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

[frica]

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As a side note - I've heard the HPS/vertical argument before, but wouldn't any vertical, coliseum setup yield better than a traditional flat canopy because there's more surface area (and larger plants) to light?

It mostly eliminates reflector losses.

Also results will depend on how the led bulbs are being spaced. Always better to have all the shining directly on the plant.
And since led bulbs are relatively cool you can get them very close to the plant.

Honestly I think if somebody isn't nearing 1g/w he has to reconsider some things. That maybe the light aren't positioned optimally.
Though there are more factors

 

[HuffnPufferfish]

if youre gonna run some kush youll be hard to find anywhere near the gpw club, but if you run sativas it will be easy

 

[ReikoX]

I'm not trying to get into a pissing contest with the HPS crowd only saying how impressed I am by rough estimates that are substantially better than I would expect from home store bulbs.

I was also reading those results wrong - my bad. ReikoX (whos 2017 thread is great btw) is seeing 90% what hes used to from CMH watt for watt. Panic says hes seeing better than HPS watt for watt, but Ill let him comment on by how much.

As a side note - I've heard the HPS/vertical argument before, but wouldn't any vertical, coliseum setup yield better than a traditional flat canopy because there's more surface area (and larger plants) to light?

Thanks for the compliment

Excellent point about the vertical bulb, that may be why I was able to get comparable results with both. I'm sure if I used the CMH horizontal it would have been blown away by the LEDs. They work great, are cooler, and cheaper to boot! Hell, these CMH bulbs are $40 USD each.

 

[frica]

Thanks for the compliment

Excellent point about the vertical bulb, that may be why I was able to get comparable results with both. I'm sure if I used the CMH horizontal it would have been blown away by the LEDs. They work great, are cooler, and cheaper to boot! Hell, these CMH bulbs are $40 USD each.

Have you ever tried popping off the diffuser of storebought LED bulbs and using those as growlights?

A problem I've noticed with a lot of panels like Blackdog, Galaxy Hydro and Blackstars is that their tech never gets updated.
And LED tech has been moving very fast the past few years.

Store bulbs have become very efficient, and are even more efficient without the diffuser/cover.


Though I've seen you're also interested in building a cob panel which should totally blow those panels away.


Also it may be US regulations or something else but the best Philips 2700K bulbs I see at homedepot are only 103 lm/w, while I've already bought 117 lm/w ones here in Europe.
117 lm/w should be at least 130lm/w with the cover removed. (10% cover losses)

 

[ReikoX]

That is what I use in my filing cabinet. It has four 21.5 watt LEDs in it. You can see the lights I used in this post.

The storage cabinet has those blackstar and they will be upgraded eventually. They work pretty good for now, though I paid way more than I should have for them.

 

[TheScrogFrog]

I've been getting 80-90G with 108w LED's(108w at the wall)

Used to get 80-90G with 150w HPS that drew 162w at the wall.

Running the same strain, as well.

As far as micro cabs/tents go its a no brainer. Less heat, less wattage, same or more yield. The LED's also give me more vertical space since they don't put out nearly as much heat as HPS.

 

[frica]

btw your CMH grow is really nice.

 

[HuffnPufferfish]

im running 50w less than 250hps now(not counting ballast) but the intensity is up by factor of 3, and even a bit too much tbh, some strains cant handle it and turn white/pinkish

 

[Muleskinner]

Phililps 12w 5000K 1200 lumens 8-pack unboxing! yeah! (spoof of $1200 LED light threads). this is what $80 buys you from Home De Pot - not bad, compared to competing 100 watt LED grow lights at hundreds more $$

 

[Muleskinner]

Now for the comparison with the prior version, the 17w 4000K bulbs. The 12w are much lighter in weight, almost half the 17w. The 12 are not vented like the 17w but run MUCH cooler. Made in Mexico.

The 17w are rated 1300 lumens, and you can see they're definitely brighter (on the right in last pic). It looks like more than the 8% indicated by the lumens difference. Hopefully the 12w looks brighter to vegging plants with its bluer spectrum.

Will be saving the 17w 4000's for flowering. Would be interesting to check out the new 3000K 12w ones. The light weight of these 12 watters is nice for handling them and mounting on flimsy clamping sockets.

 

[Muleskinner]

I also took a few pics to compare the 14w Philips 5000K 1500 lumen bulb with the globe removed. You can see the lens dramatically changes the performance of the bulb.

Here is are pictures taken with the 3 bulbs 12 inches away from the posterboard. 12w 5000K 1200 lumen on left, 14w 5000K 1500 middle, 17w 4000K 1300 lumen on right. For the 2nd picture I turned the 14w bulb in the middle off. At one foot away the intensity of the spotlights is several times stronger within the illuminated area.



