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Off the shelf retail store screw-in LED and CFL bulb comparisons

Sunshineinabag

Active member
the numeric symbol

the numeric symbol

If I used 20w spots that I can source locally, I'd spend about 1300€ on 1400 watts (just the bulbs). Time is also money, I'd spend hours (days?) building a 1400w SIL fixture lol.

whats that pounds? euros? im ignant lol
 

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
It's a little off topic, but 1400w is 100 14w lamps and a twin pack is £6 from Walmart UK (asda stores, or any other really) So it's £300 in lamps and about £100 in holders, plus maybe £25 in sundries. £425 or 550usd. A 260w QB set is $100 and you need a $540 share of them for 1400w. Plus postage. Plus Taxes. It's an $825 bill for 6 of them. Exactly 50% more. However, you do get a day of your life back. Dimming. The rope ratchets. But more importantly, a bit more light that is most certainly more suited to the job.

[email protected]=2100g or 23g a day if you only get 4 a year. If I want the £1 lamp holders, I have to wait weeks for them. The QB about 4 days.
Batton lamp holders right now, is a further $150 and next day. Giving the general purpose lamps a $700 ticket and 1550w of QB is $825 or it's $745 based on 1400w. $45 difference.

If I want to get a grow on next week, there is little difference in cost between both options. I would just hit the 'kingbrite' button, and go take some cuttings. If I have a month, then I could piece together some gls lamps, and build something, not buy a tent.

I understand that $4 a lamp is a lot more than the $1 some are paying, but is that $1 a 1500 lumen lamp, and is it 14w. I have seen so many 1500lumen lamps that are 18w, and if that is the comparison, 25% of your light is missing. Maybe it's $300 cheaper, but it's $200 less kingbrite to, and the light quality won't measure up.

It's interesting to note, that if you stick two $100 lights together, it's $300. You don't even get as many rope ratchets. Them big lights are a handling nightmare.

Anyway.. Sorry for a long post that's barely brushing around the topic. Although bulb comparisons are where this all started.
 

Medfinder

Chemon 91
I got lucky a couple years ago when 99 cent store had 15 watt 2700k/5000k 1600 lumen bulbs.

Running 4 per socket at 60 watts a socket on a 12ga
outdoor 15amp string.

But it's genetics that pushes the envelope too.

Chemon..91..
 

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indagroove

Well-known member
Veteran
I got lucky a couple years ago when 99 cent store had 15 watt 2700k/5000k 1600 lumen bulbs.

Running 4 per socket at 60 watts a socket on a 12ga
outdoor 15amp string.

But it's genetics that pushes the envelope too.

Chemon..91..

Looks nice and frosty, but is that some powdery mildew I'm detecting between the frost?
 

Medfinder

Chemon 91
Looks nice and frosty, but is that some powdery mildew I'm detecting between the frost?

Top left plant has a touch of pm on it with only 2 days left on the others... that plant is already out.

There's an orange tree 90 feet away that has pm on it.

The wind last week was at 45 miles an hour..

Even the negative pressure doesn't work.

At least it's very trace on one plant.
 

Sunshineinabag

Active member
speaking o=f sils.....i just IMPULSE bought 100.00 in feit 100w 5000k and the 3000k .....
I cant believe how much seedlings suck up coconut water
 

ScrogMonster

Active member
Veteran
Except that it's not a fact. The HLG kits would cost approx twice as much for equal total wattage SILs. Also the HLG kits are close to twice as efficient, so you'd get a lot more light out of the deal. Just sayin.

I appreciate your intent. I was actually just browsing the HLG website recently. That V2 R spec looks freaking sweet I wish I had some of those. If money wasn’t an issue I’d grab some up for sure. However, I can definitely get better SIL’s then the one’s I have currently, for 32sqft of blooming, for a little over $1000 less then HLG DIY kits. Unless I’m missing a different type of fixture or this “kingbrite” button that you’re speaking of, which I don’t know anything about, please explain.

From what I saw when I was browsing there, the 260w DIY kit for 2x4 blooming is $300 on sale right now (usually $400.00) is the cheapest option per sqft of bloom space. So 4 of those for 32sqft would normally cost 1600.

I could spend 5.50 per bulb for 72 SIL’s = $396 on some 15w 4000k at 1000bulbs dot com. That’s $1004.00 less. Would that upgrade be as good as upgrading to HLG’s high bin Samsung chip QB fixtures? Heck no, but it’d cost 1000$ less and it’d be a significant improvement from what I have now. I’d be using 180 less watts total and have a better spectrum as well. Even at the sales price of 300 for an HLG 260w 2x4 bloom DIY kit, I could buy 14w 1500lm 5000k/2700k Great Value Walmart bulbs at 2.50each x 72 for only $180.00. HLG DIY = 1200.00 (on sale), GV 14w SIL’s x 72= 180.00(always)

So HLG DIY kits cost 4 x the amount. Not twice as much.

would I rather be using the HLG’s, you bet your ass. Do I feel I have room in my budget to spend $1000 extra? Not atm unfortunately.

Even if I didn’t have the fixtures I built yet they only cost about $20 each to build assuming one has a power drill already.

