LED vs HPS

For anyone on any kind of a budget and who is starting out talking about LED is like farting in the wind. For the capital outlay for a real LED array a beginning grower can outfit themselves quite nicely with an entire small grow operation. Especially if you buy equipment others have outgrown or no longer need or use. And if you have such experience as to grow expertly you usually don't have to ask such questions. This info intended for the less skilled.

I have 2 zelion HL LED lights on a mover for 4'x3' and 4 CXB 3070 enroute.
My experience is that my plants are doing much much better than they were on my 1000watt MH. All while I'm currently using an 88 watt draw with fans while in veg.
My .2 ct

As for Mars and the other companies.....notice how many used units are being sold on eBay....should tell you something!

I would make my own. I built a lot of electric guitars over the years and repaired many more. The solder gig is a natural for me. But I have seen more junk LED "grow lights" in the last few years so I warn to at least read up, check for reviews and like you say see how many used units are out there.

And I would be on here. Asking questions before I bought a new roll of solder. A whole lot of questions. I can solder and follow prints but that's something a monkey can do.

D350 said:

A little more about life expectancy of leds vs hps.
Hps lamps can easly reach 4000-6000h with usable output.
Leds they claim 50.000h, which is bogus. They rate them at very low power. For a good light output you need to crank the leds wattage, which shortens their life expectancy a lot! You ate looking at 5000h max with no serious output degradation for a good quality led. They will work longer, but at severly reduced lumens...
I have looked into leds extensively, but due to cutlrrent costs they are not viable for larger rooms, as they cost too much.

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Well, then you must not have researched them very efficiently, Seeing how LEDs will save a large grower about $100-$200 a month on there electricity bill. The initial costs are higher yes, But the long term costs are a much different story, LEDs do last a considerable amount of time longer then HPS as well, I have used LEDs for many years, My computer is filled with LED custom lighting, and it is 3 years old without a single bulb going out yet, so do I believe LEDs can last for a lot longer ? Yes I do.

I know they are cheaper in the long run, and more expensive initially. But what I am trying to find out, is people who have actually used one or the other, and to see if they noticed a difference in yields.

I have read countless posts online and grow journals, and have found 100s of people who swear they got larger more dense plants growing with the LEDs, I have also seen several comparison videos on Youtube, Of "Supposed" side by side comparisons between LEDs and HPS, and the LEDs again end up producing more yield. But I want advice from people who have personally had experience with them, and what they saw.

Also can someone explain this video, that says HPS / HID is better ??? I cannot for the life of me find a video saying HPS had larger yields, literally every grow journal and video says LED grows bigger yields... Can anyone tell me more personally discovered information ?

I don't think the pre-fabbed LED's are the way to go, the markup is just ridiculous. I'm building a DIY LED to replace a 600'w hps.

6 cree cxb3590 Cobs
2 HLG-120H-C350A controllers

And a few other odds and ends runs up to about $700, which is low end mark up for pre-fabbed LED's with shitty parts.

I do think its a different grow style with LED, both have their pluses and minus's, but after years of running hot hps im ready to get on board the LED train. You can use more supplementation lighting if you need, thats the beauty with LED and small spaces, you can still have plenty of room to scale up with additional lighting.

Diy cobs are the thing I am into, it's the only type of led that makes any sense, all those cheeky Chinese blurple lights are awaste of time, if you can't get a new a51 cob or optic led , then build your cob light, I am currently using cxa3070 cobs, then again even the mentioned light builders can't come close to your cxb3590 build

smegpot said:

I don't think the pre-fabbed LED's are the way to go, the markup is just ridiculous. I'm building a DIY LED to replace a 600'w hps.

6 cree cxb3590 Cobs
2 HLG-120H-C350A controllers

And a few other odds and ends runs up to about $700, which is low end mark up for pre-fabbed LED's with shitty parts.

I do think its a different grow style with LED, both have their pluses and minus's, but after years of running hot hps im ready to get on board the LED train. You can use more supplementation lighting if you need, thats the beauty with LED and small spaces, you can still have plenty of room to scale up with additional lighting.

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You are generally correct!

However you can get the GO Green 4xCree CXB3070 that costs about $450 and also the Osram Olson Zelion HL 2x2 that runs about $600

These are both amazing lights.

Or you can build an elcheapo Vero 29 V2 for $30 a cob or less and hit it at ~100w each. Drivers are not to bad of a price. The initial cost is much less than the cxb3590's. But efficiency is less. But still quite respectable. I'm using 8. I have around $600 in 800w.

D350 said:

A little more about life expectancy of leds vs hps.
Hps lamps can easly reach 4000-6000h with usable output.
Leds they claim 50.000h, which is bogus. They rate them at very low power. For a good light output you need to crank the leds wattage, which shortens their life expectancy a lot! You ate looking at 5000h max with no serious output degradation for a good quality led. They will work longer, but at severly reduced lumens...
I have looked into leds extensively, but due to cutlrrent costs they are not viable for larger rooms, as they cost too much.

