LED Question

I use my 1000w sodium to heat my house from my grow room during the winter. I Spring and fall I open a window near the exhaust and that keeps it OK at night.
My plan is to order 1-2 LED lights to light my flower room for 3-4 months a year and use them to supplement the rest of the time. My plan is to just pull fresh air from my AC in the house in the room and back through the filter to the house. I will continue to use 4-4' T5 bulbs for veg.
Is this realistic? Or will there be to much heat a T-5 and the led?
My local grow supply really had no advise on LED lights. From what I've observed the Blackstar line seems like a good value. I would like to get the 500w but may end up with the 240w. I have to keep cost below $500.
Is this a good fixture or would you recommend another?
Thanks for all your help.

i think you will be vastly disappointed switching from a 1000w hps to 240-500w of LED..... that amount of LED might be enough to flower 2 plants. maybe.

I don't expect to achieve with 500 watts of led the same results, however, I'm trying the best way I know how to produce something through the summer heat. I can afford to cool the room using the hps.
That said since an led is more efficient that hps I would expect more usable light per watt of power used especially when the cost of cooling the hps light and room. But hey I'm game for another option if anyone has another suggestion.
It is hard to wade through the sea of information, pro, con, snake oil salesman, and down right liars. So I would like the straight on what my expectation should be.
Thanks

Penny wise pound foolish.Cool your HPS, you will be much happier. I know LEDs sound great, but I never see grows with LEDs = to those grown with a HPS unless its in a glossy catalog that sells LEDs..IMO...

The best for $500 would be two Blackstar '240w' (really 140w) for $500 if you get lucky or a 180w growledhydro Spectra (really 180w, website out of date doesn't show what they look like now). Its a quantity or quality/longterm thing, I'd get the 2 blackstar unless you think you might muster another 500 for a 2nd Spectra. Either way you could probably grow about as well as with a 400w HPS but with a lot less electricity and a HELL of a lot less heat (my 395w only raises temps 5-7 degrees above the light in a 2.5x2.5x6)

I'd say:
2 '240w' Blackstar ~ 400wHPS ~ heat as a 60-80w HPS cheaper units
1 180w Spectra ~ 400wHPS ~ heat as a 45-60w HPS better light and longer lasting

Thanks jdizzle, You actually answered the question, I'll look into both. Are there any sites that find better prices at?

Jack, I have a 1000w air cooled light, cooled with outside air - its to hot. I would need a need window AC. The costs of a large enough unit, The costs of changing my air filtration, and the operation costs, make it prohibitive.

snew said:

Thanks jdizzle, You actually answered the question, I'll look into both. Are there any sites that find better prices at?

Jack, I have a 1000w air cooled light, cooled with outside air - its to hot. I would need a need window AC. The costs of a large enough unit, The costs of changing my air filtration, and the operation costs, make it prohibitive.

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I don't know the best site for blackstar '240w' units, but I've heard several times of people getting lucky and getting one for as little as $250, but usually they are $275-300. Growledhydro (GLH some get that confused with GHL) is also coming out with some 2 units that use less than 180w but I'm not sure when they will be available for sale as they are being tested by various growers (and the creator, even though its the same tech as the 180w just fewer diodes and a smaller panel). Usually you can get some kind of discount by telling the GLH/Mike that you are getting his lights because of an Irishboy grow journal (or by asking if you can get a slightly used unit for a discount) , I imagine somewhere you could probably get a discount for two '240w' Blackstar if you asked nicely enough and said you would buy more later. I don't know where to find many completed blackstar '240w' grows, but you can find almost a dozen completed with GLH over at 420mag.com, some of them are transferring journals over here such as Irishboy that you can look up)

Leds are excellent just not for flowering lol. Maybe you could get a smaller hps so heat won't be such an issue. Leds with a hps should do decent but still a noticeable difference but better than just leds.

grokillaz said:

Leds are excellent just not for flowering lol. Maybe you could get a smaller hps so heat won't be such an issue. Leds with a hps should do decent but still a noticeable difference but better than just leds.

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Most all LED will veg, but only the good ones will flower (and the good ones will do better than MH/HPS watt for watt). Look up Irishboy on this website for starters, there are also some great LED growers following those journals (and tons over at 420 mag where Irish even won the first plant of the month for an all LED plant)

snew said:

Thanks jdizzle, You actually answered the question, I'll look into both. Are there any sites that find better prices at?

Jack, I have a 1000w air cooled light, cooled with outside air - its to hot. I would need a need window AC. The costs of a large enough unit, The costs of changing my air filtration, and the operation costs, make it prohibitive.

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Got it, sorry I didn't understand that.Good Luck with the LEDs.

