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Off the shelf retail store screw-in LED and CFL bulb comparisons
- Thread starter blynx
- Start date
Yesum, here are some old pics from my perpetual thread in my sig.Can you explain how you put your light holder together and where you buy the stuff. I have a couple LED hanging by a cord on a y splitter. Want to add a whole bunch more LED and need some way to arrange and secure them for a 2 x 2' area.
It starts with a seven bulb in one socket that hangs from a standard bulb holder which is directly plugged into the AC through a timer
It works pretty good alone
But as these 13w bulbs have a lot of power, I needed something to give me better spread, here come the flexible bulb holders (4) that I now use know.
The parts can be found cheap on the big online platforms, however in hindsight I would not built it like this again...
I think a wooden or aluminum frame with plain wall mount sockets attached would be a way better design.
I'm thinking 2 independent frames with 4 bulbs each over my 60cmX60cm (2'X2') to allow for different stage of flower plants...
So is the rule for these screw in leds 30 watts ft2? Need a quick veg setup for a 3 x 3 tent. check my math and give some feedback as to if I am thinking correct. 32in x 32in= 7.11 ft2 / 30 watt ft2 = 213 watts needed. Six 40 watt equivalents @ 500 lumens a piece. 240 watts, 3000 lumens total. Whatcha think? Thanks in advance
Hey Unregistered,
Yeah 30w is good. Some even go a little lower or up to around 40, but from this thread I learned that you don't need more than 40w/sqft(30cmX30cm)
Always use the real watts drawn (or at least stated on the box) with LEDs and trying to figure out how much you need. The amount of watts they're supposed to be replacing is is not what you're looking for (otherwise LEDs would be over the top crazy efficient ;-)
Good bulbs come in all wattages... many use the 8,9,10watt ones, I use the 13w bulbs with a bit more power, but they all penetrate the canopy reasonably well.
Good luck and have fun
CC
Samuel Caldwell
Well-known member
That's the route I went. Very simple. I bought the parts at my local hardware lumber store. It took a couple hours to build using basic hand tools in my apartment.
Samuel Caldwell
Well-known member
So is the rule for these screw in leds 30 watts ft2? Need a quick veg setup for a 3 x 3 tent. check my math and give some feedback as to if I am thinking correct. 32in x 32in= 7.11 ft2 / 30 watt ft2 = 213 watts needed. Six 40 watt equivalents @ 500 lumens a piece. 240 watts, 3000 lumens total. Whatcha think? Thanks in advance
Nope. As Chevy cHaze said, you need to look at real watts, not equivalent. 40 watt equivalent bulbs are ~6 watts each. If you need 213 watts you need ~35 bulbs. (35 bulbs x 6 watts = 210 watts)
HuffnPufferfish
Member
screw it dont tyrip it pls
Thanks for clarifying that folks , I knew something didn't make sense....now it does.
, I knew something didn't make sense....now it does.seymourbud
Active member
Are you just running the "hot" side of the cleat to all the other "hot" sides of the cleats, in series? And then the negative sides of all the cleats in series the same way?
Douglas.Curtis
Autistic Diplomat in Training
Careful, I just cut open a 9w version from this company, rated for damp locations. Plastic bulb had to be cut away, since it was sealed for damp locations.
Led's were mostly on the sides of a funky 4 sided internal, with only 2 of the tiny dots pointed down. Had I the time, I'd design a little metal reflector. Unfortunately the project will have to wait.
T8s
T8s
I built a 21 bulb light and it worked great. I am now planning a new build and was considering using these.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01CRB8ITO/ref=twister_B01LWQGJGY?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
with Tombstones it is under a $100.
Might give it a go as it would provide better coverage.
Anyone have any experience with them?
T8s
I built a 21 bulb light and it worked great. I am now planning a new build and was considering using these.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01CRB8ITO/ref=twister_B01LWQGJGY?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
with Tombstones it is under a $100.
Might give it a go as it would provide better coverage.
Anyone have any experience with them?
HuffnPufferfish
Member
seedlingstarter
Member
So are the walmart brands (great value) led lights any good. Or is the name brand lights the ones to use? Because a 4 pk of 9.5w's are like 4$ of the great value brand.
a question i asked, not much in way of answers
so i just did it, using 3 of those 9 watt bulbs for a grand total of 27w
i like what i'm seeing, give it another month of flower and i'll post up a pic
Only 5 bulbs of 9W 6400K?
Douglas.Curtis
Autistic Diplomat in Training
Nice clean build. 
Congratulations!
Congratulations!
I like the great value brand bulbs better than anything I got from home depot. I have 2 of the 18w daylight spectrum on sale for $5 a piece and if they were still on sale I'd get more, but now they're $10 each at my local Walmart. Noticeably brighter then the ecosmart 14w and more solidly built.
