Ultimate CFL Reflectors! Must read for CFL USERS!

[skunkyuk]

Look, you CFL users have to stop wasting your light!

I made some crude reflectors a while ago and spray painted them white to reflect what i thought was most of the light (read on internet that flat white reflects about 80% or something), they worked really good for my first grow.

Anyway, my new grow has been going for a while now and could do with the best possible light reflactance (sog ya see!). So i was at work the other day when i noticed how much light was being reflected from some foil coated insulation sheet. Got me thinking, so i held up a white sheet next to the board to find there was no comparison! The foil reflected about 4 times more light onto the wall.

So what iv done is made some very very cheap, easy, reflective and effective cfl reflectors. Iv spent an hour making a new shelf for the lights to fit on to. Im soo impressed with the results i had to make a thread and share this idea.

Now listen, i havnt tested this with other sized cfls which may give off more heat and be potentially dangerous (fire...) but iv tested my 18w bulbs and theres no chance they will catch on fire, for a start they aint in contact with any part of the bulb or ballast, and the radiant heat from the bulbs coudnt ignite a match! (iv tested a match). With my bulbs, i left one on for 3 hours in isolation in a safe place outside. It was covered toilet paper and didnt discolour or burn in any way. So i know IM safe with MY lights. If you do use these reflectos TEST YOURS FIRST as 42w bulbs probably run a lot hotter...

So anyway, heres the pic tutorial to save me explaining.

JUST had an idea, i used layers of paper glued together with pva glue then glued the foil to this. If you worried about the paper some how igniting - skip the paper part and just glue 5-6 layers or alu foil together. Then cut out your circles and proceed as normal...shit sould have thought about that earlier lol. But yea, thats what i would do if i was worried about the heat/fire issue some may have...

I found the size i would need for my lights/ cab. And cut some layers of paper (i used news paper). Cut one first as a template/tester and adjust the next ones as needed.



Glue 3-4 of these together by using a paint brush to coat the entire face of the circle, place the next circle on top, coat and repeat until you have your thickness right. I used 3.

If you aint using paper, just glue 5 layers of alu foil together and use the template you cut first as a guide and cut the shape out you see above, but out of foil instead.

If using paper like me...

Cut a square of alu foil, try not to crease it. Paint the face of the layered paper circle with more PVA glue. I put the shiny side down onto a piece of clean newspaper, then put the ready glued paper circle on top, glue face down obviously to stick it to the alu foil.



Leave to dry, trim.

Then just break the circle by cutting down the edge with a knife or scissors, and create the cone shape you want and either tape it or use a stapler. Hope you get what you need to do next cant explain or spell for shit hehe can make some nifty little reflectors though!

Heres them in action. Hope this helps a few peeps...

 

[Castelvetro]

pretty ridiculous really, i buy the clamp n reflector combo and skip the craft project and its hours of work to save 3 dollars.

 

[skunkyuk]

And to finish...this is how i fastend them to my cfls, took 2 mins. It quite self explanitory but what i did was cut down a can of beer into 20mm wide strips and staple them to the reflectors, then as you can see, used a cable tie to securely fasten them to the bulbs ballast.



These reflectors work best with spiral CFLs.

Adjust and amend these how ya want if you make them, but i would always leave a good gap around the top end of the reflector and the bulb, to let heat escape and to keep them off the hot ballast for bit extra safety.

They work like an absolute GEM though and saves wasting light/electric...

Thanks for reading

 

[skunkyuk]

pretty ridiculous really, i buy the clamp n reflector combo and skip the craft project and its hours of work to save 3 dollars.

LMAO thanks. didnt even know they made them. it only took half an hour and cost $1 all in...i save money where i can! and im a builder by trade so enjoy making stuff alllll day long. each to their only fella

 

[b00m]

Like ya diy work mate, good work for sure.

Peace

 

[lamp-hill]

i've been pondering the reflector issue myself, the debate between flat white vs. a "shiny" surface like mylar/foil/mirror.

my set-up is quite unrefined at the moment. i'm using white printer-paper currently as wall coverings and light reflector as i've also heard that flat white reflects a good amount (~80% like you said) of light and also disperses it more evenly so that more corners will be illuminated.


all those recommendations against mirrors/aluminum foil/mylar .... what is the basis, other than the "hot spots" issue?
How much light (%) does alluminum foil reflect, does anyone have the theoretical value?

has anyone ever tried to test this with a photometer? intuitively it would seem as if a more "mirror" like surface would reflect the maxiumum of light. i believe skunkyuk when he says that the reflection from the foil appears 4X brighter than flat white. but i'm sold on the benefits of flat white at the moment. this seems to me an unsettled issue on which there's no consensus. unless someone could link me to a previous thread in which this is all clarified?

is there a difference in how much light:heat is reflected between the different reflective materials (flat white vs. "mirrory")??? that is my most curious question for nobody in particular. hoping some reflector experts may chime in.


i`m liking this tutorial as it`s sparking alot of questions in my mind. Skunky, i'm considering implementing your DIY reflector design to improve the light efficiency of the CFLs i'm using. so thanks for posting this how-to

 

[basspirate]

Don't hate on those reflectors. I think they're pretty neat. The ones that come with shop lights seem really dull, do they work as well as something that is as reflective as this material?

 

[cork144]

old fizzy drinks can + tin opener = best cfl reflector,

 

[basspirate]

Now, I know it may be true that white doesn't put off the heat that foil/mylar might, but what about reflectivity? Do you get as much bounce to the ounce?

