I'm about to start a grow for the first time and i want to get 2 8x4 tents. I would want to do a LED for the cost monthly, what would you guys buy for this type of set up?
There is no real cost difference between LED and HID. 600 watts is 600 watts. A little less heat with LED. LED cost a shit load of money for anything that will produce a similar bud to HID. Use LED for your veg tent, but HPS can't be beat when it comes to flowering. That is a fact.
itll cost you a fuck load to kit that much space out with leds like. if your handy then look into building your own cob leds. thats the best way to go. most efficient lights and can be built fairly cheap. otherwise id probably go for hps aswell. even cheap marshys like i use would cost you well over a grand to cover all that space. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Well the fact is LED's can output the same amount of light in watts as a HID while consuming only a fraction of that. a 700W LED will consume around 300W of power just like a 60W led bulb consumes around 15W realistically. Also LED's can target specific wavelengths of light because plants use the blue and red spectrum more than the usual visible light your regular bulb emits. Also heat is just energy that has been wasted and LED's emit way less heat so you're putting more of that electricity into light and less into heat. So I wouldn't be too biased towards which light is best since every type of light has it's benefits and flaws. I think the wattage and light spectrum (quantity and quality) of the light is what matters most - not what kind of light it is.
Ive grown both ways and still use led's in the veg tent. But I get more compact bud from hid than ever on a led. And 700 using only 300 is NOT THE same as a 600 HPS about half or less. U will have to use one per plant where the HPS will only use one bulb. HID under a 100 bucks with bulbs.
Best to replace after a year of use, but that doesn't mean you need to every year. You run HPS 12 hours a day, so that's 2 years (if you aren't running MH for veg), in which case it would be even more than 2 years, and even then, it will still work, just not as well as a new bulb...so...take that buzzer!!!
I think your objective is pretty feasible OP, here are some pictures of a LED light grow that resembles what you described. I found these on this thread : Folux solutions led scrog #1 Picture Spoiler #2 Picture Spoiler #3 Picture Spoiler
I run both. led for veg and hps for flower, sometimes both in flower. I save 6$ a month running led go hps or quantum board in my opinion.
I run cob LEDs and consistently get bigger better nugz then I would with a HP's light. But you got to have the watts to get that though. roughly 30-50watts a square foot. While with HPS you're looking at 50-70watts a square foot. Those tents are pretty massive and are going to cost you big to go with proper led lighting. Id budget $2k for the flower tent and about $800 for veg.
I'd rather replace a bulb every 3rd grow that be out the cost of a good led. Plus the damn things are very heavy and weight the tent down causing it to break in the plastic corners and fall. How much electric can you expect to save to get a return on investment? When will you start saving money? How much bud will you lose each grow due to LED? LED's are not a savings for anything just a new toy the industry is getting rich off of. This is a debate that will continue for years.
Time will tell..meantime..these guys like LEDs I think..LOL (agreed..we are talking a whole new breed of lights here)