Along with the rise of the cannabis market, home-growing gear and products like LED grow lights for indoor plants have seen a massive increase in popularity. There are many different types of lights to choose from, but not everything is worth the hype. So, to help you with your purchase decisions, we’ve put together this Advanced Platinum Series LED review.
The Advanced Platinum Series is a light system that incorporates different choices of lights, depending on your plants’ needs. Advertised as one of the most powerful and energy-efficient grow lights system in the market, this series provides very impressive features to give life to your plants during all stages of their growth.
But is the Advanced Platinum Series worth the hype? Let’s find out.
Advanced Platinum Series Models
As you can see in the table below, there are six lights in this series: Advanced Platinum P150, P300, P450, P600, P900 and P1200.
[table “advanced” not found /]Actual Wattage and HID Equivalent
These lights have different modes, so that depending on whether your plant is in the “veg” or “bloom” phase, the power draw will vary. During vegging, the light will use significantly less power than in bloom, because the level of light intensity your plants need is smaller.
Additionally, when taking energy consumption and cost into account, the Advanced Platinum Series offers an impressive ratio of wattage to cost.
Not many light systems are designed to deliver this kind of power for such low rates ―while the ones that do are often prone to have quality issues, and usually don’t last very long.
In the table below, you can see the actual wattage and HID equivalent for each model:
| MODEL | ACTUAL WATTAGE | HID EQUIVALENT |
| P150 | 86 watts | 150 watts |
| P300 | 180 watts | 300 watts |
| P450 | 255 watts | 450 watts |
| P600 | 368 watts | 600 watts |
| P900 | 557 watts | 900 watts |
| P1200 | 690 watts | 1000 watts |
Advanced Platinum Series LED Review: Grow Light Spectrum
As far as light spectrum is concerned, this series uses a full 12-band spectrum lighting array delivering great intensity and ratings for all phases of plant growth.
In the graph below, you can see the spectrum of a Platinum LED fixture, a cheaper LED light and an HPS bulb (the colors), overlaid with the chlorophyll absorption graph (the lines).
The full spectrum of LED light, which is the combination of red, blue and ultra-violet light is one of the highlights of this series. Plus, compared to lower quality grow lights, the LEDs in the Advanced Platinum series provide impressive chlorophyll absorption rates; as you can see in the graph, HPS lighting looks very poor in comparison.
Of course, both Platinum lights and cheaper LEDs produce high intensity of light at the points where chlorophyll absorption reaches the highest point (the peaks occur at the same wavelengths). In contrast, HPS bulbs produce high light levels in the green and yellow ranges; however, the chlorophyll absorption at these wavelengths is very low.
In a few words, this is the reason behind the efficiency of LED fixtures over HPS lights: with LED light systems, you’re only optimizing the ranges of light your plants need.
Plus, the Advanced Platinum Series lights give you more output in the red and blue ranges, and they also offer infrared and ultra-violet diodes. As you can see in the graph, the ultraviolet range is the small purple peak on the far left, while the infrared range lies at the far right.
As for the different modes, it goes like this: during the vegging phase, plants don’t need a lot of red light. Hence, with the veg mode, the red light output gets dialed back, ultimately saving you money.
This cost-effective feature enabling you to customize the light spectrum typically comes with more expensive equipment, so it’s a very impressive highlight of this series.
PAR And Coverage Area
Like most manufacturers, the Platinum LED company does not provide PAR charts, though they do give us single PAR numbers for each light at various distances from the top of the fixture. Generally, an individual PAR value gives you the intensity of the light in the center of the bulb, and that’s not enough to understand the levels outside the center of the coverage area.
This company claims to give you the highest PAR output per watt; however, in any indoor growing situation, it is crucial to constantly adjust the position of your lights as your plants grow in order to get the best PAR value possible.
As can be seen in the table below, the Advanced Platinum Series gives you a decent light distribution throughout the coverage area ―but the rates are calculated at 18 inches from the top of the canopy.
