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

[Medfinder]

picked up 45 watt cfl single socket bulbs 3 for a dollar at 99 cents only store...they had three sizes.

then picked up 20 10 watt 1100 lumen 2700k floods at a buck each.. and gonna cut the plastic off and set um up on R-FACTOR foil board.

the 45 watt r 2300 lumen each and at 3 inches leaf burn started after 4 hours.

 

[shigoga]

Wow... excellent!! I would have sent you one of the 45 watt versions for free to test. I like the 45 watt model because of the higher percentage of UV and IR emitters. So far, they seem to be doing okay for me.

Be aware, the wattage of those lamps are WAY overrated. My 45 watt lamps only draw 15.3 watts. What I like about them is the variegated mix of color spectrum.

oh man just 15w for the "45w" one? what do the 18w/30w draw then?

well i'll have to test what they draw too i guess, the one that is closer to 18w will be compared to the Soraa, honestly i have high hopes for the Soraa despite the cost.

 

[Hen]

Hello everyone, Signed up just to tell you guys that this thread has inspired the shit out of me, always wanted to build a grow tent but didnt want to spend a lot of money on special grow lights or pay a huge monthly electric bill, so this thread showing that simple LEDs produce such great results finally got me off my ass to make something fun.

Hey, thanks for doing this. Those graphs were really interesting. I had no idea the differences between the two Kelvin ranges would be so different.

 

[Hen]

Shigoga, what do you think of the graph dipping quickly at the end? It seems plants require a strong range of red even as high as 660nm. It would be interesting to see how much adding a red bulb to that array would affect the spectrum (if red led bulbs are easy to get hold of).

 

[shigoga]

Hey, thanks for doing this. Those graphs were really interesting. I had no idea the differences between the two Kelvin ranges would be so different.

yeah caught me by surprise too.

Shigoga, what do you think of the graph dipping quickly at the end? It seems plants require a strong range of red even as high as 660nm. It would be interesting to see how much adding a red bulb to that array would affect the spectrum (if red led bulbs are easy to get hold of).

its actually as high as 730, 660 is essential to the flowering process, so the fact that standard 2700k bulbs drop off like that is annoying, i mean i'm sure the plants can get by since there are good results in this thread, but its not ideal, going by my graphs and ones i've found online standard 2700k bulbs that are not 90+ CRI dont actually produce a whole lot of 660.

90+ CRI bulbs do in fact produce very good amounts of red and even far red into the 700's, they are by far the better choice if you can snag them cheaply.

check these graphs out:

Even the 5000k has more reds then a standard 2700k..

 

[Dakine]

Yeah prices for the Philip LEDs are pretty high right now. Even the combo packs at Walmart.. I was using the 13w LED Bulbs, but now I'm grabbing the 15watt/100watt equivalent.. The LED brand is just as good IMO and cheaper. The plastic caps/globes on these philips are so hard to take off, I seriously left some on that I'm using..

Before I A using jut LED and CFL bulbs for veg and flower. I actually had some really good looking plants, but could never make optimal conditions or the environment during flower.. Now I run A mixture of LEDs and 2 CFLs on the sides of my 600watt MH that's set on 420wattfor Veg. Then I have LEDs and A few different spectrum CFLs with my 600watt hps that's set on 420watts for flower.

It's literally the best combos I've had so far. Before I saw this thread I would have never ran the LED bulbs. Since I've been running the LEDs at an angle pointing towards the mid section and lower bud sites, plus the CFLs hanging vertically on the sides. The lower bud sites/growth don't stretch out and reach for the light.. If I don't catch the lower sites in time, I can still make the lowest bud sites worth keeping.

Thanks alot

 

[brown_thumb]

To increase IR, why now just add an appropriately-sized incandescent or halogen to the mix? I realize they're inefficient and create too much heat but it seems like a very low wattage bulb would be sufficient just to supplement IR.

 

[shigoga]

To increase IR, why now just add an appropriately-sized incandescent or halogen to the mix? I realize they're inefficient and create too much heat but it seems like a very low wattage bulb would be sufficient just to supplement IR.

personally i'd like to keep any build i make LED based, and plants get no benefit from infrared, only far red, around 730nm.

my personal mission is to find/make the most efficient grow light configuration that has the lowest cost to make/run, incandescent/halogens are out of the question.

