I have limited power for my flower room 4x8 @ 20 amps. I was thinking of using 2 600watt lights but when I start to add all the other power etc... I'm close to tapping out my power. My next thought was to go to LEDS due to low power consumption. Is there another alternative? Have you tried LEDS and what was your results? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Peace, Q
I once dreamed of an all LED grow room. It just isn't there. I have a $600 Lightblaze 400 that I veg with it does okay but I can cover more with my 250W MH. I ran a new 20AMP for my room you can easily run 2x 600w + ventilation if thats all thats on it no problem you could toss in another 400W veg room and have an extra couple hundred for ventilation. Or do 600+400 Flower and if you have another room CFL. I would say starting off go HID or CFL not LED.
http://www.wheatgrasskits.com/led_indoor_grow_light.htm I bought a 14w led grow light for 55usd. I have two 105w cfls also. (For 3 plants) People say that leds are awesome, but unless you spend 1000$ or more on led, I think you have to supplement with cfls.
Its definately personal preference but i dont think LED's are worth the money yet. Go to the grow journal section and look for "Rumpleforskin's LED challenge." You can see the LED lights he tested for Prosource, Inc. He compares identical grows with led's and a 400w HPS. The LED'd ended up costing him "MORE" electrical consumption cause he had to veg and flower for longer than the HPS. And these lights cost double than HID's. I think LED's are VERY promising, but technology needs to advance and prices need to drop dramatically before id even CONSIDER changing. Let me tell you though.....LED flashlight. Now were talking. LED's are great for flashlights.
Would a t5/ led combo be promising? I was planning on 2 hanging dual t5 2ft bulbs, a single vertically mounted t5 light in each corner of my box, and a hanging 90w led ufo (or maybe 2 side mounted led panels 50w each) Does that sound like a good combination for a 16cf box with proper vent'l? (the t5 lights are 24w each)
TheJudge's setup sounds pretty nice. I would like to see what the plants look like after growing in there. I always use mylar to not waste cfl and led light.
Don't bother with the LEDs under 90W UFO it just isn't worth it. You would be better off using CFL probably. I use LED Lightblaze 400 (100W at the plug), a 600W HPS, a 400W HPS / CMH, a 250W HPS / CMH, a T5 2ft 2 Bulb Aquarium light with 6500K 10000K (mothers) (works great), Clones use 5500K-6500K CFL. Vertical T5 + 1 Good LED 90W UFO is good I would do 180W with a T5 on each corner, worth the investment if you dont think you would like 2x 90w since after you get 1 x 90W you will probably want more coverage. I say if you have room for 2x 90W get one and try it if you dont think you want 2 lamps get the 180W
4 x 8 is a big room to be lighting up with expensive LED's. Far cheaper to hire an electrician to run you another circuit and go with cheap, proven HID. Good luck on your room!
I would go with a bunch of 4 foot fluorescents in a 4 x 8 room probably if you need to cover the whole area with light. (Plants take up the whole area) And mylar. Its cheap and no sense in letting your walls soak up your light.
http://forum.grasscity.com/advanced-grow-journals/485301-rumples-led-challenge.html Check this out...this guy got amazing results with an LED