Additionally, there are separate coverage areas for vegging and blooming, since the required light levels differ with each phase. When blooming, your plants need more light, so you have to move the fixture closer, decreasing the coverage and focusing more light on a smaller area ―and do so vice versa during the vegging phase.
| Model | Bloom Coverage | Veg Coverage | PAR |
| Platinum LED P150 | 3′ x 1.5′ | 4.5′ x 3.5′ | 545 |
| Platinum LED P300 | 3′ x 2′ | 4.5′ x 3.8′ | 1050 |
| Platinum LED P450 | 3′ x 2.5′ | 4.5′ x 4′ | 1385 |
| Platinum LED P600 | 5′ x 2′ | 6′ x 3.75′ | 1535 |
| Platinum LED P900 | 5′ x 3′ | 6′ x 4′ | 1615 |
| Platinum LED P1200 | 5′ x 4′ | 6′ x 5.5′ | 1827 |
It’s also worth mentioning the biggest flaw of most LED light fixtures: they have rather poor canopy penetration, contrary to powerful HPS bulbs. However, the Advanced Platinum LED lights emit a powerful penetrating light, like a good HPS bulb, due in part to their ability to hang much closer to the canopy.
Advanced Platinum LED Type and Configuration
The LEDs in the Advanced Platinum Series are top-quality, made by US manufacturers like Bridgelux and CREE, and they boast over 100K hours of use ―which is around 8 to 10 years of frequent use. The diodes are Zener protected and designed to optimize the lowest light energy possible for maximum output, enabling much better results for lesser energy costs associated with traditional indoor growing.
Plus, each diode is outfitted with a 90-degree lens that focuses all the light downward onto the canopy, ensuring that no light is wasted. The bulbs use 3-watt chips, which boast the best ratio of intensity and heat ―while 5-watt chips, for example, might be more powerful but give off far more heat.
The heat output of grow lights has been an issue for years; heat build-up impacts the health of your plants and can even damage them completely, while humidity is also affected and can eventually risk your whole crop.
Like many manufactures, Platinum LED doesn’t provide numbers for the heat output, but all the Advanced Platinum Series lights emit the typical amount of heat as all LED lights ―which is always far less than an equivalent HID bulb. Additionally, the built-in fans in this series offer better protection against heat, and they are really quiet.
As a result, with the Advanced Platinum Series you won’t need to always have the A/C on to reduce the heat caused by your lighting. Maintaining the appropriate air flowing through your grow room is quite enough.
Operation
The Advanced Platinum series features a user-friendly, simple operating system. Plus, these LED systems automatically detect all international voltages, so there’s no need to figure this out on your own.
Setting up is easy, using the included light hangers, which are very easy to install. After you’ve hanged your fixtures, you need to plug in, switch on the veg mode for vegging and both veg and bloom switches for blooming on the side Platinum’s panel and begin your growing!
What’s in the Box
When you buy any model from the Advanced Platinum Series, you get:
- the fixtures
- international cords
- hangers to install your lights
- 5 year warranty
- 90 day happiness guarantee
Advanced Platinum Series LED Review: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Price per Watt
- Low energy consumption
- Full-spectrum lighting
- Bloom-Veg Switch
- Easy setup and operation system
- Warranty and Return Policy
Cons
- PAR Measurements
- Available only in one color (white)
- Small Coverage area
Conclusion
The Advanced Platinum LED Grow Light Series is an affordable choice for an optimal result, coming with an impressive coverage area, incredible price per value, a 12-band spectrum of light perfectly suited for all stages of growth, and finally, low power usage and heat output.
The models in this series cost less than competitors with similar performance, and they actually outperform most competitors of the same price range.
Of course, not one product is absolutely perfect; the Advanced Platinum Series comes with some weaknesses, but overall, they are one of the best value LED plant lights on the market.
As far as price and performance go, these lights are a great option for any indoor grower, whether you’re just beginning or an old pro; they are easy to use and let you focus more on growing and less time on configuring your system setup. We hope this Advanced Platinum Series LED review helps you with your purchase decisions!
Zach is the founder of HempCBDExchange.com. Amateur writer. Social media ninja. Travelaholic. Passionate about all things cannabis & hemp.