- Cost.
- Weak Diodes.
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List Price: |
Today I’ll be taking an in-depth look at one of the most popular LED grow lights out there: the 240 Watt Blackstar (flowering edition) from Lighthouse Hydro (note that this light is sold by Gotham Hydroponics). Gotham Hydro claims that this is the number one selling LED grow light in the world. It is certainly their best-selling light and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is the world’s best-selling LED grow light due to its great price for the amount of power you get.
Actual Watts Drawn Grade: A+
Speaking of power, let’s talk about watts. One thing you’ll notice with all of these companies is that they list a certain wattage number (like 90W or 240W or 600W) but that number is a bit deceiving. They are listing the wattage number that would occur if the lights were run at maximum capacity (they are never run at maximum capacity because they wouldn’t last long if they were).
This 240W Blackstar actually draws about 135 watts. This is a pretty powerful LED light that will cover about four square feet. This light gets an A + on watts drawn because you won’t be able to find another LED grow light that gives you this much wattage power for this low of a price.
Warranty and Trial Period Grade: B-
The organization that manufactures this light (Lighthouse Hydro) offers a one-year warranty. This is better than no warranty at all, but nowadays a lot of the upper-end providers are offering three year warranties. In addition, the high-end models come with a 30-90 day trial period. Gotham Hydro has no specified trial period (they probably handle it on a case-by-case basis).
This 6 band 240W light gets a B- on warranty and trial period. It appears that Gotham is positioning itself as a quality, low-cost provider. They have the best prices around for what you get, but they are in part keeping prices down by not offering large warranty periods.
Customer Service Grade: A-
Gotham Hydroponics is a real company with a physical store front in the state of New York. They have a phone number you can call and real people you can talk to. I have heard numerous reports that the customer service is great and the company has quickly resolved any problems with their 240 watt Blackstar flowering light.
I would give this light an A+ grade for customer service but in my experience the people at Gotham are a bit slow to respond to their “Contact Us” form on their website. Not really a problem as you can pick up the phone and call them directly.
Heat Dissipation Grade: A-
As mentioned in my article about finding a quality LED grow light, heat dissipation is a big deal. LED lights don’t put off a lot of heat, but the chips themselves can overheat if the light is built poorly (read the article I mention above for a complete explanation of this). When LED grow lights don’t last as long as expected it is usually due to a failure to dissipate the heat from the LED chips. There are two important factors when talking heat dissipation: (1) The Heat Sink and (2) The Fans.
As you can see in the picture of the 240W Lighthouse Hydro Blackstar light above, the fans are in place; that’s a good thing. In addition to the quality fans, Lighthouse has added additional fins to the heatsink in order to absorb the heat (the more fins, the better). Finally, the makers of this light have spread the LED chips out a bit which allows for better cooling.
Spectral Wave Length: A-
The 6 Band 240W light puts out the following spectra: 380nm (UV), 425nm (Blue), 450nm (Blue), 630nm (red), 660nm (red), and 730nm (infrared). This is a good range of light that closely mirrors the peak absorption points of Chlorophyll A and B. The 380nm ultraviolet wave-length is pretty unique (most LED growing lights don’t use that wave-length).
The light gets an A-. It would be a solid A+, but new tests are coming out showing that one wave-length of green would also be beneficial because it can penetrate deeper into plant tissues stimulating lower chloroplast development.
Beam Angle: B+
This light uses both 120 degree diodes and 60 degree diodes. Keep in mind that there is no perfect beam angle because the optimal beam angle depends on the height of the plant you are growing. For those growing shorter plants a 120 degree beam angle is better because it can cover more area. For those growing taller plants a 60 degree diode is more intense and penetrates deeper.
Cheapest Place to Buy
The cheapest I have seen the 240W Lighthouse Hydro go for is around$290.Keep in mind that $290 for this type of power is quite cheap in the LED world. I’d personally recommend buying it from Amazon for security reasons. Gotham Hydro sells directly through Amazon.
Recommendation
There are probably better LED grow lights out there, but not for the price. For those who want to get a powerful light that will grow your plant from start to finish, there really isn’t a lower-priced LED than this 240W from Gotham Hydroponics. There is a reason it’s their best-selling light; people don’t want to spend a ridiculous amount of money upfront, but they want results. This light meets both requirements.
Thanks, this review is great.
