216 watt (65 actual) led grow light

Peter S · Jan 7, 2017

I bought a ufo style led grow light that has 72 3watt leds. Has anyone used one of these? Usage is supposed to be around 65 watts. I'm planning to test over an improved soakaponics system I'm going to build, and it'll be in a small grow tent, 2'x2'. I made a short unboxing video below.

Copy/pasted from Amazon:
Chips Brand: High Efficiency 3W Epistar Leds
Chips Qty: 72pcs 3W Leds ( 42* Red +12*Blue + 6* Whie+3*UV+3*IR+6*Orange)
Led: 72*3W= 216W
Actual Energy Consumption, 65W ±5%
Lumens: 5000~6000Lm
View Angle: 90°/120°
Working Temperature: 90°F -110°F (32.2°C - 43.3°C)
Lifespan: >50,000hours
Worldwide Voltage: AC85~265V
Warranty: 3 Years
Certification: CCC,CE,FCC, RoHS
Color Ratio, Full spectrum 430nm 450nm 460nm 630nm 640nm 660nm, 3500K, UV, IR, White, Orange.
Coverage Area About 3 x 2.5 Square Feet ( The lighting area and the height are changeable according to different plants and environments )

https://youtu.be/E5U-HdQ_OO4

hogleg · Jan 7, 2017

Nice, cool new light Peter :dance:

Curious what you're gonna put under it?

Masher · Jan 7, 2017

I have seen them in action for green growing, yet to encounter one for peppers.

This will be a good test to follow along

Congrats on the new light...i love new grow gear.

Slug · Jan 7, 2017

My friend has one similar to that. (He hilariously refers to it as "My OOF-Oh light" in his thick, German accent and I now hear that every time I see UFO written anywhere.) It should be perfect in a 2x2 grow tent. His is using 3w leds as well and puts out a good footprint at 18" from the top of canopy. The 65 watts sounds right, because he runs his 18 hours a day and hardly notices a bump in his electric bill. The available light really dims past 1.5-2 feet, but that won't be a problem in your planned space at all.

Peter S · Jan 7, 2017

hogleg said:
Nice, cool new light Peter Curious what you're gonna put under it?

Thanks hogleg. I'm going to try a Helios Hab, assuming my seeds germinate ok. Just started them a few days ago. That'll be a good test plant I think, since they supposed to be early producing, and not a monster size plant like some can get.

Masher said:
I have seen them in action for green growing, yet to encounter one for peppers.

This will be a good test to follow along Congrats on the new light...i love new grow gear.

Thanks

Slug said:
My friend has one similar to that. (He hilariously refers to it as "My OOF-Oh light" in his thick, German accent and I now hear that every time I see UFO written anywhere.) It should be perfect in a 2x2 grow tent. His is using 3w leds as well and puts out a good footprint at 18" from the top of canopy. The 65 watts sounds right, because he runs his 18 hours a day and hardly notices a bump in his electric bill. The available light really dims past 1.5-2 feet, but that won't be a problem in your planned space at all.

I think it'll be a good test, can't wait to put it all together. If I can free up a camera, might do a time lapse too.

U)<now · Feb 2, 2017

Curious to see how this works out. I'd like to ugrade from my curent T8 setup. I currently have 5 twin tube T8 fixtures all with 6500k bulbs.

How many of these would you reccomend for a 4' by 6' growing area? Would be used for both seedlings (between 4 and 6 72 cell trays) and possibly overwintering 6 to 10 plants.

Thanks!

Slug · Feb 2, 2017

U)<now said:
Curious to see how this works out. I'd like to ugrade from my curent T8 setup. I currently have 5 twin tube T8 fixtures all with 6500k bulbs.

How many of these would you reccomend for a 4' by 6' growing area? Would be used for both seedlings (between 4 and 6 72 cell trays) and possibly overwintering 6 to 10 plants.

Thanks!

As a general rule, most storebought prefab 300W LED fixtures will cover a 2' x 2' space effectively and lose a lot of light outside of 2.5 feet. Larger ones often throw off more light, but don't have a much better footprint. Best move for a 4' x 6' area would probably be to DIY an LED fixture for your personal setup. If you're comfy building one, you could do so for a fraction of the cost it would take you to get the prefab equipment you'd need to cover the same space.

U)<now · Feb 2, 2017

Thanks. I am comfortable soldering and wiring. I have looked into DIY COB setups a bit. I'll do some more research tonight.