Lighting LED Industry Deceptions

[GCase]

interesting thread but many products are promoted using false or exaggerated claims. marketers rely on consumer ignorance. a smart consumer educates himself and does his own research.before buying a product. I am a T5 grower and a DIYer who studied electrical engineering at CSLB in the 70's and have found many false or exaggerated claims regarding fluorescent grow lights as well. I tested a few 10 and 50 watt COBs and found the efficiency claims to be exaggerated as well.some strains will grow under LEDs but many will not. the bottom line is that you have to do your own research and make educated buying choices. assume everything a salesman tells you is a lie until proven by an independent, respected and unbiased source

I appreciate you comment.

A consumer does not have to hire a consultant for consumer based products. In the US fly by night firms do not last. They might get a few years in. But, if found all profits are disgorged. And in some cases end up in jail.

Because of the business hustle in the US to state it mildly--congress, US agencies and every single state has consumer protections including labeling.

The standards increase as the product becomes more technical. The seller is in the position of strength. So, in an effort to keep them honest we have disclosure, fair trade and consumer deception laws.

I understand your point. You are a sophisticated buyer. And you find the falsehoods. But, most are not. We don't spend time looking at engineering prints before buying a car. We rely on the manufacture and they do deceive--even those receiving corporate welfare (GM).

Companies do cost benefit analysis to support their lies and deception. If the cost is less then the penalty then they deceive. Time and time again International corporations are pursuing criminal activities based on this sort of money made analysis. That is what the LED people are doing. But, they know the likelihood of being brought to task is almost nonexistent.

Now, every seller of consumer LED bulbs for household use disclose all relevant data--including lumens and conversions factors. Most LED grow light sellers do not. It is one of the newest quick buck businesses around.

______________________________________________________________________________

I have to be careful about what I discuss.

However, I am going to be having a chat with the legal department of one of the biggest online consumer .com's. I will be asking them to take the lead and stop this form of wattage deception.

In fact, I may send a letter. Will debrief if appropriate when I receive a response.

Cheers

 

[asuras]

its possible he doesn't even warehouse them himself and just sends through orders to the topled warehouse.

This is from their website (topled) "Dropship, If you have small business , you want to sell our light, but you do not have enough money to stock enough lights,. you can sell our light first, then we ship to your customer directly."

 

[Torched]

It's like SPF 100 or all natural. Most marketing seeks to deceive on some level or exaggerate or both. The first thing I figured out looking for an LED was the watt discrepancy. When I figured that out I only looked at lights that posted actual wattage; that alone cut out about 60% of Chinese crap and left the decent Chinese ones; give or take they all come through china.

You then need to make sure you are buying correct unit. This is where it is good to track down the manufacturer and know where it's coming from. Grow logs can also help you know what is good or bad about them. Like those green reflector lights, you don't know if one was made by the main manufacture LG- solutions (?) or some other company making a knock off that looks like it. Some times it will be the same factory but using inferior parts because the purchaser wants to sell a cheaper version.

Grow logs can help you figure out if what you are buying is quality or not. Most anything on ebay is going to be junk unless it is name brand and coming from that company.

I wouldn't be surprised if the MARSII are made in the same factory as the blackdog units but the BD unit has a different spectrum and they may require the manufacture to use higher quality leds.

 

[mauricem00]

you have a lot more faith in the government regulators than I do. but I currently am semi retired and living of investment income so am a little tainted by my dealings with the wall street crowd. I see how companies are able to get regulators to "look the other way".

 

[GCase]

you have a lot more faith in the government regulators than I do. but I currently am semi retired and living of investment income so am a little tainted by my dealings with the wall street crowd. I see how companies are able to get regulators to "look the other way".

I agree. And Wall Street is the epitome of it all. But we don't want to go there---LOL.

The laws are mostly for self help. Agencies and gov. oversight comes when big big money is at stake, competitors complain or the gov. is not getting their cut.

Cheers

 

[lykaboss]

Great post, i used to grow with six black star 240's i went back to Air Cooled HPS and my yields went back up to where they should be, It will be awhile for myself before i get into leds again i think.

I give the new double ended bulbs a try and see how they fair.​

 

[GCase]

Double ended bulbs. Now, that sounds innovative.

 

[Torched]

DE are awesome. Better penetration and they last for like 3 years.

 

[TaNg]

Great thread man.

 

[DABaracuss]

yea many people had to learn these facts the hard way ..Thats why im happy I found AFN They made it simple to find what works regardless of what the company said it would do..I did my home work and now we see the many reviews done by trusted members ..That should be the real factor..I havent had one problem with my light and if I did I know it would be fixed as fast as possible.