Advanced Platinum Series DS200 300w 11-band LED Grow Light

Growing plants indoors with LED grow lights was once thought of as impossible. Even just a few years ago, it was very difficult to find an LED grow light that was effective enough to flower plants to their utmost potential. The Advanced Platinum Series DS200 is a 300 watt, 11 band LED grow light that’s powerful enough for both veg and flower. We have had a lot of readers write us to do a review on it – here it is.

Key Features

• 11 Band Spectrum – The DS200 uses 11 different color spectrums to provide the most wide array of available light. These bands are 380(UV)/415/440/460/480/615/630/660/720/740/760(IR)nm.
• 3W diodes – Unlike most LED panels on the market today, it’s built with 3W diodes for the bright intensity your plants need the most.
• Dual Lenses – It’s equipped with 60 degree primary lenses with a 90 degree secondary focusing lense to boost efficency and provide maximum canopy penetration.
• Wide Coverage – At 18 inches of height, you can expect 4.5 x 3.8 feet of coverage while vegging plants. When flowering, you can expect an effective coverage area of about 2.5 x 3 feet.
• Dual Mode – Users can select between veg or flower mode. The veg mode uses less wattage, whilst the flower mode uses more. However, you can notice a significant increase in light intensity while in flowering mode.
• Amazing Warranty – Backed by a generous 3 year warranty and also the exclusive 90 day satisfaction or return guarantee. This assures you that even if you don’t like it, you can return it for a refund.

The Good

• Powerful enough for all stages of growth.
• Comes included with high quality hangers to suspend the panel with.
• Uses much less heat that metal halide, high pressure sodium, and fluorescent lighting.
• Backed by an impressive warranty.

The Bad

• Expensive upfront cost. But a good long term investment. It definitely costs more than most grow lights, but you’ll never have to change a light bulb or use insane amounts of electricity again.

What Brand of LED Chips?

When shopping for LED grow lights, it’s important to look at the details closely. The DS200 uses high end LED chips that are manufactured from Epistar and Bridgelux. These are names that can be trusted.

How Much Energy Does It Use?

Like many other grow lights on the market, they’re advertised as the same wattage as their maximum capacity if you were to add up the amount of diodes and multiply it by the wattage. This is a poor way to judge the power usage since all LED panels aren’t driven to their full capacity. If they were, they would burn out in less than a day! The DS200 doesn’t use 300 watts – in grow mode it pulls 93 watts, whereas in bloom mode it pulls 185 watts from the wall outlet.

How Far Away Should It Be From the Plants?

Light intensity for LED growing shouldn’t be underestimated. Many people think that the closer the light is to the plants, the better. This simply is not true.

All LED grow lights perform best when their PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) output levels are optimized. You’re best bet is to follow the guidelines set by the manufacturer and keep the light a certain distance from the canopy.

Platinum Grow Lights recommends that the DS200 be suspended 18 inches away for best results. Any closer, and you may have issues with light bleaching or stunted growth.

100% Usable Light

Unlike your traditional metal halide or high pressure sodium lights, LED panels provide 100% usable light for plants. The DS200 only emits the specific bands of light that the plant uses for proper growth.

Video Review

We found a very helpful video review of the DS200. They describe it as the perfect light to replace a 400w HPS. Some of the benefits discussed are the cooling, spectrum switches, and convienice as they discuss that it comes included with everything you need to get started. About halfway through the video, they show the specifics from the datasheets below.

Final Thoughts

The Advanced Platinum Series DS200 has proven itself as a top contender for one of the best rated led grow lights on the market. We’ve gone through the pros, cons, and have tried to provide you with all the information you need to make an informed decision on whether or not to spend your hard-earned money on this grow light. In the end, it’s a smart choice and will save you money in the long run by cutting the cost of electricity and bulbs.