LEDs vs HID
- Thread starter RobNYC
- Start date
That 5hit
Well-Known Member
leds are too much for what you can get out of cfls
they both are only good for small ops
they both last really long
they both only are good in large number
they both are low heat (but the court is still out on that one ) cfls and leds produce a whole lot of heat but still not as much as hids
they both are energy savers (low running costs)
hid user will allways till you that hids are better (and they are)
but if you are not tring to grow to pay bills and you just want too smoke some of your own start with cfls once you perfect your grow move on to the big shit the right amount of cfls could yeld you a pond for you and your guys to chef off of
by the way have you seen how much leds are and most of the led makers and sellers say use them with other light anyway
soo let me get see if i understand them clearly iam going to buy a $2000 led just to run them next too my cfl setup
they both are only good for small ops
they both last really long
they both only are good in large number
they both are low heat (but the court is still out on that one ) cfls and leds produce a whole lot of heat but still not as much as hids
they both are energy savers (low running costs)
hid user will allways till you that hids are better (and they are)
but if you are not tring to grow to pay bills and you just want too smoke some of your own start with cfls once you perfect your grow move on to the big shit the right amount of cfls could yeld you a pond for you and your guys to chef off of
by the way have you seen how much leds are and most of the led makers and sellers say use them with other light anyway
soo let me get see if i understand them clearly iam going to buy a $2000 led just to run them next too my cfl setup
Cr8z13
Well-Known Member
LED's need to come down in price to really compete with HID's. A nice 600W HID lamp with a cooled hood goes for around $300, whereas the equivalent LED, say the Smartlamp 600, sells for $1400. I'd like to eliminate my heat issues with HID, but paying that kind of premium for LED just isn't going to happen anytime soon.
grow space
Well-Known Member
yo man-i know thad led has its own advantages, like the low elect. budget and the non heating bulbs and shit, but hid lights is just so much productive. here, check out yourself mate - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CtROw3uiVg
keep up the good work...
keep up the good work...
Go with HID, its fail-safe.
The guys who sell arrays and LED bulbs are out of their minds. You can build your own array for a fraction of the price.
But if you are going for a larger op, like over 20 plants, I dont think you will want to sit there and solder over 4000 leds.
Leds are about $0.07 USD average each. Thats about $280 for all of em, but for 4000, you can definitely get a bulk package for less then that.
If you wanna quick setup, and dont care about energy costs, go with HID. If you have some time to dick around, try some LEDs.
Oh yeah, LEDs produce a fraction of the heat that CFLs do. The power supply might get warm to the the touch, but it can never burn you.
The guys who sell arrays and LED bulbs are out of their minds. You can build your own array for a fraction of the price.
But if you are going for a larger op, like over 20 plants, I dont think you will want to sit there and solder over 4000 leds.
Leds are about $0.07 USD average each. Thats about $280 for all of em, but for 4000, you can definitely get a bulk package for less then that.
If you wanna quick setup, and dont care about energy costs, go with HID. If you have some time to dick around, try some LEDs.
Oh yeah, LEDs produce a fraction of the heat that CFLs do. The power supply might get warm to the the touch, but it can never burn you.
If you use that search button thing at the top you will find a lot of information on LED lights.
https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/207010-led-grow-lights.html
LEDs are really good, you can't get the cheap ones though. The Ufo from HID Hut is good for vegging and flowering. LEDs don't seem to have the penetration power of the HPS that is why the HPS lights are prefered also the cost factor. As far as light spectrum the LED is better hands down. If you are only growing a small amount of plants 1 -3 or 4 the LED is far superior to an HPS more than that I suspect the HPS is better. High times tested the LED vs a 400W HPS and a 600W HPS. In a very controlled enviroment the LED had higher yeild than the 400W but less than the 600W, but if you look at yeild per watt the LED was the best. If you grow leets say exclusivly in a ScrOG the tne LED would be better, but for $499 to start for the 80w UFO it ain't cheap. If you have deep pockets then go for it.
LEDs are a technology that is still in the infancy stage. Given more time and more R&D they will be a lot better and pass HPS lights as the lights to have. That time however is not yet as the cost factor is still way to high.
LEDs in the right spectrum are not $0.07 each. Regular LEDs yes if not cheaper, but if they are not the right spectrum you are wasting money. There is a reason people pay that much for the LED arrays and you can't just get the cheap ones, look at the light spectrum they suck. The expensive ones are way better.
Good thing no cheap
Cheap thing no good.
No worries Rob. Just be aware of cheap knock offs. Look at the UFO and enhanced spectrum version at HID Hut and look at the spectrum they cover. It's good blue is like 400nm - 460nm and red 620nm to 730nm. I looked at a knock off that is on ebay they claimed regular price $499-$599 and they sell for $169. They even used one picture of the actual UFO from HID hut in there other pictures you can see it's not the real thing. And they say it is adjustable later they said that model was not adjustable and their spectrum was 450nm to 460nm and 640nm to 680nm. There is a reason you pay more money.
If you are looking at the LED lights do not cheap out. And it really depends on what you are doing, ScrOG should be great. I will be switching from my T5HO set up (8X 4foot sunblasters 6X 2700K and 2 with 6500K to slow stretch) for flowering and I love them. Everyone says go HPS but go with what works for you. I have to be really careful of heat due to choppers with thermo imaging. I actually had a friend with a legit grow in his garage (grows food for restarunts) cops showed up and wanted to look around. It was legint but I don't need that headache. I want to go to the LEDs as I think it will increase yeild. I will just add it in with some of my T5s and move a few of my T5s to my veg garden.
LEDs are the way of the future.
ninjagaiden
Well-Known Member
i use both. Yes, LED's will not yield as much as a HID will. However, they will give you about 20x less of a headache than HID's ever will. Really just a hang them up and thats about it.
realmaple1
Active Member
i would go with HID because right now LED is to new of a technology in growing.. although there is those big watts one.. i would wait a little longer until they lower in prices just like HID did in years.
eyelessism
Active Member
how many leds do you needs compared to say a 400 watt HPS. on one site ive seen 4 boards of 225 leds fo £100, how many plants would that grow.
realmaple1
Active Member
4 boards with some CFL's can get you 4 plants pretty good.
eyelessism
Active Member
im only growing 2 now, if i wanted to just do 2 more under LEDS only how many boards would it take.