COB LED Grow Light Better Than Quantum Boards?

COB LED GROW LIGHTS

In 2016, there was a report conducted detailing the global LED industry demand and supply. The two most popular COB LED manufacturers on the market today are Cree, and Citizen as demonstrated by their share of the total revenue. After these, Sharp and Bridgelux were joint third.

Cree's most popular models are the CXB3070 and the CXB3590 with the CXB3590 cob led grow light being the best lighting option. The CXB3070 is slightly cheaper but not as effective at growing your plants.

During our research, the most active members of the COB LED communities tended not to speak highly of Cree chips. It's not so much that they don't work, but you can buy other chips for cheaper which work at least as well, if not better.

One user we spoke to suggested Cree were 30%-50% more expensive than similar brands on the market, and after testing the equivalent Citizen and Bridgelux models they found Cree to be less light intensive.

Depending on the size of your grow room or grow tent, reflectors can be used to focus the light in the direction you'd like. COB LEDs have a shining angle of approximately 120° but the reflectors narrow this to around 90° which can make a big difference in larger growing areas.

A lot of the main LED grow lights manufacturers create tools so you can easily compare between their products to suit your needs. As several manufacturers do this, you can then compare between the brands, too.

Here's Cree's tool

Here's Bridgelux's tool

Here's Citiled's tool

This gives you the opportunity to see which COB LED grow light will work best under the conditions you plan on using them. Depending on what your plants deem optimal.

Advantages Of COB LED Chips

These are the biggest advantages of COB LEDs for growing:

• Higher light density: many small diodes in a tight space makes for a much higher light density, meaning you need less space to produce more light
• Deeper canopy penetration: since COBs function as one large LED chip (up to 120w) they are much more powerful than a single diode and penetrate far beneath the canopy
• Great spectrum for plants: COBs are available in a number of colors, but the most common for growing are warm white and cool white; many fixtures combine the two for a great plant light spectrum
• Great spectrum for humans: the white light means your plants look basically the same as they would under sunlight; no more pinkish or purplish glow that hides issues until its too late
• Better light spread: since COBs are usually placed fairly far apart on large fixtures, they cover the plants below more evenly than a smaller light fixture that has to spread out from a central point
• Efficiency: COBs give you more power per input watt and also product less heat

QUANTUM BOARDS

Quantum boards LEDs are even newer than COB LEDs and were designed by the Horticulture Lighting Group who gave them their slick name.

The diodes are placed in parallel lines and work with high-powered constant current drivers. There are two types on the market called the QB304 and the QB288, the number references the amount of diodes in the quantum board.

The diodes are made by Samsung, the models are LM561C. These are really efficient with efficacy at around 200 lumens/watt. Forward voltage is ~2.7-2.8V and 65mA.

Are quantum boards better than COB LEDs? Well, they're essentially the next stage in COB development. They work on the same principle but are in contact over a larger area, making them one really big COB.

With Quantum Boards you won't have to worry about overheating as much, they don't need active cooling on their heat sinks. Their light production is distributed more evenly over the area of around 1'. Thus, fewer hotspots but maximum illumination. Your plants will grow happier. COBs typically have an efficacy of approximately 150 lumens/watt, whereas quantum boards are reaching about 180 lumens/watt.

If you want to build quantum boards yourself, know it's trickier and the cost is still relatively expensive. You could purchase several decent COBs for the same price which may well be a valuable consideration.

They're still in their infancy but quantum boards look like a promising next step in lighting technology.

Timber LED Review

Timber is a US brand that manufactures their lights in southern California. As a result, they are priced a bit higher than Chinese brands. But only a bit, which makes them a great value.

All of their fixtures are based on the single COB light, which they call Daisy. For that reason, this review will focus on the single Daisy. Everything except for specific numbers like coverage area, output, wattage, etc. is the same for all fixtures. And those specific numbers can be found in the table above.

Advantages Of Timber COB led grow lights

The primary advantages of the Timber LED COB fixtures are the great color spectrum, the deep canopy penetration and the flexibility. If you get the single, triple or quintuple daisy kits, you can hang them in any configuration you like.

Or get one of the larger fixtures, where the Daisies are already arranged so as to provide the most even coverage.

Flexibility

Let's begin this review with perhaps the greatest strength of the Timber lights: their flexibility. It is the greatest, because the other strengths are not unique to Timber.

The great spectrum is something that all white light fixtures (i.e. any COBs or quantum boards) share. The deep penetration is shared by all COBs.

But only fixtures made up of multiple single COB lights have the same kind of flexibility. That leaves very few. The primary competitor that offers something similar is Rapid LED. We'll do a direct comparison of Rapid and Timber further down in this review.

The most flexible options are obviously the kits that include the drivers and Daisy lights, but no frames. With these, you hang the lights on their own (ratchet hangers are included) or you can mount them to a DIY frame made from wood, metal or PVC.

The complete fixtures are a bit less flexible, since they have the individual Daisies affixed in place, but they ensure that you maximize the full potential, by having them mounted with the ideal amount of spacing between them.