent or quiet? (laptop-fan-like noise would be acceptable)

Thank you for all the kind replies and peace to everyone :Gold:

 

[Larky.Derry]

hey londonpeach welcome to the forum. i doubt you will find a silent LED light bro, the lights need those fans to keep themselves from overheating. i dont mean to sound like a a-hole but are you running a extraction fan? if not you need to get a extractor and a carbon filter for the smell or you will end up getting caught when they go into flower.

 

[londonpeach]

hey londonpeach welcome to the forum. i doubt you will find a silent LED light bro, the lights need those fans to keep themselves from overheating. i dont mean to sound like a a-hole but are you running a extraction fan? if not you need to get a extractor and a carbon filter for the smell or you will end up getting caught when they go into flower.

Hello thank you very much I will make myself at home

I have all the required things - carbon filter, fan etc.. The noise they make is perfectly acceptable, air-movement type noise that does not offend the ear. The LED panel I tried though was like an old rusty motorbike lol

If total silence is not achievable are there any panels that emit (relatively) low noise?
Again thanks in advance for the help!

 

[ukfreak]

inboxed ya pal hope that helps

 

[Larky.Derry]

i use grow northern panels and i would really recommend them but they are out of stock at the moment, i know a few users on here use vipar LEDs and prakasa but again i haven't used them, have a look in the LED section on the forum to see some grows done with different panels, it may help you decide what one to go for. what panel was it you tried?

 

[Gonzo]

Hello everyone
First of all I would like to say this is a great great forum and I have been reading a lot but couldn't find an answer to this question.
I am a total newbie and so many apologies if any content of this will show my inexperience or offend anyone.

Are there any good LED panels that emit no noise? Or alternatively, very little of it?
I grow in a 2x2 (60cm x 60cm) tent in a room I share with 1 more person so silent operation is of most importance to me. Because I can only fit 1-2 plants in there, it doesn't need to be high wattage and because I'm a newbie/hobbyist it doesn't need to be cutting-edge either. Just something that would work for my plants and keep them happy.

I bought a 150w panel with fans on it and was horrified by how much noise it made! Was absolutely unbearable. Now I switched to using multiple e27 45w bulbs using 3w diodes which work fine for seedlings, but they are 2 spectrum only (red + blue). I was looking to upgrade soon.

tl;dr my questions are:

1. Do I really need more spectrums than 2 for a hobbyist level plant grow?
2. Are there any decent SILENT LED panels that won't break the bank out there? (queenshiny makes some but they are massive and $300plus)
3. If not, are there any panels you kind people could recommend that are near-silent or quiet? (laptop-fan-like noise would be acceptable)

Thank you for all the kind replies and peace to everyone :Gold:

Londonpeach, I run some silent no fan (copper sinks, heavy of course) lights bought from China directly, cooling IS a problem, some LEDs have gone due to heat. They are quite expencive, so I use HID too. With HID heat extraction is easier.

Grow Northern is preparing one like that, but will not be cheap at all.

But a lot depends on your location, you have London in your name and you talk about $. Well, no matter where you come from, fan light in any form will be hard to get and not cheap at all.

But there are LEDs with fans, that are very loud and LEDs that use better fans. No matter how good the fans, silence will be always questionable.

 

[londonpeach]

Hey guys thanks a lot for the replies, all very helpful.

I am in the UK but most of the lights I was browsing were only available from the US, hence the $ reference. Also, Chinese distributors mostly list them in this currency.

The 120w and 150w panels I used were Prakasa and it were loud as hell. Vipar has some good reviews but, understandably, no one ever mentions the fan noise levels in the reviews so it's not much use to me
That's sad to hear that the heatsink-cooled ones had an overheating problem. I was looking at this one - what do you think? I know it doesn't look so good then again my room is 2x2 so as cramped as you can get.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Arriv...Bottle_Warmers_Coolers_LE&hash=item2593f5bc1e

I really wanted to try LEDs because I think this might be the way to do on an economical grow and I had concerns CFL is not going to have enough penetration and I don't have enough space in there to manouver many clamps around for many small bulbs.

How about those red+blue only bulbs I am using, should I just fit 2-3 more in there to achieve 150-200w coverage overall? I have read on the benefits of supplementary spectrums, but could you have a successful grow with just those 2 basic ones?

 

[TaNg]

I know the forthcoming GN light is billed to being silent bro it's out in a few weeks.

 

[Torched]

I think you have two DIY options.

First get a light with a fan, take the light apart and replace the fan with a higher quality quieter fan. Some good computer fans can be nearly silent.

At RIU there is a group of people making their own lights with cree 3070 leds. As it's a single chip you can get a giant heat sink and do not need a fan. But you're growing with just a white light. Might work for a small space and would be silent.

 

[Milky]

Topled Mars II 400W and switch out the fans for computer fans!