Henrique,
I’m glad that it was helpful. If there is something else that you would like to know about this light or any other LED grow light, let me know and I’ll try to dig it up. I’m trying to make the best resource possible here.
Best,
Nate
Good review. I plan to buy that light next month.
I just bought a LED light off ebay and it’s not what they listed and they keep saying it is the next generation all new and more powerful with less led’s.
Have you seen the Mega Power 180 watt UFO grow light?
The one they listed has 90 leds and 3 fans the one I got has 45 leds and one fan.
They said it is the 6th gen and the new fan is more efficent and the leds are more powerful.
I can’t find anything out online about Mega Power except they are in china.
If you know about these light a review would be great.
Thank you,
Rex
Hey Rex,
Thanks for commenting. I haven’t ever heard of Mega Power. I did some research and found their website, but the website doesn’t list any information about their products (kind of frustrating, it seemed like the site was broken). I did find some information on the 5th generation light, but I never saw any information about a 6th generation light. Hopefully your seller was honest.
One thing to consider is maybe they moved from one-watt LEDs to three-watt LEDs. This would explain why they cut you down by 45 LEDs.
Probably a little late to tell you, but I generally recommend staying away from most of the lights sold on eBay unless you recognize the brand name. eBay is great for purchasing proven commodities, but LED technology is still new so you need to go with brand names. I still think that 30 years from now we’ll all be buying $25 LED grow lights on eBay. Once that happens, we will know that the technology has arrived. 😉
Best,
Nate
I looked at the web page for bridgelux leds and they showed some new high powered leds. The ones in this light look like them. There are several lights in each led some maybe more than 3 watts, but they didn’t say. but showed someone using the for lights at a music concert. vVery bright. This light seems to have too much white light and not enough red. I’m testing it out and I hope it’s good for plants.
Thank you for the response,
Rex
Hey Rex,
The Lighthouse Hydro Blackstar is specifically designed for growing plants. It has a lot of red in it. This light is specifically built with flowering in mind (which means a high percentage of red).
Hope that answers your question. Lots of people have had great grows with this light.
Best,
Nate
First you say: “The Lighthouse Hydro Blackstar is specifically designed for growing plants”
Then you finish: This light is specifically built with flowering in mind (which means a high percentage of red).
Which is it? Grow (veg), or Flower?
OK, this is a newbie question. I have the SonnyLight for starting my plants and it does very well. However, the wattage on it seems very low compared to this one. Could someone compare these two for growing the plants. I read the article that wattage doesn’t really matter, yet the prices seem to reflect that wattage is important. Are both equally powerful?
Yep, I know this is a confusing question…. but I must admit, I am very confused.
Thanks is advance for any help.
Hey Susan,
Not a newbie question at all and I’m glad that you asked it. I took a quick look at the SonnyLight and I can see some pros and cons to it right away.
I personally wouldn’t recommend using the SonnyLight if you are growing plants over two feet tall without the help of the sun. The SonnyLight will work great as a plant starter, but it will be horrible when it comes to flowering/fruiting time. If you are growing some small herbs or flowers, then the Sonny will work great. If you have your plants in an area in your house where they are already getting plenty of sunshine and you just want to add some extra light, then the Sonny will work great. If you are growing a tall, flowering plant from start to finish (without the help of the sun) then the Sonny will work terribly. You’ll probably be happy during the vegetation stage, but when flowering time comes, trust me, you will be disappointed.
The Lighthouse 240W on the other hand packs a lot more punch. It uses 3 watt diodes that can penetrate deep into taller plants. The Sonny uses 8mm diodes that are basically the equivalent of Christmas lights.
If you want more information on how watts work within LED grow lights then I’ve created a couple of resources:
http://growtutor.com/understanding-watts-amps-and-volts-in-led-grow-lights/
http://growtutor.com/1w-vs-3w-vs-3w-3chip-in-led-growing-lights/
Things get quite technical in those articles, but if you are really interested in how it all works then please read them and ask me any questions you have at the end.
What you really need to know is that all of the best LED grow companies out there have moved away from 8mm/1 watt diodes to 3 watt diodes. It’s true that there are 10 watt diodes out there, but they aren’t very efficient. The sweet spot seems to be 3 watt diodes.
All of that being said, you can still do some basic, light growing with 5mm and 8mm grow lights. I think Amazon has better lights than Sonny and for a lot cheaper: Here’s a light that is almost the exact same light as the Sonny (14 watts) and it’s only $60. http://growtutor.com/go/sunshine-systems-14-watt/
A lot of people like that Sunshine Systems light from Amazon. I wouldn’t recommend it for taller plants that flower, but it’s just as good as the SonnyLight and for a lot less.
Hope that helps clarify a bit.
Nate
Nate,
I just wanted to get back to you and let you know that based on your review and the articles you posted, I bought the Blackstar 240 W from Amazon. I have been using it now for a few months, and my plants are doing quite well. Thanks for all your help. It is greatly appreciated.
Susan
Hey Susan,
Glad to hear it is working well for you! It really makes me happy to hear back from people, so thanks a ton for taking the extra time to write me a quick not.
Made my day!
Nate
Hi,
I dont know how you can give 240W Blackstar “Actual Watts Drawn Grade” an A+, when you say it actually draws 135W. If Blackstar is cheap for the actual W drawn that a high Watt “Value for money score”, but otherwise 55% of what is chaimed should be a C or less for its misleading claim. There is far too much kidology in the LED Grow Light business.
Hey Ian,
I see what you are saying and I agree with you. You are right that I was trying to indicate an good value for the money score. I’m working on updating this and adding a new scoring element called Price.
“Far too much kidology in the LED Grow Light business.”
Haha. I couldn’t agree with you more. That’s partially why I take so much time testing these lights out and writing up reviews on them.
Thanks for your comment.
Nate
NIce review but I think you left out a grade for the most important part which would be the watts per led rating. I’ve seen your article posted up about this.
You mentioned some thing about a new test with a green spectrum that penetrates deeper. Do you know at what intensity or nm the green spectrum is? And maybe could you expound on the spectrums that the blackstar led has, what they do for the plant?
Hey Geoff,
I’ve seen a couple of studies that show that green can help with photosynthesis deep in the plant. The penetrator actually has a green LED in it. I only mentioned that because some people were saying that green is completely useless for a plant (I’m not sure that’s the case).
Anyways, I wouldn’t get overly concerned with the spectra of any given light. Each manufacturer seems to have their own mix but in my opinion all of the mixes are fairly similar among those producing high quality lights.
With Blackstar the main thing to look for is the difference between their flowering light and their vegging/cloning light. The flowering light has more red in it (red is great for flowering). The veg/clone light has more blue in it (which is great for the vegetative growth phase of the plant). I find that most people like the flowering option a lot better (and that’s the one that is reviewed and linked to in this post).
Hi Nate
According to your review and the above post, the Blackstar UV (for flowering) lacks the green light spectrum, which might be desirable during flowering. Looking at the their spectrum chart for the Blackstar HO (for vegetation) which they only display on eBay (wonder why); the HO units have much more green around 540nm wavelength. So can I conclude, that it might be a good idea to combine a UV and HO panel during flowering? Or do you know of any other way to add that missing green?
Georg
Hey George,
Great comment. It’s hard to say how important green is. Some (emphasis on some) of the experts I talk with indicate that your ratio mix of red and blue is the only important factor. These experts seem to believe that all the hype around having tons of different wavelengths is just manufactured by companies wanting to sell more lights. Other experts seem to think that green light does help (as you suggested). There are some studies that show green helps a bit. That being said you can find studies on just about everything, haha.
My recommendation would be to go with only the flowering Blackstar initially. If you aren’t happy with your grow then start considering green. I personally don’t think green is that important, but I do think in certain situations it could help. Of course if you want to use both the UV and HO during flowering I think it could only help the plant, but that’s a lot more money and I think your dollars could go to better use in other places (nutrients, seed genetics, grow tent, etc.).
If you are looking for the HO you can find it here on Amazon. It’s sold by Gotham Hydroponics which is a well-known Hydroponics/LED grow light company.
Let us know what you decide. Keep coming by with the great comments.
Best,
Nate
Hello so I have one of these in my 4ft x 2ft tent and it’s making my flowers look extremely beautiful. In the past I’ve only used HPS and this is my first grow with LEDs but I think I need one more in there to get the best coverage. What do you think, will one be enough for a 4×2 tent or will it be best to have two of them in there? And I know its usage range is 10 to 14 inches if I throw another one in should I keep it in that range or because of light overlap should I raise it up a bit? From what I’ve read even though the lights don’t get hot to burn the plants you can still light burn them aka bleaching them with too much light?
Hey Jason,
Thanks for your excellent comments. They really add to the discussion of LED growing. The truth is finding the exact amount of light coverage with LEDs can be difficult, especially for those new to growing. When you start out your first LED grow, expect to learn a few things about light coverage areas!
I know I made some hilarious mistakes on my first grow. I left my tomato plant for a couple of days and when I came back the plant was pushing up against my LED light in multiple places. My plant had some light bleaching marks as you indicated. I was surprised to see that no actual burning took place. In retrospect I’m just glad that I didn’t have an HID or I could have burned my house down. haha.
Anyways, for your grow area I’d recommend two Blackstars if you are growing a taller plant that will flower or fruit. If you’re just vegging plants or you’re trying to grow some shorter plants, then you might be able to get away with one light (as long as you can put the light up high enough in a position where it will cover all the plants, but still be close enough to provide the amount of light penetration you need).
You might also try a setup where you throw some CFL type lighting on the sides. I’ve seen people save some money this way and still produce some great grows.
Keep us updated.
Nate
The review is good except for one thing. Unless I missed it you don’t mention how much light the thing actually puts out. You can’t compare watts used – that would be like saying you can judge how strong a guy is by how much they eat. Total emitter lumens and anything that gets at something like lux @ 1/2 M and area lit before 20% drop off in intensity @ 2 feet away would be helpful. If you say it covers 4 sq feet we have to know how high and whether it’s a high light plant you’re talking about or what? Thanks.
Hey Robert,
Thanks for stopping by the site. I agree with you that some sort of measure of how much the light puts out would be helpful. However, measuring lumens is not the way to go. Read my article on lumens and Micromoles for more of my thoughts on the matter.
In short, lumens measure what our eyeballs see, but they don’t measure what plants absorb (PAR light). You can actually measure PAR light using a spectroradiometer, but they cost $5,000! I’m thinking about putting up a donation sign so I can start measuring these for all the LED lights.
I’ve got a load more to say, but I’ve got to run for now (wife is calling me to do something). Bother me if I don’t come back to talk some more.
Best,
Nate
Please give me as much info on the 900w from blackstar..based on these and a few other reviews for the price it blows away stealths (??one sunlight now carries) 1250w. Do you know any of the specs on the 900 and what about amp draw @240v??and compared to a 1000 GPS how does it hold up? I called the company but it was a very uninformed employee….please anything u know would be great.no pressure but u have 2 wks to respond and then I’m gonna buy a bunch of them and blame u if they suck lol…
Sorry spellchecker 1000 watt *hps.
Hey Tone,
Haha, no pressure on my behalf eh? I’m going to email you so we can talk a little bit more about your grow and what you’re trying to accomplish. Do you live in Europe somewhere? I’m only guessing because the 240v draw. Anyways, I haven’t contacted the company about how many watts the 900w blackstar actually draws. Based on their other lights I’d estimate the 900w has an actual draw of around 500-600 watts.
The Blackstars are good lights (they aren’t top of the line, state of the art lights though and that’s why they are bit less expensive). There are plenty of journals that show the quality of grows these lights produce. I haven’t had anyone complain to me about them yet and trust me I’d be the first to hear about it!
That being said, these lights only have a 1 year warranty. The industry average is about 3 years.
Overall, Blackstars are a great buy (great value for the money), but there are nicer brands out there.
Okay, sending you an email.
Best,
Nate
Hi Nate
Thank you so much for all the effort you have put in this website. It is definately the most informative address when it comes to comparing what the market has to offer.
Reading all your articles and reviews carefully, I understand that there is a difffence in efficiency between single-chip and stacked-chip 3W diodes. I miss this information in your review on the Blackstar LEDs. Which kind do they use?
By the way. Another thing I and maybe other people would like to know; is how loud the fans are on the various LED panels. Noise level can be an issue as well; especially when your planning a stealth grow closet. You might want to consider giving grades for this too.
Best regards
Georg
Hey George,
Thanks for stopping by the site and thanks for the great feedback. I’ll definitely look into adding noise level on the various LED panels. That’s a great idea and I’m not sure why I didn’t think of it first.
