Light change :-)

LED Cultivation

Active Member
ROI varies wildly based on local cost of energy, so you really can't make blanket statements like that.
I would say that is more of a blanket statement than my post. I would also say the kWh range in the US, at-least, does not necessarily "vary wildly" - https://www.electricchoice.com/electricity-prices-by-state/

Do you have an example for an area in the US which wouldn't benefit from switching to an appropriate LED array, due to the cost of their electricity?
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
I would say that is more of a blanket statement than my post. I would also say the kWh range in the US, at-least, does not necessarily "vary wildly" - https://www.electricchoice.com/electricity-prices-by-state/

Do you have an example for an area in the US which wouldn't benefit from switching to an appropriate LED array, due to the cost of their electricity?
Cost of power in the US varies from less than 7¢/kWh to over 47¢. The lower the cost, the longer the ROI. That's just simple math.

Keep in mind that I'm a confirmed advocate for LED, that said I see no need to stretch the truth for purposes of marketing hype.
 

LED Cultivation

Active Member
Cost of power in the US varies from less than 7¢/kWh to over 47¢. The lower the cost, the longer the ROI. That's just simple math.

Keep in mind that I'm a confirmed advocate for LED, that said I see no need to stretch the truth for purposes of marketing hype.
Please see the link I provided. Note the average excluding outliers like Hawaii. According to the data I've linked, kWh rates are much more stable than you believe. Noting a simple range of lowest point to highest point is not appropriate when there are clear outliers in the data. Math is not always that simple.

I understand you're an advocate for LED. I just don't quite understand your contest, and it definitely hasn't been adequately supported. And I also don't understand the basis for your comment "I see no need to stretch the truth for purposes of marketing hype." - Would you care to explain, a bit more specifically?
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Please see the link I provided. Note the average excluding outliers like Hawaii. According to the data I've linked, kWh rates are much more stable than you believe. Noting a simple range of lowest point to highest point is not appropriate when there are clear outliers in the data. Math is not always that simple.

I understand you're an advocate for LED. I just don't quite understand your contest, and it definitely hasn't been adequately supported. And I also don't understand the basis for your comment "I see no need to stretch the truth for purposes of marketing hype." - Would you care to explain, a bit more specifically?
Few people in this industry are willing to tolerate an ROI longer than 2 years.
 

LED Cultivation

Active Member
Few people in this industry are willing to tolerate an ROI longer than 2 years.
False. That amount of time has been spent by several large companies already, before turning profit (as is typical in large industries). 2 years is not a long time in big business. Now for small-scale, how would a scenario exist where it takes two years to profit from your investment in an LED array?
 

DustyDuke

Well-Known Member
Cats in the bag, bags in the river.

It’s already common knowledge/widely accepted that, although they save on power, LED’s cannot produce quality herb. Don’t waste your time and money people.

View attachment 4347247
View attachment 4347248

And this Gelato spear, pft.
View attachment 4347249

PB&J
View attachment 4347250

End product that isn’t even worth tossing in a fire.
View attachment 4347251
View attachment 4347252


Trust me, you don’t want to bother w/LEDs. All the nay sayers were/are right.
If you don’t mind me asking what size room are you running and what yields do you get? Also did you run hid previously did you notice a better high when you switched to led or is it just bag appeal? I’ve noticed bag appeal of an led grown right is awesome. That’s some quality herb I ordered some seeds off greenpoint. I hoping to get some fine genetics going. Impressive stuff good work and sorry for the random questions. I only get input from closet growers that grow 6 plants a year and act like they have figured it all out. I’m sure a few have but only a few
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
False. That amount of time has been spent by several large companies already, before turning profit (as is typical in large industries). 2 years is not a long time in big business. Now for small-scale, how would a scenario exist where it takes two years to profit from your investment in an LED array?
Expressed as a percentage of the total number of operators, that's a small percentage.

This industry isn't 'big business' and it won't be until the Feds change the schedule.
 

LED Cultivation

Active Member
Expressed as a percentage of the total number of operators, that's a small percentage.

