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

[Gnz]

if i'm spending $270 dollar i'm getting an led that can flower more than 1 plant. mars hydro or one of those names i hear in the background of peoples conversations.

For $270 you'd be able to rig and cool enough screw in LEDs for 8+ plants, certainly puts things in perspective!

Blynx - things are coming along great as always, looking forward to seeing this one get a training because my next girl up has almost the same branch structure.

 

[blynx]

Here's the LED cab after it's first week of flowering.

C99 x Shire (SSSDH)

Day 07 Flower

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[PoweredByLove]

For $270 you'd be able to rig and cool enough screw in LEDs for 8+ plants, certainly puts things in perspective!

Blynx - things are coming along great as always, looking forward to seeing this one get a training because my next girl up has almost the same branch structure.

i'm flowering 8 plants+ right now under a 70w hps and $15 worth of screw in bulbs total cost including the minimum $10 shipping price for the hps bulbs and ballast i bought is still under $100. i'm including all fans and wires and whatnot in the cost. like my whole grow box.

i'm just saying for $270 you can but a ton of screw in bulbs and put them all on a huge grid and it will be more coverage and higher intensity than buying a single lamp for $270 that can only cover 1 plant. what's that a 2x2 foot area?

i get mine for ~$2 a pop, even if they were $10 each i could still cover every wall in my cab with bulbs.

http://www.kessil.com/horticulture/H380.php

this thing is small as hell. uh no thanks.

 

[Gnz]

i'm flowering 8 plants+ right now under a 70w hps and $15 worth of screw in bulbs total cost including the minimum $10 shipping price for the hps bulbs and ballast i bought is still under $100. i'm including all fans and wires and whatnot in the cost. like my whole grow box.

i'm just saying for $270 you can but a ton of screw in bulbs and put them all on a huge grid and it will be more coverage and higher intensity than buying a single lamp for $270 that can only cover 1 plant. what's that a 2x2 foot area?

i get mine for ~$2 a pop, even if they were $10 each i could still cover every wall in my cab with bulbs.

http://www.kessil.com/horticulture/H380.php

this thing is small as hell. uh no thanks.

I'm running 2 x 1.33 sq ft 70w cmh cabs, 1x 2ish sq ft cfl cab and I'm coming in at about $200USD all up.

$275 of LED screw in would be awesome over a couple of 4x4 tables. Building an aluminum frame to hold a few dozen light sockets under fan cooling would make them easier to use for larger grows. Would be interesting to compare 36x14.5w or 522w of LED against 600w of HPS.

 

[PoweredByLove]

Where did you get 70w cmh? My last cab was gonna be small cmh but I couldn't find anything smaller than 315

 

[HuffnPufferfish]

if you have 300ish to spend, you obviously want to move away from e27 bulbs...

 

[Muleskinner]

if you have 300ish to spend, you obviously want to move away from e27 bulbs...

yes, you can buy an econowing reflector, very nice, for $30 and 1000w ballast and bulb for a couple hundred more if you want to maximize $$$.

with the Kessil you're paying for a tiny package, it's only a couple pounds. made in Taiwan. other 90w LED's are bigger & heavier. it's not cost effective….it's a fun toy to play with! I can use 600w HPS when it's time to get serious.

 

[MicroRoy]

yes, you can buy an econowing reflector, very nice, for $30 and 1000w ballast and bulb for a couple hundred more if you want to maximize $$$.

with the Kessil you're paying for a tiny package, it's only a couple pounds. made in Taiwan. other 90w LED's are bigger & heavier. it's not cost effective….it's a fun toy to play with! I can use 600w HPS when it's time to get serious.

600 watts in a small cabinet would cause any plant matter to burst into flame.

 

[PoweredByLove]

600w in a 4x2x5 tent will cause plant matter to burst into flame. most i could do in my sealed aircon apartment was 300w.

 

[Gnz]

Where did you get 70w cmh? My last cab was gonna be small cmh but I couldn't find anything smaller than 315

Double ended rx7s bulbs, you can buy 3000k and 4000k. They come in 150 as well. I'm using Radium RCC-TS 70W/WDL/230/RX7S at 3000k/7000lm. Radium make single ended cmh bulbs down to 20W. Cheap too!

I'm using Venture 70w magnetic metal halide ballasts with no issues, got a 150w one I need to buy a bulb for and try too. I've got some 400w Phillips magnetic ballasts I've been meaning to make remote, unsure on bulb yet. Bought 3 of them for $1.

 

[HuffnPufferfish]

yes, you can buy an econowing reflector, very nice, for $30 and 1000w ballast and bulb for a couple hundred more if you want to maximize $$$.

with the Kessil you're paying for a tiny package, it's only a couple pounds. made in Taiwan. other 90w LED's are bigger & heavier. it's not cost effective….it's a fun toy to play with! I can use 600w HPS when it's time to get serious.

well obviously not hps either, thats great for a big room/tent/idkhowthefucktogrowaplant/<100$ setup

besides wasting too much wattage, youll have a shitty spectrum

the obvious pick would be a diode setup modded to your own personal wishes

 

[Gnz]

well obviously not hps either, thats great for a big room/tent/idkhowthefucktogrowaplant/<100$ setup

besides wasting too much wattage, youll have a shitty spectrum

the obvious pick would be a diode setup modded to your own personal wishes

I still think when it comes down to $/sq ft of light coverage it's getting damn hard to beat screw in LED bulbs, with the right rigging you shouldn't lose much of that efficiency over a larger area.
You then have the advantage of being able to replace individual lights easier than HPS/soldered LED, finely tune the mix of spectrums and generate less heat than an HPS.

