I get ask a lot about the world of LED's and it a very confusing world to the newbie and it can for some take time to get their heads around... It's not complicated... I really do mean that! I surprise my self every day that I've manged to build my own LED lights... to put this into prospective, I'm an artist and a teacher of my subject, I'm not an electronics's expert, never had any education on the subject ever and never touched a soldering iron until I built my secound light.
LED's are just something new you have to learn, it the future and there is no deny that. In 5 yrs time the old style of lighting will be filling the skips. When it come's to learning LED's the rabbit hole can go deep if you wish but it also can stay shallow.
The difference between LED's and the old school HPS lighting is that you have more control over the LED's especial if you go down the DIY road. It can become a great garden shed science project and satisfy the workbench tinkers in all of us... plus the new Samsung diode's are out striping the old lights by miles. In the right grow hands and the right strain you will be hitting near on 1.5 to 2 g per watt if not more...I'm not lying, my best so far has been 1.5g per watt with Citizen 1212's COB's, and they are lower end range of the cob LED world... I will say this I have never grown with old school lighting so for me to make a true comparison or comment on how well they sand up to each other would be me lying to you. I go with what's been said by others who have been in the industry for a lot long than me.
I'm not putting a post together on how to build or how to grow with I just want you to take you time over your first buy and put your money into something that will stand up to your old lighting or save a newbie from spending a lot cash just to be told unfairly (not on this site though) that cheap Chinese LED's don't work ... this is a lie, they do work well and grow some good weed. I didn't complain after my first 2 harvests but if your in the bizz of yield and a high grade finish they just don't quite meet the mark (to be honest the average smoker will never know the difference). That's a lot to do with spectrum and light penetration of the canopy. The Burple lights just don't have that power over a COB LED fixture.
Most company's are not being truly honest with you especial the lower end "Burple" models of that price range of $200-$600-ish , China has rules that they can sell you a 600w light but really its only pulling about 300w from the wall. That light can do 600w but the drivers are never rated to that power. This is one of the downfalls of LED buying that gets everyone at the start including me. It's what's giving the industry a really bad name.
I would carry on with all the pro's and con's toward the LED business but there is someone that will explain this so much better than me. Please let me introduce you to Growmua5 from you tube fame. If you haven't come across this guy already you need to watch all of his youtube channel before you spend that cash on any LED. A lot will flyover the head but after re watching over and over with plenty of doobs it starts to sink in.
Growmua5 - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPSwmwj8ZLXObtBJmz-76rw/videos
Start from the beginning
Right what's this post is all about...
Even before you delve deep into Growmua5 Youtube channel and before you even think about looking at any picture of any LED unit you must watch this episode of the Grow Round Table. If your new to the LED world this episode will get you up to speed on the industry and what to look out for. It will also give you a basic understating of how a LED works and what's inside those cheap Chinese LED's. It's real eye opener to the uninitiated. Also they are some really great growing tips for the new LED grower.
Now you have watched that and maybe started on Growmua5 vid's give me a tag (@Slater) and we can than start helping you build your LED light or just marvel at one of the really good units on the market you may have just bought.
off the top of my head, company's I recommend -
HLG
Chilltech
Cobshop.net
GN
Spider
photonphatom
DIYLEDUK
Spectrum king
Disclaimer... when we talk about not buying Chinese LED's what we mean is the Burple range LEDs (I'm not shaming any company's here, I will let Growmua5 do that). Basically its the pre made units you find on Ebay and Amazon that we will steer you away from.
You can't get away from it but ALL LED's, drivers and parts are made in China (well most of it). Most company's will get a production line in China to construct the LED or get the parts sent to the company and they construct the lights them selves... HLG , chill tech, spectrum king, cobshop.net are just some examples who have their own production line.
EDIT... Proof HPS is old hat and most burple's are a waste of money...
Another must watch before you buy... please note the top LED units in this list use COB's (Cree CXB) and the others use LM561c diodes (e.g HLG QB's)... its not the company name or the casing but the diodes / len's and drivers that are used that get these figures, for example cobshop.net is not on this list but I would put his autocob up there in the top 5 with the optic 1 (they are the same product just a different company name)... and remember all can be achieved with DIY to save you 1/2 money than buying a pre built unit...
