[Tjalfe]

Well, i must say that LED seems really interesting.. It just sucks that the manufactures doesn't provide people with proven data. Seriously some manufactures claims that a 180w LED is equal to a 600w HID, i cant imagine that being true. However it really looks like the LED provide a better yield when you compare with HID when the same wattage is used.

I was thinking about using 2*120w LED instead of 1*250w HID.. Do you think it would have a big influence in my yield?

..I would appreciate some serious arguments instead of just people flaming eachother (as i have seen tons of times when people discussing led vs hid).

Btw my growing space is 5 sqf.

[T_B_M]

That is quite a bit of space. You will need as many units that will cover your area. Look at the LED footprint (actual size of the panel, not what the retailer recommends, they are full of shit). Get however many will fill up your space with a few inches gap between them.

Lots of people swear by the Lumigrows. If you don't want to spend that much, the Spectras from Growledhydro have also gotten some good results. I've been seeing reports that the new 2011 models aren't the same or as good as the 2010 models were. What this means, I don't know. He is now driving them a little softer and they have no glass. Whatever having no glass means, I don't know. Maybe on the emitter, instead of a glass dome, there is some other sort of material. Either way, be weary of ALL led wattage claims.

They calculate and name the lights based on total LED power, not at what they drive them at. So the Blackstar 240W is really around 135W of actual power draw, including fans. What they do is take the number of LEDs and multiply it by the LED max wattage, which you cannot even run by the way, to get their wattage. They would have to drive the LEDs so hot at full power, so they don't do it, but still name and sell the light as if its a 240W light, when its more close to 120. Pretty sad huh?

This is why I DIY my own LED lights. I know what power I am using and how much light output I am getting. Can you ever find spec sheets or anything on retail LED sites in terms of emitter specs or fan/cooling specs? Of course not, that would contradict their marketing statements. Bunch of shady assholes is what the LED retail industry turned into. Sure there are diamonds in the rough, but most are full of shit and are not to be trusted.

Rant over. Here is a pic of a Kill-A-Watt reading on a 240W Blackstar.




Here is one with the 240W Growledhydro brand. The fans take several watts to run, but you can see they market their light at actual power draw.

DO YOUR RESEARCH OR GET BURNED is the lesson here.

[FunkBomb]

Thanks for the insight on the LED's. It is a shame the advertised wattage is not the actual wattage.

-Funk

[GP73LPC]

T_B_M,
is that Growledhydro 240W on old unit? i don't see it on their web site...

thanks