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DIY Hybrid LED/PL-L Luminaire
- Thread starter rives
- Start date
V
Vampire
Wow a set-up to die for! I only have a UFO led and luv it for 3 small-plant grows. Best to you with yours.
the attractiveness of using leds is that they are low consuption, low heat and good results; if we mixed leds with hid, then the attrctiveness is kind of lost.
however, it is understandable that one wanted to mixed leds with hids to provide a more ample spectrum.
if I had enough space to use and properly cool hids, and funds to pay electric bills for hid usage, thinking about using leds atm would not even cross my mind I think.
it is pretty hard to go indoors after being used to outdoors for over a decade though...
however, it is understandable that one wanted to mixed leds with hids to provide a more ample spectrum.
if I had enough space to use and properly cool hids, and funds to pay electric bills for hid usage, thinking about using leds atm would not even cross my mind I think.
it is pretty hard to go indoors after being used to outdoors for over a decade though...
knna
Member
On many situations, growing just with LEDs may lead to problems due to low temp while growing with HID usually have the opposite problem. So on certain situations, using both gets a good balance of heat load on the room, and additionally you can get a more balanced spectrum, using each lighting to provide which it is better emitting.
For anybody wanting to improve the results of their HID lamps (or PLLs on small spaces) when the heat load is already near the max allowed, adding LEDs sounds like the best option.
You seem to be extrapolating your interests in LEDs to the rest of us. My motivation is simply to provide most efficient light possible, and a good portion of the spectrum is available via HIDs at very close to the same efficiency levels as LEDs but at a small fraction of the cost. Additionally, at $5+/gallon for my furnace, additional wintertime heat is welcome.
rives, you're 100% correct, those are the reasons that attract me personally the most to leds: low heat, low energy consumption and efficient spectrums.
I can understand what knna said very well, and also what you said. low heat can be an issue if you're in Norway for example.
my luck is that I'm in a place where winter is mild, and most of the year can be pretty hot, although dry, not really humid.
I dream of leds that can also give me good harvests, as I'm a chimney.
peace man!
I can understand what knna said very well, and also what you said. low heat can be an issue if you're in Norway for example.
my luck is that I'm in a place where winter is mild, and most of the year can be pretty hot, although dry, not really humid.
I dream of leds that can also give me good harvests, as I'm a chimney.
peace man!
2000pm
Member
Hey Rives have you found much info regarding the AH supple reflectors and the light spread? I am trying to get a more concrete idea of how far above the scrog canopy to keep these lights and I'd like to hear how you are doing things with this unit.
I believe you stated 4" above on an earlier post - is this also when scrogging or just with the single plant you have going now? I had it even a little closer but with the narrow profile of the reflectors I moved it back up in to the 4-6" range. Looks better to the naked eye anyway.
I believe you stated 4" above on an earlier post - is this also when scrogging or just with the single plant you have going now? I had it even a little closer but with the narrow profile of the reflectors I moved it back up in to the 4-6" range. Looks better to the naked eye anyway.
Prior to using this fixture and my Lumigrow, I used a PLL fixture that I had made up with (6) of the AH reflectors side by side. I usually kept it in the 4" - 6" range over the top of my scrog and it worked well, with penetration well below the screen. I also use a pair of them in my mom cabinet, and with those I have run the plants up to around 12" - 14" away, but I'm not really trying for optimal growth there and a little stretch is beneficial before taking some cuts.
With this fixture, I've been trying to keep things pretty close more for the LED's sake than the PLL's. With the very wide optics of the GD+, I'm still trying to figure out their effective range.
out.fucking.standing
that's way beyond my humble DIY skills, so let me know when you decide to sell'em.
K
krest
Beautiful DIY rives. You have inspired me to try an LED project. I've always wanted to experiment and see the savings vs yield using LEDs but the cost of the manufactured LED lights is so high that I didn't think it would save enough electricity to make it worthwhile.
k+
krest
k+
krest
absolutely Amazing work rives 
..this thread definitely deserves to be a Sticky
..this thread definitely deserves to be a Sticky 
yeah rives this is a great project, loving your work here and i can't wait to see the plant's progress - looking forward to the scrog even more!
one question, how high above the canopy/plant are you using it and how does that jive with the ideal distances for the PL-L and the led's? is there any conflict in their ideal distances?
VG
one question, how high above the canopy/plant are you using it and how does that jive with the ideal distances for the PL-L and the led's? is there any conflict in their ideal distances?
VG
VG, I have been running the fixture about 4" or slightly less over the top of the plants. The wide lensing on the GD+'s seems to work very well with the PL-L effective range - that was one of my greatest concerns when I was putting this together. I have run it even lower with no sign of burn, but if you get much closer than 4" it seems that the two types of light don't get full overlap and it is hard to get any side airflow through the gap.
