The Area-51 Led Gives Ya More Bang For Your Buck.3x150 Area-51 Total Power Draw 280 Watts Solar Flare 5x40 Total Power Draw 165 Watts.
More watts does not necessarily mean
better, or
more light.
It could mean lower-quality emitters driven harder to compensate for a lack of efficiency, too.
Though personally, I'd prefer it if CLW used more '3w' emitters driven at nominal levels, than fewer '5w' ones driven at an average of 4w each. You'll get more light that way, and greater efficiency. More costly for the manufacturer, though - which is why few do it.
Peace And Pussytail Grease
What a curious phrase. I learned something new today.
Probably best not to repeat that one in 'Polite Company.'
Why is it +$54.00 to add 1 watt diodes instead of having 3.. i thought the higher the watt diode the better with LED.
Area 51 is using a standard, 12x24 light board. This allows up to 288
potential spaces for LEDs. Their '3w' model states they use 150 LEDs, driven @ ~280w. This means that a little over half of the spaces actually contain emitters.
If their '1w' light also draws roughly the same wattage, they would have to fill nearly every space on the board with emitters. This means virtually doubling the emitter quantity. While '1w' emitters are generally cheaper, you're also having to use more of them on the board, which would account for the price difference.
Note that you'll
get more total light out of using more '1w' emitters (if they're of roughly the same quality) run at the same total wattage as the '3w', though their throw will be different.
Do i want optical lenses?
This will largely depend on your growing style.
if you're using ScrOG, where you only really care about producing an even canopy over the top ~6-8", you
don't need lenses at all. You'll also get a wider footprint out of the light when you raise it a couple of inches.
If you plan on growing taller plants, you may
need the tighter lensing to reach the lower branches of your plants. You will, of course, lose footprint (coverage).
There is no free lunch.
Note that
using any lens will lose you about 10% of your total light, in even the best of circumstances. If your gardening style can utilize most or all of the emitted (direct) light without relying on using either reflecting surfaces
or lenses, that would be best.
---------------
Personally, outside of garden maintenance requirements, I think anyone growing taller plants under
any sort of indoor lighting, especially in single room gardens, is doing themselves a disservice. The shorter, the better.
Cheers,
-TL
