Lighting LED advice, help appreciated :)

[mephisto]

The thing to remember is here indoor is not as huge or catered for like in the uk, because well there it is most people's only option.
whereas if you're a Percy grower in Spain you can deck a few plants out on your terrace or garden and use the sun , and what you can produce can easily last until next year.
Consequently the cost of indoor equipment here is higher and options are less.

 

[TaNg]

The thing to remember is here indoor is not as huge or catered for like in the uk, because well there it is most people's only option.
whereas if you're a Percy grower in Spain you can deck a few plants out on your terrace or garden and use the sun , and what you can produce can easily last until next year.
Consequently the cost of indoor equipment here is higher and options are less.

I bet a lot of the UK hydro stores would ship over there and shipping isnt that expensive to Spain.

 

[mephisto]

Sure, we did it that way to set our first large room up

 

[thetreeman]

Sent email Mitch, looking forward to seeing you rock some LED's! With lower power consumption and heat output, you could run rooms all summer maybe.... For larger areas you might want to use less focused lenses, like 120 instead of 90s, you will get better coverage, but less penetration.

 

[BII]

Prices on LEDs are getting ridiculously cheap! For example, look at http://www.ebay.com/itm/1000W-LED-G...-Plants-Hydroponics-Panel-Lamp-/171388353275?. 1000-Watts with 10 spectra, state-of-the-art like a year ago, by now using proven designs and parts, for less than $400 with shipping included (in US, with this US Ebay). Or see a 1200-watt COB unit for less than $500 at http://www.ebay.com/itm/1200W-LED-G...-Integrated-COB-Hydro-Lamp-Panel/191326393996. I presume you can get these same lights cheaper buying more than 1 and/or having them shipped from the factory (China). And with both having a >99% positive feedback, they obviously are delivering products that meet their descriptions (which can be a problem with Chinese sellers).

Getting 3 x 1000-watt LED lights (3000 watts) delivered for not much over a $1000 or 3 x 1200-watts (3600 watts) for not that much more seems very possible, and very attractive.

 

[Dr. Frog]

Mitch,

Talk with Ronin about his Mars II full spectrums....He ultimately was really pleased with the bud density they provided
and they're dirt cheap in comparison to high dollar units...especially considering the actual wattage of the 900W units
is 400-450W and they are aprox. $350 USD.

I don't think they are the BEST option but in a utilitarian assessment, they are a way to get a lot of wattage and good
light without making such a gigantic investment.

They are from TopLED

My 2cents.

I second the Mars II recommendation. They make really good lights at a price that can't be beat. I've had my panel 7+ months with zero problems and lots of great growth. I really like their spectrum for including IR diodes, which to me is an underrated/overlooked aspect of selective spectrum lighting.

Depending on your ambitions, you could stand to save even more money because they offer great multiple unit deals. They may not be the "highest tech" around, but you get a lot of power for your money, while still costing less to operate/maintain than HID. Just go to their site and contact them through an email (Sara Hu is the usual responder, and she's awesome). Maybe you could get a discounted quote for your lighting needs.

Other than that, if you're new to researching LEDs for plant growth, I would say the most important things to look for are *actual* power/watts and spectrum. Good growlight manufacturers will list how much power their lights actually use, as opposed to a simple sum of all the led chips.

Good luck with your lighting endeavor, hope to see a kickass garden in the future!

 

[TaNg]

Spectrum is definatly important but actual power draw will become very deceiving as the LED tech evolves and becomes more efficient,what you really need to look at is the output of the unit rather than the consumption.

 

[ThaGreenBandit]

GN all the way bro they have some super efficient lights out in a few weeks 75w each and you would only need 2 to replace your 600w HID. I've not used them yet but I have used the LED chips they're using in them, here's a couple of Autos I've grown under a shared 240w in a 1.2m2 room (when I say shared I mean I could veg up other plants while these were blooming).

If you want me to hook you up with GN just PM me.

Holy hell!!! Those are some monsters, especially the top plant!!!

 

[F.N.]

I will be upgrading in the new year to GN 75 watts unbelievable. I am glad that I am still 51 year old spring chicken with all this great tech coming down the pipeline YAHOO Spain sounds like a dreamspot to live and from what I have heard real estate is cheap there too. Oh if I was young and single