I saw a post recommending a particular led light that was around 700/800 bucks. I can’t find the post now and was curious about what it was. It was red (board) and had the newer drivers?
New and mostly just lurking but tying to formulate a plan for future grow, and if I go grow lamp I want to get something I won’t regret or grow out of anytime soon.
(It was described as the biggest baddest led lamp of that helps, vague, I know)
All help advice is welcome
Definitely a wise move to invest in the light first and set up your space for that light.
Look at all HLG has to offer. If your willing to shell out, you can’t really get any better.
Spider farmer is also competitive.
I use Mars-Hydro in my tent. I don’t know if it is any better than any other, but I am pleased with them, and added a smaller supplemental unit when I upgraded to a larger tent.
If I am reading your question correctly you are exploring light options which includes cost. You have your budget amount, and that is a great one, depending on your tent size or the area you are lighting. So first, you need to figure out the area you are lighting and how much wattage you need to cover that. I had to add another 1000W to the 3000W I had when I went from a 3x4 to a 5x5 tent.
Your next thing to decide is whether you want LED, flourescent, or HPS (high pressure sodium) aka HID (high intensity discharge). There are pros and cons of each and you can do a search and decide which works for your situation.
Fyi, I want to say overall the cost for me to run a 5x5 tent with the two lights and Cloudline exhaust system, plus air pump, water pump, and fans, is around an extra $75-100 a month in electricy. We are on a water well, so don’t pay for water, but I use hydro and dont use a lot of water.
Ahh yes it was definitely an hlg I saw in the previous thread.
I get the impression that hlg and spider farmer are comparable in price and quality. Matter of personal preference like Xbox vs PlayStation?
I was always told Spider Farmer is kinda like “B rated HLG lights”
HLG is better IMO, but I just have a Spider Farmer…
The future is led. It’s all about efficiency. I’d advise against hydro Mars. They do work, but they take more watts to do the job. And while shopping, watts are important, but look into par. If you want some heavy producers stick with what I posted.
@Dankloud
The differences are negligible. Like I bought an iPhone, and a new one is coming out with few small changes. The diodes in the hlg are tops. But the difference is small.
There are many manufacturers now building lights with Samsung LM301B diodes. Since the indroduction of the LM301H which has slightly better stats, the 301B has shown up in more places. Mars Hydro, Vivosun and others are using them now. I have two Mars Hydro lights using Epistar diodes. They are not the best out there…But I get good results. So I might get more harvest if I spend more money but I personally dont see the benefit of the extra money for a few more grams of product. I already grow more than we can use. Not knocking the HLG at all. I would love them. But I would also love a Bugatti but my car gets me there. Just my opinions about what works for me.
More budget friendly. One per 2x4. So 2 for a 4x4.
this will be going beside my sf 2000 in my 4x4 eventuallyThat’s too much for a 4x4 tho really. Unless you’re supplementing co2
Good to know. We are transitioning to a greenhouse but planning a production grow as soon as we get our license and will be building a big shop for indoor grow upwards 200 plants. So I definitely want to figure this out way ahead of time. If the greenhouse grow works well, we may just add a larger greenhouse. As energy conservation is my husband’s entire career for last 30 years.
Oh if you’re going production like that. https://www.amazon.com/Horticulture-Lighting-Group-Light-Quantum/dp/B08Q1YW1Y1?ref_=ast_sto_dp
Is the more budget friendly, if you don’t mind assembly. And check out. Trying Grow Professional
Hlg comes with a better driver that’s it. I have an hlg meanwell on my sf2000 and its a lot brighter than with the driver it came with. It’s all in the driver.
@KikiGee
That is the best comment I’ve seen so far today. 
@Bluntsmoke
Just out of curiosity will that make an impact on the longevity of the sf?
Don’t think this is true… The LEDs are not the same either. Fairly sure HLG uses LM301H. At least that’s what is listed on the light I’m looking at from HLG. Spider Farmer lists LM301B diodes. May depend on model though 
Good luck
Sf 2000 comes with a ab h… it’s a mean well driver.
It’s also not just the type of diode but also what bin they come from. HLG only uses top bin diodes. Each diode needs to hit a certain lumen per watt to be top bin. Other companies will purchase the lower bin diodes and put them in their lights. But they can still claim they use 301b or 301h even though they’re not top bin
