Adding CFL light. Good or Bad?

budman111 said:

With 1 year warrenty, i'd steer well clear

Click to expand...

Why would anyone spend $216 on a 50W LED when you can buy them here:
http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/search/browse.jsp?N=202997+110434937&No=0&getResults=true&appliedparametrics=true&locale=en_UK&divisionLocale=en_UK&catalogId=&skipManufacturer=false&skipParametricAttributeId=&prevNValues=202997&mm=1000905||,&filtersHidden=false&appliedHidden=false&autoApply=false&originalQueryURL=/jsp/search/browse.jsp?N=202997&No=0&getResults=true&appliedparametrics=true&locale=en_UK&divisionLocale=en_UK&catalogId=&skipManufacturer=false&skipParametricAttributeId=&prevNValues=202997

for barely $80 each anyway, that's what I want to know.

This guy is just trying to fleece people with more money than sense into buying something they could make themselves for less....if it wasn't for the monstrously stupid claims (a single 50W LED outputting 39,000 Lumens and being comparable to a 400W HID light for example) his lights wouldn't seem so risky. I've made my own 85W LEDs (in my sig) and they cost about $240 each (though I could do it cheaper if I did it again), but I know my LED chips are state-of-the-art. I trust bridgelux's LED specifications more than I do some guy in China called "Sungod".

MajorCoco said:

Why would anyone spend $216 on a 50W LED when you can buy them here:

for barely $80 each anyway, that's what I want to know.

This guy is just trying to fleece people with more money than sense into buying something they could make themselves for less....if it wasn't for the monstrously stupid claims (a single 50W LED outputting 39,000 Lumens and being comparable to a 400W HID light for example) his lights wouldn't seem so risky. I've made my own 85W LEDs (in my sig) and they cost about $240 each (though I could do it cheaper if I did it again), but I know my LED chips are state-of-the-art. I trust bridgelux's LED specifications more than I do some guy in China called "Sungod".

Click to expand...

The answer to that question is you don't want 120 degree LED's unless you plan on lighting your bathroom while your taking a whiz. They do nothing for your girls and is one of the reason most of the LED's on the market are crap.

EDIT: And your right, I still wouldn't spend 240 bucks on a bulb, not with so so many alternatives.

Gnomercy said:

The answer to that question is you don't want 120 degree LED's unless you plan on lighting your bathroom while your taking a whiz. They do nothing for your girls and is one of the reason most of the LED's on the market are crap.

EDIT: And your right, I still wouldn't spend 240 bucks on a bulb, not with so so many alternatives.

Click to expand...

Hmm. Can I ask why not? (on the 120 degree LEDs)

I don't think I can really agree anyway I'm afraid. I purposely got 120 degree white LEDs for my grow, and they're working a charm, just like I expected. I could also very easily add a reflector if I thought I was losing that much light (which I don't)

So I'm just interested to know what you're basing that on....?

It has to do with Light intensity and penetration to your ladies. At 120 degrees you are lighting the walls instead of the depths of your plant were the light is needed. Actually a mix of 60 and 90 is a great mix, but in reality 120 is a waste unless I suppose your plants are going to only be a foot tall or maybe your scrogging at the same height. After talking to many many folks on the phone and forum, I can assure you that 60 and even 90 is much better than the 120. 120 degree LED's were actually made to light rooms and signs not grow plants and even with a reflector, your still getting no where near the penetration of 60 and 90 degree diodes.

Thought I would add, you can grow with 50watts of CFL, but we are talking about what is best for the biggest beefiest buds, which is why I did mondo research on about every light that is sold before I dove in. Damn LED's have such a bad name for themselves in the grow world its a shame. Do a search for Bad Karma on here, he has one bad ass grow from LED's and he may be able to bust holes in what I learned or agree.

Anyways, I'm subbed to this thread since you started it I love people pioneering for what they love.

instead of adding I will say your DIY white Kessil style lights are bad ass also that is what made me sub to your Ice thread, because not to many folks think about adding White to their spectrum of colors for some reason.

That's what cfl's are for

Gnomercy said:

instead of adding I will say your DIY white Kessil style lights are bad ass also that is what made me sub to your Ice thread, because not to many folks think about adding White to their spectrum of colors for some reason.

Click to expand...

Cheers Gno!! I see your point on the issue of penetration, though as hopefully you can tell from my grow, when you're pumping 85W through a 3/4" 2D square you do get pretty nice light intensity underneath them despite the side-losses! Bear in mind though that having a slightly wider angle is a little more important when you're using a single "point source" of light rather than using a 1-2ft square panel area to spread those photons out.

But I think you're right that it's probably working well for me mainly because I'm growing low. I'm pretty sure that I could mangle an old halogen spot and re-use a cut-down version of the reflector to fine-tune the penetration...but will I bother?....nah

My view is that in another 1-2 years high wattage white LEDs will have become a regular fixture in the growing world. But then I would say that wouldn't I hehe

Kessil could start making 90w whites soon. They made 14000k for Aquariums with their 35 watt version. It would be amazing to get a 5850k 90w LED Array! Then again who knows how long it will be before they decide to make white lighting again, they charged 50$ more for the 14000k Aquarium light!
Grow well,
ILovePlants