I just cant wait to get my new COB 6 piece on Monday. Then I can start adding more then just hypotheticals to discussion.
Right now my biggest concern with buying a Chinese light is long term quality. LEDs supposed to last so long hoping it can hold up. But dam the price is so right. each Cob unit has 30 3 W diodes being driven at 1.6 W a diode, so that is 48 ACTUAL Watts per unit. So my light will draw ~300 W with 540 W rated diodes. USA made light with 300 W diodes, probably drawing ~200 are usually more then twice the price.
So to me the question becomes, how much premium am I willing to pay for USA made? And how much better are the USA made lights going to be, both initial and long-term quality? If I had more $$$ i would go USA made, but since I do not I broke down and got the 6-piece TopLED COB. If, for example, I was making 100K a year instead of 60K/year, I probably would have gone with a USA made light. Even then you have to watch out because there are companies that claim it USA made, but in actuality they just buying from Chinese manufacturer.
It is a tough choice IMO and hopefully I can learn some things about it, along with the other early users like Jon705, and then pass this info on to other 420 members so they can make a more educated decision then I did.
Right now my biggest concern with buying a Chinese light is long term quality. LEDs supposed to last so long hoping it can hold up. But dam the price is so right. each Cob unit has 30 3 W diodes being driven at 1.6 W a diode, so that is 48 ACTUAL Watts per unit. So my light will draw ~300 W with 540 W rated diodes. USA made light with 300 W diodes, probably drawing ~200 are usually more then twice the price.
So to me the question becomes, how much premium am I willing to pay for USA made? And how much better are the USA made lights going to be, both initial and long-term quality? If I had more $$$ i would go USA made, but since I do not I broke down and got the 6-piece TopLED COB. If, for example, I was making 100K a year instead of 60K/year, I probably would have gone with a USA made light. Even then you have to watch out because there are companies that claim it USA made, but in actuality they just buying from Chinese manufacturer.
It is a tough choice IMO and hopefully I can learn some things about it, along with the other early users like Jon705, and then pass this info on to other 420 members so they can make a more educated decision then I did.