Has anyone calculated how much it would cost for a grow using LED vs. HID? How long would it take an LED light to be more cost effective than an HID? Also curious if anyone has tried this with growing your own bud instead of buying, how long it took before you'd save money? Obviously there are a lot of factors, including how much you smoke.
http://www.theweedblog.com/grow-lights-led-vs-hid-operating-costs/ this was posted in january of this year, so the $/watt might be different.. depends on your state/electric company so check how much you're paying and adjust the numbers
One watt used by a HID and one watt used by a LED will cost you the same. Folks will tell you that you can replace your 1000 watt HID with a 90 watt LED (because the LED sales guy told them that). If it was true all commercial growers would be using LEDs. You won't have to change bulbs with LEDs. And LEDs work great for limited height grow rooms.
Thanks for the reply Rumple. I've read some of your other posts and really respect your opinion. I'm not sure I quite understand, though. LEDs use less electricity, right? And you lose less energy to heat. Why wouldn't that save you money? I agree that most people probably underestimate the wattage they will need with LEDs, and not having to change bulbs is a good point. Making a choice on lighting is the decision I'm struggling with the most. I'm leaning towards an LED, so partly I am trying to justify the higher cost upfront to myself a little bit. It will be a smallish indoor grow (around 6 plants or so). I've also read where you said you've had quality grows with both an HID and an LED setup, so that makes me feel better.
LED lamps don't use less power. They will make less heat causing to cycle your ventilation less. But the myth that they use half the power is how the sales guys get you to buy the lamp. And most folks who buy into the lamp will parrot the same quotes. We all want to think we made the best purchase. If LEDs use less power to grow a pound of quality bud, all commercial growers would use them. LED sales are geared toward small tent and closet growers for a reason.. Most want a simple answer. I can use any lamp, but choose HIDs. It is not because I am closed minded or have only seen results from old technology. it is because I have seen and used what the markets have. The best way to save money on your power bill is to buy your weed from a grower. No matter what method you choose, if you follow good grow practices you will save money on your bud (have you seen the prices?).
the best way to save money on your electric is to buy weed? That's pretty funny. You're not considering usable light or Par.
Ok, heres the skinny....fact. One year, 5 dank plants...indoor grow, 1000w hps, power bill through the fucking roof...but the plants loved em.....next year, 3 600 watt LEDs, Half the power cost, no cooling issues, in fact had heating issues solved by the addition of small greenhouse pvc tube heaters....the plants vegged a bit slower and the stems were not quite as thick, but the difference in dankness was negligable and I never worried about the fucking heat seeking helecopters again....they buzz my area all summer long.....so, if I had a large commercial grow with a liscence to grow, sure, use the HPS, pay the bills and no worries...but if youre worried about cops and or money, leds work very well....but ya gotta source them from china or it blows your margins...
In the United States we don't have to worry about the heat seeking helicopters. US supreme court ruling Kyllo v. United States The commercial grower wants what I want..... The highest yield of quality bud in the least amount of time at the lowest cost. They tend to weed out the BS from the real when lots of cash is on the line,
Well, I'm just looking to grow for personal use, but I don't mind if people want to discuss commercial grows, too.
HIDs get hot and fans co$t dollars to run. I just picked up some LED panels like the ones WeedDude and DDP have. They run against my HIDs watt for watt but the advantage is that my cooling fans are only running in the room with the HIDs. Mid summer, I have a huge blower fan going 24/7 to get the heat out of the building I am in. The blower fan draws quite a bit of current but it is more cost effective than running my AC 24/7. I have yet to find a study that takes the cost of cooling the space into account. It is my first go at LEDs. I took a leap of faith and allocated one of my gardens to try these LEDs. So far, so good. The verdict is still out on yield and quality but the temps in the room under 1040w of LEDs with no exhaust fans are unbelievably low. Could not pull that off with my 1000w HPS. -PG
Lol....ok, sure dude..lets stick with the best then....costs, cops and security are no issue....so, I'm laughing at your measly 1000 watt hps and raise you 8 quad 1000 watt hps with 600 watt metal halide side lamps (gonna really juice up those popcorn buds),Rheem heat pumps and cooling units ,total hydro system designed, installed and maintained by Colorados best cannabis manufacturing contractor inside a 20000 square foot, custom built double wide, climate controlled moveable trailer with office attachment on one end for 24 hour survellience and/or work station............. So, there,,,your rig is shit....mines better. On a serious note..my point is, sure...in a perfect world high pressure sodium works well....hps along with metal halide works better....BUT, the fucking world isnt perfect...cops ARE an issue with most...costs ARE an issue with most...profit margins ARE an issue with most.....do the large commercial growers who are liscensed care about cops? No. Then why arent they using LEDs you might ask...they would certainly solve many cost issues, halve the electric costs, no heating issues,,,? ...The reason most commercial growers (some DO use led tech...but on a small scale) use hps is because of much lower startup costs which shift the heavy costs to after the first crop is in, instead of right upfront in construction fees...leds are still expensive...coming down, but still expensive....hps is 5 to 10 times cheaper AT THE START than installing a room full of powerful led banks...and you dont suffer the penalties of being a cheap luddite till AFTER your crop comes in...you push your costs down the road. The NANASECOND leds are cheaper at the start than hps, every one of those commercial growers will switch.
Commercial growers don't lack cash. If LEDs produced more with less power, they all would have them. How do LEDs keep the cops away again?
Getting back to OPs question cost analysis... Amare Tech Solar Spec 260 is said to be equal to 1000 hps PLUS heat dissipation savings so do the math
We install LED lighting all the time. But the cost savings on power in LED ads are not realistic. Without that it makes a difficult sale.
Some bud I grew using LED lamps: Single plant test grow Most folks would say this single plant LED harvest is proof that LEDs out perform HIDs. But in fact it is only proof that you can grow some nice bud with a LED lamp. Not a LED hater at all. Just not a parrot of false LED ads.
This is just a exstimate based on my grow.... I was using 1000w of HID in my 2.5x5'x7' grow area and recently switched to about 550W of LED light. I am achieving about the same yield size, but my Grams per watt went up. So looking at the cost... I was sponsored for the panels...but, if I was to buy them it would have costed me around $1600 total... a HID system like I had ran about $500... the difference being 1,100 roughly.... Now power reduction.. instead of 1000w a month, now I am only using 550W... On a 12/12 schedule this saves me approx 60$ a month in electricity over HID... so to make of the difference and see a positive ROI, it would take me approximately 18 months to pay off completely... so a positive ROI would be about a year and 1/2. Now this also doesn't include bulb replacement or consider the draw of the HID ballast so the ROI may be slighty sooner than 1 1/2 years... Now the good part though...after 1 1/2 years...all the electricityy saved is money saved and since the LED's I have by advanced LED use all cree/osram diodes, they are expected lifetime of 100,000 hours which is like 13 years or something...