Help with lighting my 8x8 tent

Hey all,

I have an 8x8 tent that I need lighting for. I had planned on running x4 630w DE's with Silverstar 4XL reflectors ($500 CAD per unit) until I started looking into LED's. Half of the tent is a 10-site UC RDWC, and the other half is soil. The whole tent will be packed wall to wall, minus space for an AC unit.

I'm $2k to go with the DE setup, and obviously heat is going to be an issue with those.

I'm now looking at three different LED's...

HLG-550 ($1340)
Optic 6 GEN3 COB ($850)
Phlizon Cree Cob 3000w ($500)

I'm just wondering what suggestions the community has, and if there are alternatives? It was suggested to me on another thread that there's easy DIY assembly packages but I'm not sure where to go for those.

I know the Phlizon aren't anywhere near what the HLG units are, but they are 1/3 the cost. I'm also curious what sort of BTU's the HLG units throw off, especially comparable to the COB units.

My LED knowledge is at newb status so any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

If you just want to get up and running, its much quicker to purchase off the shelf, and has greater peace of mind than building and operating a DIY LED light. Of the 3 you listed, I like the HLG, but to me, the cost is too high for what you get, and I would DIY it instead. I don't know a thing about #2. I personally would avoid the #3 cree cob set-up, as I like the strips more than the cobs because I have limited height and the plants can get closer to the HLG than the cree cobs. The cobs definitely throw off more heat than the HLGs.

If you are seriously thinking about the DIY route, be aware that it is kind of a hassle and time consuming learning process to assemble your first DIY light because you need to understand the basics of ohms law, be able to understand LED datsheets, select your LEDs and heatsinks, design your circuits (parallel or series), plan your framing/hanging set-up, ID the needed accessories (LED holders, potentiometers, connectors [can you say Wago?], wires, shrink wrap, misc screws and nuts, the list goes on...), match the drivers to your lights, and procure the supplies/tools. Then get to work testing the circuits, building the frames, and assembling the lights. It takes time and motivation, but once you get past this, you can customize new lights easily, quickly, and at a lower cost than off the shelf.

If you can afford it go with the HLG 550. The new R-spec has an amazing spectrum. I have both the V1 and V2 550's and can say they're something else. The efficiency, spectrum, and layout is really hard to beat. Those lights put out so much light for only 480-500 watts its absurd. They also pay themselves off very quickly. There are other very good LED lights out there that are cheaper and less efficient that will do the job too.

I'm currently running an HLG 550 V2 in a 4x4 tent and its killing it. About 480 or so watts at the wall too.

-Funk

https://atreumlighting.com/collections/all

led bars is where it's at. With a little DIY these Atreum led bars seem like the way to go

4 of these - https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/collections/all/products/hlg-600h-kit-with-slate-5 would be quite lovely I would think. They're on sale right now too. Stupid simple to assemble.

I've got one in a 5x5 tent with the power supply remote mounted. Heat rises 13 degrees f above ambient with an 8" fan running at 35% through a scrubber.