 

[skunkyuk]

Thanks fellas. Glad you like them

About al foil reflecting more heat. Its true, thats why they use al coating on insulation boards to help reflect the heat on the inside back in the house, and the cold on the outside back out. But, these reflectors dont reflect any more heat than the flat white ones i made, maybe they do a TINY bit. But tbh putting my hand under each one i see no difference what so ever. It wount make the cab any hotter or colder, the heat from the bulbs is the same no matter what reflective material you use.

And if you look at flurescent light reflectors (which i have today in the shop) they use what looks like a mirrored highly polished Al sheet. Could be Al, could be something else, buts its a shiny silver mirrored finish like my reflectors.

Just looking at them i can see a MASSIVE difference from flat white paint i used to use, no doubt. Shiny mirrored finish bounces more light no question...more so than the dull side, to the eye anyway, got no fancy insturments to test this, but my eyes are as good as anything. its obvious theres more reflecting going on coz it nearly blinds me too look at them. This wasnt the case with white paint at all.

Im going to coat the wall in my cab with Al foil now, it cant be far off mylar if dont correctly.

With cfls, hot spots aint possible coz they dont give out the power that HIDs do. I mean, if the plant is under an inch away from the cfl, and doesnt burn. It aint guna burn if the light/heat reflects off another surface first, it will be cooler or slightly more intensified if the flat surface is concaved/or is it convext, one of the 2 anyway lol.(like a satelite dish i mean...)

You will deffinetly get more bounce for your ounce as you say Basspirate

I would have loved to of done my first grow with these reflectors. At an rough guess i reckon 25%-50% better yield than not using them. This is still to be tested...

 

[le crunch]

I mount my CFL's horizontally instead of vertically. Any ideas for reflectors for those?

 

[cork144]

very very cheap and awsome cfl reflectors,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPkn5GuGLU0

 

[skunkyuk]

le crunch - sadly not, was looking at mounting mine horizontal but i found it too complicated to get all the light from the top of the bulb down the sides and to the bottom if you get me. I looked at it over and over but realised the most beneficial way to direct the light downwards is to mount vertical.

cork - those reflectors are pretty naff mate! Not being funny like but the top of the bulb that your trying to reflect downwards will be bouncing off the bulb and top of the can so many timesthat it will be wasted and waterd down if ya like by the time it travels a few inches to the plants... to reflect the lighteficiently its needs to come from the bulb - to the reflector then directly to the plant tops....the more it bounces about the more diluted its gunna be. But dont get me wrong, if you have mounted then side ways there a lot better than leaving them open.

If ya mounting bulbs sideways then the top of the bulb (actually the side if vertical if ya get me) is what ya need to concentrate on reflecting back down to do this ya gunna need this shape in the middle \/ followed by curved sides that join the top left and right of that \/....but its sooooo much easier and more effective to just mount vertical and use a cone shape, the only light i waste with these is whats inside the bulb in the column..which you cant do anything about and there no point coz its minimal wastage.

 

[cork144]

its called innovation, i made mini batwings using cans and they did very well at reflecting.

 

[ahhhavalanche!]

i was able to pick up some reflectors from old incandescent traffic lights on ebay... pretty good deal, dont remember what i paid for a pack of 3, but they work really well as cfl reflectors

 

[stoney917]

ne thoughs of the metal worklights with the clips available from home-depot for 10bucks all sizes available

 

[PetFlora]

Nice DIY job. Doesn't have to look fancy

 

[CaptainStoner]

Nice work sah, ingenuity saves cash lol. fellow UKer?

The shiny side of the foil aparently isn't as good a reflector as the dull side. You might want to try making another couple, one with the dull side of the foil showing and painting the foil with some matte white emulsion on the other just to test it, another experiment for you.

I'm doing similar, my cfls are horizontally mounted so batwing types are better for me than hoods, basically slice along a 200g toblerone tube in the middle of one of its sides, tidy up the ends, and cover it in alu tape. I actually put a layer of duct tape below my alu tape as it's surface isn't flat and the pattern transfers through to the top layer of alu, making it a little bit like the stucco (dappled) aluminium reflectors sold for bigger lamps. I believe this to be better for diffusing the light, rather than a flat surface which focuses it.

once the layers of tape are on, fold into a batwing shape, put a duct tape strap on to hold it in shape, cut in half and each half is good for one 30w spiral cfl (the largest i've been able to find in the UK). I'm going to try painting one with matte white as part of my experiments with these reflectors.

 

[Firebrand]

I mount my CFL's horizontally instead of vertically. Any ideas for reflectors for those?

The reflector is made from a duct pipe, the type that can be split/rejoined down the center so they ship/store relatively flat. I used an 8" pipe, which allowed me to make two reflectors from one piece and is also a much heavier gauge metal, so it will be stiffer and a lot more durable over the long haul.

I used a grinder and cutting wheel to cut the 8" pipe to length (mine is about 22" long) and then split it down the middle.

You basically mount a 2-bulb light fixture in there, wire it up and attach a couple eye hooks to hang it from and you're good to go. The 2-bulb fixtures I could not find locally so I had to order them online.

 

[3dDream]

I used to do this:



It takes 3 Y's to make and the fan is optional. No wiring just put together the parts. Parts: (4) 25w-ish cfls, (3) y's, and the cleap clamp lamp. Squeeze together and turn the bulbs slowly.

I have since learned that LEDs are better in every way.