i purchased 1 of the quad band LED 14w 225 5mm LED. They screwed up my order and sent a used one. believe it or not, to fix my order, they acctually sent me 2 for the price of 1. ($34)

i was stoked... threw some clones under it, and they grew. slowly, but very very rich lush green.

curiosity took over because light output was very low...i put a 23w (actual) cfl in the very small chamber, and could no longer see the purple glow..
basically, the 23 watts of cfl were able to blend back the light (to white) in the box (about 12ft cubic) i added a huge 500w CFL in the room, and its nearly impossible to see any of the 4 colors of the light, even on the plants that literally touch the bulbs. that should mean something right?

bottom line, a $20 cfl is MUCH MUCH MUCH stronger than 2 $35 225led panels.

This would be a great product for someone that wants an interior shade tropical (pothos, anthurium, etc) but doesnt have a sunny window. Try to grow something that you are literally holding your breath for another inch of growth, and you will quickly realize CFL is much -much cheaper.

i still believe that building a led grow light would produce amazing effects, but i just couldnt seem to find the best supply of bulk LEDs.

my LED's were a newbie tax... if they were a local shop, i would have returned them and purchased a quality CFL.

im pretty sure all the HID guys would say the exact same thing about CFL :rastasmoke: