hi all i am starting a new grow in the next few week and was thinking of trying an led grow light could anyone point me in the right direction for the best one to buy thanks
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There are good LED light DIY units available through @Baudelaire.
Then there is the high end.
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what you mean by ādual spectrumāā¦you mean a light that lets you change the spectrum? How many watts do you need - or what is the canopy area you need to light?
Thanks @99PerCent. @Smokinsammy happy to help sort through your choices. At SolStrip.com we try to bridge the quality and value divide between build-your-own and mass produced lights.
-b420
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Solstrip/cob combo. If you want to build a spectrum to best suit your room Iād definitely go for strips. Designed with simplicity in mind for the diyāer And some serious efficiency. Pretty cheap too if you keep it simple
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Final product looks superb mateā¦ and wonāt be long before youāre putting it to useā¦ what does it look like in daylightā¦ how about a close up of the cobs installationā¦ not a cheap looking rig imhoā¦ well done 
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Morning bro. Ive still gotta join my wires nicely. Iāll get some close ups of the cobs fitted and stuff later on. I havenāt seen it in daylight. My neighbours might get a bit suspect when the garden lit up like Tenerife lol. Will make sure I tag you when I do get the close ups. (They weāre all gonna be done when itās up in the tent) still havenāt received the fan speed controller either yet. Hopefully it should be here soon enough. I was speaking to Baudelaire again last night and should have some more 2700k strips x 2 and blue/red x 4 to sort that gap in the middle lol
And no sir it definitely hasnāt been cheap lol
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Just avoid blurples lol remember good led are not cheap and cheap led are not good. I like strips because you can get em in any color temp and they dont require heatsinks or cooling usually even at max amperage. Heres a budget build i just finished for a 5x2 space. Its 4ft by 22 inches, 20 bridgelux gen2 eb strips spaced 3.3cm apart. I chose 4000k all around for flexibility of use but you could mix spectrums to optimize for veg or flower if youd like. They are driven at 1050mah by 2 hlg 240h-c1050b drivers. Total cost was right around 300 bucks. I havent fired it up yet (still waiting on the drivers) but it should pack a nice punch haha best part is that down the road it can always be disassembled to mix in cobs or boards if im not liking the penetration. Sorry for the paragraphā¦heres a picture
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Nice. Thatās gonna pack a punch. Hopefully your drivers come in soon. The struggle is real looking at a light you canāt fire up yet I feel for you
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Thanks haha yeah mouser likes to take their time with shipping. Arrow had the strips here within 2 business days haha wish i woulda known about those sol strips before i bought all the eb strips. Probably coulda just used 10 of those, they look sleek af.
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Youāre telling me in regards to mouser lol. Iāve had 2 hlg320h c700a. 1 hlg150h 24a. 1 hlg185h c700a in the past 4 weeks. Plus 20 citi chips. 4 strips. 18 am3 heatsinks. The list goes on. How long ago you order them bro. And where are you In the world
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Damn, youve been busy haha Ordered everything on thursday night. Im in mile high colorado 
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Colorado sounds a nice place to be. Iām northwest England. The land of the bees 
ahh you may have a week or so to wait but they will be with you. Itās fedex you gotta watch out for with the shipping (thatās who mouser use to the U.K. not sure about the US) I have been busy. Currently building another light for a fellow OGāer in Bonny Scotland 
ó §ó ¢ó ³ó £ó “ó æ thatās why Iāve had to order so much. And one 320h was a free replacement from mouser
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Nice! Building lights for others sounds fun. The legalization here is cool but id trade places with ya! I miss water and rain 
says its coming from texas with usps so it shouldnt take too long hopefully. Im gonna finish this last run out with hps then pop em in so i got a few weeks to finish em.
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It is beautiful where I live. Without giving too much away. Iām basically at the foot of the Pennines. As in have a very nice view of them from my house. Rain is something we definitely have a lot of here. How has commercialisation affected price over your way? I always thought thatās where the stinger would be
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Well ever since legalization became a thingā¦the population has doubled and has been steadily increasing which has caused everything to skyrocket in price and construction is a constant to keep up. Buuuut thats why im building led so i can do things cheaper
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As many have already pointed out, Solstrips are where itās at!
As far as dual spectrum, thatās old school hps/mh talk. With LEDs you can achieve the same results (if not better) with a single spectrum. You wanna look for a product that is at least 80CRI and 3500k in temperature. Youāll have the benefits of a MH/HPS in one package!
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I believe he means a lamp that can be used for both veg and flow.
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i am also in the nothwest of england good to see a fellow uk grower
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i would rather buy a complete led unit than make one just coz it would be quicker and easier is there any websites i could get one from had a look on amazon last night plenty to choose from but i am not familiar with led lighting units so not to sure wot would be best to got for. Does it have to be duel spectrum ??
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