LED's are just something new you have to learn, it the future and there is no deny that. In 5 yrs time the old style of lighting will be filling the skips. When it come's to learning LED's the rabbit hole can go deep if you wish but it also can stay shallow.
The difference between LED's and the old school HPS lighting is that you have more control over the LED's especial if you go down the DIY road. It can become a great garden shed science project and satisfy the workbench tinkers in all of us... plus the new Samsung diode's are out striping the old lights by miles. In the right grow hands and the right strain you will be hitting near on 1.5 to 2 g per watt if not more...I'm not lying, my best so far has been 1.5g per watt with Citizen 1212's COB's, and they are lower end range of the cob LED world... I will say this I have never grown with old school lighting so for me to make a true comparison or comment on how well they sand up to each other would be me lying to you. I go with what's been said by others who have been in the industry for a lot long than me.
I'm not putting a post together on how to build or how to grow with I just want you to take you time over your first buy and put your money into something that will stand up to your old lighting or save a newbie from spending a lot cash just to be told unfairly (not on this site though) that cheap Chinese LED's don't work ... this is a lie, they do work well and grow some good weed. I didn't complain after my first 2 harvests but if your in the bizz of yield and a high grade finish they just don't quite meet the mark (to be honest the average smoker will never know the difference). That's a lot to do with spectrum and light penetration of the canopy. The Burple lights just don't have that power over a COB LED fixture.
Most company's are not being truly honest with you especial the lower end "Burple" models of that price range of $200-$600-ish , China has rules that they can sell you a 600w light but really its only pulling about 300w from the wall. That light can do 600w but the drivers are never rated to that power. This is one of the downfalls of LED buying that gets everyone at the start including me. It's what's giving the industry a really bad name.
I would carry on with all the pro's and con's toward the LED business but there is someone that will explain this so much better than me. Please let me introduce you to Growmua5 from you tube fame. If you haven't come across this guy already you need to watch all of his youtube channel before you spend that cash on any LED. A lot will flyover the head but after re watching over and over with plenty of doobs it starts to sink in.
Growmua5 - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPSwmwj8ZLXObtBJmz-76rw/videos
Start from the beginning
Right what's this post is all about...
Even before you delve deep into Growmua5 Youtube channel and before you even think about looking at any picture of any LED unit you must watch this episode of the Grow Round Table. If your new to the LED world this episode will get you up to speed on the industry and what to look out for. It will also give you a basic understating of how a LED works and what's inside those cheap Chinese LED's. It's real eye opener to the uninitiated. Also they are some really great growing tips for the new LED grower.
Now you have watched that and maybe started on Growmua5 vid's give me a tag (@Slater) and we can than start helping you build your LED light or just marvel at one of the really good units on the market you may have just bought.
off the top of my head, company's I recommend -
HLG
Chilltech
Cobshop.net
GN
Spider
photonphatom
DIYLEDUK
Spectrum king
Disclaimer... when we talk about not buying Chinese LED's what we mean is the Burple range LEDs (I'm not shaming any company's here, I will let Growmua5 do that). Basically its the pre made units you find on Ebay and Amazon that we will steer you away from.
You can't get away from it but ALL LED's, drivers and parts are made in China (well most of it). Most company's will get a production line in China to construct the LED or get the parts sent to the company and they construct the lights them selves... HLG , chill tech, spectrum king, cobshop.net are just some examples who have their own production line.
EDIT... Proof HPS is old hat and most burple's are a waste of money...
Another must watch before you buy... please note the top LED units in this list use COB's (Cree CXB) and the others use LM561c diodes (e.g HLG QB's)... its not the company name or the casing but the diodes / len's and drivers that are used that get these figures, for example cobshop.net is not on this list but I would put his autocob up there in the top 5 with the optic 1 (they are the same product just a different company name)... and remember all can be achieved with DIY to save you 1/2 money than buying a pre built unit...
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