Bigger than a UFO.
Weak diodes.
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List Price: |
Today, I’ll be taking an in-depth look at the 500 watt Lighthouse Hydro/Blackstar. Keep in mind we’re talking about the “flowering” edition (as opposed to their high-output veg edition). This is the light with the 3w chips and 6 color bands. Well, now that we’ve got that out of the way; let’s get to the fun part: the review.
Actual Watts Drawn: A+
Most people that I discuss LED grow lights with complain about their high upfront costs. I can sympathize with that; they’re a lot more expensive than HID lights initially. The high initial cost of LEDs is the main reason I recommend the Blackstar/Lighthouse Hydro lights from Gotham Hydroponics. The Blackstar line gives you more watts for your dollar than any other LED light I’ve seen.
The actual draw of the 500w Blackstar is around 300 watts. A 300 watt LED has some real growing power my friends. If you can find me another LED grow light on the market that gives you 300 watts of power for around $550, I’d be shocked.
Warranty: B+
Gotham Hydroponics, the main distributor of the 500w Blackstar Grow Light, offers a one year warranty on the lights. This is a pretty standard warranty in the industry, but some of high-end companies are starting to offer three year warranties. Before I can give Gotham an A grade, they’ll have to up their warranty to match some of their high-end competitors (note that this might be a little harsh on my behalf because Gotham’s prices are a lot lower than the high-end competition. Maybe Gotham is keeping prices down by not offering long warranties).
Trial Period: B-
I wasn’t sure if the 500w Lighthouse Hydro had a trial period so I decided to call the folks at Gotham. I was told that they have a 15 day return policy. This is better than nothing, but again to get a perfect score they are going to have to do a bit better than that. Some of the pricier models out there are offering 60 day hassle-free returns. I personally would like to see something like this with the 500w Blackstar.
Customer Service: A-
I’ve already mentioned my customer service experience with Gotham Hydroponics in my 240W Lighthouse Hydro Blackstar Review. When I call them up on the phone (845) 504-5723
(845) 504-5723 I get great service. They usually pick up within two rings and I’m talking to a real person instead of a machine (it’s great!). They would get a perfect A+ but I’ve had less luck with their online contact form.
Heat Dissipation: A-
The 500w Blackstar comes with eight fans built in (see picture below). In my post about finding a good LED grow light, I talk about why heat dissipation is so important. The main reason is that it helps the lights last much longer.
One of the main advantages of LED lights over HIDs is that the LEDs don’t diffuse light. However, the lights themselves can still get got and so it’s important to have a good heat sink with metals fins that can be cooled off by fans. Lighthouse Hydro has a good system in place.
Spectral Wave Length: A–
The 500W Blackstar has six bands of light. These bands are at 380nm, 425nm, 450nm, 630nm, 660nm, and 730nm. They also mention having some 12,000k Cree chips. As you can see from the wave lengths emitted this light can grow a plant from start to finish. Unfortunately the company doesn’t disclose the ratio of red to blue. However, Gotham Hydro does mention that this light is great for flowering. This leads me to think that there might be a larger red to blue ratio than normal within the light.
Beam Angle: A
This 500 watt light from Lighthouse Hydro has quite a unique setup of beam angles. It has some that are at 60 degrees, some that are at 90, and still others that are at 120 degrees. The idea is that the smaller degree light angle is better for penetration while wider degrees give you more coverage. Both are important and so it makes sense that Lighthouse designed a light that tries to tackle both.
Buy the 500W Blackstar Cheap
You can buy this 500 watt light in several places (directly from Gotham Hydro, Ebay, or Amazon). I always prefer Amazon for security reasons and because you can read other people’s reviews.
Recommendation
If you are looking for an LED with more power, but you are on a budget, there is no better light out there than this 500w Lighthouse Hydro LED grow light. Don’t get me wrong; there are better lights out there, but not for the price.
It has been hard for me to find reviews for LED lights by someone who knows what they are talking about. I have a BS in Environmental Science so I understand photosynthesis and the nitrogen cycle and blah, blah, blah. I have also been doing indoor horticulture for a long time so I know a fair amount about lighting. I didn’t trust LED lights for a long time. I believed in the technology but it wasn’t until recently that I decided to give it a try. I currently have one 135 watt Blackstar ufo which uses 45 3 watt Cree chips and four 100 watt Blackstar
ufos which have 50 2 watt Cree chips. I am using them to supplement my 1000 watt HPS. I am still testing them out so they are all on one side of the HID light. It’s been only 20 days or so but plants under the LEDs are much healthier, have more crystals and essential oils, and are more mature. Heat continues to be an issue so I am seriously considering purchasing the 500 watt mentioned above and reducing my HID to 400 watts or none at all. Thank’s Nate! You the man!
