Lighting Off the Shelf Screw in LED Bulbs as a Viable Alternative

[rayuki]

This is pretty cool, did not know they did these, i found they actually do cree ones.

Pretty decent price to, I'm struggling to figure out how you get fixtures to power them though lol what did you do for your fixture? Looks like an awesome setup.

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[Tommy McCain]

This is pretty cool, did not know they did these, i found they actually do cree ones.

Pretty decent price to, I'm struggling to figure out how you get fixtures to power them though lol what did you do for your fixture? Looks like an awesome setup.

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Those are interesting. I have seen someone grow with something similar but not from Cree. For the price though I think Cobs would be a better option.

 

[dmochen]

Am I missing something thought t his was a cob no??

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[rayuki]

Yeah its a screw in cob lol

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[Tommy McCain]

Am I missing something thought t his was a cob no??

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Yeah it is a COB. But you cannot separate the cob from the driver very easily. And I guarantee the driver will not have the efficiency of a quality meanwell driver. These two issues with the driver will make extra heat (efficiency and temperature control is what makes COBs rule). Also, it looks as though you loose 4-8 inches in grow room over the COBs. And at $150 Aus Dollar (about $120 US) you could buy a driver and a few COBs. The separate COB and driver would would lower temperature and allow for the possibility for an upgrade in the future. Finally, you do not have the option of upgrading these lights. You have them until they burnout. With a separate cob you can "upgrade" at the cost of a new cob, and keep your original driver. This allows for you to "flow" with technology and not lag behind when new light technology comes out.
These lights are interesting but for the cost you can buy separate parts that allow for a better setup. Small light bulbs (like what Mr. Sparkle uses) are more cost effective. I guess if you are not very savvy on electronics then this light may be an option. But I always say that "life is all about learning".

 

[chasb]

I read this and just added 4 8w bulbs with the globes removed. The are friggin bright!!! Using them to finish up flowering an amnesia auto from royal queen. I will be doing gorilla glu autos and am going to do the entire grow with about 6-8 distributed around the plant.

Thanks for all the info. I know this sounds like heresy to a lot of growers.

 

[Archaic]

After reading this, there is about a 100% chance I'll be doing a screw in LED build this winter to phase out my CFLs. I'm curious as to the difference in heat output between the screw in LEDs and the CFLs for similar light output.

Kudos to the OP, this is good stuff.

Have you seen the page for wicked lights? I cannot see that they have ever actually built anything but a web page, but it looks like they are trying to commercialize this idea.

 

[Mr.Sparkle]

@Archaic no i haven't seen any of the wicked light stuff, but as for the heat its significantly less as for example your standard 23w cfl puts out the same amount of light as a 14w led, so in comparison at least 9w or 40% of the energy that the cfl uses compared to an led is just gonna be heat, as it has to burn off that energy somehow which is typically translated to heat.

And the bonus compared to cfl's as stated in this thread is that led's are directional well with the domes off anyways which mean more light is going to go where we want it instead of off some reflector or inside of a cfl where its of no use for us.

 

[Tommy boy]

] So i read this thread about 40 days ago. I was using a 400 watt mh and hps and was having trouble with heat. I was thinking about going led or cobs looking at mars lights or cree cobs. Looking through the diy led thread i came acrossed the off the shelf led bulbs thread. It really got me thinking i had a couple led bulbs so i grabed them poped the cover or diffuser or what ever you call it and was shocked how bright they are. So i set out to build a new light i have a 30x30x84 space i grow in. I got 16 100 watt led or 15 watt acutual and 16 fixtures mounted them to a 18x18 ply wood and wow instant sun!! I compared the out put of light of my new led light to my 400 watt hps with a cell phone lux app i know its not precise but good enough for a comparsion. The led light is very close in output to the 400 watt but at only 250 watt and does not put off hardly any heat. I started two pineapple kush autos under just 4 bulbs and added more bulds as they grew i used 5000k bulbs till the start of flower than switched to 2700k. im currently at day 40 with great results just as good as or even better that the 400 watt hps . Temps staying at 75 to 80 with half the ventalation i was using for the 400 watt so saving even more electric. Im just really happy with the results. See for yourself . Sorry about sideways pics. And thanks to MR. Sparkle for sharing your thoughts. I will post more pics before harvest .

 

[MickJ]

] So i read this thread about 40 days ago. I was using a 400 watt mh and hps and was having trouble with heat. I was thinking about going led or cobs looking at mars lights or cree cobs. Looking through the diy led thread i came acrossed the off the shelf led bulbs thread. It really got me thinking i had a couple led bulbs so i grabed them poped the cover or diffuser or what ever you call it and was shocked how bright they are. So i set out to build a new light i have a 30x30x84 space i grow in. I got 16 100 watt led or 15 watt acutual and 16 fixtures mounted them to a 18x18 ply wood and wow instant sun!! I compared the out put of light of my new led light to my 400 watt hps with a cell phone lux app i know its not precise but good enough for a comparsion. The led light is very close in output to the 400 watt but at only 250 watt and does not put off hardly any heat. I started two pineapple kush autos under just 4 bulbs and added more bulds as they grew i used 5000k bulbs till the start of flower than switched to 2700k. im currently at day 40 with great results just as good as or even better that the 400 watt hps . Temps staying at 75 to 80 with half the ventalation i was using for the 400 watt so saving even more electric. Im just really happy with the results. See for yourself . Sorry about sideways pics. And thanks to MR. Sparkle for sharing your thoughts. I will post more pics before harvest .

What height have you got the lights above the canopy?

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