LED Hardware Store Bulbs

[Shutterbug]

I am thinking about growing my own plants for my own consumption. I do not want to buy any specialized lights. I want to walk into my local Lowes/Home Depot and spend roughly $10.00 per 4 foot LED bulbs. I've already noticed that these stores sell hundreds of different models of LED (mostly SYLVANIA or GE brands), and even Wal-Mart sells these. Most of these are under 40 watts of power. There are T-5, T-8, T-10, T-12 and so on for options. My question is how many bulbs would I need for an area the size of 30" by 60"? I will be growing no more than 10 plants at a time. Heat is not an issue.

 

[buzzychuck420]

Ten plants ? With cfls? If u don't want to buy lights I suggest you buy weed your eating your time. You would have so many of those lights you'd have an electrical fire. Just order a couple lights . I have ten plants 2 leds and a hps. U need power to grow something worth smoking my friend .

Sent from my HTCD100LVWPP using 420

 

[Rider509]

Without the right lights you will have nothing but disappointment. I'd suggest a couple of 400W MH/HPS lights to cover 30"x30" each. You can do it with fluorescent lights if you're creative. Check out RK's grow using CFLs. Dude is the McGuyver of lights.
RK's Radical - Soil - White Widow - CFL - 12-1 Lighting - Grow Journal - 2016

 

[Shutterbug]

No CFLs. That's florescent. Only LED. They make T8 LEDs now, and almost every large scale place uses those now, including colleges, hospitals, government buildings and box stores. I am trying to find a way to grow with those. The Wattage outputs can be as low as 5w but put out the same light output as a standard 180W bulb without the extra costs. If it's due to the heat, that's included in my rent and I can easily keep my place over 80 degrees. Most of these types of bulbs put out a "white" light and are brighter than 99% of CFLs or incandescent bulbs. The question then I really should be asking is how many lumins would I need to grow 10 plants. I would need fewer of these bulbs than any other kind, and they will work better than "growing lights" that are supposedly better but cost a fortune to run and to buy. After all, 5w for $10.00 which put out light brighter than the other two categories. Also, ones that are for a specific cause (no matter if we are talking light bulbs or firearms or iron pans to cook burgers in) provide a typical 5-10% advantage for a price hike of 200-1000%. Is there no Mac Gyvers to respond to this post?

 

[Shutterbug]

For example the bulb mentioned in my first post puts out 1900 lumens. After some research, I found out I would need 7500 for best growth. That means I would need 4 bulbs for what I'm trying to do, which will cost about $40.00 for the bulbs and use about 48 watts of power total. That is way cheaper than all other things combined that I have seen so far when talking about "grow lights"

 

[Spitz]

You won't grow 10 plants without HID or "commercial type" LED. I say, go to the store and buy a few LED floodlight type bulbs and start 1 or 2. I have an LED shop light that grows them at the young stage very well. I haven't tried any more than that. Read on cfl here. Same concept. With LED bulbs, you have the luxury of focused light (flood lamp style). I've been waiting for someone to try this.

 

[Dr Fish]

You say you've got 2.5' x 5', that's 12 sq ft grow space... Your 48 watts is only 4 watts a sq. foot... Seems a little low to me... I think you could use one light per sq. ft. if you were growing radishes... Not so much with pot...

 

[Shutterbug]

The radish comment made me laugh. In sixth grade we had an experiment and we all grew radish in steroform cups in our lockers. We grew something that we ended up in our salads, with no light of any kind. This also works with carrots. Tomatoes, not so much.

 

[Downhomedude]

I've got 20 9w store bought household bulbs in a 2x4 tent for 22.5w /sq ft. My plants seem to be doing well. Flowering now for about 32 days I have good bud and trichome production

 

[Spitz]

I've got 20 9w store bought household bulbs in a 2x4 tent for 22.5w /sq ft. My plants seem to be doing well. Flowering now for about 32 days I have good bud and trichome production

Care to share a picture??

 

[Downhomedude]

First time grow.

I was going to use an array of CFLs, or perhaps invest in a low-cost LED panel for flowering when I found a thread on another site re: "Off the shelf retail store screw-in LED and CFL bulb comparisons" that laid out all the numbers and had examples of some very nice results. When I found 24-packs of Ecosmart LEDs at Home Depot I decided to give them a run.

They look to be doing the trick.

Cheers! ~DHD

 

[Rider509]

Downhomedude, those fixtures are cool AF. What are they called and where did you get them?

 

[Downhomedude]

Thanks for the compliment. I spent about an hour in the electrical section of HD putting them together.

The fixtures consist of the following -

One of these (no pull chain):
Leviton 2-Outlet White Socket with Pull Chain-R52-01406-00W - The Home Depot

Two of these:
Commercial Electric 15-Amp Swivel Triplex Outlet - White-LA-7 - The Home Depot

Four of these:
Leviton White Outlet-to-Socket Light Plug-R52-00061-00W - The Home Depot

Screwed into the socket of a cheap Wal-Mart clamp light (with hardware removed):
Bayco SL-300 8.5 Inch Clamp Light with Aluminum Reflector - Walmart.com

Plugged and screwed together they are 45w fixtures at the wall.
The LED light bulbs have had their bulb lenses removed.

