# LED Bulb for Low Tech?



## j-pond (Dec 18, 2008)

The first bulb is the same I used originally on my 20Long Low-Tech, I used two in clamp lights (metal cones) to direct lighting back. They worked very well. I would give them a try.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

2 of these would be a killer..
https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/117776/LED-01645.html


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## Shadar (Jan 30, 2017)

JJBTEXAS said:


> All this being said, I know lumens and par don't necessarily correlate directly so I should probably look into that.


They correlate much more closely than watts and par, so it's a step in the right direction.



jeffkrol said:


> 2 of these would be a killer..
> https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/117776/LED-01645.html


I just got one of these for an emmersed/terrarium setup I'm putting together. Beautiful light; makes the room look like the sun is shining.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Shadar said:


> I just got one of these for an emmersed/terrarium setup I'm putting together. Beautiful light; makes the room look like the sun is shining.


glad I'm not the only one who likes these.. Felt like the lone voice in the woods.. Wish they sold "chip only". Tried but got a no from them..
Have one on the 55 that I disassembled to get the chip. too expensive to wreck on a full build though. Personal thing..
There are some (though not violet based) that are equiv..sort of.


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## Shadar (Jan 30, 2017)

jeffkrol said:


> glad I'm not the only one who likes these.. Felt like the lone voice in the woods.. Wish they sold "chip only". Tried but got a no from them..
> Have one on the 55 that I disassembled to get the chip. too expensive to wreck on a full build though. Personal thing..
> There are some (though not violet based) that are equiv..sort of.


Yeah, chip only would be good. Also good would be a bulb with adjustable color temp. For a small cube on my desk at work, though, this is perfect.


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## JJBTEXAS (Jul 8, 2013)

jeffkrol said:


> 2 of these would be a killer..
> https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/117776/LED-01645.html


That looks great but definitely pricey. Is the fact that it's only 5k made up for in some other way?


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

For price point and value for plants, I would recommend the CFL for our use. It is not all just about the Kelvin rating that makes lights good for us. It also needs to be a variety of light spectrum. With some careful shopping, I find good value in 6500K CFL for cheap, flexible lighting. 
If wanting to go with LED, I might suggest these as a cost effective way to go for easy screwin bulbs. 
On the not allowed auction site?
New E27 G24 3528 5050 SMD LED Spot Corn Light downlight Bulb Lamp Warm Day White 
Just $5.50 from Honk Kong but also available from US places with some shopping/looking. I like the downlight as all the light goes in the correct direction without needing extra heatsinks or reflectors.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

JJBTEXAS said:


> Is the fact that it's only 5k made up for in some other way?


color temp. is mostly irrelevant..to plants


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## JJBTEXAS (Jul 8, 2013)

PlantedRich said:


> For price point and value for plants, I would recommend the CFL for our use. It is not all just about the Kelvin rating that makes lights good for us. It also needs to be a variety of light spectrum. With some careful shopping, I find good value in 6500K CFL for cheap, flexible lighting.


From the little research I've done, color spectrum of LEDs is probably a lot better than many would think it is. Florescent lights have spikes at different wave lengths while LED are more even overall. Yes you can pick a florescent light that peaks at the perfect wavelength for your plants but I'm not sure that's as good for the plant as it seems. Comparing incandescent, florescent and LEDs, LEDs most closely replicate the sun.

I think the only way to really figure this out (without a bunch of research equipment) is to give it a shot.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

JJBTEXAS said:


> From the little research I've done, color spectrum of LEDs is probably a lot better than many would think it is. Florescent lights have spikes at different wave lengths while LED are more even overall.


flourescent and "white" LED's both run off the same basic principal.
In the case of flourescents it is a combination of red/green/blue phosphors excited by distinct mercury emission photons.
LEd's use either a blue(common) or violet photon line to excite generally green/red phosphors..
In the case of violet based emitters blue/cyan is added.
Both technologies change color and content by using specific phosphors..
Each can be made to relatively equal each other in broad band emissions..
Thats theory.. in practice, and mostly because of the trickle down effect from other uses..generally not "ideal" for "us" nor really "sun like" for the most part.
Usually designed "close enough"..
Secondly plants will adapt to any "quality" of light they get, depending more on amount than "quality"..roughly. Certain colors will affect certain "characteristics" of the plants but more for very specific colors than for "white" which by def includes some r,g,b in a mix. That exact mix is less important than the amount.











you have to be somewhat careful in interpreting these graphs. These are "normalized" so peaks are where 100% is..
now this is a violet based led w/ specific phosphors in the RGB bands.. Really nothing stopping "tubes' from this but demand..









Agrosun t12 (inefficient old tube but shows the possibilities)








Still sold..
http://www.violetsupply.com/grow-lights.html

bottom line is plants don't care that much about quality but quantity.. but you do..

Sorra 5000k. not "pushing" it per se.. Can get as much plant growth out of a much cheaper bulb.. Just showing options..


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

jeffkrol said:


> Secondly plants will adapt to any "quality" of light they get, depending more on amount than "quality"..roughly. Certain colors will affect certain "characteristics" of the plants but more for very specific colors than for "white" which by def includes some r,g,b in a mix. That exact mix is less important than the amount.


