1w, 2w, and 3w LED penetration discussion

[sm0k4]

Haven't used any commercial LED lamps, but my Osram 1W emitters are kicking ass in veg so far. Build your own to save money and have better LEDs.

I think it will be near $700 when I get done with my ~300W LED array. Way cheaper than buying from a "good" commercial supplier. More efficient too.

I have seen grows with GrowLEDHydro lights and they seem good. Their 300W is $1100. The 3W 90 degree lenses are kind of nice, but I'm a fan of the more efficient 1W LEDs at 120 degrees. More photons for less watts burned with better diffusion. 90 degrees focuses the light into more of a narrow beam, I've seen reports of plants growing better with diffused light. So my light will be cheaper and just as good if not better that that light. I would buy it if I didn't have the skills to make my own. They never tell the exact bins of LEDs, which I do not like.

 

[budlover123]

...They never tell the exact bins of LEDs, which I do not like.

Which is really important, for example, on the cree xr-e datasheets they list the bin ratings of Royal blue leds for bins d13-d15, rated to emit 300mW - 425mW of blue light.. I just bought some d16 bin leds rated for 500mW, and this is all talking about at 350mA (1-watt). There probably are d11, maybe even d01 bins that are not very good, if they don't tell you the bin number, it could be a huge difference. If they don't tell you who made the "1-watt" leds, and you have absolutely no idea about the output, I wouldn't buy it, I made that mistake once already.

On my last LED project I used 1 watt leds too, they only emitted 225mW at 350mA!, that's less than half the efficiency and output of the lights I just used, but all 1 watt LEDs

 

[sm0k4]

Which is really important, for example, on the cree xr-e datasheets they list the bin ratings of Royal blue leds for bins d13-d15, rated to emit 300mW - 425mW of blue light.. I just bought some d16 bin leds rated for 500mW, and this is all talking about at 350mA (1-watt). There probably are d11, maybe even d01 bins that are not very good, if they don't tell you the bin number, it could be a huge difference. If they don't tell you who made the "1-watt" leds, and you have absolutely no idea about the output, I wouldn't buy it, I made that mistake once already.

On my last LED project I used 1 watt leds too, they only emitted 225mW at 350mA!, that's less than half the efficiency and output of the lights I just used, but all 1 watt LEDs

Yup, all this matters which is why I took the time to really read up on the LED technology. Cree and Osram seem to be at the forefront.

 

[greenmystic]

I have seen grows with GrowLEDHydro lights and they seem good. Their 300W is $1100. The 3W 90 degree lenses are kind of nice, but I'm a fan of the more efficient 1W LEDs at 120 degrees. More photons for less watts burned with better diffusion. 90 degrees focuses the light into more of a narrow beam, I've seen reports of plants growing better with diffused light. So my light will be cheaper and just as good if not better that that light. I would buy it if I didn't have the skills to make my own. They never tell the exact bins of LEDs, which I do not like.

Can you point me to these grows? I'd like to find out more about these lights or similar price / quality commercial lights. I'm looking around but not finding much yet...

 

[sm0k4]

Can you point me to these grows? I'd like to find out more about these lights or similar price / quality commercial lights. I'm looking around but not finding much yet...

Type GrowLEDHydro into Google and its the second link. People there seem to swear by them. I still take the reviews with a grain of salt. I would still build my own before ever buying one if you have the means and desire to learn how.

If I were to buy one I might go GLH though. At least price is about in line with the wattage. I still think you can get more for the same money by DIY.

 

[greenmystic]

Type GrowLEDHydro into Google and its the second link. People there seem to swear by them. I still take the reviews with a grain of salt. I would still build my own before ever buying one if you have the means and desire to learn how.

Did that. It was a YouTube by the company. Most of the other links I found were the company as well. Where can I find the people that swear by them? A little help is appreciated.

If I were to buy one I might go GLH though. At least price is about in line with the wattage. I still think you can get more for the same money by DIY.

Probably so but I'm not going to DIY.

 

[sm0k4]

Na, it wasn't a youtube vid.

Search for LED grows by IrishBoy on other forums. He likes GLH and has grow journals.