house CFL, or grow CFL
- Thread starter lemonbud
- Start date
Higher wattage and lumen output.
microsmyname2
Member
there might be a slight difference but is it worth the few extra bucks? Im guessing they cost a little more then regular household cfls. Unless they pump a bunch of Lumens i dont know if I personally would get them. just my 
.
Micro.
.Micro.
If going for home model light, get a name brand like GE etc. The cheapies ARE cheap. People have taken light readings from the Walmart special lights and they are inferior to GE or other quality units in lumens and life of bulb.
I would not bother with a more expensive 'grow light', unless I needed high wattage or something like that.
I would not bother with a more expensive 'grow light', unless I needed high wattage or something like that.
hmmm. i see. the lights im running now are made by lights of america.(super cheapies!) the reason im asking is because my next grow cab is tall, slender, and fairly small. 23" tall and not even a square foot. was going to go for a HPS but they put out to much heat. im hoping to get one light. like a 105 watt cfl. secure it in a way to have the tubes in the cab and the ballast out side of it. anyway, thanks for your input guys!
GRINKEEEPER
Member
for my veg clone tent I have a 3foot power bar with 12 outlets.
its made of steel just like the one below. $25
I then bought a dozen of these conversion plugs that take have a 2 prong plug on one side and a bulb socket on the other end. there $1.50 each
and a dozen blue spectrum daytime bulbs. I used a dozen 26watt/ 1600lumens..
I also have used some 40 watters that have 2800lumens but they were $12 each so I haven't switched them all over yet, plus they get much hotter..
here is what the adapters look like in the bar..
so 19,200 lumens total and even more with the 2800lumen bulbs..
so thats plenty to fully veg a 2x4ft area and the heats very easy to control..
its roughtly half the lumens of a 400watt MH, but much safer and cheaper plus easier to control and construct.
literally there is NO TOOLS NEEDED, at all......It takes less than 5 mins fro ANYONE TO MAKE ONE OF THESE..Im really not srue why more people dont do this as its so easy and safe as well as efficient.
its also very easy to make a reflector that works great for this set up. you simply get an 8" diameter galvanized steel vent pipe or tube, the steel sheet kind. some are pre-made and in the tube shape when sold . while others come flat packaged and needs assembly. the later works great as you need to bend and modify this sheet of steel anyway. basically you screw the 4 foot sheet to the back of the power bar and curve the hang over sides to get the best light reflections towards your plants. sorry no pics on this.....greatest of luck to your project..
so total cost for , 12x bulbs, 12 adapters, 1 x power bar, vent tube sheet steel. = $65
no wiring
overload circuit/ breaker
on off switch
no humming noise
low heat
spreads light over large area
no tools need
5 min assembly time
its made of steel just like the one below. $25
I then bought a dozen of these conversion plugs that take have a 2 prong plug on one side and a bulb socket on the other end. there $1.50 each
and a dozen blue spectrum daytime bulbs. I used a dozen 26watt/ 1600lumens..
I also have used some 40 watters that have 2800lumens but they were $12 each so I haven't switched them all over yet, plus they get much hotter..
here is what the adapters look like in the bar..
so 19,200 lumens total and even more with the 2800lumen bulbs..
so thats plenty to fully veg a 2x4ft area and the heats very easy to control..
its roughtly half the lumens of a 400watt MH, but much safer and cheaper plus easier to control and construct.
literally there is NO TOOLS NEEDED, at all......It takes less than 5 mins fro ANYONE TO MAKE ONE OF THESE..Im really not srue why more people dont do this as its so easy and safe as well as efficient.
its also very easy to make a reflector that works great for this set up. you simply get an 8" diameter galvanized steel vent pipe or tube, the steel sheet kind. some are pre-made and in the tube shape when sold . while others come flat packaged and needs assembly. the later works great as you need to bend and modify this sheet of steel anyway. basically you screw the 4 foot sheet to the back of the power bar and curve the hang over sides to get the best light reflections towards your plants. sorry no pics on this.....greatest of luck to your project..
so total cost for , 12x bulbs, 12 adapters, 1 x power bar, vent tube sheet steel. = $65
no wiring
overload circuit/ breaker
on off switch
no humming noise
low heat
spreads light over large area
no tools need
5 min assembly time
thanks for the tip grinkeeper, but im doing that exact thing with 3 cfl's 
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=171217
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=171217
I have mine in a 10 1/2 inch clamp reflector. Use a y splitter to put 2 26 watt in the reflector. If you use 42 watt, they are bigger and you need an extender as well.