That reminds me of how trees adapt to the change of the sunlight in the winter.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Sort of.. ; Sadly still fighting algae..
sorra 5000k


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## NickAu (Feb 24, 2017)

Aqua One LED Mini Touch LED 6w Touch Clip On, see now thats low tech.


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## 7dreams (Mar 23, 2017)

Hi! You are doing right well, like me I've got the same lights!


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## Kampo (Nov 3, 2015)

I use buck a bulb 9watt bulbs in my fish room in hanging shoplight reflector fixtures. I modded them a bit and took the diffuser off. works pretty darn well.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Any problems with algae?


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## JJBTEXAS (Jul 8, 2013)

Kampo said:


> I use buck a bulb 9watt bulbs in my fish room in hanging shoplight reflector fixtures. I modded them a bit and took the diffuser off. works pretty darn well.


I dissected a led bulb last night and compared the non diffused one the an unmodified one and noticed a substantial difference it light output and color (was a bit colder). Could you post a picture of your setup?

Also, what is buck a bulb?


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## Shadar (Jan 30, 2017)

JJBTEXAS said:


> That looks great but definitely pricey. Is the fact that it's only 5k made up for in some other way?


As Jeff says, the plants will be totally happy with 5k, so no worries about that. To me, the disadvantage of 5k is aesthetic, as I generally prefer something a bit cooler. In this case, though, the superior color rendering of the bulb more than makes up for that minor issue. I was comparing it side by side with some 6k led bulbs I have that are a more typical CRI, and the 6k bulbs actually looked yellower.

I think the high CRI bulbs are well worth the cost. The only way I can really describe it is that when I turn on my normal 6k bulbs, the room looks like it's being lit by a lamp. When I turn on the 5k Soraa, it's like switching on the sun. Not in terms of brightness (though it's a pretty bright light), but in terms of color/spectrum.

Someday I'll be able to replace all the lights in my home with high CRI. I'm also pretty set on adjustable color temp, though, so unless someone releases a bulb with both, I'll have to DIY all the light fixtures.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Shadar said:


> Someday I'll be able to replace all the lights in my home with high CRI. I'm also pretty set on adjustable color temp, though, so unless someone releases a bulb with both, I'll have to DIY all the light fixtures.


tunable COB's and strips are available.. Not sure the CRI is up to par, but w/ blending warm/cool you generally eventually hit a sweet spot..
Samsung Launches Color Tunable Modules with CSP LEDs - LIGHTimes Online


> Samsung is now sampling six models of the new CSP LED module in both 80 and 90 CRI with varying lumen output, size and CCT specifications. The 80 CRI versions range in output from a 9.4W consuming LED module measuring 19mm x 19mm that produces 1050 lumens to a color tunable module measuring 28 mm x 28 mm that consumes 17.7 to 18.4 Watts and produces 1970 to 2190 lumens respectively.


 October 12, 2016

http://www.ledsmagazine.com/articles/2012/11/sharp-led-array-provides-point-source-color-tuning.html


> With a light-emitting surface of just 17-mm in diameter, the array has the optical characteristics of a point light source. This simplifies the design process of the optics of lighting fixtures and prevents the formation of multiple shadows which can appear with multi-dot light sources.
> 
> Sharp says that high CRI values can be achieved, reaching a maximum of 92 for cold white and up to 94 for warm white.
> 
> The Tiger Zenigata has the same form factor as Sharp’s Mega Zenigata LED arrays. The main difference is that the Tiger has four contacts (for the two circuits) instead of the usual two. Sharp says that it should be easy to adapt existing luminaire designs that currently use its fixed color-temperature arrays so that they can have color-tuning capability.


 Published on:Nov 16, 2012
$50 a COB:
50W both channels on full..
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Sharp-Microelectronics/GW6TGCBG40C/?qs=ih500mUifaU4QHrLuw95Zw==

same price as quality 3W emitters.. More expensive than Vero's


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## Shadar (Jan 30, 2017)

jeffkrol said:


> tunable COB's and strips are available.. Not sure the CRI is up to par, but w/ blending warm/cool you generally eventually hit a sweet spot..
> Samsung Launches Color Tunable Modules with CSP LEDs - LIGHTimes Online
> 
> October 12, 2016
> ...


Good resources. 90 CRI is probably enough for lighting most rooms. I'll have to keep an eye on those.

Unfortunately I currently live in a "green" apartment building, and the lights are all either built in LEDs or weird fluorescents with a non-standard socket (I'm sure it's a standard of some sort, but not one I'm used to), so the full switch to adjustable high CRI won't be until I buy or build a house. Hopefully by then there will be a ton of choices. If not, I may just custom make some boards with Yuji SMDs.

And now we're WAY off track for this thread....


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## Kampo (Nov 3, 2015)

JJBTEXAS said:


> I dissected a led bulb last night and compared the non diffused one the an unmodified one and noticed a substantial difference it light output and color (was a bit colder). Could you post a picture of your setup?
> 
> Also, what is buck a bulb?


the bulbs I use are generic 60 watt equivlent daylight led bulbs typically arround 900-1000 lumens. I've used menards, meijer and ge bulbs. I pry the diffuser and screw them into shop light dome lights and use the dome lights as pendents. i'll post a old pic of my fish room nothing current right now and its a mess in this pic (its still a mess but well..I don't have any excuses lol)


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