This industry isn't 'big business' and it won't be until the Feds change the schedule.
How would you express a percentage based on a post with no quantifiable data provided? I'm speaking about the cannabis industry as a whole. If you are too, I hope you are aware that this industry has cared very little for "the Feds" opinion, for quite some time. Indoor operations are building out millions of sq. ft. for growing space as we speak. Knowing this, would you still consider this industry to not be big business? There's tons of other factors involved in this of-course...But to say the cannabis industry isn't big business - That's the epitome of a baseless blanket statement, in my opinion.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Simple mathematics helps to understand that LED arrays are absolutely worth the mark-up. They are actually cheap, when you consider all of the factors which influence your operating costs. Even if you're small-scale, the ROI of a proper array is quick, and the qualitative benefits of making the switch are more attractive anyways, in my and many others' opinion.
I can see that the tech is finally getting there but I have very shallow pockets so I'll wait a couple more years and pick up this generation of COBs used for cheap. I have enough bulbs to keep me going for at least 3 or 4 more years at the rate I'm using them now. I'm not using street light for bulbs but top of the line Hortilux etc.

May have a bit of extra money this fall and build myself a unit to try out.

Should save a bit switching to Mega Crop from AN tho I still have lots of the AN yet and I'll use that in DWC to grow stoner pot for friends so I can pay the light bill easier. :)

Gradually sliding into the organic corner but good stuff for that is far away from here and shipping is way high.

Already experimenting with DIY LEDs.

LEDFinish05.jpg

:peace:
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
I can see that the tech is finally getting there but I have very shallow pockets so I'll wait a couple more years and pick up this generation of COBs used for cheap. I have enough bulbs to keep me going for at least 3 or 4 more years at the rate I'm using them now. I'm not using street light for bulbs but top of the line Hortilux etc.

May have a bit of extra money this fall and build myself a unit to try out.

Should save a bit switching to Mega Crop from AN tho I still have lots of the AN yet and I'll use that in DWC to grow stoner pot for friends so I can pay the light bill easier. :)

Gradually sliding into the organic corner but good stuff for that is far away from here and shipping is way high.

Already experimenting with DIY LEDs.

View attachment 4347504

:peace:
Lol

I did that very same thing with CFL bulbs back in the day!

I bet those will work better, considering the light output is at least more directional.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Please see the link I provided. Note the average excluding outliers like Hawaii. According to the data I've linked, kWh rates are much more stable than you believe. Noting a simple range of lowest point to highest point is not appropriate when there are clear outliers in the data. Math is not always that simple.

I understand you're an advocate for LED. I just don't quite understand your contest, and it definitely hasn't been adequately supported. And I also don't understand the basis for your comment "I see no need to stretch the truth for purposes of marketing hype." - Would you care to explain, a bit more specifically?
Canada sells power to the US dirt cheap while we pay through the nose for it as US companies sell all the power here in Alberta.

My cost of electricity is only 6.9¢/kwh but after they tack on a long list of charges for delivery etc it works out to 23.5¢/kwh. Paying through a bloody nose at those rates.

I know that's just a better argument for switching to LEDs but after two lung collapses, minor stroke and COPD I have serious doubts I'd live long enough to recoup my investment. I hope I'm proven wrong. ;)

:peace:
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Canada sells power to the US dirt cheap while we pay through the nose for it as US companies sell all the power here in Alberta.

My cost of electricity is only 6.9¢/kwh but after they tack on a long list of charges for delivery etc it works out to 23.5¢/kwh. Paying through a bloody nose at those rates.

I know that's just a better argument for switching to LEDs but after two lung collapses, minor stroke and COPD I have serious doubts I'd live long enough to recoup my investment. I hope I'm proven wrong. ;)

:peace:
:cry:

I hope you're wrong, too.

You need to stick around for awhile yet.

Us crusty old farts gotta keep them whippersnappers in line!
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Lol

I did that very same thing with CFL bulbs back in the day!

I bet those will work better, considering the light output is at least more directional.
I'm not at all happy with the growth under that little LED bulb unit. I'm pretty sure that 5000K CFLs have a much better spectrum than the 5000K LED bulbs as I used to use a 105W and 85W 5000K CFLs and the growth was as good as under my Hortilux MH until the got about a foot tall.

I had those vanity fixtures sitting around for a few years meaning to make a light like that with 6400K CFLs and you can make them more directional with cones of tin foil or cut up beer cans as reflectors. Wish I could still get them.

Using the LED unit for some side lighting atm. Waiting for some new capacitors to get my 1000W ballasts going again and the other 400HPS. Should be here this week. That 400W CMH is a great bulb but the plants are spreading out and need more than it can give alone.

Nice light off that. No white balance correction used or needed for this pic. 13 plants jammed under there.

Group09061901.jpg


:peace:
 

LED Cultivation

Active Member
Canada sells power to the US dirt cheap while we pay through the nose for it as US companies sell all the power here in Alberta.

My cost of electricity is only 6.9¢/kwh but after they tack on a long list of charges for delivery etc it works out to 23.5¢/kwh. Paying through a bloody nose at those rates.

