topled grow lights are inexpensive and many growers have had good grows with them a marsII 700 might be a good choice http://www.topledgrowlight.com/mars-ii-led-grow-light-700w.html#.VElaNskvk7o
Those 5w might require more space between the canopy and the light than he can achieve in a 5' tall tent. For shorter grows, I think these Cree LED replacement "lightbulbs" are the best option. Not as easy as buying a fixture.
http://a51led.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=65
There don't seem to be any high-quality fixtures for smaller spaces. Maybe the Hans panel. Everything else seems to be 5w in reflectors. For small spaces a fixture with 3w mounted on white backboard seems the best choice, but that's all TopLED, Vipar stuff (or rebranded Chinese imports like Blackstar). But, you could investigate Hans. It's 3w in relatively wide-angle reflector. It might not need a lot of distance.
I must not be reading that chart correctly or my math is flawed, the only column which I see had voltages is the vf50 it shows only a 2 watt difference between running at 700ma & 1400ma. Am I reading this right? I wasn't planning on running 24 hours on but rather I was just using that as a reference trying to understand if the efficiency gain was worth the light loss. I see the difference between the 2 as (2w x 24hrs)/1000=0.48kW x 365 Days = 17.52 kWH per year x 0.15 per kWH = $2.63 per year difference between running at 700ma vs 1400ma. If my difference calculations are correct why wouldn't the additional lumens be worth an additional $2.63 per cob? The 3070 data sheet shows a maximum 2800mA, does it have a minimum?
that column is the voltage across the device at a temperature of 50C look at the column to the right of that column marked 50c diss W for your actual power in watts. as for the minimum there is non but I have found that below 50 ma all the diodes in the device may not light at the higher current the voltage across the device is about 6% higher but the current is double so the actual power use is about 2.12 times as much. you were just using the wrong column. move 1 column to your right and you will have the right data.
Thank you, now I can see the savings using the right column. I worry about not having enough light or too much for the veg cabinet and thought of going the dimable route, is there a good reference on how to set these lights up to dim? I can wire a house but know very little about dc stuff.
I am not aware of any dimmable drivers for leds.you will be using a separate driver for each diode so you can simply switch diodes on as you need more light.you need less light for vegging and can get away with 15-20 watts actual power until your plants develop about 5 or 6 nodes. depending on the strain you are going you may what to supplement with a little blue light to reduce stretching a cheap way of doing this would be to use a small CFL (6500k) for the first couple of weeks.
please refrain from spamming this panel like the last bml. Your becoming a real pita.
it is true that anything bright enough can veg but the proper spectrum is required for good vegetative growth and without that flowering, yield and quality will suffer. the leaves produce during veg provide food and energy during flowering. better veg = better flowering
