Viparspectra P-1500 Review

The ViparSpectra P1500 is really a great little light. I was prepared to not like it, but I found little not to like. It is a high efficiency fixture that is small and easy to use. I think it could be a great lamp for many home growers.

The P1500 is part of ViparSpectra’s “Pro Series”. It is a quantum board style, Surface Mounted Device LED. It is meant to compete with the wave of relatively low cost LEDs that can out perform traditional High Intensity Discharge Lights, like HPS and CMH.

The Pro Series fixtures feature San’an diodes, and offer a full spectrum including 660 nanometer and far red chips. The diodes have a waterproof coating, which is great for home grow situations. The Chips are mounted to a ribbed aluminum heatsink, which does a good job dissipating heat. The highest temperature I recorded was 124f or 51c.

The P1500 did well in my test with a Photon efficiency of 1.79 µmol/w. This is comparable to other fixtures in this class, like the TS-series from Mars. At $0.58/µmol, the P1500 is a little more expensive than the TS series. However, it does offer some different features, including a convenient dimming knob. I would prefer if the driver could be easily removed from the fixture, but again, heat was not a huge issue with it.

It is a pretty small fixture but might be very convenient for small grows. As I show in my video, the P1500 is great for a 2×2 area, but the performance drops off considerably in larger grow spaces. See the video and the two PAR maps below to see the impact of putting it in too large of a space. You could run 2 of these in a 4’x2’ grow tent – or four of them in a 4’x4’ tent.

The small footprint and the dimming feature would make this a great light for young sprouts and seedlings. You can ramp up the dimmer during the seedling stage and then add additional fixtures as the plants grow larger. The P-1500 will be efficient as a seedling light and fully capable of covering a 2×2 area in a flowering room or tent.

To be honest, I was not expecting to like the fixture – I think years of over-hyped blurple lights have soured many growers to brands like ViparSpectra. However, The Pro Series is a significant upgrade from their traditional blurple offerings, and the P-1500 is a competitive fixture. I was also pleased with the way that ViparSpectra responded to my criticism of some of the material on the website. This experience has helped to change my impression of their brand.

I appreciate that Viparspectra sent in the P1500 for testing. They sell most of their lights through Amazon. If you are looking to buy a Viparspectra Pro-Series fixture, use DISCOUNT CODE: DrMJCoco on US Amazon or Canada Amazon.