Is there any point in using indoor lighting LED's?

[Telkwa]

Some manufacturers are moving towards panels with lots of white LED's. Who knows if this is a phase or a trend.

We've converted most of our household lighting to LED. I started with GU10's and MR16's but I think the best route is to use basic track systems with PAR 20 reflector-type bulbs. The bulbs come in a few different wavelengths, from "warm" to "cool".

These bulbs are much less expensive, and much brighter, than they were just a coupla years ago. Is there any use for them in a grow room? I thought it might be a cheap way to test the theory that plants actually want a bit more of the spectra that are not included with your standard red/blue grow panels.

Probably a dopey idea. I haven't seen anyone using them in a grow journal.

 

[mussh]

give them a try.
I currently have two house plants that I use 6500 led bulbs on. they love it. the bulbs are very small, but shine like the dickens. my house plants are high fiving for them.
they might work great as supplemental lighting. plus they draw less watts.

I recently switched from cfl to led. im still waiting on my next electric bill but im predicting alittle savings atleast.

-musshy

 

[Telkwa]

Home Depot carries two PAR 38 grow LED's from a company called Definity Digital. One's a broad-spectrum, the other's a red-blue. Both are 13 watt, $60. There are cheaper ones available online, but I'd feel better ordering thru HD in case something went wrong. My wife has a few houseplants that want more light, so that's a good excuse to order one of each

I don't imagine that it would be logical to buy dozens of them in a quest to replace a dedicated LED grow panel. But they might be useful in the corners, or for a small seedling/clone area.

musshy, if you don't mind sharing what you bought to replace the CFL's I'd be interested.

 

[mussh]

for the house plants I bought four of these:

they are small, but you will see sun spots if ya look at it while it's on.

for my grow I am using kessill h350 magentas and a 90 watt ufo.

- musshy

 

[Telkwa]

Good Gawd, $5 each? I guess for that price I could take a chance with iffy eBay products. I had to google E27. E27 is a European socket pitch. North America's standard socket pitch is E26. But the Wikipedia article sez they're often interchangeable.

Did you order the warm white or cool white? I keep forgetting which is supposed to be more useful for plants. These cast light every which way. Are the bulbs tucked up underneath a hood or something so you're not getting blinded?

 

[jummejum]

Warm White is for flowering and Cool White is used for veg.
Both can be used for green plants but, normally you would start out with Cool White or as close to 6500k (blue light) and when flowering period is wanted you swap to Warm White (2700K/yellow). For normal household plants i would probably just stick to one of the bulbs. Not really sure it makes a big difference, as long as they get some sort of light.

 

[mussh]

hello Telkwa,
im in the states and E27 is interchangeable (sic?). I bought two of both the 6500 and 2700. they were cheap so I wanted to see if they would work. I have the 6500k on two of my house plants and the are loving it. the lights are close, but there is almost no heat at all from them.
yes I have them under small hoods. if they weren't under hoods I would be seeing sun spots hahahaha.
im not sure if I would use them on my grow, other than maybe shining on clones. or maybe for side and below lighting.

keep us posted on what you decide.

- musshy

 

[GeorgeFoster]

Interesting bulbs mussh...I will look into that info a little further, might try those for my clone trays.

also gave ya Reps for the link and info

 

[Telkwa]

I should have looked around more before asking such a newb question. Now I see there's all kinds of stuff. Household bulbs can be retasked, but there's also some interesting purpose-built coming out. Stumbled onto the new Philips Green Power LED bulbs. They're not cheap, but interesting for supplemental, pushing flowering cycle, filling in dark corners, etc. It appears Hort Americas is the only retail outlet at the moment?

 

[SuperFunker]

i introduced 2 warm white LED PAR38 lights at about half way through a grow and noticed a significant improvement in bud size compared to previous grows without white light blending...

 

[chazmania]

i introduced 2 warm white LED PAR38 lights at about half way through a grow and noticed a significant improvement in bud size compared to previous grows without white light blending...

ditto that - I did the same last grow and it greatly increased bud density.

 

[SuperFunker]

ditto that - I did the same last grow and it greatly increased bud density.

yea, was an inexpensive and effective way of dramatically improving my harvest

 

[Telkwa]

Were these over-the-counter WW PAR 38's? Like something I could find at the local Home Depot?

 

[SuperFunker]

i bought them online from an importer, but yes, you can buy PAR38 warm white LED lights at local hardware stores... however, store-bought LED's can be expensive... whatever you decide, if you are trying to amp your buds, try to get a warm white between 2300 and 3500k... generally, the lower the number the better... and, i ended up getting lights with a 60 degree lens, i think a 80 to 100 degree lens would be more functional...

 

[Angelann]

You may try the Par30 LED grow light,

Input: AC100~240V
LED Quantity: 7PCS*1W/1.5W
Ratio: 6: 1-8: 1
Wavelength: [660NM: 440NM]
Luminous Flux: 48-58LM
Base: E26/E27(Copper/Iron)
PF: ≥ 0.95
Ambient Temperature: -20° -40°
Demension: Dia 95.2*96
Net Weight: 0.22KG

Product Features:
1)Use high efficient 1W/1.5W LED as the light source, High light intensity
2)Wide Beam angle: 120 Degrees
3)Unique heat dissipation device: Thermostatically controlled fans to keep LED light cool. Ensure the light long lifespan
4)Built-in CE&RoHS&FCC aroapproval Power supply, plug and play
5)Environment-friendly: No mercury and other harmful heavy metal
6)Horticulture light are good for vegetative, Red for Blooming, Blue for leaves. And your plants can absorb same light spectrums as sunlight from our light. Including production while saving energy.
7)Red& Blue, alternative, (Red, Blue, Red, Blue...)
8) Two modes optional: A. Red on, Blue off; B. Blue on, Red off
9)Optional for color assortment and ratios. 620~660nm for red or 440~460nm for blue.

 

[GreenSunAmy]

par spot led have differetn watt,different color can be made,for plant growing,it better red & blue color.

 

[CO Finest]

some of those leds will work fine but the will only have a small range of blue or red. If you just wanted one or two then fine but if you start getting up in the 150$ mark then just get a Led grow light that has full range

 

[CO Finest]

Amy has good leds that will work better then home depot. Amy has better red and blue mix

 

[GreenSunAmy]

Thanks,CO Finest testing experience help many 420 friends