Hey Jonny,
Thanks for your comments and a special thanks for stopping by the site. Glad you are starting to see some of the benefits of LEDs. I’ve seriously had LED grows where I accidentally left the plant in the vegetation stage for way too long (not recommended) and the plant got too tall and pushed up against my LEDs for months at a time. I didn’t want to hack my plant down and I couldn’t move the light up any further so I just left it like that. The plant did just fine. There were a few small burn marks where the plant touched the actual diodes, but overall heat was never an issue for the plant.
Anyways, switching to LED can be a great change. There is a bit of an adjustment period, but I think you won’t have much problems considering you are kind of phasing over from HIDs.
Stop by to chat it up whenever you have time.
Best,
Nate
I’m looking seriously at the Blackstar 500W LED after reading your review. The only problem I’ve run across is when I contacted them the representative stated that the actual power draw is something like 470w to 480w… not the 300w you stated in your review. Is this cause for concern for early burnout? Is running the LEDs at close to full capacity going to result in a short life for this light/. If so, then the price is not so attractive and I should probably be looking at a more expensive light to get the kind of life that everybody brags about when talking about LED lights. Can you give some direction here?
Hey Chuck,
Who did you talk with? Was it Gotham Hydro or someone else? I only ask because there are some imitators selling the light. There is no way a 500W LED light can be run at 480w and not burn out relatively quickly. It’s definitely concern for early burnout. The actual 500w blackstar you can purchase at Amazon from Gotham Hydro is not run at 480 watts.
Hope that helps,
Nate
I talked with Caleb at the Blackstar LED 800 # (800-607-2516). Not sure if this is the Gotham Hydro site or not. Standard mail address is Blackstarled.com, PO Box 1522, Graeagle,CA 96103. Is this the manufacturer and Gotham a distributer?
Thanks for your help. It’s hard to sort through all the claims and hype out there and I really appreciate the info you provide.
Hey Chuck,
That’s not Gotham Hydro. I’m not really sure about who the owner of that BlackstarLED.com website is, but the site looks outdated to me (it says it was last updated in 2007). I personally enjoy purchasing items through Amazon because of all the protection provided by Amazon. Gotham Hydro sells their Blackstars through Amazon. You can go here to see their 500W Blackstar.
Anyways, you got me curious so I called the company (blackstarled.com). They are a distributor of the lights (they don’t manufacture them). I talked with Caleb and he told me the 500 watt runs at 460 watts, but I don’t think he knows. I’m not being mean here, the guy is selling a lot of different lights so it can be hard to keep track of them all. I just think he’s mistaken. I’ve read from several people that have these lights that the actual watt draw is closer to 300.
Okay, so I called up Gotham Hydro just to be sure. The actual watt draw is 315 on the 500w Blackstar. Case closed. haha
Best,
Nate
Thanks again! You really did a lot of extra research on this one. I don’t think I’ve had such personalized service from a forum like this before. Great job!
thanks for the review info,any idea how loud the fans are?
Hey Kyle,
I’m working on a way to measure this objectively. I need to get a donate button so I can start buying some expensive testing devices.
haha,
Nate
Thanks for the good info on this site!
This light’s fans are pretty darn quiet. There are 8 fans that look like standard computer fans that pull air in to the top, and then it goes out the sides of the unit, which is great, because you can put it pretty close to a ceiling if need be because the warm air is going out the sides, and not the top. The unit itself is completely cool to the touch on top, and the heat underneath is minimal. Plants can get within probably 3-4 inches with no long term heat problems.
Also, the power draw is (according to my load tester):
281-285 Watts
2.2-2.5 Amps
Seems to be a really great light. It’s comparable to a 600-800 W HID light, I would guess, in terms of productivity. By comparison, my 600 W HPS/MH on a electronic ballast is 700+ Watts, and the fan to keep it cool draws another 100W.
Cost-wise, it’s significantly less than the HPS/MH setup in both up-front and ongoing costs, is much easier to set up, and much safer (heat-wise).
I’m completely happy with this light, and I’m sure other LED lights are similar. I’m done with HID lights for good! There’s really no comparison between the old lights and LED’s.
Hey Joe,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and information.
Hope to see you around.
Nate
Great site! Can you please offer some advice as to which you feel would be more effective for full flowering of a 3ft x 4ft space: one Blackstar 500watt or two of the Blackstar 240watts? Thanks for your wisdom.
Hey Buster,
Thanks for the kind remarks. That’s a tough question because 3X4 is a bit of a weird shape. I honestly think you’d be fine with either option. I’d personally go with two 240 watt blackstars because I like the flexibility (you can move them around to where you want).
Let us know what you decide,
Nate
Hi
Great site and thank for the views. I’m really frustrated with all the sites out there claiming their lights are the best in the universe and am struggling to decide on which ones to buy. I like the look of supergrowled.com and was wondering if you have done or are planning on reviewing them?
Thanks
Hey Barak,
I haven’t looked at supergrowled.com yet. You can look at my recommendations page for my personal favorites. I’ve got more of these lights than I know what to do with so hopefully some of my reviews help.
Best,
Nate