DIY led grow light with new high efficiency LED bulbs
I got a lot of requests to test the new high lumen output LED bulbs and decided to try them out...
Although the new bulbs have a higher lumen per watt output for residential settings they are less efficient than the older type I tested a few years ago. The reason is the old bulbs output light in one direction only and the new ones send light in all directions. Also I could remove the plastic diffusors from the old bulbs but the new ones are glass and cannot be removed and used safely.
In summary there is no point in building DIY LED grow lights from LED bulbs as LED grow lights are now much more efficient and cheaper than the DIY solution..
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Your original 💡Philips💡 video changed many lives for the better❣
it shouldnt...a 120watt "knockoff" quantumboard with 288x samsung lm281B+ leds is 18-20 bucks. Mabye a single one of these 13watt bulbs on a longneck-lamp for seedlings, its the only usecase for these bulbs imo that can make sense.
@@melangkoh4184 when you turn on a 13.5w bulb there could be 30 led chips on the round aluminium plate 40mm wide, each pulling 0.45w each a large grow light might have 800 led chips pulling 600w, so to get the same output you need 50 bulbs evenly spaced out to cover a 5ft x 5ft room if the grow light pulls 100w from the wall its going to cover a 2ft x 2ft( same as 8 x 13w bulbs), 6 bulbs is about 80w. rule of thumb you need 25-35w per ft2, to get a good result some growers add co2 and use 40w per ft2 I use a lux meter on my phone and I need to keep all the canopy above 38,000 lux in flower, 60,000 lux will give you a really good result, lux to par is (lux x 0.015)
@@melangkoh4184The old one where at 1.6 efficiency... For that time it was not bad ✌ Where you got qb knockoff for 20 bucks???
@@honeyballleckda1699 Ali express. But it only has lm 281B+ instead of the Lm301 that are on the original HLG. Still very good value. They come with 248 samsung lm281B+ whites, 32 epistar red, 4 IR+ 4UV
13 year old me would like to tell you that you use a can opener to remove the top of a SODA can, (cut the bottom off too) and install the bulb THROUGH the can for a nice little soda can reflector to push it all straight down. The rim near the top should rest on most of these bulbs just fine :3 (Lets just say when mom found it all she wasnt even mad. I had been so crafty she just told me not to do it anymore. Now I grow her stuff lol)
lol you legend :)
Good work 🎉
Why ? Distribuition like that wrong and an hot point! Ahahah Remember the guy that want Migro to test HPS as that to proove HPS better than Leds at this moment Let the e27 with there open angle They work winderfull and you get quality diodes if you buy brand e27 And on my country i can buy 1000 lumens Philips for 1€ And Osram
Cool idea! Can I see a photo or video? I still have a hard time understanding how best to mount such a reflector.
I kinda like the idea of having small modular grow lights suitable for one seedling each. You could add these, take em down, move them around. A little something to help me skip feeling dumb for having 4 sprouts under a wall-to-wall 4x4 light. Transitional light fixtures if you will.
👍 Its logic, the new 210lm/w bulbs need a high spot-reflector, the sunlight dont came from the side, new bulb you can hanging in a plant or you make this 5 or 6 tiny yellow led-strings from the new bulbs flat under a high-reflective board!!!! Greetings from germany
Congratulations to the Germans on their legalization!
Die sind einfach Müll, verschwenden Licht genau wie die Glühlampen. Niemand braucht Licht an der Decke 😅, somit sind etwa 180° verschwendet 🤷🏻♂️
GUAM USA NEW INDOOR GROWER I FOLLOWED YOUR HOME MADE GROW LIGHTS 2 BY 4 GROW SPACE WITH PHOTO PLANTS 100% SPROUTS TO FLOWER THANK YOU BLESSINGS TO YOU AND ❤ THE ONES YOU HOLD MOST DEARLY
Ha! Good timing! I'm building a light out of 35 watt 100 LED bulbs and some of those 9 watt 9 LED bulbs. Mixing between 2700 Kelvin all the way to 5000 running a total of 150 watts with a power factor of .99
cool experiment. since tech has improved and prices for some brands are lower for proper grow lights it doesnt pay to mess around anymore. Thanks Shane for all you do and have done. Peace
Ya LED's are so much cheaper these days. I remember paying $10 for each LED light bulb back in 2012 when I first started using them.