That’s only an extra $80 total for fixtures for 32 sqft. — 10 pack sockets on eBay for 7.50each. A few 1 x 4 boards, some screws and 2 - 6ft 16gauge basic ext chords for a little over $1 each. So even when starting up new and only having access to Walmart, Home Depot, and Ebay, SIL’s can save $900 start up costs for 32sqft bloom space at 31w per sqft and 107lm per watt LED grow that will deliver great results.

Efficiency and performance of coarse I’d rather have HLG QB’s but until $900-$1000 is no big deal to me, SIL’s make more sense price wise.

I totally understand your point of view though don’t get me wrong. Also please do let me know if I haven’t found the cheapest way to purchase HLG QB’s per sqft of bloom space. I like to know what my options are.
 
Last edited:

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
Kingbrite are a supplier that pre-date hlg. That $400 light you see on offer for $300 is about $150 delivered.

I bet that opened your eyes a bit.
HLG sell the old LM561 and the LM301b.
Kingbrite sell the LM301b and the latest, the LM301h, that's itself over a year old now.

Kingbrite will get them to you in a few days, under the customs threshold. HLG must pay perhaps 40% more, as I do in the UK. Then they seem to be storing them forever, as there stock is lagging years behind. Then they need to ship them to you. That's a $150 light plus tax so maybe $220, and $30 internal postage, say $250, plus the storage facility costs. It's closing in on that $300 before you add any profit margin.

There are actually 3 trusted suppliers in China, but I like these guys having made quite a few purchases of citizen cobs and QB's. Samsung, Meanwell and the cheap foundries are all neighbours so it's the obvious place to buy from. The alternative is somebody else buys them, pushes the wires in the clips, rightfully calls them locally made, and they and the tax man make a living from you.

The difference between the worst bin and the best bin, is about 10%. Both claim to use good stuff, however worst case scenario, 10% worse but 50% cheaper.

The red's you use makes a big shift in pricing. Oddly non use Samsung. Using cree puts about $60 on the $100 light, while the more usual option adds about $20. They will also chop that heatsink in two for $10, so you can spread the 240w out a bit. Or pack them in a box easier.

The driver used is a 240, so KB sell it as a 240, while HLG call it a 260. KB use the 480 driver, calling it a 480, while HLG call it the 550. That math doesn't align.
I have no reason to doubt KB. There is little separating the bins financially. Though the LM561 (v1 HLG) is half the price of the lm301b. The 561 being something KB have dropped, since the 301h became available to the masses last Feb.

I do believe the KB heatsink could be deeper. I don't like running them on full without some air circulation around them. The HLG260 looks to have longer fins. The 550 though, seems to have non at all. It's not even black. So I can't imagine how I would feel about that.
 

blynx

WALSTIB
Moderator
ICMag Donor
Veteran
This thread is about screw-in CFL/LED comparisons and people's results using the screw-in LEDs.

Please take the discussion about screw-in lights vs pre-made/build your own COB/etc fixtures elsewhere.
 

imakandi

Member
This thread is about screw-in CFL/LED comparisons and people's results using the screw-in LEDs.

Please take the discussion about screw-in lights vs pre-made/build your own COB/etc fixtures elsewhere.

salut
i build my SIL yesterrday, thank to you

philips 12W 1250lm 6500k and philips 7.5W 680lm 3000k
my space 0.32 m2 , use 6x12W and 2x7.5W
mix color little
total 87W and 8860 lm
only need for veg

will try and post my result here. maybe more weeeks

start with 50% lights for early (3 6500k 1 3000k)

thank
:huggg:
 

Safe Gardener

Active member
we just have different favoured styles of grow: he does scrog, and I do sog, that's it.
But we both use SIL. And SILs are a lot cheaper than commercial panels.
That's the fact I was agreing with.


With your SOG's are you working from seed or clone? Also wondering what size container your using?

In a micro environment do you think I could do okay flowering in 1/2gal containers? Going to go 12/12 after I top at the 3rd or 5th node.

SG
 

imakandi

Member
salut
i build my SIL yesterrday, thank to you

philips 12W 1250lm 6500k and philips 7.5W 680lm 3000k
my space 0.32 m2 , use 6x12W and 2x7.5W
mix color little
total 87W and 8860 lm
only need for veg

will try and post my result here. maybe more weeeks

start with 50% lights for early (3 6500k 1 3000k)

thank

hellu
my lamp... very cheap, low planning, is good


seedling to this lamp
seedsman white widow

seedsman gelatog


we see
start tomorrow in SIL

what you think for seedling?
2x12W (white) + 2x7.5W (yellow) ? and what shape?
like (now)
OXOX
XOXO

thank !
:huggg::dance013:
 

indagroove

Well-known member
Veteran
I appreciate your intent. I was actually just browsing the HLG website recently. That V2 R spec looks freaking sweet I wish I had some of those. If money wasn’t an issue I’d grab some up for sure. However, I can definitely get better SIL’s then the one’s I have currently, for 32sqft of blooming, for a little over $1000 less then HLG DIY kits. Unless I’m missing a different type of fixture or this “kingbrite” button that you’re speaking of, which I don’t know anything about, please explain.

