I am a new grower and need LED help

[Nunyabiz]

Another option is to build your own light.
For a 4x4 I think two 2x4 lights is nice.
That would cost somewhere between $700-$800 for 650 watts that fits the 4x4 space exactly.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Yeah, probably be a great setup. But it reminds me of the ol' "break-even point" thing. $700 to $800 versus... IDK... $150 to $225 for a 600-watt or possibly even 1,000-watt HID. Be more efficient, be 1,194.2496 less BTU per hour of heat production (compared to a 1,000-watt HPS), save a little electricity each month, possibly a little more if you depend on air conditioning instead of manage heat with ventilation. Add a new bulb every 2,000 hours or so ($19 to $WOW, depending on brand/model).

If your electricity cost per kilowatt hour is sky high, your break-even point might be... relatively quickly. If it's only 11½ per, though, it's going to take a lot longer. <SHRUGS> Still, it will happen eventually. The question, though, is will it happen before the gardener decides he/she "just has to have" the next latest and greatest thing, lol. If so, no problem, it's a win. If not, well...

IMHO, monthly operating costs and break-even point should be considered along with the initial outlay. I read that, in Hawaii, they pay something like 33½ cents per kilowatt hour. If you live there, this kind of question is pretty easy to answer (say, "F*ck it!" and go grow outside somewhere ). In North Dakota, your residential electricity cost might only be 9 cents per kilowatt hour. There, it would probably be a lot harder to justify spending more than a dollar per watt for your lighting equipment.

 

[SamSmith]

@TorturedSoul That is kinda where I was going with what I posted. Sometimes HID is still a fit for those people that are on a tight budget for capital out lay getting started. When the OP stated a $400 range little else fits to adaquately light up a 4 X 4.

Electricity cost is something that you have to concider. Where I live now our eletric is quite high and by contrast In my last house that was 15 miles from here where I was paying half the rate as it was a cooperative. The 315/630 CMH and MH/HPS combo's have a very low start up cost.

Mars lights are not bad at all for a lower cost alternative. That was all I used for 3 years. I just recently switched to a Budget LED solution.

This was my last grow using the Mars lights in a 4 X 4 with (4) plants.

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• SamSmith
• Apr 17, 2020