These are always clear methodical and useful. I always like the clear way you present data
That’s so fun. Back in 2020 I was doing tests with those long strip style LEDs and the flat mounted LEDs. Those strip ones are awful. Could barely get plants to grow with them and the growths were always elongated and weak. All over my house I still have led bulbs with the covers cut off laying around. In a pinch these cheap bulbs do a pretty good job.
Great DIY project. Could you please make some tests with popular aquarium lights like Chihiros used by some planters?
neat experiment there.
I used the old style ones successfully but today’s lower cost Grow lights win, hands down.
A Mars Hydro TS1000 is definitely the most effective light for the cost. It's crazy what and how much you can grow with a $100 grow light!
@stoshbeast1 Viparspectra makes great cheap lights, too.
@@stoshbeast1 XS 1500 PRO is $85 and 150watts.
I did that 20 years ago with the high efficiency fluro bulbs mounted horizontally with a 250w sodium in the middle of the alloy shade for flowering, pulled a good 4 oz + from a single plant every time in a small cupbourd with extraction from above for many years with it. To quote boys from the black stuff " I can do that giz a job" Sean....lol.
this is how i started growing too. Was great for vegging plants early before outdoor started
I did this with the bulb splitter i had 16 100w led bulbs , worked for flowering males pretty well
Ow that's a crazy result. And probably the situation is even worse as all those bulbs won't last 3 years. The mini transformers in each bulb are prone too failure. Just buy a descent gro light and be confident your running efficiently and safely!
Huh? I've been using the same GE (General Electric) light bulbs in my home for almost 5 years now. I moved in August 2019 and they're still going strong. It definitely depends on the quality or brand though. GE and Philips are the best ones I've used.
What a carry-on, I'll stick with my Sansi 100w full spectrum dimmable lights. The PPFD is 557, and the cost is £50 in the UK.
They're even on sale rn, extremely cheap!!
Always great work shane keep it up!!!
I remember when you made the video 2 or 3 years ago I never made one myself because I always thought that the technology would move forward and be more improved but I don't know I'm going to watch the video now the update one so let's see what the findings are I hope you found better results if not hey it's still good info to know
I remember that video!! you are such a stud!! love it. Thank you for always making amazing content.
Thanks Buddy 👍
Those 13 watts get sooo hot. But they worked at the time.
I use 30w LED bulbs, infrared thermometer measures 160F at the bulb body which is hottest thing in my tent, way hotter than the grow light. But I'm fine with some heat boost, they're bright and movable. On the corners of the tent I make bouquets of buds using the trellis. These buds would otherwise get lower PPFD from my grow light so I assign each of these 30w LED bulbs to one bouquet. Brings PPFDs right back to 1000PPFD all over the tent.
Do you think it is better to take lamps no more than 10 watts?
Thanks for sharing!!
thank you very much
spectacular!
nice experiment! thanks for sharing :)
I've used the outdoor Leds for lighting your backyard and such lol but they work pretty bright actually
Thanks for the rundown Shawn. You definitely made a case for the Migros. I still find the huge sink Optic1-style COB lights handy hung above a couple of plants in a small greenhouse to extend light hours in veg and increase noon-time intensity in flower.
The Optic COBs are nice, great for little setups👍
@MIGROLIGHT why are we not seeing any led grow lights using the newest cobs like vero gen 9 or the new cree pro 9 that replaced the cree cxb 3590 cobs, did luminus put out a new generation recently. I love cobs they were the game changes the migro cobs luminus cxm 32 the Vero 29 gen 7 and cree cxb 3590s were the game changers in the led game. I would like to see some new cob lights using the newest cobs and testing on them. I just love the look of them and they performed great. I'm interested in making a light using the new cree pro 9 3030 avaliable now or the Vero 18 or 29 gen 9 avaliable anyday for sale to public I'm sure they been avaliable for companies or people with connections for awhile now.
