Indoor LED advice sought

[Chester]

From my understanding most LED lights are named for the number of watts of LED they contain;
ie. 40x3 watt LEDs=120 watts ... which generally draw about 75% of the stated power to not overdrive the LEDs ... There is a lot more to LED lights than simply the number of LEDs. That's one reason I chose Advanced LED lights. I like the 11 wavelengths, and American made components. I like the variable spectrum on the Diamond Series along with the variable intensity. Plus they have a great warranty and I've seen some amazing grows with these lights. In my area an oz runs about $300, if I produce just one oz from this grow the lights will have almost paid for themselves, with many more low energy grows to follow. I just noticed that Onyx is a medium to tall strain so I may just make my next auto grow Northern Lights or I may try Blue Mystic auto again to see if I can do it right the second time. Both strains are said to have little to no smell while growing and both are supposed to have very good highs. The lights will be in this week. I'll try to get some before and after shots so y'all can see the effect of LEDs on badly stunted plants.

 

[auto-p]

Hi Muddy,

Not trying to be an ass about this.... Its just that in the lighting industry, not ONE SINGLE large, reputable company would EVER consider "mislabeling" a fixture to claim higher wattage than the fixture actually draws.

It's legal to say something like: "Comparable to 100W incandescent"

It's illegal to say: "240W fixture" when the fixture actually only uses 140W.

I'd be wary of any company that lies in it's advertising. This is relevant to the thread, and to the poster's question.

You might like their product. But that doesn't change the fact that they are being deceptive about it.

 

[auto-p]

From my understanding most LED lights are named for the number of watts of LED they contain;
ie. 40x3 watt LEDs=120 watts ... which generally draw about 75% of the stated power to not overdrive the LEDs ... There is a lot more to LED lights than simply the number of LEDs. That's one reason I chose Advanced LED lights. I like the 11 wavelengths, and American made components. I like the variable spectrum on the Diamond Series along with the variable intensity. Plus they have a great warranty and I've seen some amazing grows with these lights. In my area an oz runs about $300, if I produce just one oz from this grow the lights will have almost paid for themselves, with many more low energy grows to follow. I just noticed that Onyx is a medium to tall strain so I may just make my next auto grow Northern Lights or I may try Blue Mystic auto again to see if I can do it right the second time. Both strains are said to have little to no smell while growing and both are supposed to have very good highs.

Nope -- that's the point. There is no such thing as "potential wattage."

 

[Muddy]

The majority of the panels on the market today are made with US manufactured LEDs, however most of the assembly is done in China. I haven't looked at the Advanced lights in awhile but I believe that is the case with theirs as well. I could be mistaken, but I also believe the Diamond series are being sold by other retailers as well. There are only a few high end US LED manufacturers who actually design and build their own units. Most are having them built in China to their specs or are talking off the shelf Chinese built products and marketing them around the world under different names. I know that was the case with the older Advanced products. You could find a number of people selling the same lights under different names. I suspect it's the same with their new line.

I've done a few grows of Onyx. It generally get about 18 - 22" high, but like most all auto strains, isn't 100% stable. There are also bush phenos that will get bigger, as well as runts that won't get over 12 or 14" tall.

 

[auto-p]

The majority of the panels on the market today are made with US manufactured LEDs, however most of the assembly is done in China.

Hi Muddy,

Hate to continue being an ass about this -- but this is probably also not factual. There are lots of US designed LEDs, but most LEDs are made overseas -- even Cree, Osram and Philips. Cree has a huge manufacturing plant in China. They do have a small fab in Durham NC, but most of their production is in China.

There are almost no semiconductors still made in the USA. On Semiconductor still has a plant in Arizona. Intel has a fab in Texas.

And the majority of the chips made in the USA are shipped overseas to be packaged.

It's kinda sad. 20 years ago almost ALL semiconductors were made in the USA. Today, it's just a tiny fraction.

 

[Muddy]

As I said, I haven't done a lot of research on LEDs in the past couple years so that may true. Irregardless, my point still stands. No matter what a particular mfg. may claim, most units are assembled in China.

 

[auto-p]

Muddy, do you know of any that are made in the USA?

I'd rather give my money to a company that manufactures their fixtures here.

(the company I work for assembles their fixtures in Mexico... And they don't make grow lights.)

 

[Muddy]

The only one I'm fairly certain about is Haight Solid State. At least they were the last time I inquired, again about 2 years ago.

 

[auto-p]

Thanx Muddy! I'll check 'em out. :thumbs:

 

[Mr Piggy]

I was incorrect!