I know that's just a better argument for switching to LEDs but after two lung collapses, minor stroke and COPD I have serious doubts I'd live long enough to recoup my investment. I hope I'm proven wrong. ;)

:peace:
I'm sorry for your health condition. I just don't want people to think they can't afford to use LED lighting because their setup is a small home grow, or they are worried it will take forever to recoup their investment. I still do not understand ttystikk's comment in regard to not purchasing LEDs due to varied power costs. I believe anyone who is serious about growing can save up and purchase an LED light for their setup, and that it would be worth it. The time spent researching lighting options and saving up can also be used to better design their space, and / or learn more information about cultivating cannabis, etc.
 

Odin*

Well-Known Member
?
I'm sorry for your health condition. I just don't want people to think they can't afford to use LED lighting because their setup is a small home grow, or they are worried it will take forever to recoup their investment. I still do not understand ttystikk's comment in regard to not purchasing LEDs due to varied power costs. I believe anyone who is serious about growing can save up and purchase an LED light for their setup, and that it would be worth it. The time spent researching lighting options and saving up can also be used to better design their space, and / or learn more information about cultivating cannabis, etc.
@ttystikk was just referring to ROI based on variables within utility charges. Power does vary greatly regionally, as well as by “phase”. ROI will be greater in certain areas, $.07 per kwh, VS $.40 per kwh. Tiers vary as well. Someone saving 40% on $.07 kwh isn’t seeing the “return” that someone paying $.40 kwh is.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
I'm sorry for your health condition. I just don't want people to think they can't afford to use LED lighting because their setup is a small home grow, or they are worried it will take forever to recoup their investment. I still do not understand ttystikk's comment in regard to not purchasing LEDs due to varied power costs. I believe anyone who is serious about growing can save up and purchase an LED light for their setup, and that it would be worth it. The time spent researching lighting options and saving up can also be used to better design their space, and / or learn more information about cultivating cannabis, etc.
I'm almost 65 so can't expect this beat up machine to run forever. :) In Feb I finally got an MRI to check for prostate cancer as my PSA went way up to over 10 from 4 in 3 years. An almost certain sign of prostate cancer in most doctor's eyes but I got a completely clean bill of health. Just old fart pee-pee issues that I have made almost normal using various minerals and herbs. At least as good as when I was 50 I figure.

I'm the only one in the house that does pot and has grow his own steady since moving here in '01 with 6 hash plant clones and dreams of making big cash. I grew my first buds in '78 and have studied pot more than most experts since. Took a break for 3 years in the late 80s to go back to school and get a diploma in environmental chemistry. Only grew sporadically from '78 - '01 but was involved in others grows off and on in the lower mainland of BC. Knew a few Angels and worked at some huge grow ops they were running.

Got involved in pot forums a little over 10 years ago. I started playing around with DWC in late '01 from info I read about hydroponics and after a few days at the library basically invented growing pot in tubs of nutrients for myself. Even wrote to Ed Rosenthal at Cannabis Culture magazine and asked what he thought of this idea and he was really negative about it. He had an Ask Ed column going back then.
Have to find that mag in my near complete collection.

The now defunct CC forums was the first I joined and when it shut down last Jan I was the Admin there known as LabRat. My basic thing in forums is helping new growers get a crop in and has been from the start. Some good people here doing the same thing but quite a few that need a little kick in the ass once in a while to act a little more human. They should be thankful I'm not a mod here or they would be getting time outs to think about their sins. ;)

My biggest problem with keeping it together is chronic depression that started after a near fatal hammer attack in Calgary back about 40 years ago. Not going to bore you with the details but it was self medicating with lots of booze and an open prescription for demerol and valium the doc gave me. After near eating my .303 I got off those pills and on to antidepressants. Tried 'em all over the years but haven't had any for at least 25 years. Being a zombie sux and a nice sativa works a lot better. CBD pot wit a little THC made into cocobudder really helps with the arthritis and the depression.

