Advice please - HPS to LED

Veghead

New Member
Hi guys.

I'm thinking of switching from HPS to LED and I'm wondering if anyone can help please.
I currently have 1 400w and 1 200w HPS and I was initially contemplating swapping the 200w for a 600w led, or 2 300w led's to run along side the 400w hps, but I'm now contemplating completely switching over to a 1000-1600w LED.
My tent is 120cm x 120cm, so would a 1600w unit be too much? Is there such thing as having too much?
I'm wanting to get max yield off 4 plants, with nice dense buds.
I've read that LED sometimes struggle to penetrate the canopy unless you're spending mega bucks, so adding some T5 strips to each corner could also be an option.

Thanks
 
Hey bro.
I would veg in led and flower in full hps. you dont need no big wattage on veg.
Tbh im interested to see if there is leds that can produce same buds as hps but im yet to see any.

And yup there is such things as to much light and just wasting it. it all depends on size of your pots and capabilities of the straine. onviously the bigger the bucket and light the bigger the plant but then you can have not enough light.
Lights can only produce so much per watt so if your plant cant produce that, its a waste, if it can, then you need to arrange more light ☺
 
1600 is fine for 3x3 because the LED doesn't have true power consumption of 1.6k

It's more like 900 watt real power. Check the specs.
 
Hey bro.
I would veg in led and flower in full hps. you dont need no big wattage on veg.
Tbh im interested to see if there is leds that can produce same buds as hps but im yet to see any.

And yup there is such things as to much light and just wasting it. it all depends on size of your pots and capabilities of the straine. onviously the bigger the bucket and light the bigger the plant but then you can have not enough light.
Lights can only produce so much per watt so if your plant cant produce that, its a waste, if it can, then you need to arrange more light ☺

Thanks for the time fella.
I thought the same, but then I came across 'Atrains' journal on here where he used a 1200w Mars hydro for the flowering phase on his Dutch passion auto ultimate.. he got 601 G's off two fucking plants! And 2 auto plants at that! I know the strain is a big yielder, but damn! He pushed it to the limit. Go check it out dude, it's mental. So I'm sold that LEDS can work just fine for the bloom
 
1600 is fine for 3x3 because the LED doesn't have true power consumption of 1.6k

It's more like 900 watt real power. Check the specs.
The 1600w I was looking at has a true wattage of 370w. Still waiting to hear back from the manufacturer on how many lumens it puts out.. and the 1200w has a true wattage of 240.
Major difference I know, but I thought that's what LEDs are all about. I struggle to believe they will only match a 400w or 250w hps

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Use both hps/led unless your trying to save money on electricity or you can't control heat then go with just led
Energy consumption would be one of the main reasons dude, but quality of plant too

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Mars II 1600 coverage is 4.2'x4.2',the power consumption is :120V: 710W±5%, 240V: 702.2W±5%,one Mars II 1600 can replace a 800w HPS,it will not be too much.Also one Mars II 1200 coverage is 4'x4',power consumption is 120V: 514.6W±5%, 240V: 509W±5%,one Mars II 1200 can replace a 600w HPS.:high-five:
 
When looking at my possibilities with different panels, should I be concentrating more on the lumens rather than the true wattage to determine which Is better for the price?

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I know this is a very controversial topic, HID vs LED, but LED technology has come a long way. The reason a smaller "wattage" LED can replace a larger HID is due to the fact that produce more PAR light per watt than HID. With HID (HPS) there is a fair portion of the wattage used by HID in the 480 to 600 range that plants use very little of as well as a lot of light in the IR range that they also do not need.

HID manfacturers know this and are developing lights that produce less "unusable" light to better compete with the LED producers.

For those that are unconvinced with LEDs, let me say this, I used a Mars II 900 on my very first grow in a 42" x 42" grow cabinet and yielded over 300 grams with an LED that drew approx 420 watts. That is about 3/4 of a gram per actual watt. Most average growers don't get any better gram/watt yields from HPS.
 
:bravo:you got great yield,robert.I'm glad to hear that you had a happy time with out light.:thanks:Many grower still unfamiliar with LED,they should give a try:high-five:
I know this is a very controversial topic, HID vs LED, but LED technology has come a long way. The reason a smaller "wattage" LED can replace a larger HID is due to the fact that produce more PAR light per watt than HID. With HID (HPS) there is a fair portion of the wattage used by HID in the 480 to 600 range that plants use very little of as well as a lot of light in the IR range that they also do not need.