I need to add the information to the article. Blackstar uses the actual true 3 watt diodes. They don’t stack the 1 watt chips. I’m hoping to get a better macro lens for my camera so I can show this off better.
Very helpful comments. Keep us posted on your light choices and grows. It helps us all.
Nate
FYI:
I bought 3x Black-Star-180-HO and 2x Black-Star-240-UV.
The 3x cooling fans of each unit are louder than an average PC. So with 15x fans running, it is really quite noisy. Not exactly what you want for a stealth grow setup.
Other than that, they seem to do a good job.
I just wonder if there are any LED grow lights that are equiped with silent fans … like some quality PCs?
Georg
Hey Georg,
I’ve been trying to find a good way to measure the sound of all these LED units I have so I could publish the noise levels. Any good ideas?
Best,
Nate
The best way to describe noise levels is in decibel; so you would have to invest in a sound level meter. I see a variety on eBay for around 20-30$.
To get comparable values, you will have to measure the LED panels in the same environment, at the exact same distance and angle; i.e. a small room, 3 ft. away, at ear level (mention the details how you measured). I wouldn’t get to close, in order to avoid noise generated by air flow from the fans hitting the the microphone.
Sound level examples:
whispering = 20 dB
average refrigerator = 30 dB
average dishwasher, normal conversation = 50 dB
I don’t own a sound level meter, but I bet the noise level of my Black-Star must be around 50 dB, which cannot be considered silent. The cooling fans on my old Dell desktop are probably just half as loud; maybe something like 25 dB.
By the way … before buying my LED panels, I actually contacted some of the companies and asked them about the noise levels of their products. None of them were able to answer this question precisely in decibel.
best regards
Georg
Hey Georg,
That’s what I thought as well. I’ll start incorporating this into my reviews as I think a lot of readers will find it helpful.
Thanks for the idea.
Nate
Hi Nate, Thanks for your site. It is really helpful. Just wondering what this LED model matches in terms of HPS. Is this equal to a 400W or 600W HPS? That would be helpful in your reviews. What LED would equal a 1000W?
Ben
Hey Ben,
I always get a little nervous when people ask me to say what type of HPS would this replace. There are a few reasons I get nervous:
(1). Initially LED grow light manufacturers were making some insane claims like this 90 Watt UFO can replace your 1000 watt HPS. People were gobbling up these UFOs and were needless to say very disappointed.
Nowadays LED manufacturers are for the most part more honest.
(2). When you switch from HPS to LED you are going to see a different results at first. Any time you try something new you can expect to have a slight learning curve, but for some reason people don’t take this into account when switching from HPS to LED. There are a few things you are going to have to do differently with LEDs because they produce less heat, have differing light angles, and offer a different spectrum of light. For example, if you’re growing indoors in a cold area, you’ll need to make sure your plants are at the right temperature, you’ll probably need to feed them less water, and you’ll definitely need to make sure you have mylar in place.
(3). LEDs can dominate an HPS in the vegetative phase, but fall behind a bit in the flowering phase. For example this blackstar can probably cover 6-9 square feet during the vegetative phase, but I wouldn’t recommend it for more than 4 square feet during the flowering phase. So with that in mind what do I compare this LED to in terms of HPS? HPS’s aren’t really great for the vegetative phase so maybe I can say this blackstar replaces a massive HPS for the vegetative phase! However, HPS’s and LEDs are both great at flowering.
How’s that for a long answer?
If you forced an answer out of me I’d say that this one is about equal to a 400w HPS.
Thanks, now that you made me say that I’ll have HPS enthusiasts over here tormenting me endlessly. I get it guys, HPS’s work great. So do LEDs (and they have other advantages).
Thanks for stopping by Ben,
Nate
Hey, I was just wondering what you think about the 135 watt UFO light that blackstar also carriers? I was looking into getting one, and compared to the other UFO’s on the market they match up much better, I just can’t find any descent reviews on them.
Hey Nick,
I have not used one of those UFOs personally, but I now people that have and they are happy with them. You’re going to be better off with that UFO than any of the generic brands on EBay or Amazon in my opinion. Prosource might offer a slightly better UFO in my opinion, but the price is also a lot higher. You can read my prosource review on the site.
What size of grow area are you looking at? You need to have realistic expectations with a small UFO like that. Maybe a 1.5 foot diameter during flowering and slightly larger than that during the vegetative phase.
