Going to try and do one big reply rather than individual ones so all the info is in one place. I took some time to better understand the various parameters and specs that different copanies use to try and sell grow lights, which definitely helped clear some things up for me–albeit more of the bare bones stuff. I found this to be a pretty good article, for anyone interested:
Seems like many have great things to say about HLG and have some sound reasoning to back it up, and after rereading my original post I feel like I definitely wasn’t looking at/comparing this light correctly–of course a light with a ~230W power draw is going to cause vegging plants to grow faster than one with 65W draw, probably no matter how much better the technology or efficiency of the 65W (my HLG) is. Having said that, I commented that I wasn’t much more impressed with this light than the Gerylove at half the price, but the brand reputation and high-efficiency Samsung diodes undoubtedly are major mitigating factors.
I tried to do some head to head comparisons between the two, and based on what I found I’m wondering if the two aforementioned variables are really as significant as it would seem they are:
*HLG has a PPFD of 290 μmol/m2/s at 18" with a power draw of 66W; Gerylove’s PPFD is 743 at the same height with a claimed draw of 100W. I don’t believe any of these parameters are logarithmic, so calculating a hypothetical PPAR/W for them results in 4.39 for the former and 7.43 for the latter. I have no idea if this metric is used or would be accurate due to my overall limited knowledge on the topic, but simple reasoning assumes that the Gerylove is superior when considering the numbers alone. Based on the article I linked and other things I’ve read though, and @dbrn32 comment, I understand that there are many variables either controlled differently or left uncontrolled in those tests (and that’s assuming you can even trust that they were done in the first place, as it appears they may be “outright lies” @Myfriendis410). Gerylove is a Chinese company.
I mean, it is a little hard to believe that the efficacy of the half-priced chinese light (claimed 2.7 umol/J) is higher than the reputable HLG at 2.35, and I could do head to head comparisons and so on but I think what really separates these two products is that HLG will most likely honor their warranty, whereas I’ve bought several Chinese-manufactured products that claimed a warranty and then the company dissapeared after a few months. While I don’t intend to continue to purchase lights from irreputable sources, I’m in a tight budget situation where a cheaper light with the same efficacy/PPFD as a reputable brand with Samsung diodes may well be more than worth it if it can just get me through one harvest. I’m hoping this trend won’t continue, but so far that’s kind of been my credo despite being a firm believer in that in most cases, you get what you pay for.
One last comment before moving on: if anyone might be able to better explain what makes the Samsung diodes superior to others such as Gerylove’s “high yielding LED technology diodes” (in terms of vegetative results, not sustainablilty/quality etc.), that would help to further clear some things up for me.
CRI specs seem to be hard to find for most grow lights, at least that’s how I found it to be. Forgive me for not being more informed on the subject, but is there any sort of CRI standard that applies to grow lights, or maybe an assumption that LED diodes have a CRI at or above a certain value? I know the light ‘temperature’ is also a spec of grow lights (4000K, for example), although I do not know if these two are related.
I definitely would have to say though after reading everyone’s feedback that I will likely never purchase another burple light ever again. @MidwestGuy one of my biggest issues with my first indoor grow was uncontrollable heat (as well as humidity), which drove the electric bill through the roof. @Aussie_autos my recently purchased Viparspectra p1500 has been the bees knees thus far, using it for the past two weeks in a 32"x32" flowering tent, and that was what actually prompted me to finally post this. I was really not seeing any reason to choose to go blurple ever again, but then that best reviews article (which I ironically saw a commercial for for the first time last night) made be question myself again. And now I have even more questions! lol. This light uses Samsung LM281b+ diodes, which I would think are an older model than the 301s. Before opening my own can of worms by starting to research the history of Samsung Diodes online, can anyone speak to any major differences between the two? I also find it hard to believe that at 18" the p1500 (with 150W draw) has a PPFD value of 790, a marginally higher value than the Gerylove sp1000 (@Myfriendis410 outright lies???). I wish I had more tools to test these values for myself, but I don’t.
So Viparspectra is also Chinese. But the difference is they actually seem to have built a bit of a reputation for themselves based on things I’ve read. And according to their website, they partnered with Samsung in 2020 @Docnraq – this is not to argue either but it’s worth noting that the latest XS series from them (came out in 2021) uses LM301B diodes, according to their website (as well as Meanwell drivers). So I’m much more inclined to believe in the three year warranty they offer. All of this does beg the question though as to why Viparspectra (and also HLG) aren’t listed on Samsung’s website as official partners…? As of now I’m not sure how much stock I would take in that list–while I can’t speak to their grow lights, every single thing I’ve ever bought from Vivosun was a total POS, from grow tent to pH meter to hygrometer. Maybe I’ve just had some bad experiences, but I have no idea how they became so well known with such crappy products.
@dbrn32 you definitely had the most in-depth analysis, and to be honest some of it might be a little beyond the scope of what I can afford the time to research right now, but you pointed out a lot of things that one may not think of which could also factor in–one of them being the amount of diodes. And while I know it isn’t apples to apples, that was another thing that turned me off a bit about the HLG 65 V2 vs the Gerylove, 120 vs 234 diodes…
I think a lot of this will take time for me to see for myself based on experimentation and informed opionions. Purchasing electronics can be pretty confusing these days in the throw away, overseas manufactured economy we have but it’s always hard for me to seriously justify paying 2-3x as much for something based solely on the fact that it was manufactured domestically (of course not the only factor though). But when it comes to purchasing something that is meant to be long-lasting and sustainable this argument becomes much more crucial. @Upwithhopehydro you mention Black Dog, which is a company I’ve browsed before but was way out of my price point. My man Mr. Canucks on YouTube shouts out his sponsor The Green Sunshine Company, also too pricy for me right now. I believe both of these companies are California-based, which I’m sure hikes up the dollars a bit, but I’ll lastly note that Bestva (the company who manufactured my first burple) claims to have headquarters in California but has Chinese ownership, yet they have some pretty sweet looking new lights too, with LM301B diodes and meanwell drivers…
I’M SO CONFUSED!!!
At this point I feel like, yes, buying something from Gerylove or Layond is not a smart decision and I’m better off saving for something more reputable and of higher quailty. But with companies like Viparspectra and Bestva establishing reputations for themselves and also using top of the line drivers and diodes at a much lower price point, what’s the argument to go with Black Dog or even Mars Hydro?
edited to remove unauthorized link
