L
littlebopeep
Guest
will be chopping some that are ready tomorrow will post some pics in sunlight before I do everything hunky dory
L
littlebopeep
Guest
the last two plants are nearly dry so I should have all ready for final report for sunday full pics and summary comming soon so what do you guys think led or hid ?
R
RabbitFighter
Guest
I wanna believe LED... Make me a believer LED. If not this time then soon. 
L
littlebopeep
Guest
Here's the final!
OK so the missus has done a full report on this for our blog, if anyone wants to read the full bit, they can do so here: "Drumroll please ..."
but suffice to say, and actually a bit against my expectations: the LED light won!
dried weight under LED: 193.2g
dried weight under HPS: 153.6g
which is actually quite a difference! (someone else can do the math, I'm pretty wrecked right now)
Just as flowering set (day 45), I swapped the 2 MI5 mums for 2 cream caramels that were pretty much identical and in size and shape just because having the mums in the trial wasnt really going to add that much extra info (i mean who's going to count seeds?) and i was worried about the size variance between the different genotypes in the MI5s. Here's 2 pics of those cream caramels at day 70:
Now the one on the right, as you can see, has much more bud than the one on the left. It took an extra 9 days to ripen under the led than the hps one did, but was nearly double the weight! btw cream caramel's a really nice smoke and i'd recommend it to anyone
I dont really know what to add that isn't on the blog report.
I honestly wasn't convinced that the LEDs would do it, but especially after I swapped the little one for the FeroLed 4G model (which has a 256 watt draw) the difference became marked. I guess I'd always suspected that when someone like Muddy gets great results, its because he's well Muddy lol and has lots of experience using them (so thanks for all the tips) or when a newbie has average results its because he's made mistakes. The only way to see if they really worked was to have the same grower putting the plants through the same environmentals.
Where I thought the LED really showed its worth? (ie to justify the extra cash)
Now I dont want to sound like a salesman ... but if initial outlay cost isn't a factor for you, then I'd recommend these to anyone. If anyone can do the math as to how to factor in not only reduced power bills and lonegtivity of equipment but the benefit cost of 25% more bud at standard US buy rate (cos where I live its only 3€/g) then you'll probably be able to quantify how long a LED will take to pay for itself.
I'll just say that if I only wanted to grow in a cupboard 4 plants under a 250, I wouldnt. I'd grow em with an LED instead.
OK so the missus has done a full report on this for our blog, if anyone wants to read the full bit, they can do so here: "Drumroll please ..."
but suffice to say, and actually a bit against my expectations: the LED light won!
dried weight under LED: 193.2g
dried weight under HPS: 153.6g
which is actually quite a difference! (someone else can do the math, I'm pretty wrecked right now)
Just as flowering set (day 45), I swapped the 2 MI5 mums for 2 cream caramels that were pretty much identical and in size and shape just because having the mums in the trial wasnt really going to add that much extra info (i mean who's going to count seeds?) and i was worried about the size variance between the different genotypes in the MI5s. Here's 2 pics of those cream caramels at day 70:
Now the one on the right, as you can see, has much more bud than the one on the left. It took an extra 9 days to ripen under the led than the hps one did, but was nearly double the weight! btw cream caramel's a really nice smoke and i'd recommend it to anyone
I dont really know what to add that isn't on the blog report.
I honestly wasn't convinced that the LEDs would do it, but especially after I swapped the little one for the FeroLed 4G model (which has a 256 watt draw) the difference became marked. I guess I'd always suspected that when someone like Muddy gets great results, its because he's well Muddy lol and has lots of experience using them (so thanks for all the tips) or when a newbie has average results its because he's made mistakes. The only way to see if they really worked was to have the same grower putting the plants through the same environmentals.
Where I thought the LED really showed its worth? (ie to justify the extra cash)
- loved the neat light unit, easy to adjust, virtually noiseless, hardly any heat. Plug and play and perfect for a cupboard grow
- small node spacing: at day 22 node spaces half that under the HPS, which meant that by final dry, the MI5s had big joined up cola bud, but under the HPS this didn't quite happen
- whatever people say about LEDs not being up to flowering, well ITS JUST NOT TRUE! Buds under the LED were to the touch much better than under the HPS. Difficult to quantify by photo, you just have to trust in the weighed results
- Light penetration - wsa also better with the 4G. Little popcorn bud towards the base became useable bud under the LED.
Now I dont want to sound like a salesman ... but if initial outlay cost isn't a factor for you, then I'd recommend these to anyone. If anyone can do the math as to how to factor in not only reduced power bills and lonegtivity of equipment but the benefit cost of 25% more bud at standard US buy rate (cos where I live its only 3€/g) then you'll probably be able to quantify how long a LED will take to pay for itself.
I'll just say that if I only wanted to grow in a cupboard 4 plants under a 250, I wouldnt. I'd grow em with an LED instead.
Nice write up on the final results Lbp,and a 40 gram swing in favour of LED which is quite surprising,that's a lot of extra bud.this is another thorn in the side of all the LED haters and doubters..liked and +rep mate,nice job.
Also is there a way to get your full blog report up as a sticky,it's a great read for anyone interested in comparing the two lights
Also is there a way to get your full blog report up as a sticky,it's a great read for anyone interested in comparing the two lights
Muddy
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Great job LBP, + rep. I guess it will be no surprise when I say I'm not surprised! Based on my experience running both HPS and LED it's what I expected. With 95% usable light, compared to about 15% for HPS, a good LED should outperform an HPS and your results have proved that.
Another factor to consider when comparing the cost savings is the replacement of HPS bulbs. Over the lifetime of the LED it's likely that you would need to replace HPS bulbs about 3 times. A good 400 watter, like a Hortilux, go for about $100 each. When you add in the extra $300 to the cost of HPS, it's pretty easy to justify the additional up front cost of the LEDs.
Hope to see more from you in the future.
Another factor to consider when comparing the cost savings is the replacement of HPS bulbs. Over the lifetime of the LED it's likely that you would need to replace HPS bulbs about 3 times. A good 400 watter, like a Hortilux, go for about $100 each. When you add in the extra $300 to the cost of HPS, it's pretty easy to justify the additional up front cost of the LEDs.
Hope to see more from you in the future.
L
littlebopeep
Guest
life expectancy is a bit of a tough one as the particular models are all fairly new. suffice to say that FeroLed who supplied mine give a five year guarantee and as they're not just a grow light company, one can presumably expect them to be around for that period of time. i think (and someone can correct me if I'm wrong) they keep going for about a zillion years then stop rather than fade and die. if they did die, i've had a look around inside one, and it seems fairly easy to unplug the bulbs (or the power units, or the fans) and replace.
