to LED or not LED

[cococeltic]

well here's my tuppence worth, I've had an LED light for just over a year now, they do take a bit of getting used to and you really do NEED to read the manufacturers advice for distance ect, I was using it like a normal light moving it up and down but found out that's not how you do it, the crops I've had don't seem as big but, they have more weight to them, a few times I've thought oh sh*t I'm not getting much out of this lot only to be surprised when I got the scales out.
But are the worth it.. my one was worth £850 when I got it, I paid £150 (kind of fell in my lap, the plusses of being a trucker :0). ) . I stay in Scotland so It's a wee bit cold noo and then (well most of the time) and I think the money you save on power with an led is ok but, you got to add an extra heater to compensate the loss of heat of a bulb so, that's not a great saving plus the heat source is the same with the heater on so the chopper goes over it's just going to look the same to them. I've also read that once they go over a couple of years they start loosing there power and after 4 you really should change them. ( someone may correct me on this as I only read it on one site and can't find the bloody thing now to post it up). I worked out If I bought a light system and say a bulb (600w) every 8 - 12 months at around £160 then £40 per bulb so lets say in 4 years 6 bulbs £240 so that's roughly £400 give or take and a good led costs around £600+ not a lot of savings there ether. Plus if you are growing in a tent you got to mind they are heavy..
So to end, I wouldn't pay fortunes for one, on the growing side they are ok smoke is just the same no complaints there, got a few heavy crops of them but, some plants don't like them. I do use the one I have but once it's dead, I think unless the good ones drop in price or another miraculously falls into my lap I'd stick with my cool light system..
thanks for reading can I get your views cheers.

[NacMacFeegle]

must be one of us scots, wee bit tight us lot ha ha string and cellotape..

String and ty-raps, mainly because I ended up with a hell of a lot of ty-raps for free from work.

Same with insulating tape, wagos, connector blocks, flex....

Why pay for things when you can build a stock up for free?

[gbauto]

Simple tool for seeing if a blurple lamp has enough nads to grow with is this: how many watts of electricity does it actually use in operation? I have an old King 1200W(actually uses 300W) that I use for a closet grow(~5sqft) and it has to be at least 18" above the plants or it will bleach them. I would try to have at least 25W/ sqft from your lamps-that will give you enough photon energy to grow some dank. I've also found that if you can use multiple 100-150W led's then it's much easier to place them to even out distribution across your grow.

[cococeltic]

only joking looking at two of these....


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[cococeltic]

and to prove how tight we are here is what I'm having a wee look at. my babys will be ready in a year or two..lol.

[cococeltic]

must be one of us scots, wee bit tight us lot ha ha string and cellotape..

[Saturnalia]

My set up was in the loft and a bit "string and celloptape" I found that the extra safety of the LEDs stopped me being so paranoid. Also, the tent heater I used was about 25W which is nowt compared to how much energy I saved. Also much cooler in regards to the copter, although I think that people worry too much about that. They've got fuck all resources to spend them looking for your grow.
LEDs all the way for me. The price is coming down all the time too. It's the future in all lighting, not just growing,

[gbauto]

Your experience really illustrates why it's important to use components that suit YOUR needs. I'm in a reverse situation-to much heat/temps so led's can help in that respect. Using current tech cobs or discrete diodes(lm561c, qb assm) have better efficiency at converting electricity to light so there is less waste heat. HPS lamps also produce quite a bit of IR light that acts to heat the space, leds don't do this. So, I guess what I'm really saying is that it helps to use what works for you .