Horticulture Lighting Group HLG 100 V2 4000K Quantum Board LED Grow Easily Veg & Bloom | Version 2 Highly Efficient Upgraded Samsung LM301B LEDs

As described

I'm probably a little different from most reviewers here. I grow about 1,000 garden starts from seed every year for a fairly considerable subarctic garden. I learned many years ago that high quality indoor lighting produces superior garden starts. I also occasionally use my lights for full cycle growth of peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce in the winter. I have a pair of DIY COB LED lights, based on Citizen CLU048-1212 COB's, that I currently use in my 4x4 grow tent. They have been great performers and I absolutely love the light and energy efficiency you get from LED's. I decided I finally wanted to replace my last 8-bulb T5 setup that I used on my overflow garden table. I was interested in trying the newer QB style LED's as they seem to be the latest rage. I first considered another Chinese made brand of QB's. Then, COVID hit, everyone on earth got interested in gardening and the cost of those went through the roof. I looked into alternatives and boy am I glad I did! I found this little gem, made right here in America, and it hit my three main requirements. Those were brand name power supply (Meanwell), real Samsung LED's and it should be fairly well reviewed. Add two of them to cart. Buy. I set these up over my overflow table and they were immediately put into production. I knew my way around the sheer power of LED's, so I was sure to pull out the lumen meter on my phone to get lighting where I wanted it. I generally aim for about 20-25K lumens at the plant's tips, which is great for high quality garden starts. This is roughly 2-3 times the power you can get from T5's directly under the bulbs. I could easily cover a 2x6 table with two of these lights, which increased my indoor production capacity by almost 50% compared to the T5 light that could barely do 2x4. No need to compare this light to T5 CFL lights, these handily beat it. Let's get to brass tax. These QB's are definitely on par with COB's, gobs of light intensity come from them. But, in my opinion, the 90 watt QB boards are a little less powerful than a couple of COB's running at 50 watts each. That's my honest assessment from someone who uses (and likes) both. That said, they use less power (a win) and can still pump out some serious, high quality growing light. Cost-wise at the time of my purchase, these are similar to DIY COB lighting rigs for similar coverage area, but are a much better value than commercial COB based systems. Much more plug and play focused than DIY COB's, too. They can handle seedlings and more mature garden starts (vegetative) very well, but still have the power to do full cycle just like COB's. They are cool enough that I had no major concerns about using fabric nearby to try and keep the cats out of the garden starts. The power supply and light gets pretty warm to the touch, but actual heat generation is quite low. We grow in a living space, literally our office, so heat dissipation is pretty important. There were a couple things I didn't like, but they are fairly minor. I wish they had used a power supply that used a replaceable C-style power cord. I would have preferred to replace my light's cords with 15 footers so I can easily get them up and down in the grow area. (You might have to buy power cord extensions to rig your application.) Also, I don't know, but I don't think this form factor (rows of LED's on an aluminum heat sink) is the best it can be. This light is fairly utilitarian in appearance and the hanging mechanism is somewhat crude. To be fair, I'd say the same of my DIY COB's which also excel in function over form. You can further judge based on the plants in the pictures and the resulting garden. Admittedly, all of these were germinated and grown to initial transplant size under COB's, but spent further weeks under these HLG-100's. Short, compact, well colored, healthy and ready to turn into magnificent outdoor plants. I've been thrilled with this as a T5 replacement and like them nearly as much as my COB's.

Its seems brighter than my 315 cmh. Using it as a vegg light in a 5x5 space. The heatsink on the light itself gets pretty hot, but the light doesn't add much heat to the space. Nothing close to what the cmh light did. Its a little pricey though. Only reason I got this light it because I am running out of usable watts in my house and that like is 100+ watts less to run than my 315 cmh.

I've read reviews on this LED Light complaining about heat!! If I would have gone just by those reviews (aka: complaints), I would have passed on ordering this LED Light!! Well, I decided to try it based on visual observation. I am thrown completely off as to why some people say this light produces too much heat? Compared to my big green 3 fan LED Light, this LED light is unbelievably cool. My big green LED produced so much heat, even though I kept the door closed, my air conditioner stayed on. Since this excessive heat is a problem for us (for anyone really) I had to find a solution. This LED Light is surprisingly cool. It has no fans to dissipate heat because it doesn't produce enough heat to make it necessary!! Such little heat is produced, I've decided this is going to be my big money saving solution and plan to order several more to fully compliment my small grow needs. With this solving my excessive heat issues from older units, heat problems simply just go away!! PROs: Very bright like sunlight! Not very heavy and easy to put in place. Small footprint and excellent performance. All LEDs are lit and working. The difference between my old big green, 3 fan heat monster and this, is like night and day!! Cons: Since there's so little heat, I'd like a bigger unit (longer & wider) for more coverage for the money!! Requires careful handle so as to not damage the power connector which is exposed and vulnerable. This review is based on short term use. Long term use report will come with time, of course! Once in place, these only need to be moved up or down as you may require!! Three of these LED Lights should cover a 5' by 5' area or larger if placed correctly. I plan on using two of these for a 2' x 4' area resting assured two will be more than enough. From what I am able to tell, the 4000K spectrum are best to promote vegetative growth and the 3000K will promote better flowering. Given this information, I would imagine deploying one of each, for my needs, should take care of a full cycle. If I never post a follow-up due to failed performance or disappointing results of any kind, you can be sure it is still up and running. The first day of setup was on 4/20/19. I hope this helps with any concerns you might have.

This light is he truth. I got the 100 V2 4000k and when i tell you this light is the closest brightness to sunlight you can get, i lit it up in my room just for testing, and the shadow of the light literally looks like sunlight. I have a maxisun regular 600W LED light and another1000w led light for around the same price and i cant contemplate how i dont have two of these😩 This light is a life changer for plants. I already see my plants reaching upward towards the light. Not in a leggy way, just as if they really wanna soo up some of that bright goodness lol I will say thought beware of placing the driver on the light. I have this installed in a closet turned grow closet and the heat from this light alone is enough to set the temp in the 90’s. I have the maxisun 600w inside the closet too and it gets no where near as hot as this light does. Its 75 degrees f in the house, but that light gets hot enough to increase the temp dramatically if your plant is not heat tolerant. I personally think the driver is the culprit but i can be horribly wrong. However with that kind of heat generation it is very dangerous to leave the driver on the light as this can degrade the driver or cause the driver to swell or explode from the heat over time, especially if you live in he south where the summers can be intense. Im gonna have to consider some serious ventilation to offset the heat or it can seriously cause damage to the plants. However even with heat, the light is so excellent i would still get two or three more, i will just have to seriously consider air circulation😅