Black Dog 600w vs Gavita 1000w

I live in CO, have two rooms running right now and am thinking of expanding. While waiting for my power upgrade I have been looking at lights for my new rooms and also for my existing rooms. I looked at two local light suppliers here, Boulderlamp Inc (for CMH) and Black Dog. Normally I wouldn't look at Black Dog because it's super expensive, but after reading tons of lighting threads I keep hearing that LEDs are superior to CMH for production and are at least comparable in power saving.

Now for my questions. I have 6 3x3 trays that are lit by a 1k Gavita. I am looking to switch those for Black Dog Phytomax2 600w. I have searched the LED forum but I dind't see any Black Dog threads, has anyone used these with good results? I know there are tons of factors but are these "comparable" to a 1k for a 3x3 tray (I usually pull 1.25-1.5 per 3x3)? They have a 90 day policy so I could always return them if they are terrible but missing a cycle would set me back.

If anyone has any suggestions on LEDs other than Black Dog, I'm all ears, with two caveats:
1. I don't want to DIY. If it were a tent I might be game, but my rooms are production oriented so I want a proven light that has a warranty that others will fix.
2. I STRONGLY prefer a local company so I can talk to them face to face and walk in if I have a problem.

Almost fits your #2 requirement: I picked lights from Pacific Light Concepts for an application like this. It looked like a good product at a good price, everything but the ETL/UL listing. Joe answered my emails and all my questions promptly, and I haven't even made the purchase yet.

He even did some well-justified calculations when I was asking about a particular room layout.

ChilLED, PLC, Migro.

I actually ended up going with Pacific's PLC-6s. Half the price and I agree they are very prompt at answering emails.

Timber Grow Lights is another great LED company.

-Funk

Piggiesmalls said:

I actually ended up going with Pacific's PLC-6s. Half the price and I agree they are very prompt at answering emails.

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You did yourself a huge favor! That light eats black dogs for lunch.