I rarely have clear skies but when the dark clouds roll in it can be months before I can take care of basics and my garden goes to shit. Getting more active no matter how much it hurts and things are looking up . . . for now. ;)

Enough of that. Do you guys deal in Canada here and have those DIY COB kits? I'm no electrician but do my own house wiring to code, build my own computers, fix them for friends and sometimes cash and can fix damn near anything so building my own rig would be a fun project. I'm expanding my grow room and it would be nice to build something that can replace a 1000W HID and do a side by side. Just want to add on an 8x4' flowering room and use the current room for veg only. It's 7x9' and was a cold storage room the previous owner built. One of the main selling points for me and the day we moved in I was ripping out the shelving so I could move my plants from town into it ASAP. Still haven't painted the walls so there's horizontal brown stripes where the shelves used to be. It's only been 17 years. lol

Wish the wife was into it or even my step-daughter but I'm on my own up here in Bumf**k, AB. Time for a new woman. One that likes growing pot, catching fish and doing the giggity fairly often. Huge bonus if she has a boat! :)

Damn. Just procrastinated away another hour with plants to tend to. :D

:peace:
 

LED Cultivation

Active Member
I'm almost 65 so can't expect this beat up machine to run forever. :) In Feb I finally got an MRI to check for prostate cancer as my PSA went way up to over 10 from 4 in 3 years. An almost certain sign of prostate cancer in most doctor's eyes but I got a completely clean bill of health. Just old fart pee-pee issues that I have made almost normal using various minerals and herbs. At least as good as when I was 50 I figure.

I'm the only one in the house that does pot and has grow his own steady since moving here in '01 with 6 hash plant clones and dreams of making big cash. I grew my first buds in '78 and have studied pot more than most experts since. Took a break for 3 years in the late 80s to go back to school and get a diploma in environmental chemistry. Only grew sporadically from '78 - '01 but was involved in others grows off and on in the lower mainland of BC. Knew a few Angels and worked at some huge grow ops they were running.

Got involved in pot forums a little over 10 years ago. I started playing around with DWC in late '01 from info I read about hydroponics and after a few days at the library basically invented growing pot in tubs of nutrients for myself. Even wrote to Ed Rosenthal at Cannabis Culture magazine and asked what he thought of this idea and he was really negative about it. He had an Ask Ed column going back then.
Have to find that mag in my near complete collection.

The now defunct CC forums was the first I joined and when it shut down last Jan I was the Admin there known as LabRat. My basic thing in forums is helping new growers get a crop in and has been from the start. Some good people here doing the same thing but quite a few that need a little kick in the ass once in a while to act a little more human. They should be thankful I'm not a mod here or they would be getting time outs to think about their sins. ;)

My biggest problem with keeping it together is chronic depression that started after a near fatal hammer attack in Calgary back about 40 years ago. Not going to bore you with the details but it was self medicating with lots of booze and an open prescription for demerol and valium the doc gave me. After near eating my .303 I got off those pills and on to antidepressants. Tried 'em all over the years but haven't had any for at least 25 years. Being a zombie sux and a nice sativa works a lot better. CBD pot wit a little THC made into cocobudder really helps with the arthritis and the depression.

I rarely have clear skies but when the dark clouds roll in it can be months before I can take care of basics and my garden goes to shit. Getting more active no matter how much it hurts and things are looking up . . . for now. ;)

Enough of that. Do you guys deal in Canada here and have those DIY COB kits? I'm no electrician but do my own house wiring to code, build my own computers, fix them for friends and sometimes cash and can fix damn near anything so building my own rig would be a fun project. I'm expanding my grow room and it would be nice to build something that can replace a 1000W HID and do a side by side. Just want to add on an 8x4' flowering room and use the current room for veg only. It's 7x9' and was a cold storage room the previous owner built. One of the main selling points for me and the day we moved in I was ripping out the shelving so I could move my plants from town into it ASAP. Still haven't painted the walls so there's horizontal brown stripes where the shelves used to be. It's only been 17 years. lol

Wish the wife was into it or even my step-daughter but I'm on my own up here in Bumf**k, AB. Time for a new woman. One that likes growing pot, catching fish and doing the giggity fairly often. Huge bonus if she has a boat! :)

Damn. Just procrastinated away another hour with plants to tend to. :D

:peace:
I'm happy you were able to transition into replacing pharmaceuticals with cannabis products. That is a very valuable life improvement that will serve you well. Depression is very tricky, I'm happy you've found the drive to be active and do the things you enjoy.

We have things set up to operate in Canada in the future. Initially we will be launching with just our Elite and Mini, no DIY COB kits. Our fixtures are precision machine drilled, so I would think the consistency of just having finished products to buy would outweigh any DIY kit benefit. I will consider it though. Our Elite would replace your 1000W HID in spectacular fashion. It is comprised of 13 COBs arranged in equidistance, with 8 lower-powered Samsung Strips along the perimeter, to relieve the natural centralized intensity in the footprint. If you have any questions about DIY, I am happy to answer. I truly hope you find further remedy for your depression. Its great that you have things to keep you active and out of the negative head spaces. Be well my friend.
 
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