phatnugz420
Well-Known Member
hey guys what’s the best light i can get for flowering that will run me 250$ or lower i want something very good i wanna get the best possible harvest i can
Best light for flowering?
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You might find a 1kW HPS setup for that, if you're lucky, shop around, and aren't worried about air-cooled reflectors.
Annex420
Well-Known Member
I'd definitely recommend an HPS, I've never personally used one yet, but I have used a Blurple LED light and it was not very good for flowering, LED's are great for veg but I wouldn't recommend for flower unless you have like 2 600w lights maybe. HPS would definitely shine more light on all the leaves, you would want a fan or some kind of cooling tho. you could get a 400w HPS for under $150 I think that's about what it is in Canadian monopoly money.
If you're paying with loonies, the prices will probably be higher. Seems like every time someone mentions Amazon .CA, the prices they quote are 25%+ higher than what they are in the 'States. IDK if it's a combination of the different currency value plus import tariffs or just one of those things that happens when the companies' customers are ALL suddenly legal growers and those companies decide to get greedy. A little of both, probably.
You can get the parts pretty cheap to assemble an old-school core & coil (aka "magnetic") HID ballast - and it's dead simple to do, as long as the person doing it has the capacity to walk and chew gum at the same time, as they say. Same thing with a mogul socket, HD power cord, and even a reflector. That's always an option, although most folks going with HIDs are buying electronic ballasts these days. But the C&C variety worked for decades - and still does. Just heavier, not as efficient, and they tend to buzz a little (or a lot, if they're cheap/shoddy and the transformer starts to delaminate
) .
If you're on a budget but insist on LED lighting, I'd go with one of our sponsors. For example, Mars-Hydro has been a sponsor here for years. While they have more expensive products, they also have a range of cheaper ones, too, so you could probably find something in your price range. Their forum rep, @SmokeSara , is pretty active here and could offer suggestions based either on your maximum budget or the size of your grow space (the latter would be best, of course). There are other sponsors who sell LED products, and we may still have one or two who can sell you some kind of kit that you'd assemble yourself to save $25 or so, yet not have to go through the minor hassle of sourcing the parts to build your own COB or Samsung quantum board type lighting setup.
The best thing about buying things from one (or more) of our forum sponsors is that these are the businesses that literally pay to keep the forum in operation and free for all of us to use - so it's nice to be able to pay them back, for them to be able to get something in return for what they pay to be sponsors here.
You can get the parts pretty cheap to assemble an old-school core & coil (aka "magnetic") HID ballast - and it's dead simple to do, as long as the person doing it has the capacity to walk and chew gum at the same time, as they say. Same thing with a mogul socket, HD power cord, and even a reflector. That's always an option, although most folks going with HIDs are buying electronic ballasts these days. But the C&C variety worked for decades - and still does. Just heavier, not as efficient, and they tend to buzz a little (or a lot, if they're cheap/shoddy and the transformer starts to delaminate
) .If you're on a budget but insist on LED lighting, I'd go with one of our sponsors. For example, Mars-Hydro has been a sponsor here for years. While they have more expensive products, they also have a range of cheaper ones, too, so you could probably find something in your price range. Their forum rep, @SmokeSara , is pretty active here and could offer suggestions based either on your maximum budget or the size of your grow space (the latter would be best, of course). There are other sponsors who sell LED products, and we may still have one or two who can sell you some kind of kit that you'd assemble yourself to save $25 or so, yet not have to go through the minor hassle of sourcing the parts to build your own COB or Samsung quantum board type lighting setup.
The best thing about buying things from one (or more) of our forum sponsors is that these are the businesses that literally pay to keep the forum in operation and free for all of us to use - so it's nice to be able to pay them back, for them to be able to get something in return for what they pay to be sponsors here.
Annex420
Well-Known Member
If you're paying with loonies, the prices will probably be higher. Seems like every time someone mentions Amazon .CA, the prices they quote are 25%+ higher than what they are in the 'States. IDK if it's a combination of the different currency value plus import tariffs or just one of those things that happens when the companies' customers are ALL suddenly legal growers and those companies decide to get greedy. A little of both, probably.
