ECO Farm 120W Samsung LM561C Quantum Board VS HortiOne 130W LED Grow Light

 If you’re in the indoor grow industry, there is a high chance that you’ve heard of “Quantum Board LED Grow Light”. Quantum Board LED grow lights have continued to grow in popularity since the Horticultural Lighting Group first introduced them in the market.

What is a Quantum Board Led Grow Light?

Quantum board grow lights are the next step above chip on a board (COB) LED grow lights. The LEDs are connected to a carefully wired board. The quantum board may be sold as just a circuit board. In these cases, you combine it with a pin heat sink or conventional extruded aluminum heat sink.

The LED bulbs themselves share the same advantages as other LED lights such as a long life expectancy and energy efficiency. Quantum board LEDs are as controllable as other LEDs. For example, a 300-watt system can typically be dimmed down to 120 watts in the early stages of growth. A quantum grow light that matches a 150 watt CFL in light output uses around 80 watts while covering a roughly two-foot by two-foot growing area.

Quantum grow lights that cover a 6 foot by 6-foot area for vegetation growth may only provide enough light for a 4.5 by 4.5 blooming crop. But it will consume only 350 to 500 watts of power while matching the light output of a rough 1000 watt bulb.

The best quantum board-led grow lights are properly sized for the growing area. Know that this may mean setting up several grow lights to get full coverage.

The Benefits of Quantum Board Led Grow Lights

Chip on a board LED reduces the loss of power through circuit boards sending power to each LED in a grow light array. Quantum boards are even more energy-efficient. This dramatically reduces their power consumption. This can also reduce the waste heat generated by the grow light.

A side benefit of the large and often exposed board has excellent ventilation, since the large flat board is exposed to the air. It may not need fans to keep it cool. The quantum grow board can be combined with a large, board-like heat sink. In this case, the heat created by the grow light array is continually pulled away from the board.

That’s why the best quantum board-led grow lights never cause your grow tent to overheat. On the other hand, you may want ventilation to minimize smells or manage the humidity inside the grow tent. Yet the lack of fans may make the growing operation nearly silent.

The standard lightweight board is perfect for do-it-yourself projects. Its design may allow you to install it in tighter spaces than the standard LED grow light with a large plastic protective shell. You may be able to stick it to the top of a grow tent or the top of your closet to provide light to the plants underneath. Now you don’t have to deal with a hanging kit. Note that this approach means you can’t raise and lower the grow light as the plants grow.

Quantum grow lights are typically broad-spectrum light similar to white LED or HID bulbs. This includes the red light that growing plants need. Whether or not you can put out predominately red or blue light depends on the quantum board design.

ECO Farm 120W Samsung LM561C Quantum Board

Features:

The ECO Farm grow light’s each board of the full-spectrum LED growth board uses Samsung LM561C LED chips. Its PPF per joule is 2.5 umol/J. Its power is 120 watts, however, it is so energy efficient that it uses half of the power. It can accept AC power from 100 to 240 volts. Our growth light bar provides everything that plants need, which is very suitable for all kinds of indoor plants, vegetables, and flowers at all growth stages, and is especially helpful for plants.
Independent and detachable power supply design helps you reduce the cost of repairing led plant lights.
It emits only half of the heat. The shell of the long light board is made of aluminum, which has excellent heat dissipation, does not require a cooling fan, and runs quietly. You can use it in a well-ventilated planting tent, but the planting light itself does not require an additional noisy fan.

HortiOne 130W LED Grow Light

Features:

The HortiOne 368 LED lamp is a plant light for indoor growth. It is designed to provide a cost-effective, innovative solution for indoor plant growing. Thanks to the full broadband light spectrum of this lamp, the HortiOne 368 is suitable for all plants in all stages of development, from seeds or cuttings through growth and flowering to fruit or seed production. The construction of the HortiOne 368 is unique: mixed mid- and high-power LED technology ensures good results in the bloom. The neutral white light reflects the light of the sun in the best possible way and ensures that the plants grow naturally. In the LEDs used, the Hyper-Red (660nm) and Far-Red (760nm) light sources have a 1:10 ratio to each other.

How Long do LED Boards Last?

The LEDs on full-spectrum boards are rated to last 100,000 hours and will operate at 80% efficiency after 4 years. The rated life is over 22 years at 12/12 or 11 years running non-stop.

High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) lights in comparison are rated for 24,000 hours, meaning you would have to replace bulbs 4x more frequently.

Aside from the manufacturer's advertised lifespan, it is important to factor in efficiency drop over time. Someone documents the results of a year-long study of efficiency drop of PCB LEDs (Quantum Boards) and so-called COB lights. He found an average efficiency drop of 5% per year. Therefore, it is estimated the lights will reach 80% efficiency after 4 years. This is the recommended time to replace your lights or add supplemental lighting.

How to Use LED Boards to Grow Cannabis

Seedling / Clones
PCBs are extremely powerful, even at 50% power. I use fluorescent lights in my propagation room because I do not have enough height to run QB’s. Distance from plants should be 5’+

Vegetative Growth
During Veg your goal should be to slowly acclimatize your plants up to 100% power. Start at 4′ above the canopy and slowly lower the board down to 28″ — 36″ above the canopy. During veg, light burn will display with the sides of the leaves curling, or what I see most commonly is the leaves taking on a 3D shape.

Flowering
For flowers, you can slowly start to bring the board down to 18″ above the canopy. Light burn is easy to spot during flowering as the pistils will look brown and scorched. You may also get LED bleaching though I have never actually seen this myself. I have had the panel within 15″ of the canopy but any closer than that and you are asking for the light burn.

Temperature
The ideal spectrum for flowering is 3000k or 3500k. Always get the configuration with the additional red strip (labeled as 660NM on Alibaba). This helps big time for flowering.

Dimming
The Meanwell driver typically comes with a built-in dimmer. Use a small Phillips head to adjust the brightness. There is no gauge so you will have to get a feel for it. Go from max to min to get an idea of the range.

Eye Protection
Sunglasses are a must. Full Spectrum LED boards are incredibly powerful and will damage your eyes. Don’t play around. Have extra sunglasses for anyone you show the plants too.

Driver Placement
If you are growing in a plywood grow box I recommend affixing the driver to the ceiling. With grow tents, the best spot for the driver is typically on top of the heatsink. Make sure you have adequate ventilation if placing on the heatsink. The Meanwell driver should never be too hot to touch.

For grow rooms I like to mount two 2×4’s or 2×3’s about 8″ apart. This allows you to securely affix the Meanwell driver to the ceiling while allowing for air movement all around the driver. Hanging hooks for the lights can easily be screwed into the wood.

Wiring Guide
Meijiu and Kingbrite have improved the wiring guides they include with their kits but if you have any trouble user Sanez has a detailed wiring guide for the 240W light on the grasscity forums. There is no soldering required, the wire connectors provided are tightened with a screwdriver

Build Your Own
LED Gardener is an incredibly useful resource for those that want to build their own LED boards by buying individual parts (i.e. driver, LED Panels, heatsink). He has a number of DIY Guides and a handy driver selector. This is more advanced and requires some electrical experience, be safe.

Conclusion

Purchasing a quantum board grow light is a great investment and it’s always hard to pick the best, especially if you are new in gardening and have a lot to learn about it and we hope that this article helped you at least a little bit.