Why are the Cree lights so expensive?

[Remystemple]

100w for for $230? i know the blurple stuff isn't all good but some isn't bad at all and you can get a pretty damn big bright blurple that will grow great buds for that price. even other COB lights are less expensive.

I'm missing something lol.

 

[Old Salt]

The name says it all. CREE was the top dog in LEDs a few years ago, but many think they have lost that edge, without bothering to lower their prices. Samsung seems to be at the top today. Several folks here have built their own using Samsung's lighting strips, and are very happy with them. I have eight Citizen CLU48-1216s almost ready to go.

 

[Remystemple]

The name says it all. CREE was the top dog in LEDs a few years ago, but many think they have lost that edge, without bothering to lower their prices. Samsung seems to be at the top today. Several folks here have built their own using Samsung's lighting strips, and are very happy with them. I have eight Citizen CLU48-1216s almost ready to go.

Thanks.
that's interesting. i'll be looking up those samsung lights. gonna be upgrading my lighting eventually but i'm not using HID lights. i won't even consider it. so it looks like the only way up is gonna be these COB lights. I still have a lot to learn about it but as another grower pointed out DIY lights are the way now. so i must learn.

 

[Old Salt]

Thanks.
that's interesting. i'll be looking up those samsung lights. gonna be upgrading my lighting eventually but i'm not using HID lights. i won't even consider it. so it looks like the only way up is gonna be these COB lights. I still have a lot to learn about it but as another grower pointed out DIY lights are the way now. so i must learn.

Quantum boards may also be an option. They also use Samsung LEDs, and seem to be on sale now.

 

[TurboBucket]

Cree is King of COB LEDs. Much like Samsung with the mid powered diodes. Just depends on what shape you want your diodes I suppose.

 

[Remystemple]

Cree is King of COB LEDs. Much like Samsung with the mid powered diodes. Just depends on what shape you want your diodes I suppose.

so what's the difference between a COB and regular LED light that draw the same amount of power? I'm almost close to giving up on figuring out the whole PAR thing lol.

 

[TurboBucket]

Google it. There are a thousand different resources out there that can explain it so much more thoroughly than I could ever hope to. They have cool pics and diagrams maybe even a video for ya


The biggest difference is size, a cob is bigger

 

[Old Salt]

I did a comparison of COBs last year. It's in @PurpleGunRack's thread Build Your Own LED Grow Light. It's interesting to note that the lifetime cost of a CREE was higher than that of the Citizen at $0.15 / Kwh.

 

[Remystemple]

Thank you admin for pointing me to the "grow lighting" section lol. i need to look harder before posting

 

[fanleaf]

The Cree arrays are far far cheaper than that If you build it yourself. In the 42 cree array shown in my signature I have many cob builds in that thread from single cob to 42 cob. Includes instructions and places to buy everything.

 

[Remystemple]

The Cree arrays are far far cheaper than that If you build it yourself. In the 42 cree array shown in my signature I have many cob builds in that thread from single cob to 42 cob. Includes instructions and places to buy everything.

awesome. i'll bookmark some of your links for sure. so is the main point of these boards to be power efficient, like more than regular LED's? or is it just a matter of getting a more even spread of light?

 

[fanleaf]

awesome. i'll bookmark some of your links for sure. so is the main point of these boards to be power efficient, like more than regular LED's? or is it just a matter of getting a more even spread of light?

Yes, IF BUILT FOR EFFICIENCY Cree cobs can and have grown 2 grams per watt. Quantum boards can and have done the same. I go into detail on how to build one for efficiency in that thread. I also go into detail on how to build them with less cobs using higher power which is lower efficiency (the way they are sold)but still more efficient than purple led.
Yes, if you build them with one cob per square foot then you don't have to run the cobs very hard at all and when they run very soft they run super efficient. With one per square foot of grow area.
The king of the cree cobs is the cxb3590 chip and that is a 137w chip but I run mine as low as 20 watts a piece where the efficiency is amazing. Even at 40 or 50 watts of Peace the efficiency is amazing but not really needed. Here's a picture or two of a few of my arrays.

These pictures are my medium sized Cree Cob array.
if you go to that 42 panel build there's pictures of that one and video along with pictures and videos of much smaller builds from one single cob, 4 cob, 5 cob, and others.
if you take the time and read that thread you will come away with great knowledge and what you want to look at.

 

[fanleaf]

awesome. i'll bookmark some of your links for sure. so is the main point of these boards to be power efficient, like more than regular LED's? or is it just a matter of getting a more even spread of light?