HID manfacturers know this and are developing lights that produce less "unusable" light to better compete with the LED producers.

For those that are unconvinced with LEDs, let me say this, I used a Mars II 900 on my very first grow in a 42" x 42" grow cabinet and yielded over 300 grams with an LED that drew approx 420 watts. That is about 3/4 of a gram per actual watt. Most average growers don't get any better gram/watt yields from HPS.
 
But only if it's a good quality unit? I've seen some floating around on the Internet which appear to tick all the boxes, but they may be 1 to 2 hundred quid cheaper than a proven brand like Mars hydro.. Are these to good to be true and to be avoided?
Also, which should I be paying more attention to when selecting my unit.. the true wattage, or the higher PPFD value?
 
Good morning Veghead,

PPFD is a true indicator of a lights performance, wattage draw tells you nothing more than what your power consumption will be, for example:

say you have 3 different LED lights all rated to draw 400 watts all designed to cover a 3' x 3' area all using the same ratios of colors, so all things are equal except for the chip type.

The first light uses single chip 1 watt bulbs, the second uses 3 watt single chip bulbs and the third uses COBs assembled with 3 watt chips.

In this scenario, the second light is likely to penetrate deeper than the first and the third will penetrate deeper into the canopy than both and assuming a well designed colluminator will also have better mixing of the light.

At this point, few manufacturers provide a PPFD map of coverage for us to compare different lights even though it is the best indicator for comparing them.

As such, your best chance of deciding on a light, is to look at journals from growers like ColoradoFinest who does grow with many different brands and designs of lights and see how they compare and what his opinions of them are.

I will say that, for someone just getting into LED lights, The Mars II line from Mars Hydro are a proven light that won't break the bank and their are lots of growers here using them to help you with questions.

There are other lights out there that are cheaper and may be just as good, but there are also others out there that are more expensive and not as good.
 
i can not tell you whether other brand light is good or bad,but we have many customer who is growing with our light:circle-of-love:.We use 5w single chip and we have 2 years warranty policy.We also try our best to offer our customer good service after:high-five:
 
yeah,there is too many choice out there,we just need to choose the one we think is good for ourselves.:high-five:or we can try the one which most people used,:high-five:this is one of the good way to find out whether it's good or not.:Namaste:
Good morning Veghead,

PPFD is a true indicator of a lights performance, wattage draw tells you nothing more than what your power consumption will be, for example:

say you have 3 different LED lights all rated to draw 400 watts all designed to cover a 3' x 3' area all using the same ratios of colors, so all things are equal except for the chip type.

The first light uses single chip 1 watt bulbs, the second uses 3 watt single chip bulbs and the third uses COBs assembled with 3 watt chips.

In this scenario, the second light is likely to penetrate deeper than the first and the third will penetrate deeper into the canopy than both and assuming a well designed colluminator will also have better mixing of the light.

At this point, few manufacturers provide a PPFD map of coverage for us to compare different lights even though it is the best indicator for comparing them.

As such, your best chance of deciding on a light, is to look at journals from growers like ColoradoFinest who does grow with many different brands and designs of lights and see how they compare and what his opinions of them are.

I will say that, for someone just getting into LED lights, The Mars II line from Mars Hydro are a proven light that won't break the bank and their are lots of growers here using them to help you with questions.

There are other lights out there that are cheaper and may be just as good, but there are also others out there that are more expensive and not as good.
 
I know this is a while from your posting date.
True draw power x 3 = hps
Such as a 133 - 134 true draw power led grow light = 400hps.
200 true draw power = 600 hps.
250 draw power = 750 hps
333-334 true draw power = 1000 hps.
Do not look at manufactures bull 1200 watt, when it draws 220 true power.
220 = 660 hps.
ECT... True draw power x 3...
Anything under 133 - 134 is crap!!
\:goodjob:
 
Hi,
The only advice I could give you is. You want to shoot for 35 to 50 watts per sq ft. That's true watts, so your looking at close to 800 watts. Probably be looking at getting a couple led to get that wattage and better coverage. I'm vegging with a Mars 600 and when I flip to flower I add a 1000 led to it.
 
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