Kessil v California Light Works... SolarFlare 200 or H350? or 2x H350 for $100 more?

Looking and can't decide... those in the know help me decide! I'm looking at a site who's running a sale and I can get the California Light Works SolarFlare 200 for $398 or the H350 for $251 or so... which means for $100 more than the California Light Works I could get 2x the Kessils...

One thing I'm considering is the light distribution... I'd like a modest area of coverage but if I went with SolarFlare I'd imagine I'd want a 2nd one and probably be good to go for my needs. But they are a wider chassis than those nice little pendant Kessils... If I ever did want to start scrunching the lights together and squeezing in a 3rd or maybe a 4th..... the Kessil would let me do that...

Here's what I can't decide on... when you look at the infographic where they've done some light measurements... the SolarFlare just seems to rock the numbers...

https://www.growershouse.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/LED-Infographic-Complete.jpg

I can probably keep my lights good and close but need a little height to get a little coverage so I was looking at the 18" numbers... and there's a considerable lead it looks...

So RIU LED gurus... what would you chose?

Another point... I have 2x 8 bulb T5 fixtures... Currently due to heat I'm only able to run 1 in the tent... my airflow isn't too horrible but I'm still 84ish on the floor... so I'm looking to LED's for some help in the heat department as well... so I need to ensure I'm at least replacing with an equivalent to the 1x 8 bulb fixture I'm currently able to utilize... I believe that's 488w per fixture so I'm aiming to replace a 400w let's say...

Hey there. I've got the clw solar flare. One of each the full, veg and bloom. All good for me. Only had 3 grows but no trouble. I've seen the kessil but have no experience using them. They appear to be well manufactured. I should mention I've only used leds so I have no basis for comparison. All in all very satisfied.

Swittersagogo

My tents are 2 x2. Have the full and bloom going in one. No heat issues with moderate ventilation

Swittersagogo

NewGrower2011 said:

Looking and can't decide... those in the know help me decide! I'm looking at a site who's running a sale and I can get the California Light Works SolarFlare 200 for $398 or the H350 for $251 or so... which means for $100 more than the California Light Works I could get 2x the Kessils...

One thing I'm considering is the light distribution... I'd like a modest area of coverage but if I went with SolarFlare I'd imagine I'd want a 2nd one and probably be good to go for my needs. But they are a wider chassis than those nice little pendant Kessils... If I ever did want to start scrunching the lights together and squeezing in a 3rd or maybe a 4th..... the Kessil would let me do that...

Here's what I can't decide on... when you look at the infographic where they've done some light measurements... the SolarFlare just seems to rock the numbers...

https://www.growershouse.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/LED-Infographic-Complete.jpg

I can probably keep my lights good and close but need a little height to get a little coverage so I was looking at the 18" numbers... and there's a considerable lead it looks...

So RIU LED gurus... what would you chose?

Click to expand...

SolarFlare > Kessil
The H350 will only give you 90W of light, and a small footprint, there's a reason Kessil's prices keep dropping.

I'd been pretty sold on the SF all along and when I did my final review/thought-process and noticed the prices on the Kessil would let me contemplate the 2x it changed the game up a tad.

Can't quite bite off 2x the SolarFlare just yet...

I would consider trying to get into their current program for the SolarStorm 400 but I can't post a journal so I'd guess I'd be quickly rejected... and in the end the UVB as T8's isn't anything I'm too worried about. I'd rather have the flexibility of 2 separate and smaller footprint devices. Though the color spectrum bloom/veg switch would be nice...

I figure if I try UVB I'll get some small DIY kit for an LED version or at least some small T5 based one...

I called clw directly when I got mine. They gave me a substantial break on the MSRP. Might be worth the effort. The guy I spoke to was extremely helpful. Might not happen but worth a try

Switters

NewGrower2011 said:

I'd been pretty sold on the SF all along and when I did my final review/thought-process and noticed the prices on the Kessil would let me contemplate the 2x it changed the game up a tad.

Can't quite bite off 2x the SolarFlare just yet...

Click to expand...

Actually, 2 H350 don't even add up to 1 SolarFlare, that's the problem.
Like I mentioned before, an H350 pulls 90W's, so 2 H350 will pull 180W's.
A SolarFlare gets you more watts, a brighter, more intense light, and a bigger footprint, than the Kessil.
Two is not always better than one, Kessil's prices are cheap because their LED's under performs, and they can't move them.
Kessil's have not proven themselves to be a quality, stand alone, grow light for cannabis.
If you take the time to look through the "LED Users Unite" thread, you'll see a lot of people have tried to make the Kessil's work, and nobody has been very successful.
I try to help steer people away from making purchases they'll regret later when they see their crop, and feel like they wasted money on their lights.

That being said, you mentioned that you're willing to spend the extra $100 to get the second Kessil.
For that same $500 you can get, what is arguably the best grow light on the market, an Area 51. (http://www.area51lighting.com/)
Look around the threads here in the LED forum, Area 51 is the light of choice, and I own one myself.
Although I have an older model, it still rocks, and their newest light is even better.

