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Lights

ADSL

ADSL

New member
Hi growmies, I've got a really important question, probably the most important when growing. It's going to be my first indoor plant and there's so much info everywhere about this, probably too much, but my question is light wattage. I have a 80x80x160cm (2.6x2.6x5.2ft) tent and by the 50W per sqf. rule I should need 333W. Now, would a 600W led be too much? Or should I aim for a 450W? Just because the first one is on discount and has a veg and bloom switch. I'll be getting GG#4 and planning on having 2 or 3 plants on 5gl pots at the same time with ScrOG. Sorry but I am trying to be as specific as I can. You probably had this discussion many times so I'd be greatfull if you could do it one more time. Thanks guys
 
It's watts pulled from the wall my 600w led pulls 100w from the wall = 2x2 so for a 3x3 you would need 150w from the wall or better so a 2000w led pulls around 200w from the wall basically that's the idea as I understand it
 
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Oh man many thanks! That gave me a totally diferent perpective! Never even knew it was the wattage from the wall that you needed to know... damn need to buy one a bit more expensive then. Appreciate it growmie
 
Check the fine print for the light. All the decent companies I’ve checked out have what sq ft the light will veg and the same for flowering. HLG, Mars hydro, spider farmer are all brands I’ve seen heavily recommended on here and are reasonably priced.
 
Yeah it sucks when companies sell you a “1000w” light and it only pulls like 200w from the wall. If it pulls 200w from the wall then it’s a 200w light. Companies brand it as a “1000w” light because if you added the peak wattage of all the diodes and lights could actually use then it could possibly be closer to 1000w. If they truly could handle 1000w together, then you could power the lights with a much more powerful driver and get a true 1000w light. But then other factors come in like efficiency, efficacy, photon flux, etc. it just sounds better in the market when they sell it as “1000w” even though it’s not that powerful.
 
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Your right the way they advertise and market grow lights is somewhat deceptive thats why it pays to do your research before buying one
 
And they all say ‘comparable to Xwatts of a HPS’ umm no, a 200w LED is comparable to a 200w LED. Different spectrums of LED’s matter but watts are watts.
 
Unfortunately, it gets even more complicated.
The efficacy difference between top-tier diodes like an lm301h and old tech 'blurple' fixtures can be almost double the amount of light for each watt of power used.
That means a 120 watt QB panel will directly replace a 240-watt 'blurple' to generate the same light output.
 
Thanks guys, I really appreciate taking your time to answer. Yeah I actually started by taking a look at "100W" lights when I first started to get into this but quickly realized by watching some vids that it was way too weak, too small even. Then I aimed for 300W. After went to 450W and now I think I finally got it, I'm getting a marshydro 1000w for a fair price I'd say. Let's hope I'll get it right. I will let you know down the road how it goes. Thanks again growmies.
 
The only way to really know is to measure it with a amp meter. Found that out the hard way after buying led drivers off e-bay. They were rated at 1500ma but when all was said and done they were only pushing 500ma. I never would of known, because the led s were all on and looked correct until I checked the circuit with a amp meter. This led to discovering the problem and replacing them with a proper mean well driver.
 
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