Need Basic Info On LED's and What To Look For

I'm looking for something suitable to grow in an armoire or wardrobe sized box. I'm choosing against HIDs because of the heat they produce and the noise the fan would make to cool it. Here's a few questions I have:

-What difference does it make to have 3w led's compared to a larger amount of 1w led's and is it significant?
-What do the "bands" mean? I've seen 2, 3, 4, and 8 band led systems.
-Does a 90 watt led system actually compare to a 400 watt hid? Do the results support this claim?
-How much square footage does a single 90w ufo led cover? How about a 180w system?

How does this one from eBay look? http://www.ebay.com/...=item4166f43dcb


Thanks

Edited by jbake, 06 July 2012 - 02:29 AM.

yeah i'd like to know these things too... LEDs seem even better than CFLs for micro grows..

I'm looking for something suitable to grow in an armoire or wardrobe sized box. I'm choosing against HIDs because of the heat they produce and the noise the fan would make to cool it. Here's a few questions I have:

-What difference does it make to have 3w led's compared to a larger amount of 1w led's and is it significant?
-What do the "bands" mean? I've seen 2, 3, 4, and 8 band led systems.
-Does a 90 watt led system actually compare to a 400 watt hid? Do the results support this claim?
-How much square footage does a single 90w ufo led cover? How about a 180w system?

How does this one from eBay look? New 2012 180W UFO LED Grow Light For Indoor Grow Green house Hydroponic System | eBay


Thanks

-Do not buy anything less than 1w per chip (actual draw) 3w will get you better penetration, but is more costly. You could get more 1w LED's yes, and it would cover more area, but your light penetration would be less. You would need to LST your plants for maximum benefit.

- There are 2 terms here: band and spectrum
1. band - this is the individual color frequency (like 660nm red). So an 8 band light would have 8 difference frequency LED's. There are more than one frequency per color in some cases.

2. spectrum - this is a more broad term and it refers to a color as a whole. Most lights are Red & blue, w/ orange, white...etc So you might see something like Tri-spectrum 5 band, meaning you probably have Red(630nm & 660nm), blue(455nm &460nm) and orange(610nm). This is just an example.


-No, a 90w UFO isn't going to replace a 400 watt HID. I use (and really like) the 90w UFO's with the 1w chip and as a general rule, each plant needs its own light once in flower. If you had a couple 90w UFO's it would probably replace a 400w MH for a veg setup, but for flowering the lights just need to be closer to the canopy, which decreases the light footprint.


I was looking at New 2012 180W UFO LED Grow Light For Indoor Grow Green house Hydroponic System | eBay earlier today, actually and I don't like it. It seems fishy. They don't list their LED frequencies, and for me, I wont buy a light that wont tell me something about the frequency. I look for 660nm red for flowering and some lights are 630 & 660 which is good IMO. The blue is important but not as crucial. The Blues are pretty standard from what I've seen. The venting on the back of the light looks cheap and restricting.

heyy i looked at that light on ebay the..180w..it looks pretty legit and it says the NM of all 8 bands in like 3 or 4 different spots and also states that their led chips are made by Epistar




Item

Value

Item Value
LEDs:

60pcs,3W high power(1 core led)

Lumens: 4250lumen
Viewing angle:

90/120 degrees

Working
Temperature: -35°~+55°
Spectrum 8 band:

660nm,650nm,630nm,610nm,

460nm,450nm,440nm,2800K

Plug type: USA, European ,UK,Australia,etc
Input Votalge:

85V-265V AC

Humitity: 0%~95% relative humidity
Output Power:

60pcs*3watt

Lifespan: 50,000-100,000 hours
Power consumption:

110W+/-3%

Dimension 270mm*270mm*60mm

The whole point of LED is to pick and choose only the proper light frequency- saving power by not creating wasted light.

That light has only 60 LED's and there are 8 Bands. Meaning you only have a few of each different kind.

You can buy what you want, but this one just looks cheap. I'm not saying it won't grow a plant, but I think there are better options available.

o no i was just showing you the NM of each bulb , i think anything past tri or quad band is a little much unless you got like a 300+ watt light

So when you up the wattage in HIDs you're getting more lumens which is the benefit. But with LEDs, the amount of penetration into the canopy is the same for all 3w LED systems, so what's the point of getting a 180W LED? Wouldn't it be wiser to get two 90W LEDs to spread the footprint a bit? And would this be enough for 4 plants flowering? Think you could fit a set-up like this in a closet?

Thanks

what's the point of getting a 180W LED? Wouldn't it be wiser to get two 90W LEDs to spread the footprint a bit?

While I have 1w LED's instead of 3w, this is the main reason why I have 6, 90w UFO's. It allows me to have better control of the footprint.