Yes, efficiency it's pretty easy to sum up when you think about par or micromoles. Most of your HPS is going to be efficient for Horticultural up to about 1.4 umol/j (micromole per joule) The best HPS made in most people's opinion is the gavita 1000 watt double ended HPS and I believe that hits 1.7umol/j. Most of your purple LEDs are going to range from about 1.2-2.0 umol/j.
Quantum boards are hitting right at 3.0 umol/j and the right cree chip hits around 2.95 umol/j.
All of that being said I do still believe there are several advantages to running the cobs over the boards but there are probably several advantages of the boards too.
I'm actually in contact right now over the last few days with a company getting details worked out and having a particular Cree chip light sphere tested in a laboratory. One of my favorite Cree chips that I've found no lab results on.

 

[Remystemple]

Yes, IF BUILT FOR EFFICIENCY Cree cobs can and have grown 2 grams per watt. Quantum boards can and have done the same. I go into detail on how to build one for efficiency in that thread. I also go into detail on how to build them with less cobs using higher power which is lower efficiency (the way they are sold)but still more efficient than purple led.
Yes, if you build them with one cob per square foot then you don't have to run the cobs very hard at all and when they run very soft they run super efficient. With one per square foot of grow area.
The king of the cree cobs is the cxb3590 chip and that is a 137w chip but I run mine as low as 20 watts a piece where the efficiency is amazing. Even at 40 or 50 watts of Peace the efficiency is amazing but not really needed. Here's a picture or two of a few of my arrays.

These pictures are my medium sized Cree Cob array.
if you go to that 42 panel build there's pictures of that one and video along with pictures and videos of much smaller builds from one single cob, 4 cob, 5 cob, and others.
if you take the time and read that thread you will come away with great knowledge and what you want to look at.

It looks like you don't need to worry about raising and lowering the lights? you just turn the watts up and down instead? Also, in a 5x5 area 25 of them would be 1 per square foot. if they were 100w chips it would compare to two 1k watt HIDs? in lumens or whatever? I'll stop bombing you with questions and start really reading tomorrow lol.

 

[fanleaf]

It looks like you don't need to worry about raising and lowering the lights? you just turn the watts up and down instead? Also, in a 5x5 area 25 of them would be 1 per square foot. if they were 100w chips it would compare to two 1k watt HIDs? in lumens or whatever? I'll stop bombing you with questions and start really reading tomorrow lol.

When you have one chip per square foot you can run the power clear down to about 25 watts per chip and still provide well over a thousand par to the canopy..
I have consistently ran my plants as close as 6 in to the chips and never had a single issue. I can raise and lower my light anytime. Usually I don't move the light much. When the plants are seedlings and in vegetative stage but still small I just turn the power up to hit them with par and as they grow closer to the light I just turn the light down a little more and more to keep the par levels constant at the canopy. there are 25 of those chips in that 5 by 5 room and each chip is rated for 137 Watts but with 25 of them in there you would absolutely never ever need that type of power. About the most I need to turn those chips up to is about 35 to 45 Watts when the lights are really high and the plants are really small and low unless I just move my Light Panel down. I built a control box that allows me to not only control the light spectrum so I get a little more red in flower or I can turn up a little more blue and vegetative stage but I can adjust the power in that grow room anywhere from 10 watt to 2000 Watts. Here is a picture of my control panel. the red dials control Cree cobs that are 3000k Spectrum and the blue dials control Cree cobs that are in 5000k Spectrum.

Like I was saying even though they are rated for 137 Watts the softer you run these chips the more energy-efficient they are as far as creating par per watt. that's why if you want to build for all out efficiency you cram a lot of cobs in there which allows you to run them really really soft and they always stay nice and cool and very efficient.

 

[GrizzWald]

My CXB3590 only $200 for 200w panels.. look exact same as these

 

[Ganjagrowergu]

I'm running a couple of the Timber qb288 V1s just shy of 240w in a 32"x48"x60" and I am very pleased. I also built a little non-dimming deep-far red single cob fixture that I run for an hour after lights on and an hour before lights out. That project has me inspired to build a cob array, but the Crees are far beyond my price range...

@fanleaf that lighting controller setup is freaking beautiful.

 

[fanleaf]

I'm running a couple of the Timber qb288 V1s just shy of 240w in a 32"x48"x60" and I am very pleased. I also built a little non-dimming deep-far red single cob fixture that I run for an hour after lights on and an hour before lights out. That project has me inspired to build a cob array, but the Crees are far beyond my price range...

@fanleaf that lighting controller setup is freaking beautiful.

Only $30 per chip if you know where to get them and if they are in stock.

 

[fanleaf]

@fanleaf that lighting controller

Thank you! I also have the full instructions on how to build those in the 42 cob array build. Most people don't need one as big with as many meters as mine LOL.

 

[Remystemple]

Looks like I'd be buying this stuff through a special store as amazon has none of these lights available. I think this might be a long term goal thing for me lol.

but there are many others i just discovered. other brands. i might try build a small one for my veg tent sooner than i thought.