DIY 13w Philips bulbs panel - is it worth it?

Blue Whale

Member
Hey, I would like to ask more seasoned LED growers if my predictions are right.

According to Shane from MIGRO company, 13w Philips bulbs can produce up to 1.78umol/J, when tested using 6 bulbs in 2x2 .
Will this efficiency stay roughly the same if I decide to use more bulbs in a bigger area?

Here are my calculations (correct me if I'm wrong)
Let's say I want a medium of 750 umol in a 2x3 (60x90 in cm or 0.54m2)
750 * 0.54 / 1.78 = 227.5W~ that would be approximately how much wattage I would need for this area
227.5 / 13 = 17.46 - around this many bulbs should give me required light density

My main concerns would be, that the efficiency doesn't exactly work like that, and that the measurements in MIGRO were made with light 11cm from the PAR meter, and due to the lights not being designed specifically for horticulture, the quality may degrade greatly for branches further away from the lights.

I will appreciate any help and criticism.
 

Hydrahail

Well-Known Member

This guys seems to do pretty good with those type of lighting
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
Hey, I would like to ask more seasoned LED growers if my predictions are right.

According to Shane from MIGRO company, 13w Philips bulbs can produce up to 1.78umol/J, when tested using 6 bulbs in 2x2 .
Will this efficiency stay roughly the same if I decide to use more bulbs in a bigger area?

Here are my calculations (correct me if I'm wrong)
Let's say I want a medium of 750 umol in a 2x3 (60x90 in cm or 0.54m2)
750 * 0.54 / 1.78 = 227.5W~ that would be approximately how much wattage I would need for this area
227.5 / 13 = 17.46 - around this many bulbs should give me required light density

My main concerns would be, that the efficiency doesn't exactly work like that, and that the measurements in MIGRO were made with light 11cm from the PAR meter, and due to the lights not being designed specifically for horticulture, the quality may degrade greatly for branches further away from the lights.

I will appreciate any help and criticism.
I'd try making numbers for your bulb light, including cabling, framing and the sockets. For 17 bulbs I'm pretty sure it will be expensive enough to make an Alibaba 2 board set competitive in price. The bulbs can work fine for seedlings but for flower your better off with a real growlight.
 

Blue Whale

Member
I'd try making numbers for your bulb light, including cabling, framing and the sockets. For 17 bulbs I'm pretty sure it will be expensive enough to make an Alibaba 2 board set competitive in price.
The bulbs themselves will cost around 50 bucks (for set of 18 )
18 sockets is another 15$
I have some cables lying around, but I would have to check the framing prices as well. Probably few more bucks
Kingbritte charges 130$ for 240W panel which surely is superior to light bulbs, but is it 2x better umol/J-wise

This guys seems to do pretty good with those type of lighting
And he is using unspecified led bulbs with different wattage, so it's hard to evaluate his panel's real efficiency (at least 22 bulbs with 250W total)
 

Southernontariogrower

Well-Known Member
Hey, I would like to ask more seasoned LED growers if my predictions are right.

According to Shane from MIGRO company, 13w Philips bulbs can produce up to 1.78umol/J, when tested using 6 bulbs in 2x2 .
Will this efficiency stay roughly the same if I decide to use more bulbs in a bigger area?

Here are my calculations (correct me if I'm wrong)
Let's say I want a medium of 750 umol in a 2x3 (60x90 in cm or 0.54m2)
750 * 0.54 / 1.78 = 227.5W~ that would be approximately how much wattage I would need for this area
227.5 / 13 = 17.46 - around this many bulbs should give me required light density

My main concerns would be, that the efficiency doesn't exactly work like that, and that the measurements in MIGRO were made with light 11cm from the PAR meter, and due to the lights not being designed specifically for horticulture, the quality may degrade greatly for branches further away from the lights.

I will appreciate any help and criticism.
Buy one of Shanes setups, lm sure Migro would grow good weed
 

Southernontariogrower

Well-Known Member
I don't doubt that, their PAR ratings are amazing for low scale growing, but even their 120W array costs over 230 euro which is way over my budget at the moment
Think smaller then. 150w can do a 2x2 without a problem, lots of 150w leds.summer is coming you just need to put them outside, ld soak them overnite then plant.
 

Moflow

Well-Known Member
What about 5 or 6 Vesta strips and a driver?
6 x strips ~ $60
MW 185h 24a Driver $33
Aluminium angle for frame



Driver
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
What about 5 or 6 Vesta strips and a driver?
6 x strips ~ $60
MW 185h 24a Driver $33
Aluminium angle for frame



Driver
This is a killer suggestion, you would need to add some sinking though.
 

Moflow

Well-Known Member
Something like a diy version of a vertical system that hybridway used a few years ago. I can't remember what it was called... got it! 'Suncloak'



 

Zokko

Well-Known Member
Bump.
I'm interested.
I'm thinking about doing something similar.
Actually I already ordered some Osram 13w 1521 lumen bulbs on really good discount.
Already painted white a small cabinet 1.35 x 1.35 x 2.65 feet. Gonna put a big air sucker ontop to pull the heat from 9 of these bulbs.
I have 3 autos 3 weeks old and I dnt think I'm gonna have enough space for all my plants in my original growbox.
Maybe gona put 2 of them or 1 in a larger pot under 9 of these bulbs.
 

Zokko

Well-Known Member
I did it. I got 1 plant 10 days into flower 2 gal fabric pot just moved in the box yesterday.
Mounted 6 x 2700k + 3 x 4000k on the ceiling, as high as possible. I used ceramic sockets and they do take off some of the heat. I think the bulb housing material is aluminium, not thermoplastic. Also the screw is definitely made of aluminium.
Now, the bulbs do get hot but not as much as cheaper bulbs that I use. I have the exhaust right on top, even mounted the center bulb on the fan.
Will post results.
 

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Moflow

Well-Known Member
I did it. I got 1 plant 10 days into flower 2 gal fabric pot just moved in the box yesterday.
Mounted 6 x 2700k + 3 x 4000k on the ceiling, as high as possible. I used ceramic sockets and they do take off some of the heat. I think the bulb housing material is aluminium, not thermoplastic. Also the screw is definitely made of aluminium.
Now, the bulbs do get hot but not as much as cheaper bulbs that I use. I have the exhaust right on top, even mounted the center bulb on the fan.
Will post results.
Good job, keep us posted.
 
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