Best Quantum Board LED:HLG Quantum Board LED Grow Light Review

HORTICULTURAL LIGHTING GROUP HLG 550 V2 

Horticulture Lighting Group 550 V2 

Uses 480 watts — save over 50% on your electric bill over HID lights

Dimmable to 240 watts — save even more when you don’t need the full output

Incredible output — PPF of 1257 μmol/s is an amazing output for only 480 watts of power consumption

Equivalent to a 1000 watt HID system — but costs far less to operate and generates far less heat, too

Perfect spectrum for plants — 3500K white light plus 660 nm deep red

4.5 by 4.5 foot core coverage — with an even light spread, due to the diodes being spread out over the large fixture

QB-288 quantum boards — with Samsung LM301B 3500K white and Osram top-bin 660 nm deep red diodes

Meanwell driver — best driver on the market, dimmable to 50% intensity

2.6 μmol/joule (and 168 Lm/W) — one of the most efficient lights on the market

Daisy chain — connect several lights together and run them from a single outlet

3 year warranty — from the manufacturer

Build

The HLG 550 V2 is Horticulture Lighting Group’s flagship LED grow light. It is designed to be used in grows to require high-intensity lighting. The fixture measures 26” x 20” x 3” and weighs 18 lbs. A Mean Well HLG-480H-C2100A driver sits on top of the light and powers the Quantum Boards on the bottom of the fixture. The rest of the unit is a thick aluminum heatsink. The power cord and plug is available in 120V and 240V US. Plugs are also available for 220V UK, European, or Australian outlets.

The HLG 550 V2 is designed to replace a 1000W Single-Ended MH/HPS grow light.

Besides the change from less efficient LM561C to highly efficient LM301B diodes, the other difference between the V1 and V2 fixture is the lower power draw. The V2 draws around 480W at the wall, as opposed to the V1 which drew about 510 watts at the wall. That's about 6% fewer watts, with about 2% higher light output. Or another way to look at this is that there is about a 9% increase in PAR efficacy.

Spectrum

The Samsung LM301B LEDs emit a full-spectrum white light with a color temperature of 3500K. That is a warm white (i.e. containing a lot of red-spectrum light) that is great for flowering, but also works well for vegging.

The additional Osram LEDs add a 660 nm deep red light that give plants a huge boost during the bloom stage. It results in bigger and more potent yields.

The light emitted by the HLG 550 V2 RSpec is ideal for full cycle plant growth and is especially powerful for flowering.

When it comes to HLG lights with a spectrum consisting only of 3000K or 4000K white light (which is most of their other fixtures), you lose that extra flowering boost from the deep red light.

The 3000K spectrum is a bit warmer (more reddish) than the 3500K white light in the RSpec, so it is also great for flowering, but you do miss that additional deep red light. The 4000K spectrum works well for flowering, too, but not as well as the RSpec or the 3000K.

4000K is better for vegging though. For that reason, you want to go with the 4000K spectrum if you are vegging only. If you are growing full cycle or flowering only, the RSpec spectrum is the best, with the 3000K spectrum being a close second.

None of the HLG lights emit a significant amount of UV or IR light.

If you want an LED grow light that provides ultraviolet or infrared wavelengths, try the Phlizon series. That said, I usually prefer to just add some fluorescent bulbs for additional UV light, since it only really makes a difference during the last few weeks of flowering. And even that is disputed.

It is a 1000 WATT MH/HPS Replacement

HLG g550 v2 is considered to be the HLG LED grow light because it’s designed to be using groves requiring high-intensity lighting. Thus, making this light a replacement of a 1000 watt single ended metal halide or HPS grow light.

V2 has a lower power draw than V1 because it draws around 480 watts at the wall while V1 threw about 510 watts at the wall that’s about 6 percent fewer watts with about 2 percent higher light output. In short, there’s about a 9% increase in power efficacy.

It has 1, 152 TOP BIN SAMSUNG LM 301B Chips 

Did you know that the HLG 550 V2 has 1152 Samsung LM 301 B diodes across the entire fixture? Of course yes! Because the fixture’s quantum board are made by Samsung and each contained 288 diodes and these diodes are considered to be top flux bin and top voltage bin.

It has a PAR EFFICACY of 2.5 UMOL/J

HLG 550 V2 has a power efficacy that is staggering to 2.5 microns per Joule. This is an amazing feature! Why? Because anything that’s above 2.0 micromoles per Joule is considered efficient and mostly a standard for LED grow lights nowadays. Thus, 2.5 micromoles per Joule is really going to the next level of the white diode technology today.

It has a PPF of 1, 178 UMOL/S

To make you feel secure, the PPF output of this light was measured by a reliable and competent third-party laboratory to be around at 1178 micromoles per Joule. You can actually check the link to see it for yourself by reading the Independent Lab test report we included there. Meanwhile, if you want to know the lumen output of this light it has an 80, 833 LUMENS and it’s rated for 110 to 240 volts as it draws about 480 watts at the wall. 

Coverage Area And Hanging Height

The vegetative footprint for this light is a 6’ x 6’ area. The flower footprint is recommended for up to a 4.5’ x 4.5’ area. We would say this fixture does a solid 4’ x 4’, but may be used in up to a 5’ x 5’ space.

The hanging distance for veg is about 36”. Or you might consider hanging it closer and dimming down the light to 50% intensity. The flower hanging height is recommended at around 24”. This is the best distance for the highest intensity while maximizing uniformity.

PAR

We tested the PPFD of this fixture in a 4'x4' Grow Tent. As always, keep in mind that the reflective nature of the tent could increase PAR readings everywhere - especially in the corners and edges. Lets see those readings now.