You can get the parts pretty cheap to assemble an old-school core & coil (aka "magnetic") HID ballast - and it's dead simple to do, as long as the person doing it has the capacity to walk and chew gum at the same time, as they say. Same thing with a mogul socket, HD power cord, and even a reflector. That's always an option, although most folks going with HIDs are buying electronic ballasts these days. But the C&C variety worked for decades - and still does. Just heavier, not as efficient, and they tend to buzz a little (or a lot, if they're cheap/shoddy and the transformer starts to delaminate
If you're on a budget but insist on LED lighting, I'd go with one of our sponsors. For example, Mars-Hydro has been a sponsor here for years. While they have more expensive products, they also have a range of cheaper ones, too, so you could probably find something in your price range. Their forum rep, @SmokeSara , is pretty active here and could offer suggestions based either on your maximum budget or the size of your grow space (the latter would be best, of course). There are other sponsors who sell LED products, and we may still have one or two who can sell you some kind of kit that you'd assemble yourself to save $25 or so, yet not have to go through the minor hassle of sourcing the parts to build your own COB or Samsung quantum board type lighting setup.
The best thing about buying things from one (or more) of our forum sponsors is that these are the businesses that literally pay to keep the forum in operation and free for all of us to use - so it's nice to be able to pay them back, for them to be able to get something in return for what they pay to be sponsors here.
Yep Amazon Canada is always more expensive then USA, I mean besides the currency difference we still have higher prices, I actually got my Mars 300w from ebay, believe i bought its from Mars Hydro official store page. but its legal here so all outdoor growing next year
I grew outside last year too, only got 1 female so. I didn't think it would get spotted. 
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
I am finding some pretty darn capable LED lights on Amazon lately under $100 USD. They seem to be well made and putting out the light they advertise. I now own a 1000w Vander LED, and am about to purchase 2 more 2000w systems. I will definitely be growing some dank with these cheap to run, inexpensive lights.
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phatnugz420
Well-Known Member
thanks man yeah i’ll probably do that then i’m just worried about the room getting to hot
When it comes to (actual) watts of lighting in a confined space (aka "grow room/tent"), one watt of HPS will produce the same BTU as one watt of CFL, LED, incandescent, et cetera lighting. You'll be looking at approximately 3.41214 BTU per watt.
The only reason that people think LEDs run cooler than HIDs is that many manufacturers/sellers of the former make ridiculously false claims about the wattage of their devices - e.g., a "1000w" LED panel that's actually only a 300-watt device. Sure, it seems cooler, in comparison with a 1kW HPS, because it's nowhere near a 1,000-watt light(!).
This doesn't consider the heat produced by the ballast (in the case of HPS, MH, and fluorescent lighting) or power supply (LED), of course. Always best to remove such things from the grow room - which tends to be a lot easier with an HID setup that has its ballast at the end of a relatively long cord than with an LED panel in which the power supply is built in to the housing, lol. And then there's the air-cooling issue: I've only seen a couple of LED panels (each of which was selling for $1,000+) that had provisions for hooking up to ductwork, but have seen lots and lots and lots of HID reflectors that had such provisions. In other words, with an air-cooled HID reflector, you can keep the bulk of its heat output segregated from your grow room's general environment by simply setting it up with its own ventilation run. And there are even "insulating covers" available for many of those air-cooled HID reflectors, which will help even more with keeping the heat produced by their bulb out of the grow room.
I'm just rambling. Or ranting, maybe - I never can tell which
.
The only reason that people think LEDs run cooler than HIDs is that many manufacturers/sellers of the former make ridiculously false claims about the wattage of their devices - e.g., a "1000w" LED panel that's actually only a 300-watt device. Sure, it seems cooler, in comparison with a 1kW HPS, because it's nowhere near a 1,000-watt light(!).
This doesn't consider the heat produced by the ballast (in the case of HPS, MH, and fluorescent lighting) or power supply (LED), of course. Always best to remove such things from the grow room - which tends to be a lot easier with an HID setup that has its ballast at the end of a relatively long cord than with an LED panel in which the power supply is built in to the housing, lol. And then there's the air-cooling issue: I've only seen a couple of LED panels (each of which was selling for $1,000+) that had provisions for hooking up to ductwork, but have seen lots and lots and lots of HID reflectors that had such provisions. In other words, with an air-cooled HID reflector, you can keep the bulk of its heat output segregated from your grow room's general environment by simply setting it up with its own ventilation run. And there are even "insulating covers" available for many of those air-cooled HID reflectors, which will help even more with keeping the heat produced by their bulb out of the grow room.
I'm just rambling. Or ranting, maybe - I never can tell which
.