~DHD

 

[Weezze]

I bought a LED light bulb that screw on a regular light socket for my plant at work, it work well, the flowers come back!

Feit Electric 60W Equivalent Hydroponic Red Spectrum A19 LED Light Bulb (Pack of 4)-A19/11K/GROW/LED/4 - The Home Depot

 

[KingstonRabbi]

Thanks for the compliment. I spent about an hour in the electrical section of HD putting them together.

The fixtures consist of the following -

One of these (no pull chain):
Leviton 2-Outlet White Socket with Pull Chain-R52-01406-00W - The Home Depot

Two of these:
Commercial Electric 15-Amp Swivel Triplex Outlet - White-LA-7 - The Home Depot

Four of these:
Leviton White Outlet-to-Socket Light Plug-R52-00061-00W - The Home Depot

Screwed into the socket of a cheap Wal-Mart clamp light (with hardware removed):
Bayco SL-300 8.5 Inch Clamp Light with Aluminum Reflector - Walmart.com

Plugged and screwed together they are 45w fixtures at the wall.
The LED light bulbs have had their bulb lenses removed.

~DHD

Those are great fixtures for your space. LED bulbs definitely work in small spaces and areas hard to fit a fixture. I use some to supplement my main lights and for side projects.

But I added up the cost of your lighting figuring $4 per bulb and $2 per component in each fixture. Total would be $144, although I sometimes find deals that would be cheaper. Still, that's in the price range of ready made units that put out 270w, or 2 smaller ones with combined 270w output.

Downhomedude's set up is more flexible and fits his space better, and I applaud his results. +reps for that.

Every time I'm at hardware store I browse the lighting aisle to what's new that I could use. By the time I price out all the pieces I need it's the same or more than I paid for the low end fixtures I have.

 

[Downhomedude]

Those are great fixtures for your space. LED bulbs definitely work in small spaces and areas hard to fit a fixture. I use some to supplement my main lights and for side projects.

But I added up the cost of your lighting figuring $4 per bulb and $2 per component in each fixture. Total would be $144, although I sometimes find deals that would be cheaper. Still, that's in the price range of ready made units that put out 270w, or 2 smaller ones with combined 270w output.

Downhomedude's set up is more flexible and fits his space better, and I applaud his results. +reps for that.

Every time I'm at hardware store I browse the lighting aisle to what's new that I could use. By the time I price out all the pieces I need it's the same or more than I paid for the low end fixtures I have.

Thanks for the reps!

I totally get what your saying; cost played a big part into going DIY, - I honestly couldn't justify the $138 or whatever for a set of MarsHydros going into my first grow.

Nonetheless, I decided against CFLs due to heat concerns. My empty tent was sitting at a steady 70+* in the cold of winter, and with the moderate Cali climate I figured it was going to only get warmer and having racks of CFLs in there would be unmanageable. I was ready to pull the trigger on a LED panel - I refunded the CFLs I had and the associated Y-sockets, so I figured I had some wiggle room there...

...then I found 24 packs of the EcoSmart 9w / 2700K soft white bulbs at HD for 10 bucks! That dropped my per bulb cost to ~ $0.42... for that much I couldn't not give them a whirl.

When I am exhausted of LED bulbs at some point I'll invest in a better system.

Do you have any links or whatever to some good deals so I can look into some options? - I really hadn't checked around too much besides what I could find on eBay... Thanks! ~ DHD

 

[KingstonRabbi]

I figured you got a screamin deal considering how much thought you put into design. Wish I'd been at HD that week!

Ebay and Amazon both list Mars Hydro 300/600's (not same company as other Mars-Hydros any more) and Viparspectra that a lot of growers start with here. By the time you are ready to replace your current lighting you'll probably be wanting to upgrade though. Better lights do make a difference. Up to you to figure out how much is worth it. Cruise the lighting forums for recommendations.

Grow Lighting

 

[Rider509]

DownHomeDude, that DIY is beautiful in form and function. It's cool to see what other people come up with using off the shelf components. Very much appreciate the info!

 

[idkhow2grow]

You can find t5ho 4' 4 bulb fixtures and bulbs that put out 216w of light with very low heat for under $100. I have 6 plant under mine that seem to be doing well.
Light is a plants calories. An under feed human will live but not healthy same goes for plants.

 

[Rider509]

Shutterbug, you got me to think about the feasibility of hardware store LED bulbs.
Using a 600W HPS as the reference standard let's see what it'll take to duplicate its performance with LED bulbs.
The Philips LED 100W equivalent soft white bulb looks like a good contender.

The HPS puts out 87,000 lumens at 2700K at a draw of 600 watts.
The LED puts out 1500 lumens at 2700K at a draw of 14.5W.

To keep energy usage equal you are limited to 41 LED bulbs.
But to keep the light output the same you'd need 58 LED bulbs.

The LEDs are $6.50 each. Fifty eight LED bulbs will cost $377, not including the fixture costs.
A 600W MH/HPS system would be approx $125 with an open reflector design.

For growing 10 plants I think three 600W MH/HPS systems are the best bang for your 375 bucks.