Lighting Which way to go

[willywilson81]

Hi guys, been a while since I was last on. I have got a few autoflower grows under my belt now and want to try something different to cfls. Now do I go hps or led. I have about £80 to spank. My space is 22" 22" by 50" tall. Now I can increase the hight slightly to around 70" if required. So come on folks which way should I go.
Thanks in advance. ☺

 

[The Elvis]

with 80 id look into HID. LED is not cheap ...

how many ya wanna grow?

 

[jackmc]

Hi Willy, I use Mars-Hydro LED lights. They seem to be the best value for the watt. I don't know what they cost in England but I just bought a 3x100 watt original type light for $100US and their UFO is $80US. The LEDs are energy efficient and don't throw much heat.
:Sharing One:

PS I am growing in 24" of vertical space with a Mars II which uses 5 watt LEDs. It's working well.

 

[Torched]

In such a small space LED is going to be easier to deal with heat extraction.

 

[willywilson81]

I only want to be growing 2 at a time really. Think I'll look in to led. What sort of wattage should I be looking for as i can get a 300w marshydro pannel for £78 it's there original range.

 

[Bilbo]

Hey bro, I did my first grow under a £90 300w Vipar so you should be fine with the Mars.

I added a red cfl during flower and now on my 5th grow I've got 3 panels, 2 cfls and 3 led sidelights to play with, it's addictive but the first panel has paid for itself and the other lights many times over considering the money I've saved buying very average smokes for £25 a henry!

 

[willywilson81]

So can any 1 shed some light on this 1. What kind of yield would I expect from a 300w led pannel compared to 325w of duel spec cfls? All I wanna know is will it be more, the same or less and will it be better quality ie nice dense nugs?
Thanks in advance guys. As always you've been very helpful.

 

[jackmc]

Hi willy, I don't have much experience with CFLs but I'd venture that wattage of equal spectrum from different types of lamp will be equally effective. The difference will be in how efficient the lamp is and subsequently how much of the electricity is wasted as heat which you them will have to remove from your grow space. A 3x100 LED should be fine for two plants in the amount of space you've described. Peace

 

[willywilson81]

Nice 1 cheers dude. Will have to get my self 1 ordered and see how I get on

 

[Bilbo]

So can any 1 shed some light on this 1. What kind of yield would I expect from a 300w led pannel compared to 325w of duel spec cfls? All I wanna know is will it be more, the same or less and will it be better quality ie nice dense nugs?
Thanks in advance guys. As always you've been very helpful.

I'll say that the LED will produce a lot more than the CFL's.

If you measure them on true wattage at the wall the Marshydro 300w will be using around 180w true while the CFL's will be using about 70w true and burning more of that in heat than the LED.

I know wattage is a crap measurement for grow lights but it gives you an idea of how much more powerful the panel is.

If you have 300w true of CFL's just ignore this post as you'll be fine!