[wilcock1157]

i havent even completed my first grow and i am already looking at more cost effective ways i have read up quite a bit about led lights and have got mixed feelings about them cause obviously the website/companies selling them make them sound the bees kness and i dont want to be sucked in too quick. has anybody tried/tested/grown with them?

[farmer boy]

stick with hps/mh

peace out farmer boy

[Fat Charlie]

have yet to see a succesful grow with them on here, don't bother

[wilcock1157]

not really what i wanted to hear as i want to use them but the writing on the wall with two replies. just all the stuff i read about light spectrums and only needing blue and red and thats all the led produce a 300w being equal to a 600 hps this all bollocks? much thanks on the quick replies people

[farmer boy]

from the bits i have read on them they seam to yield about 50% of what the same wattage hps would also have never read of anyone getting anything other than airy buds from them

peace out farmer boy

[~nobody~]

wilcock1157, on 10 January 2012 - 09:43 PM, said:

a 300w being equal to a 600 hps this all bollocks?

Sorry. They also don't have the penetration of a single point light source.


e2a And if it's cost-effectiveness you're interested in then you need to weigh up potential yield with running costs and initial outlay. With the best LED panels costing orders of magnitude more than an HID setup you'd have to be saving masses on electric to make it worthwhile.
So far the best I've seen (on sites that host LED advertising) is grows that appear to offer equal results to HID from comparable wattages but with lighting rigs that cost far far more than HID. I've yet to see a successful (ie HID-quality buds and HID-like yields), completed LED grow that uses low wattage, cheap panels or minimal extraction (the other supposed selling point of LED).

This post has been edited by ~nobody~: 10 January 2012 - 09:54 PM

[ak47slim]

there good to start seedlings and veg under but flowering not so hot but can all way's use as front / back / side lighting for the lower buds

[wilcock1157]

thanks for the replies think i will stick to the hps. was going to start a new post about this but as there are people reading id just like a comment or two on this. i hear you need to get the humidity down to about 30 in flower when bud developing. i have a 250 outlet and 200 inlet both rvk, i havent had the intake on yet as it sends my temps too low and air is still coming through like a passive intake because the extractor is sucking it through. the humidity is currently 55 lights on but getting upto 80 lights off i am going to purchase a dehumidifier to get it down but would like to know if i need the intake on and if i did would this reduce the humidity?

[compostverte]

You will struggle to find any truth on the net regarding LED lighting - even domestic.

But here is somewhere you can trust.

Philips have a huge international reputation to maintain and they have millions invested in LED technology - but they haven't replaced their HPS units with LEDs because they know they're entirely the wrong technology. They do manufacture LED horticultural lighting, but it's very specialist and only for seed-raising and day-length control in greenhouses :-

http://www.lighting....dernav/lighting

If LEDs ever become a viable alternative, you will read it there ...

[Scroger Moore]

In my limited experience, I think 250w hps has to be one of the most cost effective ways to grow whilst still ensuring a decent yield.

This post has been edited by davidbrent: 11 January 2012 - 07:45 PM

[compostverte]

Maybe in terms of cash flow, but for the extra investment, the 600 wtt HPS is the most efficient lamp there is... the most smokeable material for the least electricity and therefore cash.

That said, there are people who can extract amazing performance from a 250.

Anyone looking to improve yield should look at their ventilation first.

This post has been edited by compostverte: 11 January 2012 - 08:02 PM

[wilcock1157]

what are best ways to keep good ventilation i have a 10 inch rvk outlet with filer and silencer and an rvk 8 inch intake but am not currently running the intake just using it as a passive from extractor because it is too noisy, do you know which intakes are quieter? thanks. 6 week on sunday

[scraglor]

passive intakes are quietest because you always need to keep negative pressure, an active intake can only ever be as good as a properly sized passive intake, and are only necessary if your temps are too high with a passive intake and you cant increase the intake area (for example if you air intake is away from your grow and you need to run ducting , then it might be difficult to increase the intake area)

This post has been edited by scraglor: 12 January 2012 - 06:33 PM

[wilcock1157]

that is just what i wanted to hear cause the extractor is near silent just a bit of howling through the door but the room itself is preety quiet i was also thinking if i couldnt get it down with one passive just create two or three and duct them to ground level id like to think that would get it down. does your intake of clean air reduce humidity? much thanks

[SLH#LED]

wilcock1157, on 10 January 2012 - 09:30 PM, said:

i havent even completed my first grow and i am already looking at more cost effective ways i have read up quite a bit about led lights and have got mixed feelings about them cause obviously the website/companies selling them make them sound the bees kness and i dont want to be sucked in too quick. has anybody tried/tested/grown with them?

Check my gallery to see the super lemon haze i'm doing under 2 x 120w panels (3w diodes)