wanting to buy a full led fixture..but from where??

[zachrockbadenof]

looking to purchase a complete led lite/fixture... see 7 band ,240 watt at htg supply for $266.. it 16x8.5'', so since my area is approx 6x6', i'm figuring i will need 3 of em (flowering)...then they have an agromax 210w for $550 bucks...

seems prices all over the place... both have a one year warr... ofcourse at another site i see black dog fixtures, but they even more expensive... pretty confusing

 

[cateros]

looking to purchase a complete led lite/fixture... see 7 band ,240 watt at htg supply for $266.. it 16x8.5'', so since my area is approx 6x6', i'm figuring i will need 3 of em (flowering)...then they have an agromax 210w for $550 bucks...

seems prices all over the place... both have a one year warr... ofcourse at another site i see black dog fixtures, but they even more expensive... pretty confusing

Okay well I am no expert but first thing I would do is check out the links at the very top of the forum list thread of led retailers, actuall watts used vs manufacturers listed watts, the gpw thread ,and the can led grow 1lb+ and the thread listing led grows gpw achieved.

Secondly don't even consider an led that doesn't have at least a 3 year warranty and is made by a company that has offered the same warranty length and been in business for at least 3-5 years.

Do research in color spectrums you will find there is a lot of info out there we didn't know, for instance we all know blue in the 400-480nm range and red from around 620 700nm range are the most important colors then there is info saying to use orange spectrum and white , while some companies have added green 525nm now green seems weird but it has been shown while green light is only absorbed at 15% the photons penetrate deeper into the cell structure and actually increases the plants ability to bind c02 to the stomata by up to 80% so in a grow room using high levels of co2 enrichment if the plants are saturated with blue and red light in the proper spectrum, making it appear that all this time we thought green light was safe to use in the dark period we have been mistaken. But I have seen there are companies that offer lights with up to 11 spectrums of light , many independent led light reviews are showing that 5-6 band led's are the way to go .
After spectrum of the diodes used you want to know what manufactures created the diode and how high the bin number of the diodes used was the higher the bin the better the diode, the best diodes it would appear are being made by cree,bridgelux,epistar,and semiled .
Then finally secondary lens technology new lens are able to concentrate and focus the light from the diodes to create tighter more intense foot prints and deeper penetration.

So I personally I think the best leds I have seen so far are the magnum 357+ ,the new HGL penetrator pro extreme ,advanced led, prosource new illuminator ufo using 5 band technology.
And if you don't mind dealing with oversea companys for warranty and service issue bysen led is a good way to go as they used to make the hgl lightS and from everything I have seen are pretty much identical only thing is you might have long wait times if you need a light arrary ,fan or power supply replaced .

 

[jcmjrt]

You are being wildly optimistic about coverage for flower...now if you just want to veg with the LED panels then the coverage is probably OK. For coverage, you should figure the size of the fixture plus 2 - 6 inches per side...which means add 4 - 12 inches to the width and depth of the fixture....so each of your fixtures should cover about 28 x 20 inches for flower. By my figuring, you would need at least 6 fixtures and that's if you are using the optimistic coverage.

I know the manufacturers want you to believe that it will cover a much larger area, but quite frankly, they lie. You could probably get adequate coverage if you used light movers. You'd need to figure if you have the REAL wattage of about 40 watts/ft2. If you use better LED fixtures and level canopy grow techniques that number can come down to as low as about 25 watts/fts. LEDs also can work quite well in conjunction with other lighting sources like fluorscent or even HID to get your coverage...or just grow over a smaller area. It'll take a little planning but if you just go with what manufacturers tell you, you'll almost assuredly be quite disappointed. Take a look at A51...or Hans Panels...

 

[zachrockbadenof]

You are being wildly optimistic about coverage for flower...now if you just want to veg with the LED panels then the coverage is probably OK. For coverage, you should figure the size of the fixture plus 2 - 6 inches per side...which means add 4 - 12 inches to the width and depth of the fixture....so each of your fixtures should cover about 28 x 20 inches for flower. By my figuring, you would need at least 6 fixtures and that's if you are using the optimistic coverage.
I know the manufacturers want you to believe that it will cover a much larger area, but quite frankly, they lie. You could probably get adequate coverage if you used light movers. You'd need to figure if you have the REAL wattage of about 40 watts/ft2. If you use better LED fixtures and level canopy grow techniques that number can come down to as low as about 25 watts/fts. LEDs also can work quite well in conjunction with other lighting sources like fluorscent or even HID to get your coverage...or just grow over a smaller area. It'll take a little planning but if you just go with what manufacturers tell you, you'll almost assuredly be quite disappointed. Take a look at A51...or Hans Panels...

thanks for reply... we are trying to wean ourselves away from HID's... but it does not seem possible without selling everything we own, just to buy these led's... they are toooo expensive for the saving's in electric...

we wanted to try them in a small part of the flower room, but if we go for some of the better ones, at $500 a chip, need min 3, n we save $50 a month in power, that's 2 1/2 yrs b4 payback... n then at 2.5yrs the fixtures r prob getting close to things needing replacing ... don't see the advantage yet.. prices have to come way down ...pity...