Led
- Thread starter byford420
- Start date
Cheap and effective rarely go hand in hand. I've got some Chinese knock offs. They work but in long run I should have and will spend the money to grow better with better lights. It's their food after all. Poor nutrition poor growth. My 2 cents
First Grow For Me - So First Journal Also
First Grow For Me - So First Journal Also
I bought 3 LED lights from a sponsor here . I told them the size of my grow and spent $750.00 with them . The lights under performed,they would pretty much tell me anything to sell their goods ,and I offered from the beginning to buy bigger if need be and they talked me out of it .. HPS and HID for me.
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AlienAthena
Well-Known Member
Honestly just check the "actual" watts a light has and try to make sure you have at least 30 to 50 watts per square feet. Mars or Vipar seem to be the go-to.
6 Autos - 2x4x5 Tent - MarsHydro Reflector 144x5
6 Autos - 2x4x5 Tent - MarsHydro Reflector 144x5
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What range is cheap for you?
What size area are you trying to cover?
- Thread starter
- #6
I'm looking to spend less than $150-200 for my lights. And I'm needing to cover a 4X4 area
Nuclear engineer grad with a green thumb
To be honest, for that budget I would stick a 600w HPS in there. In my opinion any LED for that range wouldn't provide sufficient lighting, unless you were just going to be doing 1 single plant.
If you truly are into LED, and being that you are an engineer, look into DIY COB lights where you can build your own and cut out a lot of mark up cost. Still to properly illuminate a 4x4 it would cost more than $200, but its about the best option for a budget grower that is handy with tools.
Eeko
Well-Known Member
Keep that on the down low and your mileage in life will increase 1000 times over. I wish I could help with an answer but that's just a shitty amount of area( to big or small). At 18" my 600 watt led covers a 36" x24" area really well. I could raise it up(plants would bitch) and it could cover 3x3, heck I could raise it up more and cover5x5 (my tent size) but I would pay for it will lower production. So in your budget the 600 watt LED that sells on Amazon for $189 (Vipar....not sure if they are a sponsor so I'll refrain form using their whole name or link) might do the job but might not do it well. Look around the LED threads here and you will find a guy that will tell you how to do you own setup for small money.....or look around and find a business that supports this site and go from there.
happy growing
Rider509
Well-Known Member
What? A Nuclear Engineer grad on a shoestring budget? Damn those student loans! LOL. With that budget you're way better off with a 600W MH/HPS system. WAAAAY better off. Seriously. Don't waste a penny on any LED systems that fall in that price range unless you're only planning on growing in one foot square. An LED system, even if you build it, will be an order of magnitude more expensive than a decent dimmable HID system.
AlienAthena
Well-Known Member
is it possible for you to be able to upgrade your grow midway? having more than 1 light can be good for coverage and cost in the long run. 2 450 watt leds or 1 600 watt led is your best bet with that budget though.
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Sent from my iPhone using 420 Magazine
- Thread starter
- #11
Rider509
Well-Known Member
For $200USD? Dude...
AlienAthena
Well-Known Member
You have 16 sq ft to potentially cover and a lot of people aim for 25w to 50w per sq ft. taking that into consideration, you want 400 to 800 actual watts in a 4x4 and you can always go for more but after a certain point you'll need some CO2.
I've looked on Amazon and see a 1200w led light within your budget (178.99) but my only concern is that they don't list the actual watts. I think using it during veg will be great but if possible I'd get another when it comes down to flowering and you'll be set.
6 Autos - 2x4x5 Tent - MarsHydro Reflector 144x5
