LED vs. HPS

[khyberkitsune]

OMG! Those don't look like airy loose buds to me. Impressive. How much $$$ do you have invested in the LED's. The heat from all these HID's is killing me!

Those were grown using some WEX-C150 units with Stra8's custom spectral choice. He invested a fair amount in it.

khyberkitsune Reviewed by khyberkitsune on 07-25-2011. LED vs. HPS are leds better then HPS and do you need differnt lights for each stage does anybody know i think im going to switch for power purpose but i need to know if you need differant lights and which types of leds anything would help and what siz LED will grow the same area as a 600w HPS thanks for any information Rating: 5

[zandramas]

LEDs ARE TOTAL BS!! I KNOW THE BUDS IN YOUR PICS WERE GROWN WITH HPS AND THE LEDs WERE ADDED LATER FOR THE PHOTOSHOOT!

Just kidding.

Hi guys, this is my first time posting on these forums. Happy to have found what seems to be a cool place.

I'm setting up, ahem, attempting to set up my first grow. I did a little research and thought I'd found a decent 90w LED for a really small cab grow. However when the light arrived I saw that 16 of the 90 1w diodes seemed to not be working. I contacted the company and was told that those 16 diodes are infrared, and therefore the light is not visible.

C'mon. Infrared is only going to give off heat, no? Am I wrong, can it be used to grow? Or is the company trying to pull a fast one?

What do you guys think?

[3ntH3ad]

Where do I begin?

You're dead wrong.

LED versus HID in the EXACT SAME WATTAGE, LED wins every time. Proven time and time again.

For example, there's a video on youtube, doing a solid 90w LED versus 400w HPS.

At the end of it all, the 90w LED yielded 31g. The 400w HPS yielded 93g. Assuming yield increases linearly with power increase, a 270w LED would do THE EXACT SAME as 400w HPS.

That's just a bit over 5/8 the power usage for the same amount of product.

Also, for purely visual purposes, there's not a single HID on the market that can compete with Cree's 200+ lumens/watt LEDs.

Any further statements you'd like to make without posting any proof?

Hang on, I'll post a picture as well. Looks like my plants are doing just fine (minus the nute burn on the ones in the back right.) and starting to bud just as well.

WEll you sold me on using LEDs....even if they only marginally produced the same as a HPS, the energy saving would be well worth it. Not to mention the lowered risk of fire or burning out the plants. I am totally new to all this and have been asking a lot of questions of lights and hydroponics systems, but the few people I have spoken with at the hydroponics store didn't even mention the LEDs...I guess they want to sell off their old stock of bulbs before they start selling the LEDs? Thanks again mandingo. :-)