You can increase the Efficiency well over the 2.5 PPFD(13w, 2700k, 1521lms) by adding aluminium reflectors and a fan, it works by reducing the bulb temperature by over 20c, the aluminium reflectors works as a heatsink and the fan removes the heat because theirs's a chip inside the bulb that reduces the output of light to keep the temperature in range(stops the bulb burning out) The light spread from the bulb is very wide so over 50% of the light is wasted(over spill), adding a reflector will redirect all the light back onto the canopy, Even leaving the bulb defuse on the bulb and cutting it so there a good inch left on the bulb around the edge(small reflector) as this will redirect some of the light(over spill) and increase the output by 5-10%, also reduces the chances of catching the bulb as it can give you a small shock I have building these lights for years and the results are amazing, thanks Migro.
@Migro, excellent video as usual. Those "old" philips you talk about in the video, they are strikingly similar to GU10 / MR16 spotlight usually used on ceilings. Do you have any idea how these spotlight bulbs compare? I have a bunch of them, LED 7w MR16 spotlights, I'm thinking I can build an enclosure/panel and use like 5 of them at a time, aiming for the lower branches of the plants, where the main light doesn't reach that easily. I'm just wondering how efficient they are. I guess I can use the mobile app to measure. Thank you!
Hey mygro I want to ask about light shedule, do u ever try ur vegg cicle on 12 hours on 5 and half off 1hour on 5 off and then 12 on, and for flowers cicle is 6 hours on and 18 off, do u ever try this method. I've running this setup and look like been working 💪
i currently have a spider farmer se1000w and recently purchased the ac infinity evo10. when i turned on the evo i noticed it puts out a decent amount more heat than my spider farmer does. is this due to the newer evo leds or do you think it is just a difference in heat dissipation design? seems like an increase of 3-4 degrees when set to the same par level
I wonder if you put a layer of mylar on the plywood if it would make any differnce on the results?
love the migro aray lights.
the breakdown and transparency is greatly appreciated.
No way... Awesome 😀 Best entertainment with eating a meal 👌🙏👍
I wonder if little, mini light hoods (like on the old HID Vertical hailed fixtures used) would help with the newer bulbs?
Interesting. Made a grow light with misc 12v led strips on Al & a mean well pfc. It only produces 5k lumen at plants and still need window 100k lumens. The extra heat is great.
Thanks a lot for all your work, since germany legalized *special tomatos* im about to start my first grow and was overwhelmed by all the lights and options. But i found your channel which helped me a lot and i settled on getting an Migro Array 2 as my first light for a 60x60cm growbox. Thanks for all the honest doing and i look forward to use the Array 2 🎉 (Edit: I just double checked and your Array 2 comes around 160€ while the Viparspectre (i kid you not) is around 240€)
Best of luck!
Is CRI important for growing plants? For example, there are lamps where CRI is more than 90. And there are lamps where 80...
Hey @migrolight! Have you seen Ike Solhetta E27 1571lm with 8.2w(LED2209G1)? The provide about 185lm/w and i guess its even more without the dome.
I would love to see a test of the "shop lights" that are now available. Some have said that they are a low cost alternative to grow lights at a much cheaper cost.
Osram/Philips 150cm lights really should be quite good. Not that expensive, there are versions with 4100 lumen at 22W, more than 180lm/w and not 360° which wastes the most light
Quick question is Optic Led grow lights any good? They have new lights this year that has 3 adjustable spectrum knobs for white red and blue. It uses all Samsung LEDs 301h Evo and Samsung deep reds and Royal blues. Has 5 LEDs per watt. Has best of everything. Only thing am concerned about the evo whites are 3000k-3500k that’s it. But I guess since it has royal blue and deep red it’s feeling in every thing. Oh has uv and ir also. Love hear what you think. It’s a 320 gen2 for 2x4 tent 1548 LEDs total
Coming to this video because every goddamn grow store and LED light supplyer in Europe is out of stock since Germany legalized (partially). I should have speculated and bought a setup but I wanted to play it safe.
