How much interest is there in LED light systems?

[j6p]

If LED prices drop substantially and LED flowering performance improves enough, I would probably use them for my small personal grows. They could be very convenient in cabs, with low wattage and heat reduction. Not just yet though.

 

[Blckbrd]

I'd be interested as long as it could out-shine my 1000 watters, or boost my yield!

Yup. Me too. It's all about the final product. I can manage cost, heat and electricity bills. If they produce better results, than I'm definitely interested.

 

[Bud Bug]

In Canada a few things need to happen for LED's to take off with commercial growers which then would be followed right away but micro growers.

First they need produce at least 1lb out of a 4x4 area and were not talking about vegging for 6 weeks and flowering for 10 weeks and saying look we got a 1lb out of it. This has to be done in two weeks veg and 8 weeks flower with about 25/36 plants per light. This is the average crop time for most growers that I know.

The cost has to be half of what it is right now say about $750 for a true 1000W HID replacement drop in LED array.

Power consumption will be a big feature especially if you can go down to a 600W LED array instead of a 1000W HID for the 4-6 light growers, as this would put them under the 92KWh/Day hydro usage line while still being able to grow in their homes.

 

[TroubleGuy]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm kind of surprised to see how much there's been in under 24 hours. Wow...

Keep it coming!

Also give this a read. It's translated from Spanish but it's the main point of each post is easy to understand...

http://www.cannabiscafe.net/foros/showthread.php?t=143647&page=1#googtrans/es/en

 

[UnKlE_SaM]

if it was say the price of some t5's i would buy many panels. im sure there great for side lighting veg and clones. they just cant flower a big plant

 

[420ish]

they work great for veg!never tryed flowering though.

 

[TroubleGuy]

Right now they're ideal for Sea of Green or smaller plants. They work better in some applications than others but they could easily be the future of indoor growing once they're perfected and prices for high-output LEDs drop.

Here are links to the finished product of an LED grow by a spanish grower... There are actually two full harvests covered in that journal so browse through it if you want all the details. This journal and many like it online shows me that anyone who says they don't work at all for growing indoors simply isn't aware of the facts that prove them wrong. There are pros and cons to LED, just like any other light system.

Link: http://www.cannabiscafe.net/foros/showthread.php?t=143647&page=39#googtrans/es/en

 

[green_thumb...]

yeah,spanish growers LED buds look good to me,now im starting to get interested... thanks TG...

 

[Flying Goat]

Trouble - Don't ignore the market for small-time medical patients who just want to produce their own medicine - cheaply! Some of us don't care about yield, provided the resulting product treats our symptoms!

Just a thot from a different perspective...

Cheers!

 

[SickBoyZap]

I've been growing for only about 8 years now. But even in that short time I've seen so many trends come and go!

It's going to take alot to get me to leave HPS and MH.

I know eventually everthing we do now, is going to be different within the next 10 years, but I love MH & HPS!

 

[TroubleGuy]

Trouble - Don't ignore the market for small-time medical patients who just want to produce their own medicine - cheaply!

Those people are actually the first people we had in mind.

I'm going to meet up with my friend today and start working out specifics. If all goes well we'll be building it by the 2nd week of March.

 

[DankSide]

Of course!

Its tough because they're good for veg, but when any budget grower can turn around and set up a veg cab full of cfl's for so much less, you're going to have a hard sell.

 

[smoke1sun]

would def be interested in LED's if they were cheaper. It would help me in my quest to the perfect grow and mother chamber. But they are just to expensive right now.

 

[Zombo]

Trouble - Don't ignore the market for small-time medical patients who just want to produce their own medicine - cheaply! Some of us don't care about yield, provided the resulting product treats our symptoms!

Just a thot from a different perspective...

Cheers!

Those people are actually the first people we had in mind.

I'm going to meet up with my friend today and start working out specifics. If all goes well we'll be building it by the 2nd week of March.

That's GREAT news, because that is the exact demographic I fit in. I use LEDs now, will always use them, and will not use anything else. I did DIY Cree XR's and XR-E's for saltwater nano and pico reefs and they worked fantastic for corals (which are nearly all photosynthetic colonies). For those harping about "ooooh, they need white!", there's plenty of high powered 1 to 5w "white" LEDs to play with.

I want to fart around with retrofitting my AG Veggie Pro's CFL hood with 3-6 Endor Rebel Stars and having fun with it, maybe keep a mom in it! Good luck with your endeavor, TroubleGuy.

 

[arcey]

As a small medical grower, I'd be most interested in replacing my cfl's with LEDS.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Remember, we spent tens of millions of dollars for the computers that got us to the moon. A single iMac today has more power than did all of Houston Space Control. Give it time.

 

[Flying Goat]

TroubleGuy - I have been spreading the word among my medical group (Alabamians for Compassionate Care). I have a friend who has $, space & desire to grow, but wants me as his "guru" to help set up his system... He's stoked on the LEDs, so let me know when you come up with a board that is equal to a 400w HPS.

He would like to start with LEDs, but probably more cost-effective for him to begin with a 400w - 600w MH/HPS...

I can really see the application for these in attic rooms where FLIR might be a concern... No heat signature = invisibility!

I would even be able to take off my Armadillo helmet for awhile...

 

[MerryPrankstr]

Old school grower here that started in the 60's.

I've been growing with LED's for over 2 years now and produce large solid buds of the danksest of the dank. LED lamps with 1 watt LED emitters are a start, but my plants really started to exceed HID lighting when I switched to 15watt emitter technology. The lamps I see on advertised on this site are sadly behind the curve in technology, no matter what is stated by the LED forum "moderator".

LED's are pricey up front, but have adequate payback due to energy use. I run elite gear(Rez, etc.) and would not waste time and effort using that do not produce. Each seed averages $20.00 and it would be foolish for me to waste these seeds with equipment that would not allow me to produce the maximum

Here's an established vendor that has many lamps to choose from:

http://www.indooragriculture.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1

They certainly ain't cheap, but do work extremely well and are up to the task.

Hope this helps....

 

[foo_bird]

LEDS are here to stay and will keep getting better
I'm fixing to add 30-40 watts of deep n far red to
110 watts of PPL's should work great

 

[toastfighter2]

Personally, I am going to wait it out until there is a better product on the market. Now I am not saying that what is out there right now is complete crap or anything, but there is still a huge difference between a HPS lamp and a LED array, not only in price, but in the end product. If you think about it, how much more efficient is it to buy one light, and only be able to grow a few small plants under it, when for the same price, you can pick up a few 1000w lamps and grow a room full of plants. Ok, so you saved a few bucks on electric, but you only ended up with a small percentage of what you would have with the multiple hps lights that you could have bought instead, so in reality, you are losing out in the long run because the few extra pounds would more than pay for the electric used.