I’m replacing my ancient 4x4 tent. It’s worn out, zipper is gone, and we’ve outgrown it.
Got a 5x5, would have gone bigger but space is a consideration. So, this brings us to the topic of lights. I’m an old HID guy, 1000w MH/HPS and a huge reflector.
I’m retiring that unit and going to an LED.
I had my mind made up to go with a dimmable LED between 800-1000w. But someone with some knowledge threw out another option that never occurred to me.
He suggested instead of a single large 800-1000w, why not consider two 400w LEDs or two comparable quantum boards.
His reasoning made sense (I guess).
He says a large single LED will certainly cast a powerful light, but most of it will be directly under the fixture itself. The edges and corners of the canopy won’t get as much coverage.
However two lesser wattage LEDs can be hung in such a way to assure total and complete canopy coverage. This additional coverage will increase your overall yield.
Then there’s always the “backup” factor, if one light fails you have a backup.
In theory, I guess it makes sense. But I learned in life, things that sound wonderful in theory, often aren’t so wonderful in real life applications.
There’s a guy on ebay that has 2 HLG diablo 650 for less than 200 each free ship. They will need dimmers. They are like 3 bucks ftom HLG and easy to wire. Ive bought 2 and he has these 2 left.
I run Szhlux lights, their 840 and their 1060 are bar type lights that measure near 4ft x 4ft. The 840 is $350 , I have a few grows on this one with zero issues, and it will do up to 7x7. Many others out there that will fill your tent. The HLGs are nice, but can be expensive for new ones. Szhlux has a 500 that you could fit two in your tent and they are around $150 or so.
I use a mars hydro FC-E8000 which is actually 730w at 100%. Picked it up cheap on a Friday the 13th sale, also handy to be able to place the ‘ballast’ outside the tent
Works for me in my 5x5, currently set at 75% in my current grow.
I’m a little OCD about growing and I track everything. I grow hydroponically in a 5 x 5 space with an HLG650Rspec in my big tank and a HLG65 in my seedling tank. Here is my last grow summary. If ypu send me your power specs for your lights, I could plug it into my spreadsheet and give you a good comparison.
I hope this helps.