I have a diy light in a 3×3 consisting of 20 watts 4200k, 90 watts 3500k 40 watts 3000k, 40 watts 2700k, 60 watts 5000k and I also run a 150 watt quartz halogen lamp for about 4 to 5 hrs. per day that is listed at 2400k. Is this a sufficient spectrum for my autoflowers
Any of them with IP65 Water resistance?
Hello sir, big fan of yours as usual. Question that I haven't seen you (or anyone else) address: are there any small, "personal" lights/lamps that you could recommend, that would both keep a plant looking nice and illuminated on a tabletop, while also keeping it alive? This would be a small, adult plant with higher light requirements. E.g. if I wanted to give me wife one of my little Nicotiana Rustica plants (that don't tend to get bigger than a couple of feet tall or so in a pot) to set on her work desk. Is there such a light? Thanks!
i imagine that's possible to get a better ppfd map with thoose bulbs using 15w osram ones, or even a reflector with osram chips, those were available everywhere!
Interesting experiment, maybe 4 or 5 of the new vertical leds could be used as supplement for under canopy and side-lighting ? But for the main source of light dedicated led fixtures are definitively the way to grow nowadays, prices are really competitive (electricity price is another problem though).
This is pretty much what I do I use 30w LED bulbs at $6 each. My grow light performs great in the center but can't reach the corners of the tent so I make bouquets of buds using the trellis and assign these 30w LED bulb over those bouquets.
I recently bought a bulb in ikea that promises 1521lm for only 8W. It's the same style as the old philips ones, but bigger, so it has more LEDs. I don't remember the price exactly, but it was cheap.
Can I ask you something mr. Migro?Do you sleep with the lights on? : )
Ikea got some Bonkers E27, Lights, Look Up Solhetta
I stuck together 6 18w Sansi bulbs & it's freakishly bright. Have you ever reviewed Sansi?
No, i must have a look.
@@MIGROLIGHT IKEA has an E27 led bulb: SOLHETTA 185,5 Lumen/W 8.2W - 7,99€
That's right, just buy a grow light they are much safer and They look a lot better.Unfortunately, in the world we live in A lot of people are going for looks they want everything to match , I myself prefer Functionality versus looks
Try Lsc 17w 2500LM 3000K with Action
Yeah that sucks very strange the old Bulds are better but are the better because of this new internal design we'll never know maybe if the bulbs word designed like older models as far as how the diodes are used in made into little strips instead made like the older ones maybe it would have been a different ball game but will never know thanks for making the video thanks for sharing the information I'm very grateful I appreciate it many blessings to you until next time bye for now
Another useful test in the books! 👊 Can you do this test with the new T6 or T8 led tubes? They use no ballast, are very cheap and from what i can see they work very well for the vegetative stage of growing cannabis. I am currently using the T6 double fixture led tubes over my mother plants and recently added another one for clones and seedlings where they will veg untill they get moved to the HPS flower room, i noticed the mother plants started growing bigger fan leaves and their stem structures thick and super green producing amazing cuttings for clones but i have no measurable data on it and would be great to see you do an accurate test.
Way ahead of you 😄. Test of T8 Vs LED coming soon
@@MIGROLIGHT very cool! Can't wait !
How many T6 bulbs do you use for the mother plant?
@@user-ig7gx8ii6w i have 1 x double tube fixture for each of mine but 2 x plants per fixture will also work just fine
@@user-ig7gx8ii6w one double tube fixture for 2 x mother plants but 2 will help cover more side branches
5:52 why does this make sense? Household lamps are much cheaper. In my country, a Philips lamp (13W, 1200 lm) can be found for 1.2 euros.
Much better with the diffuser removed. They must negatively affect the efficiency and life span quite a lot.
