So a hypothetical, I have a 5/5 tent … A friend gifted me an air cooled 1000 watt HPS with ballast and fans etc … I’m curious about pros , cons of using led’s vs the HPS rig … Obviously heat and less electric usage are pros . School me on an led setup . Thx in advance .
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You’re probably best off using the search bar and seeing which route you wanna go first. I’m a big fan of the bridgelux eb2 at the moment. But COBs are pretty good too. As long as you pay attention to the capabilities of the LED you plan to use. You could smash the 1000w HPS out the park with LED
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You seem like yours are dialed in af. What’s a good 5/5 tent rig ? I don’t know what comparable led wattage are with HPS . I know I don’t want the heat of an HPS … Led’s seem spendy tho . Blow away a 1000 water ? Show me the way lol .
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If you like the bridgelux eb2 then shout up and I’ll point you in the direction of my B.O.M for a 2x4ft build. Doubled up you’d have around 15cm around the edges of the light uncovered but will still have coverage perse.
It’s the cheapest watt for £ I seen so far
PS my rooms not dialled in now but I don’t have enough cash as it stands to get it there. Built a fair few light rigs and automation stuff.
You’d end up with over 800w of usable but dimmable light doubling up my design. You’d want 35w/sq ft which does take you to 875w for a 5x5 so you’re coming in pretty close with 812w of usable light
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Thx mate . Have a kitchen install to do . Than I’ll peruse that unit here on OG … I’m in foreign territory with LED’s . I’m looking forward to learning .
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That would be 4 drivers and the strips series wired. Couldn’t get much easier a build to cut your teeth on brother
Some of the pros are
You can use the likes of sonoff wifi controls for switching on/off and altering light schedules. You can’t do this with HPS as the startup load is an inductive one.
You don’t need to replace bulbs every 6 months or so. A good LED will last year’s with minimal degradation in light intensity.
Much better options for CCT (spectrum) choice.
Less heat.
Less energy for more photon’s
Cons
Initial outlay…that’s literally it
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Listen 2 colan. Dats a good build. Only thing EZer is using 4ft strips instead of his 2ft strips fer the same space.
EB2 builds r the best bang 4 yer buck in the lsat few months.
Also. Scientific lab research shows color temp dont matter in the modern white LEDs used on them strips. So get 3500k n use it veg & flower.
Only other thing is run yer canopy tems @ 85F or so. Yup u heard me right.
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That’s using the 1120mm but width ways brother in mine 
not the 560s length ways. Was already on that
I’m gonna have to disagree on colour temps not making a difference. Particularly to the likes of internodal spacing. But yeah 3500k is spot on for a straight through light.
Mines on a 3500/4000 equal measure but 2 drivers. So veg I’ll be at 4000k and bloom I’ll drop a small amount to 3750k across the board. But I’ve got 5ft height to start with and I’m building a contained in tent flood and drain system which already stands at 55cm for pot tops. So stretch I could do with keeping minimal 
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Modern white LED already promotes shorter internodal distance because of its high % blue n green. Bugbee’s latest research is clear - there aint no benefit to changin spectrum. Watch this hole thang
He runs the only NASA funded & FDA approved cannabis research lab in the country (Utah State University) n he studies light spectrum effects on cannabis. His research is clear & consistent - modern white leds only benefit from supplementing far red & near UV. Specifically he sez changing spectrum fer veg n bloom is totally useless n a waste.
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I’ve built lights with 455nm COBs aswell. Those I can definitely say make a difference to the node spacing. Aswell as trich production. (Anecdotal I don’t have a lab but I know what I see lol) same when using 5000k strips. Whether it’s been sheer luck or other environmental factors that have helped. It’s that logic that’s kept most of my stuff in check whether it’s bad logic or not lol.
Gonna have a proper look at that video with a doob though. Cheers for that bro 
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Yer absolutely right blue inhibits cell expansion (results in less growth n shorter nodes). Wut Bruce is sayin is w any modern white LEDs in the 3000-4000k range you dont need 2 swap out 5000k err other blue err nething else cuz they already promote shorter growth but w the added benefit of not slowin growth (cell expansion) caused by blue spectrum.
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This is what I’ll be going with 
I haven’t had chance to watch the video to know what yer man was saying yet bro lol. Just wrapping the doob now after putting my lad to bed
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I would like to learn more about it if you have a link.
So far some of the terminology is Greek to me but I’ll learn.
Question: Is a driver a transformer?
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I am running 12 XLAMP CXB3590 cri 90 3500k cobs, with 3 meanwell c1050g drivers. They are killing it, compared to hps. I did probably 60 hours of learning about then before finally putting together a build list 2 years ago now. I am using some burples in veg right now, looking at build a 240w qb to replace those in the next couple weeks. Do you think its better to just buy a prebuilt one, I can get it for about 190 cdn, or build one myself?
Morning bro. I’ve never used QB’s myself I’ve never thought the spacing of the diodes was really a good footprint. As for study time on LED’s for me. Too many hours what size space you trying to cover with the 240w I’ll let you know if I think you can get better coverage and I’ll even have a look at Canadian prices to give you a rough idea.
I can well imagine that COB rig is absolutely killing it too
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You are getting some good build advice here.
The only thing I will add is that if you really want to learn about LEDs I would recommend you watch the Migro YouTube channel with Shane.
He tests, reviews, and explains all different kinds of LEDs.
It’s one thing for us to tell you. But if you watch this you will understand.
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Why so hot ? 85? Yikes .
Thank you man . And everyone else who chimed in . Much appreciated … I’ll update as I do my build . I have my big T5 for veg … Should I ditch that and go all LED for veg too ? I’ll check out the YouTube today … Gonna research intensely before I invest .
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You’d be able to leave the eb2 light in right through and use potentiometers on the drivers themselves. You’d have the option to run between 100w and 800w by using 100kohm potentiometers should you go the 4 driver route.
Most people just wanna quick fix for a diy not to understand. @Foreigner was spot on with his input and once you know it you know it bro. Spark a fatty and get to reading/watching. Start trying to figure the maths you’d need too. Even if its something you’re never gonna build get a notepad and start matching components. Can I set you a challenge? @marcus420
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You’re welcome.
The answer is - it depends.
I have an LED as my main veg light but still sometimes use T8s for supplemental purposes like cloning or sequestering a male.
I have also used T5s for vegging and it works just fine.
If you’re buying all new gear I’d go LED. If you have the T5 I’d stick with it.
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