Let us know what you decide,
Nate
Great review. Keep up the good work.
Im stuck in the middle between buying this Blackstar 240 and the Pro Grow 180. I like Blackstar for all the reasons you listed in your review. It even tells you how much nm each spectrum has. But, the Pro Grow says only 180, so im wondering is the draw less than the 240?
Hey Jaime,
The Pro Grow has an actual draw of around 160 from what I’ve read (I don’t actually have a Pro Grow).
I haven’t heard many positive things about the LED lights from Hydroponics Hut. However, the Pro Grow seems to get okay reviews in the forums. Maybe I’ll have to perform a full scale review on it.
Good luck!
Nate
Hi Nate,
Thanks for an expert review!!!
I thinking of buliding a small grow box and was wondering if you ever used oneof the 50W BlackStar LED?
What would be the wattage of 50W?
The specs on the blackstarled website look good but I’ve never seen any reviews on such a small LED.
Cheers
Magic
Hey Magic,
I’ve never used one of the 50w blackstars. I’m guessing that light has 1 watt diodes and not 3 watt diodes like the larger models. I know the website you visited says otherwise, but they have been wrong in the past. This would mean that the light is probably actually drawing about 40 watts. Keep in mind that blackstarled.com is not the actual manufacturer of the blackstar. I would deal with Gotham Hydroponics through Amazon if I were you. Of course I don’t see anyone selling that 50 watter on Amazon.
What are you trying to grow? If you do a really small grow and are willing to wait a little longer for the results then you just might be able to pull it off.
Best,
Nate
I’m looking in to possibly buying 2 of these for a 2×4 tent. I found a pair that has been used for 3 months. Should I expect any sort of degradation in light intensity? Also, what is the maintenance on these lights. With HPS, I like to change my bulb with every harvest, to maximize intensity. What should I keep in mind to keep these lights functioning at the best of their ability?
Hey Max,
The degradation in light intensity question is a very good one. Here’s an article I wrote on the subject called Do LEDs lose light intensity with time?.
The short answer is that LEDs do degrade eventually but not nearly as fast as HPS.
That being said I’m always a little nervous purchasing a used light. Do you know the person selling them? Do you trust him/her?
Anyways, the great thing about LEDs is that they don’t require any maintenance really. I mean I dust mine off between grows but that’s about it.
Best,
Nate
Question, obviously the prices here are very cheap for black gotham.. how do they compare to prosource world. There u tube claims to have 5 to 8 ounces of green per 180 watt jumbo.??
Hey Angel,
Thanks for stopping by the site. You can go here to read my review of Prosource worldwide. Overall I think Prosource offers great lights. I think the Blackstar might be a bit more power for your buck though. But the Prosource light is probably put together a bit better and comes with a longer warranty and trial period.
Let us know what you decide.
Best,
Nate
Hi Nate,
I bought the Blackstar flowering led light and have had good success. However, I need some advice. First, I use earthboxes which are 29 x 13 inches. It seems that the Blackstar covers one well, but not two. Or am I doing something wrong. Also, it seems that my spearmint LOVES the light, but the Blackstar doesn’t seem to penetrate the light all the way down to the bottom leaves ( consequently they die). My light is approx 6-8 inches away. Would lowering it help. Still a newbie, but learning slowly.
Thanks for all your help
Hey Susan,
Send me an email with some pictures and we’ll take a look. I might have a few suggestions that can help.
Just use my contact page. http://growtutor.com/about/
Best,
Nate
I have three questions on lighting. The space I’m using is 5×10. I want to get the maximum yield given that I have a $1500 spending limit. I’m debating to get lots of 90 watt leds, 180 watt leds, 3 300 watt leds or 2 500 leds. Always heard that more is better coverage. 1000 watts is like my limit to elec at a fair price. The second question is do I have to use a grow tent to accomodate so lights don’t get wasted? And lastly what is the max yield coverage for a 5×10 and light spacing? Thx, John,
Hey Jonathan,
Here are my thoughts on your questions. I agree with the general idea that having 2 lower powered lights is better than having 1 higher powered light. However, at a certain point you reach a practicality issue. I mean I don’t want to hang up a bunch of 90 watt LEDs. With a 5X10 area and a $1500 budget I’d probably go with three 500w blackstars or five to six 240w blackstars. However, if you want to go crazy with a bunch of 90’s then you might get better results but that would be a pain to manage in my experience (cords everywhere!).
