Grow Room Cheap LED's

[Mossy]

Haven't used this myself..
But they say they have big discounts on LED's..and it looks cheaper than what I have seen...

http://es.wrs.yahoo.com/_ylt=A7x9Qb...60lq/EXP=1296765641/**http://growlightuk.com/

anyone got Better..or cheaper..or personal recommendation..post it here and I will delete this one.

 

[yermom]

YIKES, those sell for less than half that here in the states. I couldn't tell you what a good price over there is though. But holy cow, I'd just spend the extra on electricity and get an HID.

 

[Muddy]

Not the ones using 3 watt LEDs. You can find the cheap ones all over eBay but the good ones are still high dollar.

I wish they had more technical information on that one. It's the first one I've seen that is using a 120 degree viewing angle on their LEDs. Everyone else is using 90 degree. I love how this technology is evolving. So fast it's hard to keep up.

 

[Northern Grower]

Ever thought about finding a supplier from china?

 

[JM]

Last chinese buy i made in the led dept was way cheaper... but did no live up to par... not even on the wattmeter... said it was 300... was 180-200... dont do it!


JM

 

[Muddy]

Majority of LED R&D is taking place in China, with most all being built there. The company I bought from, GrowLEDHydro, is using US manufactured LEDs but assembly is done in China.

 

[Muddy]

Good article. Wish there had more information like that when I was researching. My only argument with him is on multiple "spectra". I've had both phone and email conversations with Mike from GLH regarding his lights. He is using 11 different bands on his lights, with all the wavelength tailored to fit specific plant needs. While not technically full spectrum, the combination of those 11 bands does produce a near full spectrum that is 95% usable light to the plants. He is not using full spectrum diodes, but rather a combination of specific diodes. I think the authors research in this area was a little lacking.

When I was researching I read an article on the R&D that is going on in China. Wish I had book marked it. They spend several million dollars building something like a 100 watt prototype. It only burned for a few seconds but showed the level of research that is taking place. One company, Haight Solid State I believe, now has units available using 15 watters. Very expensive of course, but it does illustrate how this technology is evolving. Hell, my unit is only 8 months old and already has been replaced by an improved model. I find this all very exciting and look forward to what is coming. I believe we'll see many advances over the next few years. I also believe that HPS lights are going to loose market share as LEDs keep improving. Hard to beat the savings on electricity and not having to deal with heat issues.

http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=65

Specifically I am using this one, http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=524
relatively cheap and uses 1W brand name scroll down, red, orange, blue with a few white, 120 degree angle and so forth.
I have a pic in another lighting related thread that shows my peppers and eggplant and plumeria under 2 of these UFOs.


Here is an extremely well written article: http://www.myhydroponicgardening.com/2011-best-led-grow-light-review/
He has a LED specific grow section as well, and ironically does have a article debating 1W vs 3W bulbs. Hell I have even seen 5W and 6W out there.
However this area lacks alot of research and is IMO primarily hype and with some of the 11 to however many spectrums is getting away from the real reason that we want LEDS, and to me thats targeted wavelengths, to reduce power consumption as well as a cooler running unit.

 

[Muddy]

I'm using the 180 watt unit and love it. I'm getting very good yields of big, hard buds. I had one Mi5 that yielded 72 grams. The main cola alone was 14" long and weight 27.5 grams dry. As I mentioned previously, I couldn't grow in this little area with a HPS because of the heat. The LED solved that issue. I also have another area with a 600 watt HPS. I'm about to finish up some Onyx and AA in there. Next grow I'm going to throw a couple Mi5 in so I have a valid comparison between the LED and the HPS.

I tend to agree that you might be able to get comparable results using a 1 watt unit on top and 2 on the sides. In my case I didn't have room to do something like that. I've also seen some grows using 1 watt LEDs and side lighting with fluors or CFLs that have also produced good results.


Here's some pics. Some are color adjusted to show the plants better.

And muddy, those lights look appealing 3W LEDs for about the cost of 1W http://growledhydro.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=0 Spectra 180.
What one did you get? And how do you like it?

Oh an my opinion on the 1W vs 3W after reading the article is if penetration is the issue, 3 of those 1W UFOs is $525 roughly you can put one above and one on each side to get better canopy penetration (more flexibility) about 180W total. But 3W is a solid inflexible unit for $599. I guess it's all personal preference. But regardless Muddy can you post some pics of the unit in action/mabye some grow pics?
Also please post up any articles contradicting this as he did not refrence any research stating how and why they are less efficient.

 

[Northern Grower]

You may very well have sold a LED unit for some one muddy. The buds look good and dense. Which has been my only gripe about the LED's.

 

[Muddy]

I know two other people with the same light. One is just starting his first grow and the other is on his second. He also grew Mi5 and got good results as well. I don't have any good pictures of the Diesel Ryder to show. While not as big, those buds were also rock hard.