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Hmmmm... I call 'BULLSHIT'.

In fact, the newer COB LED chips can be run very effectively and efficiently at fractions of their rated output, in which case the mean time between failure rate goes long. Really long...

Blurple panels are disco- buy them for parties with white shoes and big collars, lol

I'm personally putting these new COB LED chips to the scalability test. I'll be the judge of whether they're ready for prime time. The way I'm doing it is by matching watts with HID over the canopy.

My bet is right about ten k. Who's in, and who's just gonna talk?

Tim Fox said:

Diy cobs are the thing I am into, it's the only type of led that makes any sense, all those cheeky Chinese blurple lights are awaste of time, if you can't get a new a51 cob or optic led , then build your cob light, I am currently using cxa3070 cobs, then again even the mentioned light builders can't come close to your cxb3590 build

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When the parts come in I will do a DIY thing on here, maybe not step by step but its pretty easy once you do your homework.

smegpot said:

When the parts come in I will do a DIY thing on here, maybe not step by step but its pretty easy once you do your homework.

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Agreed, not hard at all,

Deadlytalon2014 said:

I can only veg 3 at a time / flower 3 at a time, With that being said, What would you suggest as the best route ? I am having a hard time finding a bulb / ballast / contactor / timer for a cheap enough comparable price, and I heard the LEDs use less power consumption for equal output

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You heard wrong. Watts are watts. Less is not more. .

DirtyMcCurdy said:

You heard wrong. Watts are watts. Less is not more. .

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Watts are watts?
So 1500 watt toaster nicrome coils should be fine for growing. Ignore the light efficiency it doesn't matter it's a byproduct anyway it's 1500 watts. Should grow a 6'x6' easily.

What school did you graduate from dirty?

BM9AGS said:

Watts are watts?
So 1500 watt toaster nicrome coils should be fine for growing. Ignore the light effiency it doesn't matter it's a byproduct anyway it's 1500 watts. Should grow a 6'x6' easily.

What school did you graduate from dirty?

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You're the one comparing toasters to grow lights.

DirtyMcCurdy said:

You're the one comparing toasters to grow lights.

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I'm hi lighting your logic of a watt is a watt by using a clearly ignorant statement that would be valid with your "a watt is a watt" logic.

You contended his statement of how a LED uses less power for equal output. His statement is correct. A toaster does produce light very similar to Tomas Edison's first light therefore why wouldn't that old technology hold true and be used on today's indoor lighting?

Can you intelligently articulate your validation of how his statement is incorrect and a watt is a watt for lighting?

Watt is a watt. It's about efficiency and photons when comparing lighting.

A 600w hps puts out 420 watts of heat and 180 watts of light

Am equivalent 300w cob led puts out about 140 watts of heat and 160 watts of light.

The more efficienct the light the more photon output it produces and the less heat it produces.

Correct however dirty was giving guidance as tho effiency does not exist with lighting.

LEDs do produce more light watt for watt over older methods of light production.

In the aspect of lighting technology a watt does not equal a watt of light output with all varieties of lights. A led does not scale the same as a tungsten filament light bulb just as ceramic MH is not the same as MH

BM9AGS said:

Correct however dirty was giving guidance as tho effiency does not exist with lighting.

LEDs do produce more light watt for watt over older methods of light production.

In the aspect of lighting technology a watt does not equal a watt of light output with all varieties of lights. A led does not scale the same as a tungsten filament light bulb just as ceramic MH is not the same as MH

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Lol some people right.


Hey dirty

A watt is a watt in the sense that it's the amount of power being pulled at the plug.

The amount of light being produced has nothing to do with watts.

Anything that uses any kind of power, be it electric, nuclear, combustion , etc.... all has efficiency ratings

hyroot said:

Watt is a watt. It's about efficiency and photons when comparing lighting.

A 600w hps puts out 420 watts of heat and 180 watts of light

Am equivalent 300w cob led puts out about 140 watts of heat and 160 watts of light.

The more efficienct the light the more photon output it produces and the less heat it produces.

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So you're saying a 300 watt led is almost an equivalent to a 600 watt hps? I'd like to see that.

Leds are @ about 100 lumens per watt hids are around 120 lumens per watt.

Leds also produce an extremely minimal amount of uv light. Thats not a good quality in a grow lamp. We all know uv light has its benefits.

hyroot said:

Lol some people right.


Hey dirty

A watt is a watt in the sense that it's the amount of power being pulled at the plug.

The amount of light being produced has nothing to do with watts.

Anything that uses any kind of power, be it electric, nuclear, combustion , etc.... all has efficiency ratings

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This is coming from a guy who thinks you should use red spectrum in veg and blue spectrum in flower. Yeah, some people.