Your question about a grow tent is a good one. I actually don’t use grow tents for my grows. If I feel like I need better reflection, then I just tape some Mylar on the wall. It’s pretty cheap. You can get a 25 foot roll that’s four feet high here on Amazon. That way you don’t have to limit the size of your grow to the tent.
Your max yield will depend on a lot of factors (your ability, plant genetics, etc.).
Hope that helps.
Nate
Nate,
Great site. Thanks for all the great info. I am considering picking up the Blackstar 240watt light and useing it all the way through cloneing to flowering. I’m wondering if I should add a few plain old CFLs during vegging. Would this cause any problems? Would the CFLs, which I currently use for vegging, “wash out” the light from the LEDs? My primary concern is electricity costs, which is why I’m switching to LED. CFLs are more expensive to run than LED I know, but not by much. So I’m thinking adding few might help in the vegging process. They could also help fill in any dark spots in the grow room. Waddaya think?
Hey Mike,
Thanks for stopping by the site. I think adding a few CFLs during veg would only help. I know a lot of experienced growers who do this because their LED doesn’t necessarily cover their whole grow space.
In short, adding a few CFLs isn’t going to hurt and it might actually help so give it a go in my opinion.
Best,
Nate
Nate,
Got my 240w blackstars and the plants seem to love them. My eyes and head hate them though. Headaches after only a couple minutes of exposure. Any research regarding the effects of these bandwidths on the human eye? I emailed the manufacturer about any safety concerns, such as wearing sunglasses, and they didn’t respond at all to my email (zero customer service = terrible customer service). Any thoughts on the dangers/safety of these bws?
Thanks!
Hey Buster,
Glad to hear that your plants are enjoying the blackstars! Not glad to hear that your eyes are giving you trouble!
I’ve read a bunch of safety stuff on LEDs in general. The best practice is to wear sunglasses when you’re using them. I should probably put this on my site somewhere, but because I never use sunglasses when working with my lights I forgot to mention that on the site.
The funny thing is the first time I used an LED I remember thinking that normal light looked weird after being in my grow room. haha Now I’m used to it.
As a general rule of thumb, I never look directly at the diodes while they’re turned on.
Instead of contacting the manufacturer, contact Gotham Hydroponics, the distributor. They have great customer service!
In summary: use sunglasses and don’t look straight at the diodes while they’re turned on!
Best,
Nate
Hi Nate,
I have a 2×3 tent and was wondering if just ONE of the 240 w blackstars would be enough for an improvement from my current 250w MH/250w HPS setup? Whats your opinion? Would I see a difference with one of these compared to what I have??
Thanks so much in advance!!!!!!!
Hey Fishbone,
I don’t think you’d see an improvement at all. In fact, you’d probably see a decrease in overall yield if you switched from your current setup to a 240w Blackstar (which actually only draws 135 watts). Remember that LEDs aren’t here to dominate HPS’s in terms of yield. They are here as a more energy efficient option that can save you money on your electricity bills. They also produce a lot less heat so you don’t need some complex cooling system.
Basically they’re great for people who want an easy plug and play option, but don’t expect miracles. If you’re looking to cut back on energy, heating, and clutter (no ballasts) then I’d switch over. If you’re solely focused on yield and already have a good setup then I wouldn’t recommend switching.
Hope that helps.
Nate
I had to return the first Blackstar because the light changed from that distinctive pinkish-purplish led light to a clear, almost daylight light. The plants looked almost like they would in daylight.
I was sent a replacement light and it has two characteristics that I don’t know how to evaluate.
1. It will change from pinkish-purple to a more gold, daylight-like light. It will often cycle through those color changes a few times a day. Unlike the first light, it does seem to eventually get back to the pinkish-purplish color.
2. The light intensity sometimes seems noticably less than when I first turned the light on. Often when I check on the light its color and intensity seem exactly like they were when I first turned the light on.
The plants seem to be doing ok.
Do you think these things are anything to be concerned or is that just the way the light works.
Thanks for your help.
Hey George,
That seems off to me my friend. I’d try contacting the company and asking them what’s up.
Who did you buy the light from anyway? There are a bunch of random people selling these lights that don’t know what they’re talking about.
Best,
Nate