I measured the lux(light intensity) with and without the reflector, and it is double with it.
I measured the lux(light intensity) with and without the reflector, and it is double with it.
twrex
Member
since you have a tall and slim growspace why not use that entire height for lighting rather than just having a light up at the top casting shadows below? I'm a big fan of vertical pl-l lights for this. Don't know what kind of wattage you're looking to use but I'm sure a workhorse 8 should be able to handle it. You could put 4x50w (or 36w if heat is an issue) in the four corners and saturate the whole thing from top to bottom in light.
twrex
Member
They're not only available but relatively inexpensive. You can get everything you need from 1000 bulbs (although I believe you have to call to get the 2g-11 bases).
https://1000bulbs.com/category/4-pin-plug-in-compact-fluorescents/
https://1000bulbs.com/category/fulham-electronic-fluorescent-ballasts-catalog/
vertical grow... haven't thought of that! i'll check out 1000lights. i get the feeling im going to have to build this from scratch. no problem thought. i like projects!
any body have some links on how one might wire this thing up? im going to go for the 4x50 watt tubes btw. so i might need a little guidance. you guys are awesome!
no problem thought. i like projects!any body have some links on how one might wire this thing up? im going to go for the 4x50 watt tubes btw. so i might need a little guidance. you guys are awesome!
twrex
Member
vertical grow... haven't thought of that! i'll check out 1000lights. i get the feeling im going to have to build this from scratch.
any body have some links on how one might wire this thing up? im going to go for the 4x50 watt tubes btw. so i might need a little guidance. you guys are awesome!
http://www.fulham.com/ on the right hand side select 'twin' and '4x50w' then you can choose the appropriate diagram for the workhorse 7 or 8. They're essentially the same ballast but the 7 has fewer leads (4 vs. 6 I believe).
If you want more info on how to do vertical pl-l I'd suggest looking at the 'high pod' and also tilt's current 'entertainment center' grow.
I'd also suggest reading through the pll club thread.
grouchy
Active member
I had an idea for using the 42w spiral cfls in a cooltube. This would make a cheap way to light a vertical grow. The 42w bulbs from walmart can be made into remote ballast lamps with a little work. Check out the thread in my sig for more info. Here is a pic to get an idea of what I am talking about.
GRINKEEEPER
Member
Can someone tell me the advantege to using PL lights versus T5HO.
i HAVE 8 4ft sunblaster t5HO strips in a 2x4 diy light tray. it works great for veg. But is there any reason to switch to PL or is this just a way to save a few bucks?
just wondering. please no dis respect to PL users
i HAVE 8 4ft sunblaster t5HO strips in a 2x4 diy light tray. it works great for veg. But is there any reason to switch to PL or is this just a way to save a few bucks?
just wondering. please no dis respect to PL users
twrex
Member
Pl-l are just a different form factor, I believe they use twin t-5 tubes and a shorter length. I am pretty sure the main advantage would be a more compact light source. If you've already got t-5's going I don't think there would be any advantage to switching over.
As for deconstructing twirly cfls to makeshift remote ballast units I don't know how I feel about that. The first thought is that it would probably be hard to do safely. The second thought is that it might cause losses due to running the electricity through a longer run of wire, since those ballasts are made to only have a very short run to the actual light you might be experiencing losses due to the resistance of the wire. I haven't read your writeup and maybe you address these issues there. The other issue with the curly cfls of course is light loss due to internal reflectivity. This is one area where pl-ls definitely win. I wish we had more of the unique cfl shapes which are available in the other parts of the world rather than just the twirly ones, there are some which I feel would work much better for our purposes. (check these out)
As for deconstructing twirly cfls to makeshift remote ballast units I don't know how I feel about that. The first thought is that it would probably be hard to do safely. The second thought is that it might cause losses due to running the electricity through a longer run of wire, since those ballasts are made to only have a very short run to the actual light you might be experiencing losses due to the resistance of the wire. I haven't read your writeup and maybe you address these issues there. The other issue with the curly cfls of course is light loss due to internal reflectivity. This is one area where pl-ls definitely win. I wish we had more of the unique cfl shapes which are available in the other parts of the world rather than just the twirly ones, there are some which I feel would work much better for our purposes. (check these out)
