Lighting WTB light, should I wait for Black Friday sales

[jimmib67]

I am looking to get a new light ~300w i could be talked into 600w if the price and quality was right. I am seriously looking at a California Lightworks SolarXtreme 550 @400w and a typical price around $450.
My question is, are there typically sales on Black Friday that i should wait?

 

[HighnDry]

Where would you get the light at such a price? A quick search for comparative purposes shows that at $800 direct from manufacturer

 

[MesaBoogie]

Hey Jimmib67 , I would suggest having a look here.

https://www.autoflower.org/threads/ppfd-watt-grow-light-buying-reference.79891/

California is one of the most over hyped and over priced lighting co's on the market, right up there with nexlight mega. They come in at about 1.5ppfd/watt. For the kind of $$ you are looking to spend you should have no problems finding something over 2.2 PPFD/watt.

(edit) where did you find it for $450 ? Their website has it listed for $800. But even at 450 it's still not a good deal @1.5ppfd.

 

[jimmib67]

the light i saw is this one.

California LightWorks SolarXtreme 500 LED Grow Light - 400W COB System - SX-500 - 120V

The Ultimate Tent Light! New Series FULL SPECTRUM COB LEDs The SolarXtreme 500 covers up to a 4 x 4 canopy area and draws 400 watts.

growershouse.com

i see the $800 550 model now. I was looking at the 500. my bad.

Understood. thanks for the opinion.
i do like the migrow channel but have only been there looking for UVB lights. ill look further.
In any case when i do settle on a light is it worthwhile waiting until black friday sales?

jimmi

 

[becauseofseizers]

Chilled tech. Done

 

[MesaBoogie]

In any case when i do settle on a light is it worthwhile waiting until black friday sales?

That sort of depends on you really, how bad do you need a light right now? I was shopping for a light last black Friday and big deals were hard to find. I did however save about $60 Canadian on a Spider farmer 1000. I wasn't shopping specifically for SF, it just happened to be the best value for budget lights I could find on black friday. If I recall correctly, getting close to that 2.0ppfd/watt last year on a budget was a lot harder.

So deals will be out there, you might just have to keep a bit of a open mind about brands.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

the light i saw is this one.

California LightWorks SolarXtreme 500 LED Grow Light - 400W COB System - SX-500 - 120V

The Ultimate Tent Light! New Series FULL SPECTRUM COB LEDs The SolarXtreme 500 covers up to a 4 x 4 canopy area and draws 400 watts.

growershouse.com

i see the $800 550 model now. I was looking at the 500. my bad.

Understood. thanks for the opinion.
i do like the migrow channel but have only been there looking for UVB lights. ill look further.
In any case when i do settle on a light is it worthwhile waiting until black friday sales?

jimmi

What are you wanting in a light? Efficiency, spectrum, proximity?

Can't say I've seen any good sales though. Usually around 4/20 and I want to say Christmas. Im

 

[jimmib67]

What are you wanting in a light? Efficiency, spectrum, proximity?

Can't say I've seen any good sales though. Usually around 4/20 and I want to say Christmas. Im

I'm just learning so bear with me. I believe for full cycle i want a 3500k with uv & ir. my space is 8ft tall and i see the hlg 550 or 600 start at like 30 in away. so i think i want ~300w or a couple 220w. It looks like the samsung lm301h board and a meanwell driver are popular. Im looking for a Chinese knock off of an HLG 300L or XL. What is the general consensus going with knockoffs, are people usually pleased?

 

[Death The Cultivator]

I'm just learning so bear with me. I believe for full cycle i want a 3500k with uv & ir. my space is 8ft tall and i see the hlg 550 or 600 start at like 30 in away. so i think i want ~300w or a couple 220w. It looks like the samsung lm301h board and a meanwell driver are popular. Im looking for a Chinese knock off of an HLG 300L or XL. What is the general consensus going with knockoffs, are people usually pleased?

UV diodes are still quite expensive/inefficient but Solacure and AgroMax make t5 versions. Imo only UVA is needed whereas the UVB are so strong that can't run more than a few hours a day.

UVB accounts for around 1% of what plants receive in nature while UVA is closer to 5%. RapidLED makes UV pucks but you would need around 4 to get the benefits. They also make IR pucks. Those can be ran 5 minutes before lights on and through the lights on cycle and then 5 minutes after. Idk the size of your space but probably about two.

People like the knock offs but there is no guarantee the Chinese testing is accurate or that their configurations are entirely efficient.

What is your budget and space?

 

[jimmib67]

UV diodes are still quite expensive/inefficient but Solacure and AgroMax make t5 versions. Imo only UVA is needed whereas the UVB are so strong that can't run more than a few hours a day.

UVB accounts for around 1% of what plants receive in nature while UVA is closer to 5%. RapidLED makes UV pucks but you would need around 4 to get the benefits. They also make IR pucks. Those can be ran 5 minutes before lights on and through the lights on cycle and then 5 minutes after. Idk the size of your space but probably about two.

People like the knock offs but there is no guarantee the Chinese testing is accurate or that their configurations are entirely efficient.

What is your budget and space?

i'm in a 5x10x7h space and was thinking $450-$500 should get a mid grade 300-400w light. i have 2 mars ts1000 at 150w each , now. I can do light DIY also.

with the knockoffs. if the basic components are the same, ie: samsung lm310h leds and a meanwell driver wouldn't it perform similarly?