Light budget = $300

I have 3 burple 1200 watt (265 watt) Bloomspect lights.

I’m just starting out, and realize I made a mistake with lighting. I am hopeful I will be able to return one of the bloomspects but not sure yet.

Regardless, I have a 3 x 6 grow area. I’d like to put the bloomspects at a 45 degree angle in each end, and a larger lamp in the center. I can’t justify $600+ for a light right now, but about $300 sounds reasonable.

I found this knock-off and just pulled the trigger for $287 I think it will be the best bang for the buck by a long shot.

In this price range I can get 2 HLG 100 watt lamps for $150 each, it seems their mid-line offering is out of stock on Amazon. Spiderfarm’s sf 2000 is $300, Viperspectra’s XS 2000 is $280.

This is a slightly underpowered lamp compared to the 4000 series for those manufacturers, but I have to think it will blow the 2000 or 2 100 watt HLG away.

https://www.amazon.com/Light-Plant-Superior-Spectrum-Greenhouse-Hydroponic/dp/B087WRM9Z8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

I don’t believe it has as many of the red diodes as the 4000 series from other manufacturers. it has 1000 led’s vs 1200+ on the spiderfarm.

It’s 400 Watts vs 450.

It used Samsung 301D diodes instead of 301B - watts and volts are the same for both
301D - 37.0 Lm @65ma - 211 Lm/watt

301B - 38.8 Lm @65ma - 220 Lm/watt

So the 301D diodes are definitely inferior, but not by much
Luminous Flux is 95.3% of the 301B - 37.0/38.8
Luminous Efficacy is 95.9% of the 301B - 211/220

so, this lamp has 89% of the power of the better brands, and the intensity is 95%

by my reasoning, I’m thinking I’m getting 85% performance for 50% of the cost

or flipping it and comparing to a 2000 series,

it’s 200% of the power, 400W vs 200W, and 95% of the performance

so it’s 190% or almost twice as powerful and the same price

If I’m thinking of this wrong, or missing something please educate me, I’m fairly new to this though I did indoor grow a long time ago. I’m trying to get up to speed quickly and fix my newbie errors while I still can. But I’m thinking this as a center lamp with 2 265 watt Burple lamps at each end to supplement, I’ll have 930 Watts for an 18 sq ft grow area with 400 of the Watts being high quality. I’ll start my plants at either end, and move them to the center as they mature and their older siblings are harvested.

If you know of a better deal on a lamp, I have 30 days to decide to keep this lamp or not.

1 Like

You know what would actually fit your grow space almost perfectly is the hlg 260 xl kitwith the code dude it came to 340$ ( at their website)at least for veg at flower time itd be pretty shallow around the long edges

3 Likes

Have you looked at New Mars Hydro FC 3000 Led Grow Light Full Spectrum Samsung LM301B Osram Diodes Meanwell Driver?

I just ordered this light, waiting on shipping.

2 Likes

Those numbers look about right if you compare across similar flux bin. Unless I missed, not sure about which flux bin is used. If you compare top flux bin lm301b to bottom flux bin on 301d it looks more like 25% difference in performance. I think you could feel pretty confident getting top flux and lowest voltage bin available with hlg. Not sure about other vendors that’s don’t provide sphere data.

10% difference in performance for significant savings is worth considering. 25% difference in performance would be setting you back several years in led tech.

Thank you for this reply dbrn32.

I’ve done a little more looking and thinking since I made that post, and I meant to put it in the lighting category, if there is any way you can move it I’d appreciate it.

So I didn’t realize it, but their Amazon prime day prices are out of whack - the price showing is the regular price - Amazon day prices are what I’ve been quoting - this is 20% off today.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087WS1MKC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The 4 panel KAZ 4000 is 400 watts for 289 or $0.72 per watt
The larger 1 panel KAZ 1500 is 150 Watts for $80 or $0.53 per watt

So without question, I am better off with 3 KAZ 1500’s for $240 - 450 Watts than 1 KAZ 4000, I save $50, get 10% more light and I can fit them to my 6x4 grow space better.

So I decided to 1 better that and buy 4 KAZ 1500’s. They are 15 x 10.5. I’ll play with the coverage map to see if I can optimize the light position, but I’m thinking 1 in each corner at 45 degrees, and 2 spaced evenly in the middle, so basically 1 lamp every 2 feet.

I won’t need the Burple lamps at all with this set-up, I’ll adjust the grow area form 6X3 to 6X2.5, and I’ll have 600 Watts (40 watts/sq ft) of light that on the low end is 25% worse than HLG if what you are saying is true. So 450 HLG equivalent Watts for 4 X $80 = $320.

Now I’m sure the math doesn’t work quite like that, but I am hoping for the best.

The best part is Amazon day purchases are returnable until 1/31/21 so I can finish a full autoflower cycle and decide if they deceived me or not. I’ve got 2 Bruce Banners with tails, and 2 White Widow’s in Water. Maybe I’ll do a side by side comparing 2 265 Watt Burples, to 2 of these lamps. I’m allowed to grow 4 plants as a medical patient, why not do a little experiment.

2 Likes

It’s in the proper location now. I have no idea what Amazon is doing to be honest. Amazon is preferred by site, but i try to avoid when it makes sense to do so. If I can buy stuff locally It’s usually a little cheaper and supports smaller local business. Sounds like you have a plan, keep me posted on how things work out.

2 Likes

Thanks bdrn32. I agree, I don’t like to line Jeff Bezos’s pockets either, but I’m on that Covid-19 unemployment time, so I’m pretty budget conscious until I find my next gig. I’m all for growing quality weed though, so I don’t have to buy it, but if I can get close to premium performance for $320 from these lights, I guess Jeff can have his cut. He is taking back the Burple lamps after all, and it’s pretty much an even swap to these. I’m sure I’ll revamp my grow set-up some day, but based on the specs, I’m excited to try these, and I have something to look forward to when I can afford a $1,000 set-up.

3 Likes

So, my new panels arrived, I’m really excited. The plants look deep green now after looking almost electric in the Burple lamps for the past month.

This is 3 150 Watt panels over the plants, and a 100 Watt in front at a 45% angle. I have more panels, but this is all I need right now. I feel like I got an incredible deal with the 150W for $80 and the 100W for $55. They are back to regular price for $105 and $75 which is about the going rate for these generic panels. I’ll post updates, maybe Amazon will match the Prime day deals for black friday, maybe I’ll get more :slight_smile:

for scale, those are 5 gallon pots, The plants were germinated/planted on 9/13

4 Likes

That’s 550w actual power for like 300 bucks that would’ve run you nearly 1000 bucks in name brand shit… hell you can’t beat that with a stick

3 Likes

Hmm I might pick 1 up for my veg tent since it’s pretty hefty with the blue spectrum perfect for veg

1 Like