 

[HuffnPufferfish]

actually the ratio of red vs far red is important

 

[shigoga]

actually the ratio of red vs far red is important

Can you elaborate? as much as ive read i have no idea what the ratio should be..

 

[HuffnPufferfish]

its not my field, try ncbi

 

[brown_thumb]

I've read that most plants benefit from near IR into the lower bands of IR, as well as some UVA and a little UVB. How much and to what wavelengths I don't know. All I know is most LED lamps tend to cut off short at both ends of the spectrum.

It seems logical to me to add a little IR with a small halogen or tungsten bulb. It could be a small bulb because IR is where those lamps emit most of their energy.

The LED lamps I'm using have some UVA but little (if any) UVB. I don't know if I need to supplement with UVB.

 

[mjconfid]

yeah caught me by surprise too.



.....going by my graphs and ones i've found online standard 2700k bulbs that are not 90+ CRI dont actually produce a whole lot of 660.

check these graphs out:
View Image

Even the 5000k has more reds then a standard 2700k..

Hi. I'm not familiar with first two 2 series of the graphs you posted (circle plots and rw values) - can you clarify pls? My admittedly uneducated reading from the spectrums alone is that the 2700k has more red than the 5000k

 

[Terpene]

That 7 light turned 11 light fixture is classy!

I was cleaning out the garage and guess what? I found more fixtures and LEDs - so my 150w screw in LED panel became a 250w panel. Twelve 16w 2700k bulbs and four 14w 5000k bulbs. I'm now at 35w per sqft which is completely overkill. If you're going to build something, you might as well over build it..

Dj Short Flo x Tom Hill Purple Haze about a week from chop:

 

[jonhova]

That 7 light turned 11 light fixture is classy!

I was cleaning out the garage and guess what? I found more fixtures and LEDs - so my 150w screw in LED panel became a 250w panel. Twelve 16w 2700k bulbs and four 14w 5000k bulbs. I'm now at 35w per sqft which is completely overkill. If you're going to build something, you might as well over build it..
View Image

Dj Short Flo x Tom Hill Purple Haze about a week from chop:
View Image

Your buds are always looking fresh terpene. That setup looks fantastic. Have you tried a scrog on any of ace seeds long flowering sativas?

 

[kasvi]

I'm now at 35w per sqft which is completely overkill.

I am at 51w per sqft. Is this too much? lol. I think I stick with it as my temps are ok.
I have 4 10w 810 lumen screw in led bulbs and 0,775 sqft of space. I will change them to 2 20w 2452 lumen bulbs when I have money to do so.

 

[LedLara]

Great thread people, thank you for inspiring me so much with all your contributions!

Recently had to wind down activities and went from a 2K perpetual room to a couple of months of completely no crop. Current situation allows for only a small stealth setup, so here I am

At first I picked up a 2x55w PLL, but reading everything of this thread truly inspired me to jump on the weekly offer at the supermarket today, and got 10x11W LIVARNOLUX LED's 2700K 806 lumen at only €2,5 each.

So 110W of 2700K is gonna be quite overkill on 2sqf, also my exhaust fan is pushing only minimal airflow with the home made carbonfilter. How many of these bulbs would you try per sqf? Height of the cab is about 2.5f

 

[Chevy cHaze]

Great thread people, thank you for inspiring me so much with all your contributions!

Recently had to wind down activities and went from a 2K perpetual room to a couple of months of completely no crop. Current situation allows for only a small stealth setup, so here I am

At first I picked up a 2x55w PLL, but reading everything of this thread truly inspired me to jump on the weekly offer at the supermarket today, and got 10x11W LIVARNOLUX LED's 2700K 806 lumen at only €2,5 each.

So 110W of 2700K is gonna be quite overkill on 2sqf, also my exhaust fan is pushing only minimal airflow with the home made carbonfilter. How many of these bulbs would you try per sqf? Height of the cab is about 2.5f

Try to get around 25w/sqf or a bit more and you're good.
And make sure the bulbs (without bulbs of course) are evenly spread out.

 

[Muleskinner]

here's my veg area with the 17w Philips 4000K reflector bulbs - hopefully switching to the new 12w 5000K ones soon - lights are about 15 inches above the plants - this is 120W total and replaced my 250W MH. The 250 covers a bigger area but I don't need it.

 

[HuffnPufferfish]

yuo have a phone with alightmeter? ill be keen to know what lumen difference on certain place you have comparing hps to led