First post in the forum. I’ve been growing for about 16 years mainly outdoor. I lurked the old OG also.
Started indoor a couple years ago using 1000w’s HPS’s with magnetic ballasts. Later on I switched to 400w Phillips HPS with Lumatek electronic ballasts for efficiency.
I’m seeing a lot of discussion and contradictory information on the efficiency of LEDs vs HPS vs CMH and I’m trying to clear the waters. If I’m making the full switch and investing a couple thousand I might be sure of what’s working better. I’ve seen side by side grows on forums and either some are poorly done without any kind of scientific method approach or they are biased. The cannabis industry is looking more and more like the fitness supplement industry with a lot of big brands marketing things with incorrect data.
In your opinion what is the most efficient light source when comparing gram per watt of dried weight? (Power consumption vs grams of dried weight)
After we figure this out we can proceed to:
1.cost of buying a HPS + reflector + ballast VS cost of buying a led unit
2.durability of HPS vs LED unit
3.growing method used since LED lights have less light penetration
4.heat generation
5.security of operating LED vs HPS
6.potency of the end product
7.taste of the end product
8.aroma of the end product
9.bag appeal of the end product
10.time to finish the budding process
Other factors and advantages such as heat emission, potency, cost of the equipment, etc are not to be compared. If some lights have better spectrum, etc is also not important. We will focus on gram per watt exclusively on this discussion and keep it focused around this subject.
Let me know about your personal opinion, links to properly done side by sides, etc…