[Dream lights]

I'm curious what the best value and effective LED out there for replacing a 1000w? I see a lot of people talk about the Lumigrow ES 330.

[rives]

I have an ES330, and like it. However, if you want to replace a 1000w lamp with it, you are going to want two of them. From what I've seen, the actual wattage used by an LED fixture needs to be about 60-70% of the HID lamp that you want to replace.

[Dream lights]

Hmm so 600 actual watts from pretty much any of the companies listed in the threads here will work? There is no consensus on a brand or model?

[Terpene]

Hey Dream,

You're looking for a 3 watt chipset model, whatever LED you buy. In my experience, 2 watt models will run circles around dim 1 watt units and 3 watt units are even more powerful than 2watters.

After using em for the last year, HPS = LED. Its a watt for watt conversion, but the spread on LED is pretty limited, which means if you're used to a single thowie in a room, you're going to be disappointed. Give you an idea, a 500w 3w fixture will cover a 2.5 x 3.5 rectangular area very effectively, but really falls off past that. Upshot - nearly zero heat, maybe a 1-3 degree increase over ambient temp.

Another thing about LED they don't tell you - they will be too much light for the plants. If you put 3 watt models closer than 10 inches to the plants the leaves will oversuck nutrients, dry out, and ugly up on you. Also, the buds / tops of the colas will turn white from light intensity. Here's a picture of a haze cross we did which did all of the above:



And a shot of a thai / og cross which looks like its been ravaged by spider mites - but again, this was from having the LEDs to close apparently it damages the leaf tissue. The best example of "crispy-ing" the leaves..


This is what umol based light meters will read at distances closer than 10 inches from a blackstar 500w 3 watt unit:


Outdoors, that meter has the same reading in the middle of July at noon. Shade is 1000 umol. Nearly every 1000w / 600w hps setup Ive seen is between 800 - 1300 umol at the canopy, we've since backed the lights away from the plants and have had much better results with LESS light intensity. I wouldn't have ever believed that LEDs could outrun HPS and damage plants, but live and learn.

[brotherjericho]

I'm not an experienced grower, but I do have a much lower wattage LED panel. IMHO, they are awesome for plants directly under them but rapidly lose effectiveness when you move further away from the actual dimensions of the panel. That being said, it would be better to replace a 1000w HPS with 2 or more lower wattage panels.

Again, take my advice with a grain of salt, my experience is limited. I have a Pro-Grow 180, and I do not think it is effective for more than 2 plants, but very effective for those 2.

[budleydoright]

Another thing about LED they don't tell you - they will be too much light for the plants. If you put 3 watt models closer than 10 inches to the plants the leaves will oversuck nutrients, dry out, and ugly up on you. Also, the buds / tops of the colas will turn white from light intensity. Here's a picture of a haze cross we did which did all of the above:

I learned that the hard way with water cooled lights as well. Just cause you can put the 4 inchers from the tops don't mean you should!

[siddhartha]

I use a Black Dog Platinum XL with no loss and yield, and an increase in quality. You do want to keep the light over 18 inches high. Also my temps dropped dramatically. You can see some of my last harvest photos, and my thread using this light.
Sidd

[max 6699]

hows the production on the es330? Is it equal to a 400 wt HPS? How bout a 600wt HPS thanks in advance for your input ~~~~Max

[rives]

Originally Posted by max 6699

hows the production on the es330? Is it equal to a 400 wt HPS? How bout a 600wt HPS thanks in advance for your input ~~~~Max

Max, I couldn't answer your pm because you only get one until you get to 50 posts, and it says that you are full up.

Regarding the ES330's capabilities, it has been many years since I put away my 400w hps stuff, but I would say that the ES330 has a substantial edge over a 400w. I've never used a 600w, but from what I have seen on here, a 600 would have the edge in production but the Lumigrow (I think) would have better quality.

[max 6699]

thanks for the info Rives, I sent you an address if you want to talk further~~