Going from HPS to LED. Worth it?

AAjax

Well-Known Member
Well for me I have an entire case of hps bulbs I gotta burn through before I do the switch over to cob's though I do plan on switching as they seem perfect for a small footprint grow like my own. That may take a few years, will be interesting to see whats availible when I do :P
 

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
Well for me I have an entire case of hps bulbs I gotta burn through before I do the switch over to cob's though I do plan on switching as they seem perfect for a small footprint grow like my own. That may take a few years, will be interesting to see whats availible when I do :P
Seems to me you'd be spending more over time, regarding efficiency of HIDs. But whatever you prefer, brother.
 

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
Well for me I have an entire case of hps bulbs I gotta burn through before I do the switch over to cob's though I do plan on switching as they seem perfect for a small footprint grow like my own. That may take a few years, will be interesting to see whats availible when I do :P
LED technology seems to be in the same phase as early PCs and flat screen TVs. Something better & cheaper comes out every year that makes the old technology obsolete.
 

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
LED technology seems to be in the same phase as early PCs and flat screen TVs. Something better & cheaper comes out every year that makes the old technology obsolete.
Flip to the bottom of the last page and tell me whether or not you concur, and whether or not I have identified a fundamental flaw in Bud's logic of how the whole heat thing works between HID and COB.
 

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
Flip to the bottom of the last page and tell me whether or not you concur, and whether or not I have identified a fundamental flaw in Bud's logic of how the whole heat thing works between HID and COB.
OK, I'll take a look.
*edit*
Yep, ~60% of total HID wattage turns into heat, not light. For LED I think it's closer to 30%.
That's HUGE!
In my case, I actually need some heat during the winter so it doesn't really matter. That is not the case during summer months! Finishing a crop when it's hot outside can be challenging.
 
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Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
OK, I'll take a look.
*edit*
Yep, ~60% of total HID wattage turns into heat, not light. For LED I think it's closer to 30%.
That's HUGE!
In my case, I actually need some heat during the winter so it doesn't really matter. That is not the case during summer months! Finishing a crop when it's hot outside can be challenging.
From what I read, it's 91-99% that's converted into light. COBs, in particular, do extremely well with it.
 

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
Just saying what this does.

https://www.exetik.com/led-technology/pros-and-cons-led-vs-incandescent-vs-fluorescent/

View attachment 3823413

I do believe each of my lights is 50-52% efficient, full power-wise.
Like I said Im thinking it's not much of a difference per btu, but still haven't seen the actual numbers and would love to see them. Again I'm not saying anything against LED and yup plan on building one but not because I think it's the better but because I've spent the last 5 years trying different lights and it's fun and interesting. Trust me my goal is to find a cheaper (to run) better light than the one I run now lol. Also I think I'll wait for a few grows before I start telling everyone how superior they are but that's just me :).
 

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
Like I said Im thinking it's not much of a difference per btu, but still haven't seen the actual numbers and would love to see them. Again I'm not saying anything against LED and yup plan on building one but not because I think it's the better but because I've spent the last 5 years trying different lights and it's fun and interesting. Trust me my goal is to find a cheaper (to run) better light than the one I run now lol. Also I think I'll wait for a few grows before I start telling everyone how superior they are but that's just me :).
It's a huge difference. Incandescent lights heat up by design to produce light. COBs do not, as they are electroluminescent. HID purposefully applies heat to create light, COBs allow an arc to pass through the phosphorous emitter face. I won't bother trying to help you understand it further, but just know you are wrong.
 

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
It's a huge difference. Incandescent lights heat up by design to produce light. COBs do not, as they are electroluminescent. HID purposefully applies heat to create light, COBs allow an arc to pass through the phosphorous emitter face. I won't bother trying to help you understand it further, but just know you are wrong.
I wonder how long it will take for someone to show up in an emergency room with a COB stuck in their butt... :hump:
 

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
It's a huge difference. Incandescent lights heat up by design to produce light. COBs do not, as they are electroluminescent. HID purposefully applies heat to create light, COBs allow an arc to pass through the phosphorous emitter face. I won't bother trying to help you understand it further, but just know you are wrong.
So your running at 52% you think.... ok then I'll go with that lol. HID at 30% again we'll go with that so that's 12% less heat right? A huge difference that is not. Until someone actually shows me the real numbers re temp rise of a room with LED versus HID, well yes I'll be skepticle and need no help to understand, but thanks for the effort. And I actually don't care about the heat thing because I need heat lol. How many completed runs have you done using LED to measure quality and yield? thats what I'm after really, the heat as I said I need for the most part.
 

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
I'm not saying it isn't. I'm not trying to talk shit to you. But you clearly have no idea what you are talking about. Your experience with LEDs and them not adding up to HID probably--I almost guarantee--stems from disappointing panel LED grows. You need to understand that COBs work entirely differently, that LEDs and COBs are different animals entirely, and that they can and will kill HPS and MH. Get just one Tasty fixture and I promise you will see how silly you've been.
 

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
So your running at 52% you think.... ok then I'll go with that lol. HID at 30% again we'll go with that so that's 12% less heat right? A huge difference that is not. Until someone actually shows me the real numbers re temp rise of a room with LED versus HID, well yes I'll be skepticle and need no help to understand, but thanks for the effort. And I actually don't care about the heat thing because I need heat lol. How many completed runs have you done using LED to measure quality and yield? thats what I'm after really, the heat as I said I need for the most part.
My room with two COB fixtures driven pretty hard is only around 65-70 degrees. I can also pretty much touch the emitter. And how do you get 12% heat from 30% efficiency? Makes no sense.
 

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
I'm not saying it isn't. I'm not trying to talk shit to you. But you clearly have no idea what you are talking about. Your experience with LEDs and them not adding up to HID probably--I almost guarantee--stems from disappointing panel LED grows. You need to understand that COBs work entirely differently, that LEDs and COBs are different animals entirely, and that they can and will kill HPS and MH. Get just one Tasty fixture and I promise you will see how silly you've been.
Slow down Olive your getting your tail feathers all ruffled lol. I have no experience with LED's and have said that in every post. I have also said I have no clue if they are better or worse, never once did I say they don't add up????..... wow you really do feel the need to defend them even when not under attack .... infantry right lol. If they don't add up I probably would not be building one....now that would be silly :).
 

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
Slow down Olive your getting your tail feathers all ruffled lol. I have no experience with LED's and have said that in every post. I have also said I have no clue if they are better or worse, never once did I say they don't add up????..... wow you really do feel the need to defend them even when not under attack .... infantry right lol. If they don't add up I probably would not be building one....now that would be silly :).
Not defending anything, just trying to help you clarify. Try one T1 fixture from Tasty for a single plant. You will get all of the education you need from that.
 
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