I have 20kW garden need to replace the 1000w MH/HPS with something that uses less $ and produces more cannabinoids. I’m looking at Gavita, Grandmaster, Fluence, AC Infinity, etc…
Do you have real world experience with these lighting brands? Good or bad feedback? Longevity and production are most important in my case.
I appreciate your input, thanks!
Switched out Gavita HPS & CMH lights for Gavita LEDs. First room was done with Gativa CT 1930e models, had to re-wire power plugs to match them, communication lines same. after that room rest were swapped with Gavita CT 2000e, light fixture is balance (unlike 1930e, also slightly lighter) and uses same power plug as the old Gavita HPSs used.
Been over a year now, not a single fixture has had an issue yet.
2026 The Official Grow Pros Solutions Catalog.pdf (15.6 MB)
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We can get you looped in with our financing partners if needed as well for licensed facilities.
The industry is definitely moving toward high-efficiency bars with a heavy emphasis on the red spectrum for the flowering phase. Most large-scale facilities are looking for fixtures that offer at least 2.8 µmol/J to keep operating costs down. It’s also becoming standard to have integrated 0-10V dimming so the lights can sync with the environmental controllers for sunrise/sunset simulation.
^^^ yes yes and yes. can confirm. we are adding lights and went with the arize L2000 3-bar fixtures. we’re in a greenhouse, so not totally indoor, but I don’t think that makes any difference in this context.
I bought a few 4x4 LED fixtures and ran them side by side against a pair of 1000w DE MH lights for starting >1k seeds indoors. The initial feedback I can give is: lower heat, lower wattage, same or better growth… internode gaps seems shorter. Happy overall, will report back on fine tuning.
I don’t run a commercial setup that big, but from what I’ve seen a lot of people are moving away from HPS now because of heat and electricity costs.
Gavita and Fluence seem to have the best reputation for reliability in large rooms, especially if longevity matters more than saving a few bucks upfront. Grandmaster looks impressive too for efficiency and canopy penetration. AC Infinity is nice for smaller grows but I rarely hear commercial guys using them at large scale.
One thing I noticed with LEDs is that environmental control becomes even more important compared to HPS. Some people switch and then struggle because temps and humidity behave completely differently.
Curious to see what you finally choose for a 20kW garden 
The energy the hps puts out warms surfaces, which led doesn’t. That heat builds up in any mass the light hits, which is great when it is cold outside. A new place I started working has big greenhouses with hps set up by the old owners. We’re going to use led, but I think I want to keep some of the hps lights as heaters.
I’ve been happy with my grow medic led lights at home. But I just looked up the price again this week and it is almost twice what I paid a couple years ago. Maybe it’s tariffs
there are rebate programs available in some places to switch over to LEDs as well
GrowGeneration will handle it for you too, if you’re eligible
Not trying to plug specific brands, but will advise on decisions as they happen. I ran 2 weeks of veg 50% under LED and 50% under HID (MH). I have some feedback to give, but I want to run more lights and more starts. Legitimately 50% less wattage and within 10% of same PAR at center. Better throw/coverage from the LEDs. Plants have the stadium effect arround the HID, but kept a nice flat canopy under the LED. LED gets much closer without burning, whereas the HID taco’d a few under the center - even at fair distance. On hot days, I cannot run the HID indoors, or I back the wattage down from 1K to 600w, which is an undesirable manual adjustment… so overall, the LEDs having wifi app control, sunrise/sunset, dimmable wattage from 0-100%, all the bonus features… LEDs are the winner. However, cost per unit is still high, replacement is not something I would finance so this will take some time to do right. It seems, as per usual, quality comes with a price, regardless of manufacturer origin! I appreciate all of the input and will apply the knowledge provided, especially the GRWG rebates - thanks again!
I have a bulk Qty of LED lights for sale as we shut down our indoor grow!
