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Post by Mumsey on Oct 12, 2020 14:32:47 GMT -5
Well I hope it was my lucky day. Been thinking about switching out to LED's for the shop grow lights in an effort to reduce electricity use. Found some at Fleet Farm today. T8 5000K Natural Light. The ones I have now are 6500K Daylight and regular fluorescent T8. The ones I got can be used in the old fixtures, which are not that old, they are specifically for T8. They were on clearance for $3, regular $8.98. I would be replacing half of the lights for now. I do have 2 of the really old T12's which have to go. So I'll be buying 2 new fixtures. pepperhead212 I remember you mentioning you got some from Harbor Freight, how do these compare?   |
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Post by Wheelgarden on Oct 12, 2020 16:58:39 GMT -5
We've switched to LED's indoor, and they're great. They sure have come a long way with them over the past few years. I've got a 4500K selective-spectrum setup on me sprouting table rig.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Oct 12, 2020 17:20:24 GMT -5
As I said on the message, these are low in lumens - only 2,200, compared to the 3,300 from my T8 bulbs. And the one from HF was 5,000, but 60w, and the double was 5,500, @50w, so about the same efficiency. However, sometimes the LED light is more "useable" for the plants, even if the same color rating.
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Post by Mumsey on Oct 12, 2020 17:36:08 GMT -5
I’ll just change out half for now and see how it goes! I’ll keep 2 of the old ones and 2 new ones on each shelf.
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Post by davidjp on Oct 12, 2020 21:20:37 GMT -5
I've been using the LED shop lights from home depot for a couple of years now to raise seedlings with no problems at all.
But I do get the trays out in the sun whenever possible and my climate even in February can be quite pleasant during the day.
I'd recommend them
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Post by centralilrookie on Oct 15, 2020 12:10:43 GMT -5
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Post by emmsmommy on Oct 15, 2020 17:37:39 GMT -5
Mumsey , my dad replaced the fluorescent bulbs in his garage a couple years ago with LEDs and was able to use the old fixtures. I think he had to remove a piece from the old fixture to make it work. I'd also like to see some of your setups.
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Post by davidjp on Oct 15, 2020 18:33:38 GMT -5
Nothing dramatic in my case and no actual, trays under there at the moment. Just a bench in a basement that has the shop lights held up at either end by empty boxes suspended about a foot off the surface. The surface has several heat pads laid on it and there's a temp sensor which feeds back into the electricity supply for the pads and turns them off when it gets too hot. I usually set it to 75. The lights are on a timer switch to approximate a long day length of about 16 hours. Works well for me and as mentioned previous if its a nice sunny day and not below freezing I'm quick to put the trays out in the sun as nothing will beat natural sunlight. I generally use 50 cell module trays sometimes 72 depending on what I'm growing. I can easily get about 5 trays under there. The LED shop lights from home depot were about $40 each, the heat pads etc below Heat thermostat tinyurl.com/y2kjyhqjHeat pads tinyurl.com/y5naolg5 |
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Post by pepperhead212 on Oct 15, 2020 21:42:22 GMT -5
Here's a photo, showing the difference in the color and brightness of the 4 different bulbs over my hydroponics. The one on the left is the 55w T5, 5,000k, with 5,500 lumens. The next is a 32w T8 "cool white" 4,200k, with about 3,200 lumens. The next is a 32w T8 "daylight" 5,000k, with about 3,200 lumens. And on the far right is the 60w LED, 5,000k, with 5,000 lumens.  Photo showing differences in the bulbs over the plants. by pepperhead212, on Flickr Some LED lights are getting more efficient, but you'll still see many that really aren't as efficient as the better florescent bulbs. Many are rated for a much higher number of hours, but we really won't know if these are correct for a long time. |
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Post by Mumsey on Oct 16, 2020 4:24:44 GMT -5
pepperhead212, I watched a YouTube video that said if lumens are between 2000-3000 lumens and 5000-6500K then you are good to go. All mine fit that requirement even though the wattage is low on some. Don't know if wattage makes a difference other than life of the bulb?
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Post by Mumsey on Oct 16, 2020 4:29:58 GMT -5
These are shelving units from Menards. They are on sale from time to time. 3 usable shelves for lights which are suspended from the shelf above. Top shelf is used for storage/supplies/etc. 4 ft wide and deep enough to accommodate 4 flats. 2 lights per shelf. This pic is from 3 years ago.  |
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Post by centralilrookie on Oct 16, 2020 5:22:01 GMT -5
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your input!! Since my mind is already well into next years garden this will enormously!! Then there’s the questions about heat mats and watering. So many silly questions......
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Post by pepperhead212 on Oct 16, 2020 10:44:51 GMT -5
Mumsey I'm not sure what those people on YouTube are saying that 2,000 lumens would be enough for, but way back, when that was about all you could find in the way of 4' bulbs, they were ok, for seedlings (4 bulbs per shelf), but you had to have them as close as possible to the lights - very far away, and plants would get leggy. More powerful lights allow the plants to be farther away from the lights, without this happening. And as far as growing plants past the seedling stage, you definitely need more light than this, and for flowering plants, more light than for the leafy plants, like I grow.
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Post by Mumsey on Oct 17, 2020 3:57:38 GMT -5
pepperhead212, Petunias do well with them per my experience and bloom profusely! Since then I have learned not to start them so soon. I do keep the lights pretty close to plants.
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Post by reuben on Oct 17, 2020 6:26:45 GMT -5
centralilrookie - I have two or three agrobrite fixtures with T5 fluorescent bulbs. As you can see, I bought some cheap chain and hooks at the hardware store so I can move them up and down as needed (tomato seedlings can get BIG before I move them outdoors in the spring). Cut the chain to a reasonable length, or measure ahead of time (allowing for some slack), and the store will probably cut them for you. Easy peasy. No need for anything heavy duty. The agrobrite fixtures come in different sizes so you can get whatever works for you. Mine are basically 24" x 48", so I can put 4 flats under each. It takes 6 T5 bulbs. As for bulbs, that's a bit more complicated. You can go cheap and hope, which often works well, or super expensive and crazy. At one point I was verging on the latter. I've now found a happy medium with 6500K fluorescent T5 bulbs. 6500K or something close to that will more or less give you full spectrum at a reasonable price. For most applications these will be fine - seedlings will start, grow, and be happy. But if you're going to grow something and expect/want it to actually flower, you'll need to make sure that the bulbs supply enough of the red end of the spectrum, as that's what helps trigger and grow the blossoms. That's generally not my concern, so I use the bulbs in the link below, Hydrofarm 6500K, 45W. Like the fixtures, they come in different sizes. T5 is a bit more efficient than T8, whereas T8 bulbs are normally a tiny bit brighter. For what we do it doesn't matter much which you use as long as you match the fixture to the bulbs.   Fixture: smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B005H1C74O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8www.hydrofarm.com/Our-Brands/AgrobriteBulbs - something like this: smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055F50HS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8
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