Dave Groomer
Well-Known Member
Welcome. You will get a lot of different opinions on LEDs. I happen to be a fan of Mars-Hydro. There are many more expensive LED companies out there but I think you get a great value for your money. Here is a link to the main Mars-Hydro tread. Sara is the rep and very good at helping with problems or questions. Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light Discussion
Feel free to look at the links in my signature and you can see my results with the lights. Read and ask questions is the best way to learn here!!!
Feel free to look at the links in my signature and you can see my results with the lights. Read and ask questions is the best way to learn here!!!
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- #3
Dave Groomer
Well-Known Member
Here is another good link. Unclecannabis spent a good deal of time putting this info together. How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Needs
Mars Hydro
420 Sponsor
Welcome to 420 Magazine...
You can click on any of my journals in my links below (signature) and you will find a lot of good info on some of the LED brands that are sponsored here. Also, feel free to pop in my current journal and ask anything you need to know about LED and I should be able to point you in the right direction.
Cheers to LED growing and your future grow successes!
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- #8
Dave Groomer
Well-Known Member
I think she responded to you about 3 posts back. The Mars 1200 will suit your space nicely.
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Which do you think icemud. One 1200watt or r of equal power for more adjustment? You think the new cree is that much better than epi. For the price is steep also how do mars rate to advance led since you grew with both
Thanks for your help!
Thanks for your help!
Hey dptdgrow,
I wish I could answer your question more accurately, but I typically base my recommendations off the PAR/PPFD readings over a 4'x4' grid and I don't believe that Mars has this available for most of there models at this time. Therefore I can't accurately give you the "scientific" approach to choosing lighting and it would purely be a guess.
How I usually recommend lighting is based of the size of the garden, and the type of growing that you want to do. If you plan on having a scrog/shorter plants/sea of green then multiple lower wattage panels usually would be the best fit (like 4x 700w Mars II) however if you plan on doing 1 big plant, then the 1200w would be better because it would allow for a better penetration (range of acceptable light).
Now the difference between Cree and Epistar... based off the data sheets and the LM data (lumen maintenance or longevity) the Cree chips are rated to last much longer than Epistar, without losing intensity. Now with that being said, Cree chips are about 3-4x as costly as the Epistar chips which is why Cree panels generally are more $$ than Epistar. Generally Epistar chips are rated for around 30,000-40,000 hours maintaining about 80% light output, where as Cree generally are rated around 68,000 hours losing less than 10% light output. So with cree, based on the lumen maintenance, they will generally last about 2x as long. Also, Cree chips generally are accepted as having better efficiency than epistar chips, meaning that they use electricity more efficiently to create light.
Now this is dependent of course on what BIN is chosen by the Mfgr. A BIN is a way that LED companies sort chips based on brightness/efficiency and color rating. The higher the BIN, the more efficient the chip. When Mars introduced the Cree panels, they posted the BINS of the chips and 3 of the 4 chips were in the Lowest (worst) BIN available, and only 1 of the chips (the white) was in the top BIN. Therefore its hard to say if a low BIN cree is more efficient than a Higher BIN epistar, because Epistar I have yet to find their BIN ratings for their chips. I also don't know what BIN epistar chips that Mars uses.
Now as far as Advanced vs Mars... I haven't used the new sun series so I am not sure about how they are, but I have used the Mars II panels. In my personal opinion, Advanced LED's panels would be my choice, as I believe they are a better panel...but again this is my opinion and many others may disagree. I hope you get a chance to read this post, as many of my posts get deleted by the Mods here when I even mention Mars. Best of luck to your decision.
Basically if you are looking for the economy solution, then Mars will suit your needs. If you want a better option but more costly, then Advanced would be my recommendation.
I wish I could answer your question more accurately, but I typically base my recommendations off the PAR/PPFD readings over a 4'x4' grid and I don't believe that Mars has this available for most of there models at this time. Therefore I can't accurately give you the "scientific" approach to choosing lighting and it would purely be a guess.
How I usually recommend lighting is based of the size of the garden, and the type of growing that you want to do. If you plan on having a scrog/shorter plants/sea of green then multiple lower wattage panels usually would be the best fit (like 4x 700w Mars II) however if you plan on doing 1 big plant, then the 1200w would be better because it would allow for a better penetration (range of acceptable light).
Now the difference between Cree and Epistar... based off the data sheets and the LM data (lumen maintenance or longevity) the Cree chips are rated to last much longer than Epistar, without losing intensity. Now with that being said, Cree chips are about 3-4x as costly as the Epistar chips which is why Cree panels generally are more $$ than Epistar. Generally Epistar chips are rated for around 30,000-40,000 hours maintaining about 80% light output, where as Cree generally are rated around 68,000 hours losing less than 10% light output. So with cree, based on the lumen maintenance, they will generally last about 2x as long. Also, Cree chips generally are accepted as having better efficiency than epistar chips, meaning that they use electricity more efficiently to create light.
Now this is dependent of course on what BIN is chosen by the Mfgr. A BIN is a way that LED companies sort chips based on brightness/efficiency and color rating. The higher the BIN, the more efficient the chip. When Mars introduced the Cree panels, they posted the BINS of the chips and 3 of the 4 chips were in the Lowest (worst) BIN available, and only 1 of the chips (the white) was in the top BIN. Therefore its hard to say if a low BIN cree is more efficient than a Higher BIN epistar, because Epistar I have yet to find their BIN ratings for their chips. I also don't know what BIN epistar chips that Mars uses.
Now as far as Advanced vs Mars... I haven't used the new sun series so I am not sure about how they are, but I have used the Mars II panels. In my personal opinion, Advanced LED's panels would be my choice, as I believe they are a better panel...but again this is my opinion and many others may disagree. I hope you get a chance to read this post, as many of my posts get deleted by the Mods here when I even mention Mars. Best of luck to your decision.
Basically if you are looking for the economy solution, then Mars will suit your needs. If you want a better option but more costly, then Advanced would be my recommendation.
Dave Groomer
Well-Known Member
I think Icemud summed that up nicely!!! Choosing the right light depends on your grow space, temps in your area price and many other factors. I have not used the Advanced LED so there is now way for me to make an accurate comparison. The new Pro series may be more in line with the Advanced LED but we will have to see a few grows with them. It comes down to how much do you want to spend to achieve your goals!
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I think Icemud summed that up nicely!!! Choosing the right light depends on your grow space, temps in your area price and many other factors. I have not used the Advanced LED so there is now way for me to make an accurate comparison. The new Pro series may be more in line with the Advanced LED but we will have to see a few grows with them. It comes down to how much do you want to spend to achieve your goals!
Thank you Supergroomer, I hope you are doing ok, I saw your post on the Mars thread. Fingers crossed for you and good vibes your way!
