Lighting Should I buy 2 of these??

[Think]

Two would be the minimum that I would use, but maybe I over do it. Always better to have too much light than too little!

Hmmm but thats already £660 for 2 panels they ain't cheap:/

 

[gbd]

Hmmm but thats already £660 for 2 panels they ain't cheap:/

And all their performance is hypothetical at this point. I use Bysen LEDS and have had a total of zero issues at all with any of my 5 units. I've had black stars burn out and simply won't give any money to hydrogrow on general principle. Ive used Blackstar Chromes which are basically the same as the ms006 and they were good, but for the price and performance you simply can't beat Bysen.

 

[puffman420]

I think in your price range two companies come to mind,
Vipar led or Topled

both seem very good for the money. Vipar are also available on ebay, they sell different models via their web store. Topled is china based but has uk stock and warehouse

http://www.topledgrowlight.com/led-grow-light/led-grow-light.html

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/VIPAR-LED-...1117617209&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14&_sop=15&_sc=1

for the budget you have my choice would be 2 of these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VIPAR-Ref...Bottle_Warmers_Coolers_LE&hash=item2c8b216324

Goodluck

 

[Boy Named Sue]

If you're in the market for leds and don't want to wait for the new GN's and don't feel comfortable ordering direct from Cidly or Bysen than yes, they would be a good option for you. 400 hours on them is nothing to worry about.

I agree with this. I've bought 5 of them previously from the same seller, they're an exotic plant / seed specialist & the lights are all in perfect condition, I've ran them for 10+ hours when they arrived & all working with no issues.

I'm interested in the new GN units but will be waiting until there's a few good documented grows using them so realistically wouldn't be considering them until around March next year if there isn't any more hold ups.

Everything I've read suggests a performance similar to a MS0006 so for 3 plants in 15l pots I'd imagine that you'd still be better off with 2 of the older models.

Cheers

 

[puffman420]

I agree with this. I've bought 5 of them previously from the same seller, they're an exotic plant / seed specialist & the lights are all in perfect condition, I've ran them for 10+ hours when they arrived & all working with no issues.

All im saying 400 hours smells of something.
4000-8000 hours i would believe as thats 6-8 months using for approx 18 hours which is max 2-3 grows.

You cannot beat what is available to purchase brand new with a warranty for less outlay than the second hand units being sold with zero warranty and just the GN name with the old tech in them.

 

[pop22]

I'll say that the Topled units are a good value for the price. Mine ran 16/8 then 12/12 since the first week of may. I have two 300 watt units. My plants love them, they are big and healthy. And at a current price of $104 U.S., you can't beat them at any price!

As to the life of LEDs, the current generation has had time to mature, I'm willing to bet that the 50,000 hour life estimate is conservative. even if i only get 10,000 hours that means it cost me 1 one hundreth of a cent per hour.

 

[bad dragon bzzz]

my old led (£140)had a 12 month warrenty.after 11 months all 3 fans packed in.i was half way through a grow.....what to do.send it back and kill my plants,or wait for new gn ? that was 3 months ago.i held on to led and the plants.within a week all the outer leds failed(7000hrs).shite warrenty is up and its now a fire hazard.so I opens the lid.ahh that's probably why the outer leds failed.because the heat sink as a smaller footprint than the bulb pattern.I bin it jump on ebay get a £70 vipar next day del.
a lot can be said for a warrenty,but quality is nice to.hopefully I get a gn someday.

 

[Boy Named Sue]

All im saying 400 hours smells of something.
4000-8000 hours i would believe as thats 6-8 months using for approx 18 hours which is max 2-3 grows.

You cannot beat what is available to purchase brand new with a warranty for less outlay than the second hand units being sold with zero warranty and just the GN name with the old tech in them.

I don't know anything about the kind of hours that you'd use lights on for exotic plants or seedlings but I'm guessing it might be less than what you'd be expecting to see if the lights had been used for growing autos on an 18 or 20hr cycle hence a lower usage.

Always a risk buying second hand & without a warranty but from first impressions it's been all good so far, hopefully remains that way.

Unless I've picked it up wrong I don't think the performance of 1 of the new units will be better than 2 of the old ones, in output anyway. Sounds like it will be smaller than the 0006 but with a better footprint & less draw so cheaper to run but I can't see being able to grow the same amount of plants that you could with 2 old units with just 1 new one. Be great if I'm wrong though!

 

[LED Borg]

Those GN units are far better then any Vipar stuff, but TopLED are also excellent, I own the MARS II 700W, its value for money, performance, warranty and support,. smoke sara is a lovely person to deal with, very open and honest,. unlike the 'latter' , see my new report on how Vipar are scamming people on the warrantys. They get 3 years warranty from their supplier, evergreenlighting.com in china, but only offer us 1 year?

I wonder if Vipar ask for faulty units back from customers when they're LED goes faulty....offering them a cheaper replacement, unit swap. If they do then they are obviously re-furbing them under 'they're' special warranty....

Ask them on Ebay,,,,,I did, got banned from buying from them, lol, Try it people!
they might even suddenly start offering longer warrantys eh?

 

[bad dragon bzzz]

another thing is that some led makers make a big deal of having warehouse/offices in the uk and states.yet when anyone places an order they are told "local warehouse out of stock,unit will be sent from china at no extra cost"
I get the feeling the local warehouses are actually just a PO box.
we all have other interests outside of growing.I read "back to back"or "A v B v C" tests.why no led tests?.take high end hi-fi for example,you can have millions of facts and figures.graphs charts reviews polls and whatnot.yet the only thing that matters to me is "do my ears like the sound enough to warrant paying X amount.
leds are a grey art just like hi-fi and engine tuning.
if I knew as much about led as I do about cars,I would have a shortlist of 3 in each price bracket.the rest I would consider as garbage. sorry to muddle thread,just had my 1st smoke of the day.it makes me babble a bit.