[de145]

If I want to replace a given wattage of HPS (for example) with LED is there a rule of thumb or formula to help choose the LED light?

(I want to use LED to grow tropical sativas and the seed seller states minimum wattage of HPS to grow them and I'm trying to get a handle on what to look for in LED to meet that.)

[Smoking Gun]

There is no equivalency you can use as a guide. For one thing LED technology has improved vastly in the last couple years and the LED units now are far more powerful and effective than anything on the market a few years back. Plus each company sets its arrays up differently, meaning that a 300w unit from one company may not cover the same area as a unit from another company. My best suggestion is take your time and do A LOT of research on LED units. Some units to look into are Diamond Series and HydroGrow. The technology these companies use seems to be top of the line and cutting edge. I am not saying this out of direct experience but out of several months of research.

[siddhartha]

An important thing to look at as well is real wattage. Some company say they are 800 watts or 1000 watts, but when you look at the real wattage it is half.
https://www.compare-led-grow-lights.com/
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=222390
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=222674

Sidd

[Smoking Gun]

Originally Posted by siddhartha

An important thing to look at as well is real wattage. Some company say they are 800 watts or 1000 watts, but when you look at the real wattage it is half.
https://www.compare-led-grow-lights.com/
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=222390
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=222674

Sidd

This brings up the point that you should also look at the specified wattage for each diode. Any unit that uses diodes rated less than 1w are not going to be effective units; many of the good units are using 3w diodes. As for real used watts, it is important to know what your real draw is, but usually the actual draw is less than the advertised draw. However this is not really a bad thing, the light companies just round up their wattage for simple notation, not to imply their units are using more energy. If you have counted on your unit using 800 watts and it is only using 750 watts you have some safety built in for your breakers, and you haven't lost any actual efficiency.

Another thing I have found in my research is the angle of the lens is also very important. A the more narrow the beam the more effective the unit. 90 degrees appears to be the widest desired beam spread, and some companies are working with diodes that have 60 degree lenses.

[rives]

While I agree with both of the above posters, a very rough guide for a quality LED fixture would be around +/- 60% of an HID. My Lumigrow ES330 is substantially better than a 400w, and a bit shy of a 600w in my experience. However, I haven't seen many fixtures that approach the quality/performance of the Lumigrow equipment.

[habeeb]

^ agree..

I've used alot of LED over some time.. UFO / panels / kessil / lumigrow / GLH / EVO


only one that has the top quality, is kessil, but there retarded in what customers want.. kessil is a offshoot company that's coming from a place that has $$$, but is using it all wrong, I hope they get there act together, as they could blowout the competition with there fit and finish of there products.. they feel like when you buy a sony product, it seems smooth , clean lines, nice finish, seems like quality.. there also very overpriced for what wattage you get.. maybe there offsetting R&D, but I'm not buying them till they learn we need white and to go bigger watts.

lumigrow I liked also, but way to loud for my tastes, need to fit some 120 mm fans instead of these small irritating fans.. also I have a feeling, they should have updated there LED's by now.. they've had the same design for years.. I would expect them to have improved there line by now.. thing I did like is there knowing to put white into the spectrum, which kessil does not.

[rives]

Originally Posted by habeeb

lumigrow I liked also, but way to loud for my tastes, need to fit some 120 mm fans instead of these small irritating fans.. also I have a feeling, they should have updated there LED's by now.. they've had the same design for years.. I would expect them to have improved there line by now.. thing I did like is there knowing to put white into the spectrum, which kessil does not.

Completely agree with the comment on the racket. Supposedly the newer ones are quieter, but I haven't been around the new version. I swapped my cooling fans out to the new models, and it helped a bit, but most of the noise on my version comes from the power supply fan, and it is a sealed unit. I would like to try the Lumibars with their passive cooling.

I would think that there would have to have been some changes in the LEDs over this time period (Osram, for instance, has obsoleted at least two lines of LEDs in this time period), but there is no way of knowing since they don't publish the spec on the LEDs. I do know that they work very well, though.

[de145]

Thanks everyone and sorry for the accidental double post originally but unfortunately I can't delete it.

[Keep goin]

If I want to replace a given wattage of HPS (for example) with LED is there a rule of thumb or formula to help choose the LED light?

I would agree with rives at 60% or even push that to 75 or 80%. Just do yourself a favor and go with multiple smaller units instead of one BIG panel.

[LeeROI]

Originally Posted by rives

Completely agree with the comment on the racket. Supposedly the newer ones are quieter, but I haven't been around the new version. I swapped my cooling fans out to the new models, and it helped a bit, but most of the noise on my version comes from the power supply fan, and it is a sealed unit. I would like to try the Lumibars with their passive cooling. . .

Looks like you still get a buzzy fan on the power supply--only the LEDs are passively cooled.