Spider Farmer Quantum Board vs HLG 550 V2 Quantum Board Reviews
Quantum LED boards started with HLG, but now several budget brands have started offering quantum boards with Samsung chips and Meanwell drivers.One of the best is Spider Farmer and their SF line of lights.They basically give you what HLG gives you, but at a fraction of the cost. But what, exactly, do you sacrifice when you go with Spider Farmer quantum board LED grow lights over HLG?
Spider Farmer SF 1000
Modern LED indoor grow lights are so efficient that you can use them to replace older, higher wattage LEDs from just a few years back. This quantum styled LED has outperformed expensive LED which consumes TWICE the power.
More polished than many competitors. No need to assemble. The SF-1000's aluminum board is thick and sturdy. But it gets hot to the touch, so be careful. The rubbery coating reduces risk from splashes. The driver is solidly fixed in place, resulting a solid unit.
Some low-end LEDs only offer a single diode color. But Spider Farmer uses a custom blend, optimized for plants. A nice broad spectrum, rather than a few isolated bands. Overall, the light looks fairly white. So it's easy on the eyes. And it's good for accurately monitoring plant health.
PRODUCT SPECS:
• Diodes: SAMSUNG LED LM301B
• Driver: Mean Well
• Power Draw: 100 Watts
• Efficacy: 2.7 umol/J
• Spectrum: 3000K, 5000K, 660nm, 760nm
• Coverage: 3 ft x 3 ft Vege / 2 ft x 2 ft Bloom
• Distance: 12" - 24" from Plant Canopy
APPLICATION: This is a good LED for a 3 ft x 3 ft area for vege growth or 2 ft x 2 ft area with fruiting plants. It only draws 100 watts, but that's enough power to create lots of photons, especially with reflective side walls.
UPGRADE TIME: People often replace their older fluorescent plant lighting systems with LEDs because they use much less power and save in energy costs. This LED is so much more efficient that many other models that it could even replace older LED systems!
Disadvantages
As mentioned above, the Spider Farmer fixtures do not have any internal fans to help dissipate heat. While they generate less than other lights, the lack of fans means they actually run fairly hot. An oscillating fan should be enough to deal with the heat generated, though.
Apart from the heat, the only real disadvantage is the fact that Spider Farmer is a Chinese brand.Yes, I know Spider Farmer does not put a “w” behind the 1000, so they are not outright saying that their light is a 1000 watt light. They even make a point to mention this in their Amazon listing, calling other brands’ lights “fake 1000w lights”.
But they know full-well that calling the light a SF 1000 means people will assume it is a 1000w light.
HLG 550 V2
The biggest advantage of the Horticulture Lighting Group fixtures are the quality components. Chief among them are the Samsung and Osram LEDs and the Meanwell drivers.
These high quality components are extremely efficient, delivering a high output, while consuming less power and generating less heat than almost every other light on the market.
The other major advantage of HLG fixtures is the form factor. The large panel makes for a more even light distribution.
The Horticulture Lighting Group HLG 550 V2 RSpec LED Grow Light and all other HLG panels, use high quality components to give you one of the most efficient grow lights on the market period.
The high quality Samsung and Osram diodes, deliver huge output, while consuming less power and generating less heat. Your costs go way down and your yields go up.
The large fixtures with diodes spread out over the entire surface ensure a more even coverage and deeper penetration, since the light does not lose nearly as much of its intensity by the time it hits the canopy. Again, yields increase, especially around the outside of the coverage area.
The all-white color spectrum is great for all stages of growing and the addition of deep red in the RSpec fixtures gives a huge boost to flowering. This also results in bigger and higher quality yields.
The internet is littered with grow reports using these lights and the results speak for themselves. Growers are getting incredible yields. For that reason, it should come as no surprise that HLG quantum board lights earned a Grow Light Info rating of 4.8 out of 5.
Disadvantages
The biggest disadvantage is the company themselves. Horticulture Lighting Group make great lights and most likely, you will be happy with yours. But if you get a bad one, you’re in for some frustration (note: it sounds like they are working hard on improving their customer service – see the email they sent me in response to this review below).
HLG does not do good job with customer service. Yes, they will get you a replacement light, if you end up with a fixture that doesn’t work, but it will take longer than it should and the process will be much more painful that it should be.
Anyway, if you don’t mind sacrificing some peace of mind and you can accept that you may get a bad light and you may deal with some frustration getting that remedied, then HLG lights are great.
And let’s face it: while they have quality control and customer service issues, they still do both of those things far better than most Chinese brands. At least HLG lights perform as advertised.
In general, both of them have their own advantages and disadvantages. It is depends on your own needs to decide which one is more suitable for yourself. Hope this help you a lot!