Hey snew why don't you follow my thread if you have 7 weeks or so to wait, I am doing a comparison grow of 20x green-o-matic autos under a 550W LED from these guys...http://hydroponicshut.com/Pro-Grow-550-Watt-LED-Grow-Light.html

I will be putting a further 20x GOM autos under my trusty 600HPS in a few weeks for comparison.

Here is the link to my LED thread....https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/434813-550w-led-vs-20x-green.html

Thanks for the advice and encouragement. I'll be ordering something on Tuesday when businesses come back alive here.

So I ordered 2 - Blackstar 240w, should be here Friday, I hope.
This heat is a killer. I've cut my HPS down to 10 hours and at 11pm when the light comes on and heat starts pouring into the house, I turn on the whole house fan on and open a window near the exhaust and kill the AC. So far even with heat in the mid 90's I've been able to keep the grow in the high 70's- mid 80's. Sometime a little higher. The house stays very comfortable this way also. However, I can only do this so long the n.
So the Blackstars will supplement the HPS when the HPS can be used, which i, and hopefully will allow me to limp through this damn hot summer, shit it ain't even summer yet. I hope to use my 4-4' T5,s on flower also, if heat allows.

snew said:

So I ordered 2 - Blackstar 240w, should be here Friday, I hope.
This heat is a killer. I've cut my HPS down to 10 hours and at 11pm when the light comes on and heat starts pouring into the house, I turn on the whole house fan on and open a window near the exhaust and kill the AC. So far even with heat in the mid 90's I've been able to keep the grow in the high 70's- mid 80's. Sometime a little higher. The house stays very comfortable this way also. However, I can only do this so long the n.
So the Blackstars will supplement the HPS when the HPS can be used, which i, and hopefully will allow me to limp through this damn hot summer, shit it ain't even summer yet. I hope to use my 4-4' T5,s on flower also, if heat allows.

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I thought the idea was that you were attempting to replace the HPS entirely? Or just enough that you don't need A/C the entire day? I think you underestimate how cool they will be My 395w (your two new units together will only use about 280w) makes less heat than a 100w HPS

I'll still keep the HPS when its cool. The heat keeps my house warm at night. During heating months it might cost me $30 a month, above the normal heating costs.
I guess I babbled a bit, the LED will be all I'm using right now, during the summer months. Maybe the LED will exceed my expectation and produce all I need.

snew said:

I'll still keep the HPS when its cool. The heat keeps my house warm at night. During heating months it might cost me $30 a month, above the normal heating costs.
I guess I babbled a bit, the LED will be all I'm using right now, during the summer months. Maybe the LED will exceed my expectation and produce all I need.

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Ahh smart man. A lot of LED lovers seem to do that now, they kept their HID stuff for winter and/night grows because the LED runs too cool For me and for now its just my 395w LED and my 4x24w CFL pc Grow box for seedlings, (gaming computer can keep the room warm when the LED can't )

I ordered 2 Blackstars from Gotham last Wednesday and was assured that they would ship that day. They would get here Friday and I would be in good shape. I had company coming will not be able to hide the heat from the HPS. So the plan was to install the LED's Friday afternoon and all would be the better. They did not ship until Friday. So I have 4 4' Jilly Beans they will have been in the dark for 5 days. If they get here tomorrow.
Gotham has seen my only business. If I had paid with a credit card I would place a stop payment, but instead I used paypal.

snew said:

I ordered 2 Blackstars from Gotham last Wednesday and was assured that they would ship that day. They would get here Friday and I would be in good shape. I had company coming will not be able to hide the heat from the HPS. So the plan was to install the LED's Friday afternoon and all would be the better. They did not ship until Friday. So I have 4 4' Jilly Beans they will have been in the dark for 5 days. If they get here tomorrow.
Gotham has seen my only business. If I had paid with a credit card I would place a stop payment, but instead I used paypal.

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Are you going to see if they give you an excuse/explanation and offer something to keep you happy? What if when they show up you tell the UPS/FEDEX guy you don't accept it and they need to return it, then demand a refund from them and start a ticket or whatever with paypal? I don't know how long you can hold out without LED panels, but it might be worth it to perhaps lose the shipping/handling fee and get the rest of the money back to go with a better company?

I r

Right now I'm just venting, I guess. I did send them an email and have received no reply. I'm near the end of this thing, if this damn summer was not so hot I would have been fine for this grow. I hate liars. But using local grow is no better. I like the but the sell shit, and then give refunds on "used" items. I've got tired of shitty service. This companies never get my business twice. And if LED works well I'll add on and they would get more business if they provide a good produce and good service.

Could you not just get a smaller HPS for summertime instead of blowing that much scrilla on an experiment?