 

[John_Dough III]

New guy!

feit has these
http://www.feit.com/led_grow_lights/a19-11k-grow-led
supplemental lighting.

 

[Gnz]

New guy!

feit has these
http://www.feit.com/led_grow_lights/a19-11k-grow-led
supplemental lighting.

9w though and any idea on price? It'd have to be cheaper than a 14.5w 2700k LED you can buy anywhere to be worthwhile.

The 19w twin tube LEDs could be handy for fill lighting, or supplementing the spectrum of an LED array for veg and flower with a blue and red set of twin tube LEDs. Likely to be cheaper options though!

 

[PoweredByLove]

Double ended rx7s bulbs, you can buy 3000k and 4000k. They come in 150 as well. I'm using Radium RCC-TS 70W/WDL/230/RX7S at 3000k/7000lm. Radium make single ended cmh bulbs down to 20W. Cheap too!

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I'm using Venture 70w magnetic metal halide ballasts with no issues, got a 150w one I need to buy a bulb for and try too. I've got some 400w Phillips magnetic ballasts I've been meaning to make remote, unsure on bulb yet. Bought 3 of them for $1.

good info. thanks.

 

[John_Dough III]

9w though and any idea on price? It'd have to be cheaper than a 14.5w 2700k LED you can buy anywhere to be worthwhile.

The 19w twin tube LEDs could be handy for fill lighting, or supplementing the spectrum of an LED array for veg and flower with a blue and red set of twin tube LEDs. Likely to be cheaper options though!

I found them online for $15 a piece.
Haven't tried them yet though.
The total wattage isn't super important.
It's the number of diodes per watt.
Total wattage per bulb divided by number of diodes.

So the phillips 8.5 watt bulbs have 10 diodes for 8.5 watts.
each diode runs around 0.77w
The 14.5 watt bulb has 17 diodes and they run at 0.85 watts per diode

The first bulb blynx tested (led) ecosmart 10w 800 lumens....
24 diodes for 10 w.
0.41w... so half a watt diodes.

the 10w 5000k he tested has 11 diodes.... 0.90w

If anything i think it only really effects penetration.

 

[HuffnPufferfish]

I still think when it comes down to $/sq ft of light coverage it's getting damn hard to beat screw in LED bulbs, with the right rigging you shouldn't lose much of that efficiency over a larger area.
You then have the advantage of being able to replace individual lights easier than HPS/soldered LED, finely tune the mix of spectrums and generate less heat than an HPS.

that really depends too much on location and stores/deals around you, some can pick up bulbs for a dollar each, some 15 each but in the end youll never get the 300 lumen per watt

not saying its bad, theyre so much better for your personal grow than hid lights


dont rely on box info for your leds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMD_LED_Module

ps: penetration is a lie, it only mattera when the lights are off

 

[Gnz]

that really depends too much on location and stores/deals around you, some can pick up bulbs for a dollar each, some 15 each but in the end youll never get the 300 lumen per watt

not saying its bad, theyre so much better for your personal grow than hid lights


dont rely on box info for your leds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMD_LED_Module

ps: penetration is a lie, it only mattera when the lights are off

I suppose low budget LED tech definitely has some catching up to do when it comes to lumens per watt. Something I forget to take into account, especially considering lumens from multiple sources don't add together.

I'm never likely to be in a situation where I'm growing with more than 250w of HID to do a back to back, but I'm about a month out from a comparison between 70w CMH and similar wattage of screw in LED which will probably dictate how I grow from now on!

 

[Dropped Cat]

I found them online for $15 a piece.
Haven't tried them yet though.
The total wattage isn't super important.
It's the number of diodes per watt.
Total wattage per bulb divided by number of diodes.

So the phillips 8.5 watt bulbs have 10 diodes for 8.5 watts.
each diode runs around 0.77w
The 14.5 watt bulb has 17 diodes and they run at 0.85 watts per diode

The first bulb blynx tested (led) ecosmart 10w 800 lumens....
24 diodes for 10 w.
0.41w... so half a watt diodes.

the 10w 5000k he tested has 11 diodes.... 0.90w

If anything i think it only really effects penetration.

So, for the screw in LED, what is preferable, more or
less diodes per watt, I had not thought of that.

Great thread!

 

[Navigator]

So, for the screw in LED, what is preferable, more or
less diodes per watt, I had not thought of that.

Great thread!

Another new guy joining. This thread is too good to pass up.

I would think more diodes per watt would possibly effect passive cooling efficiency as well and therefore lifespan of the fixture. But not sure, where are the LED gurus at?