Thanks for the heads-up on the A51. I had seen references to those and wasn't quite sure what A51 meant!

I think giving the other aspects of my next order I'll probably end up with the SolarFlare... Any opinions on Full cycle or Bloom Booster? Pretty much for flowering cycle use and later on I might buy additional ones for veg/transition... Any reason to NOT get the obvious Bloom cycle model?

Any good spot UV led kits I should be aware of for supplemental UVB? Also might consider far red supplements too for pre/post light-on as I've read about...

NewGrower2011 said:

Thanks for the heads-up on the A51. I had seen references to those and wasn't quite sure what A51 meant!

I think giving the other aspects of my next order I'll probably end up with the SolarFlare... Any opinions on Full cycle or Bloom Booster? Pretty much for flowering cycle use and later on I might buy additional ones for veg/transition... Any reason to NOT get the obvious Bloom cycle model?

Click to expand...

I would get the Full Cycle light, that way, should your situation ever change and you need to do some vegging with it, you'll be covered.
I'm the kind of guy that would rather be safe than sorry.
Also, I believe the Bloom Booster model is meant to work in conjunction with another light source, and not as a stand alone unit.

Bad Karma said:

Actually, 2 H350 don't even add up to 1 SolarFlare, that's the problem.
Like I mentioned before, an H350 pulls 90W's, so 2 H350 will pull 180W's.
A SolarFlare gets you more watts, a brighter, more intense light, and a bigger footprint, than the Kessil.

For that same $500 you can get, what is arguably the best grow light on the market, an Area 51. (http://www.area51lighting.com/)
Look around the threads here in the LED forum, Area 51 is the light of choice, and I own one myself.
Although I have an older model, it still rocks, and their newest light is even better.

Click to expand...

A solarflare 200 may be named 200 but it's 200 imaginary watts - it pulls 160 real watts. Each Kessil is about 85 real watts so two Kessils will provide about 170 watts as opposed to one solar flare for 160 watts. The comparable CLW unit is actually the solarflare 100 which is a few dollars more expensive than the Kessil H350. With two fixtures one will get better coverage than with one and coverage is critical with LED. I've grown excellent bud with Kessils. Kessils are dominant red/blue and can benefit from some white light which can be provided cheaply with fluorescent lamps. Kessils run cool and that's something that I have never even heard about CLW. Kessil's cooling tech and build quality really are unmatched. CLW really lies about coverage; there's no way that one CLW 200 fixture will flower well over a 3 x 3 area. NO WAY. It's a 9x9 inch fixture and will really bloom well over something less - about 1 1/2 - 2 foot square area. Each Kessil H350 will bloom well over about a foot square area. Between the two I would choose Kessil…and did.

That said, area51 makes an excellent fixture and if it fits your budget and grow space, I would seriously look at them….or take a look at Hans Panel too - bonsaihero.com - and see if that fits your grow space better or not. Neither Kessil nor CLW have kept up with tech as well as A51 or Hans. Always keep coverage in mind; what is directly under a fixture and a few inches to each side will grow well.

Having dabbled with electronics in my youth, I'm half tempted to look at DIY... If I were to say allocate $400 into a DIY project and aim for using the 'best of the best' gear (driver, optics, substrate, led)... What type of wattage kit could I pull off you think? A true 200+ watter?

NewGrower2011 said:

Having dabbled with electronics in my youth, I'm half tempted to look at DIY... If I were to say allocate $400 into a DIY project and aim for using the 'best of the best' gear (driver, optics, substrate, led)... What type of wattage kit could I pull off you think? A true 200+ watter?

Click to expand...

DIY can be a great way to go. I've diy'd a few fixtures now and have been happy with the efforts and cost. Keep in mind that by going with the best of the best that you will be FAR more efficient than chinese/e-bay led fixtures so you may not even want 200 true watts....depends on your grow area...but the best of the best and you can flower well and efficiently under about 25 - 30 watt/ft2. Of course, more may grow bigger/harder buds but it definitely wouldn't be as efficient. Depends on what you are looking for. Go to ledgroupbuy.com, stevesleds.com, heatsinkusa.com and take a look around at what you'd want and figure out the costs. Do keep in mind that coverage is vital with LED...you don't want a small heatsink crammed with LEDs which might grow a small area very well but won't cover your desired area. Also, keep it running cool and you'll get more efficiency...more light from the watt that you purchase.

Happen to know any limitation on wire length from a driver to a given led's solder/junction points? I've been contemplating building with a 'remote ballast' type of approach with power-supply/supplies and driver(s) in a separate enclosure - running a pig-tail from that enclosure to the lights... letting me sit the enclosure outside of a tent... maybe even relocate it through ceiling into attic and let it dump the heat up there... etc... I also contemplated modding my T5 fixtures to do the same... but I don't know the electrical/mechanical limitations that would be involved in determining a max. cable length for either...