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

[Terpene]

You know whats fun? Making 16w LEDs look tiny with landrace hybrid colas. Mauritius x Ethiopian at 13 weeks:

 

[ganjedibaba]

Amazing thread Blynx and all the helpful people especially Terpene who turned this experiment into a great success. I sat down all weekend and read all the 153 pages. Excellent stuff. There's one question that's been bothering me.. Where I live 2700k bulbs are 3x more expensive than 6500k ones. Can I use them throughout or is it necessary to switch them from 6500k LEDs to 2700k ones during flowering?

It's my first grow ever and I don't want to mess this up. Thank you

 

[jonhova]

2700 vs 5000/6500

2700 vs 5000/6500

Yea, we had some stoner scientists explain that all you need is blue and red to grow pot, all else was waste. Well, yes you can grow fine pot with just blue and red but the rest plays a role too.

The sun will never be equaled and intense sun being best. That said, my Philips 14 watt 5000 K LED lights are great for growing pot. Cut off the bulb and let em rip. I can place them within 1 inch of the plants.

I made a whole lighting rig with store bought LED's and its been working KILLER for me... I want to make a better design where the bulbs are flush to the wood once you remove the plastic bulb, but it's been working great for now and when a bulb goes out its an easy fix. I love that part! I alternate soft white and daylight on each outlet and my plants love the full spectrum at all times. Running 8 x 60 watters for a virtual 480 watts

Thanks to this thread as it was my inspiration for the whole idea...

View Image

You can use warm 2700k for everything or if you want use cooler color temps like 6000k for veg and then switch to 2700k for bloom....
The color spectrum is NOT the most important thing with these little LED bulbs. As long as you check every important wavelength, their intensity makes up for it.

Added 60 more Watts 5000K so the 315W CML at 3100K and 260W of cots bulbs @10Wea. 3000,4500 and 5000K we wait. 60W sq ft with the 3x3 tray.

plants will flower under 2500k/3000k/5000k/6000k some will do a bit better because of the color difference but prob not by much on micro grows

The difference is negligible.

 

[ganjedibaba]

The difference is negligible.

Awesome. I'll run the 6500s for the whole duration then. Thank you Jonhova!

 

[HuffnPufferfish]

the difference is big enough for it to matter, but most stores simply dont carry more than 3k spectrum

 

[psyphish]

Trying a LED spot setup in my 35x35x60cm tent. 3 x 20w 4000K spots (7356 lumens) and a 25w UVB Reptile CFL, seemed to have a horrible spectrum according to the package, but the UVB might help.

 

[NoTell]

Filament bulbs

Filament bulbs

Epic thread! Thanks to blynx and all the contributors

I've noticed that the most efficient bulbs available nowadays are mostly the so-called filament bulbs. But they have a glass body, no cap to remove and a very wide beam angle, so the advantage in efficiency probably doesn't equate to more light for the plants. Anbody tried to use these?

 

[argo430]

what is the lumen count that's where i would start

 

[Jellypowered]

Epic thread! Thanks to blynx and all the contributors

I've noticed that the most efficient bulbs available nowadays are mostly the so-called filament bulbs. But they have a glass body, no cap to remove and a very wide beam angle, so the advantage in efficiency probably doesn't equate to more light for the plants. Anbody tried to use these?

I wouldn't use these. You really want directional lighting. Any of the box stores still carry the 9-14w LEDs with plastic covers. Get those and knock the covers off, and grow something! If you're looking for cheap and decent yield, imo this is the way to go if you don't have the space for bigger setups.

 

[NoTell]

I wouldn't use these. You really want directional lighting. Any of the box stores still carry the 9-14w LEDs with plastic covers. Get those and knock the covers off, and grow something! If you're looking for cheap and decent yield, imo this is the way to go if you don't have the space for bigger setups.

Thanks for your thoughts

I am actually already using 7x13w Philips bulbs without caps and they perform quite well. Since it's summer I couldn't currently run much more for heat reasons but I am considering adding some more when summer is over. I was just wondering since some of these bulbs provide more than 130 lm/w if it would be worth it adding some of these to the mix. Probably only if you'd build some reflector for them I guess.

 

[HuffnPufferfish]

or you hang them below the canopy as side lighting, like how we used clf and t5 at the floor

 

[argo430]

Some shots of my led supplemental program.

Flower tent
130W added LED in 10W mixed bulbs. to the twin 315's

Veg Closet.

added 110W in 10W mixed bulbs to the 315

 

[pothead66]

Did anyone try one of these .. ?
They`re cheap, they`re philips, and they`re 2700k @ 25watt

 

[NoTell]

Did anyone try one of these .. ?
They`re cheap, they`re philips, and they`re 2700k @ 25watt

Not sure which model that is exactly, but the 25w are most likely only the "power equivalent" rating and the real power draw is somewhere around 3w and the light output around 250 lumen, which isn't much. So I don't think they are a good choice, sorry.

Depending on the height of your space I'd recommend either going for the 8w - 10w bulbs or the 13w - 15w bulbs if you have more headroom. This is of course referring to the actual power draw, not the (stupid) power equivalent rating.

 

[Samuel Caldwell]

Loving my LED tent!

 

[psyphish]

Loving my LED tent!

https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=71556&pictureid=1769743View Image https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=71556&pictureid=1769744View Image

Wow, how many bulbs / watts?

 

[Samuel Caldwell]

11 bulbs total, I like mixed spectrums so 7 x 2700k and 4 x 5000k, all 14.5 w bulbs so 159.5 total watts

My tent is 5.5 sq ft so that's 29 watts per square foot.

 

[argo430]

11 bulbs total, I like mixed spectrums so 7 x 2700k and 4 x 5000k, all 14.5 w bulbs so 159.5 total watts

My tent is 5.5 sq ft so that's 29 watts per square foot.

nice cant wait to watch it explode.

 

[DoomsDay]

This is awesome to see! Our local dude in the sdf thread found these as well and has been killing it with them. 15w bulbs from Costco. Can get them in 2 colors at 35 bucks a 10 pack delivered to your front door. Shit grows good ganj.

 

[Samuel Caldwell]

Couple more pix from today. Hope that's alright with everyone.