From what I saw when I was browsing there, the 260w DIY kit for 2x4 blooming is $300 on sale right now (usually $400.00) is the cheapest option per sqft of bloom space. So 4 of those for 32sqft would normally cost 1600.

I could spend 5.50 per bulb for 72 SIL’s = $396 on some 15w 4000k at 1000bulbs dot com. That’s $1004.00 less. Would that upgrade be as good as upgrading to HLG’s high bin Samsung chip QB fixtures? Heck no, but it’d cost 1000$ less and it’d be a significant improvement from what I have now. I’d be using 180 less watts total and have a better spectrum as well. Even at the sales price of 300 for an HLG 260w 2x4 bloom DIY kit, I could buy 14w 1500lm 5000k/2700k Great Value Walmart bulbs at 2.50each x 72 for only $180.00. HLG DIY = 1200.00 (on sale), GV 14w SIL’s x 72= 180.00(always)

So HLG DIY kits cost 4 x the amount. Not twice as much.

would I rather be using the HLG’s, you bet your ass. Do I feel I have room in my budget to spend $1000 extra? Not atm unfortunately.

Even if I didn’t have the fixtures I built yet they only cost about $20 each to build assuming one has a power drill already.

That’s only an extra $80 total for fixtures for 32 sqft. — 10 pack sockets on eBay for 7.50each. A few 1 x 4 boards, some screws and 2 - 6ft 16gauge basic ext chords for a little over $1 each. So even when starting up new and only having access to Walmart, Home Depot, and Ebay, SIL’s can save $900 start up costs for 32sqft bloom space at 31w per sqft and 107lm per watt LED grow that will deliver great results.

Efficiency and performance of coarse I’d rather have HLG QB’s but until $900-$1000 is no big deal to me, SIL’s make more sense price wise.

I totally understand your point of view though don’t get me wrong. Also please do let me know if I haven’t found the cheapest way to purchase HLG QB’s per sqft of bloom space. I like to know what my options are.

Even tho the SIL die-hards apparently don't want us to talk about anything other than SILs, you asked a question, and I also think it's reasonable to compare SILs to QBs.

To answer your question, those V2 Rspecs are sweet, but that's not really a fair comparison. I would suggest that you consider the V1 kits instead: https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/collections/kits/products/135w-led-board-kit

The 135watt V1 kits are currently $129, include free shipping, plus you can get 10% off with the "diy10" code. You would need 8 of them to match the same wattage from those 15w SILs. That would come out to a total of $928.80, which is $532.80 more than the SILs, not the $1000 you are estimating.

The other option for around the same price point is to go with the QB96's, which do include the red diodes as well: https://horticulturelightinggroup.c...s/products/qb96-elite-v2-quantum-board-engine

The QB96's are $69 including the heatsink. The 240w meanwell drivers are around $75 delivered, and in reality you can crank those up to over 250watts. That would be around $560 for the leds/heatsinks plus $300 for the drivers. After that you just need to add some cheap wire hangers for a couple bucks each, some wire to connect the drivers and connectors.

Not here for a fight, just here to provide insight.
 

q3corn

Active member
With your SOG's are you working from seed or clone? Also wondering what size container your using?

In a micro environment do you think I could do okay flowering in 1/2gal containers? Going to go 12/12 after I top at the 3rd or 5th node.

SG


for 2 years I did SOG from both seed and clone in 1/2 gal containers. Those were more than big enough. I used to get 12 plants under 300w in a 3x3 area. Each plant gave me roughly a half-ounce, but it could have been even better, there was definitely room.
 

ScrogMonster

Active member
Veteran
hellu
my lamp... very cheap, low planning, is good
[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=82279&pictureid=2008576&thumb=1]View Image[/url]

seedling to this lamp
seedsman white widow
[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=82279&pictureid=2008577&thumb=1]View Image[/url]
seedsman gelatog
[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=82279&pictureid=2008578&thumb=1]View Image[/url]

we see
start tomorrow in SIL

what you think for seedling?
2x12W (white) + 2x7.5W (yellow) ? and what shape?
like (now)
OXOX
XOXO

thank !
:huggg::dance013:

Seedlings need so little light and can be hurt by too much. I'd probably use one bulb of each a good 8" away at least at the moment. Once they have 1-2 good leaf sets you can just bring the lights closer or add the other lights and bring them a little closer.
 

imakandi

Member
Seedlings need so little light and can be hurt by too much. I'd probably use one bulb of each a good 8" away at least at the moment. Once they have 1-2 good leaf sets you can just bring the lights closer or add the other lights and bring them a little closer.

hello :)

use 2x12w and 2x7.5w , 50 cm distance.


:) thank for thread instruction
learn lot
:huggg:
 

q3corn

Active member
im shocked noone hasnt tried to patent this set up and sell it...................give it time right?


It doesn't seem like something easy to patent... I think a patent has to show a unique way of making a product. Really this is just making lamp fixtures. But I've built a few cabinets for other people with this tech.


To me the problem I run into with selling this kind of setup is that the people who want to buy it are the people who want to build it.
 

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