Now two pics with the lights 24 inches away. This time just the 12w 5000K bulb on the left, and the 15w 5000K globe-less bulb right. First shot has the 14w on, second it's off. You can see at 2 feet out the spotlight is still bright but the open LED's have diffused out:



one last shot - 12 inches away. 12w spotlight on left, 15w globe-less on right - you can see the intensity of the spotlight vs. open LEDs. The open LED pumps out tons of light, but most of it goes to the walls. To me they seem best for small spaces with reflective walls, the reflector bulbs can force the light directly down to lower branches.

 

[jonhova]

I also took a few pics to compare the 14w Philips 5000K 1500 lumen bulb with the globe removed. You can see the lens dramatically changes the performance of the bulb.

Here is are pictures taken with the 3 bulbs 12 inches away from the posterboard. 12w 5000K 1200 lumen on left, 14w 5000K 1500 middle, 17w 4000K 1300 lumen on right. For the 2nd picture I turned the 14w bulb in the middle off. At one foot away the intensity of the spotlights is several times stronger within the illuminated area.

[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=47593&pictureid=1705330&thumb=1]View Image[/url] [URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=47593&pictureid=1705331&thumb=1]View Image[/url]

Now two pics with the lights 24 inches away. This time just the 12w 5000K bulb on the left, and the 15w 5000K globe-less bulb right. First shot has the 14w on, second it's off. You can see at 2 feet out the spotlight is still bright but the open LED's have diffused out:

[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=47593&pictureid=1705332&thumb=1]View Image[/url] [URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=47593&pictureid=1705333&thumb=1]View Image[/url]

one last shot - 12 inches away. 12w spotlight on left, 15w globe-less on right - you can see the intensity of the spotlight vs. open LEDs. The open LED pumps out tons of light, but most of it goes to the walls. To me they seem best for small spaces with reflective walls, the reflector bulbs can force the light directly down to lower branches.

[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=47593&pictureid=1705344&thumb=1]View Image[/url]

those look absolutely gigantic. why would you want to use those when you cant remove the filter like the screw in bulbs?

 

[LedLara]

Anybody using ceramic fittings? Mine seem to conduct heat more effectively then the plastic ones.

 

[HuffnPufferfish]

i do lara and yes they do

skinner next time take pic of a non reflective/glossy surface

 

[Muleskinner]

those look absolutely gigantic. why would you want to use those when you cant remove the filter like the screw in bulbs?

in this case big bulbs equals big flowers, without the lens only a fraction of the light is focused on the canopy

 

[frica]

http://www.mueller-licht.de/produktinformationen/artikel/400221/

My quest for more efficient bulbs has brought fruit again.

1520 lumen, 12W.

 

[Chevy cHaze]

http://www.mueller-licht.de/produktinformationen/artikel/400221/

My quest for more efficient bulbs has brought fruit again.

1520 lumen, 12W.

Looking good. although they have the same long-ish body as the Osrams(which are heavy as hell btw), I prefer the short, light body/housing of the Philips 13w/ 1521 Lumen bulbs.
In the end we need to measure the actual draw with all of these I think... Way too many "100w replacements" falling in at exactly or near 1521 Lumen with draws from 12w-16w...
The stated draw sounds more like an industry agreement than a reality (Like one brnad is licensing their tech, but whoever wants it has to state a higher draw than the owner brand- not far fetched in terms of LEDs...)

But great, cheap bulbs keep popping up everywhere! In a year I will curse myself for having spent 30EUR on 6 Philips 13w/2700k/1521 hahahaha

 

[HuffnPufferfish]

ive trown a few random models on a wattmeter and im pleased, most pull they advertised or more

the power consumtion used is fairly the same because the led chips like running at a certain milli amp, you can run them hotter or cooler but thats less lumens or less life, so run em cheap and not too hot so they wont die too soon but still put out lumens, its not like every factory is gonna figure out their own preferred efficiency

 

[frica]

Looking good. although they have the same long-ish body as the Osrams(which are heavy as hell btw), I prefer the short, light body/housing of the Philips 13w/ 1521 Lumen bulbs.
In the end we need to measure the actual draw with all of these I think... Way too many "100w replacements" falling in at exactly or near 1521 Lumen with draws from 12w-16w...
The stated draw sounds more like an industry agreement than a reality (Like one brnad is licensing their tech, but whoever wants it has to state a higher draw than the owner brand- not far fetched in terms of LEDs...)

But great, cheap bulbs keep popping up everywhere! In a year I will curse myself for having spent 30EUR on 6 Philips 13w/2700k/1521 hahahaha

I know what you meant.
My 13W philips ones are short as a midget next to the Osram bulbs.

I doubt you'd ever curse yourself with those Philips bulbs, they're too cheap and too good for it.

 

[MdNewgrower]

Wanted to post a pic or 2 of my 108w mixed spectrum ladies.

Feels good for a 1st grow.