Atreum HYDRA-1000 Quantum LED Grow Light
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Atreum HYDRA-1000
(LED Grow Light)
Product Review

Although Atreum Lighting is a lesser known company, their HYDRA-1000 is a serious contender in the LED grow light market. It's a competitively priced top-of-the-line performer. Compared to other sellers like Mars Hydro, ViparSpectra and Spider Farmer, Atreum has managed to take the crown in the 100W quantum style LED board category.

The HYDRA-1000 offers everything that the SF-1000 had been offering and more. The efficiency is just as good or even better. The total light output is notably higher. The removable driver block is designed better, with lots of cabling. The diode configuration is similar. But the HYDRA-1000 has been selling for $10 less!

PRODUCT SPECS:
• Diodes: SAMSUNG LED LM301B
• Driver: Mean Well XLG-100-H-AB
• Daisy Chain Dimmer Box
• Power Draw: 100W (111W actual)
• PPE (400-700nm): 2.68 umol/J (230V)
• Photon Efficacy (350-1000nm): 2.80 umol/J (230V)
• Total PPF (400-700nm): 297 umol/s (230V)
• Photon Flux (350-1000nm): 311 umol/s (230V)
• Spectrum: 3000K, 5000K, 660nm, 730nm
• Coverage: 3 ft x 3 ft Veg / 2 ft x 2 ft Bloom
• Distance: 12" - 24" from Plant Canopy

Spectrum Test Report

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Atreum HYDRA-1000 LED Samsung Diodes Full Spectrum Light
The Atreum HYDRA-1000 is built with full spectrum Samsung LED Diodes.


EFFICIENCY: Their 3rd-party test report shows a PPE level that exceeds Spider Farmer's latest revision of the SF-1000. Something to note: Atreum's tests were ran at 230V rather than the more traditional 120V. Running these LEDs at the higher voltage yields a slight bump in efficacy. But when I took my own PPFD spot readings and compared them to the SF-1000 (2021), I found that the HYDRA-1000 is at LEAST as efficient at 120V.

There's more to the story though. You might expect both lights to have similar PPF output since they're both 100W systems, running with similar efficacies. But the real world light levels were significantly higher with the HYDRA-1000. Why? Because neither light runs at a true 100 watts. Spider Farmer's latest 1000 was dropping all the way down to 91W after warming up. Meanwhile, the HYDRA was actually pulling 114W at the wall. That's a 23 watt difference! And the extra power directly drives higher light output.

Video: Atreum HYDRA-1000
Efficient LED Grow Light

Watch my original product review of the Atreum HYDRA-1000 LED!

IS THIS LED RIGHT FOR YOU?

APPLICATION: The Hydra LED is good for typical 3'x3' veg growth. It's also a great entry-level LED for growing high-end fruiting or blooming plants at 2'x2'. The popular SF-1000 performed well in years past. But the total PAR photon output is only 222 umol/s (due to low operating power). Because of the wattage differences, the HYDRA-1000 yields at least 274 umols at 120V. And at 230V, lab tests show an output of 297 umol/s. So this light will perform even better than Spider Farmer's.

That's not the only advantage this light has over others. The entire driver and dimmer box are attached to a separate plate which can be unmounted from the primary light board. There's lots of cable length which allows you to securely mount these elements away from the LEDs, even outside of your grow tent. This helps quite a bit with thermal management.

The dimmer box has a typical daisy chaining feature. As an added bonus, it has an LED display showing the wattage draw. So as you dim down the light, you get a real-time wattage readout. This feature isn't perfect though. It starts with a maximum value of "100W" and then goes down from there. But at that initial value of 100W, the luminaire is really pulling 114W at the wall. So I suggest thinking of the digital display as a percentage rather than a wattage indicator.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Atreum's HYDRA-1000 is a well-built, thoughtfully designed grow light. The diode spacing and lack of reflector hood makes it an excellent option for grow tents. When you look at the PPF per dollar value, the light is not the absolute best. But currently it offers 1.98 umol/$, which is better than the SF-1000. This makes it my new preferred model of choice. And the high efficacy numbers qualify it as a premium model. Yes, there are cheaper budget LEDs that give more PPF per dollar, but many are only 2.2 umol/J. So I would say the HYDRA-1000 is worth it!

#QuantumLEDs #IndoorGardening #ArtificialLighting #GrowYourOwn #LEDGrowLights

Buy the Atreum HYDRA-1000 LED Grow Light from Amazon.com

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