I'd like to see an old 100watt hps street light compared by you Shane. Your graphs and charts are easy for me to understand and learn from. Thank you. I guess like a historical timeline of the grow lamps evolution from incandescent to today. Your always on point in my book friend. Nice work
PLEASE, do a test using the lumileds 10 Watt CoB horticultural LEDs that come in purple or pink. Even a test of the aleexpressd or the wishd knock offs would be great to see! They sell these things for anywhere from $1 to 10.... I've been using one for a few months and was quite surprised, and the smaller (10 or20 Watts) ones lend themselves to being spaced out a little.
Granted, the heat sinks you need for these CoBs cost maybe 5 tinmes the LED, itself...
what about outdoor/ halogen replacement bulbs?
Halogen are very inefficient unfortunately
@@MIGROLIGHTno no, i mean the led halogen replacements. they have the normal light bulb part you screw in but a much broader "head". they are meant for lights above your garage or on your back porch.
Proper lights for the main grow. DIY is cool for a prop or small micro veg , but your just as well using T4s or cfls really
I'm not so sure... CFL and T4s are very inefficient and are being phased out in lots of countries
@@MIGROLIGHT Tell that to the thousands that have used them for years. I value LEDs are the future , but you miss the context of my post . Rather than messing around with DIY you can easily just use 3500lmn cfls . Plug and play. I started off 30yrs ago , DIYing old High Bays and LowBays, I Diyed Airoponics, Hydro not to mention stacks of electrical and musical equipment over the years. I love a bit of DIY , but in this case , unless you are running big numbers and a large area, in which case you'd naturally scale up your set up with appropriate lights, we're talking the difference of a few quid over 3 years.
Maybe you can place the 210lm/w bulbs in between your plants 🤔 But these types, although very efficient, waste light the same way old bulbs did. They have an angle near 360°, useless for almost any application 🤷🏻♂️
Run a sale on your migro arrays
been using them since they have had the color rendering index above 90
I've always dismissed CRI but when we moved, the new house had high CRI LEDs. Oh boy, what a difference for a living space! Previously everything had the same hue of color temperature of the bulb. Now it feels like everything has its own color.
@@exshenanigan2333 I think all critical thinkers are apprehensive initially. The feit i used were truly the best bang for my buck for vegging, I dont know that flowering with these would meet certain criteria but thoe CRI are def the ones id rec.
@@jonathanschadenfreude9603 I have flowered with 5000K 45w shop LEDs, 4 of them daisy chained totaling 180watts. Got them on clearance for $8 dollar each. I added supplemental 2700K bulbs during flowering but the entire thing worked just fine and produced quality buds. I mostly count PPFD at this point and don't pay too too much attention to spectrum since as far as I understand all white LEDs are full spectrum anyways. So given enough PPFD most white LEDs regardless of the kelvin temperature can be used in flowering AFAIK.
Ikea has a light bulb: (not filament- build like like the phillips one , also built wider - so better light spread:) "SOLHETTA 185,5 Lumen/W": 8.2W - 7,99€, IF we assume same light spread and output but only more efficient: (+~60% (185 L/W vs 117 L/W) -->~ 2,6 PPFD/W) !!!! Im not for buying those cheap bulbs better just buy a migro array: but I dont see the error in my calculation (sure only theoretical but if we assume way less like ~2.2 ppfd/w Im not sure the calcuations still work out in favour of the migro array...)
the LED down light type bulbs might be better
Migro. I already test that With power e27 bulbs only 2 of them with 3200 lumens Other 1200lumens 6 of them on a spider e27 ali express bulb holder Ppfd app goes to 1500 Off course light distribution not as accurate But powerfull asf I take off all the caps And you cap too Cause i only spend 10€ on 2 of the 3200 lumens Other 4 with 1200 i got osram or Philips for 5 Where do you buy your bulbs!! Please So many discounts and liquidation on e27 And only draw 100w! Off course just a test too Been using attis pro Only need 300w
the 210 lumen/W needs to be put sideways under a reflector, just like an old HPS. Its obvious. Just by looking how the led-filaments are designed, you can see that most of the light will not be directed to the ground. I dont know why you even bothered doing it this way.
LED bulb guy
u should not break the led strip bulbs. they contain helium as heat transfer gas
Theres 5 strips there Shane
What about using lamp shade like your granny had😀😅
You’re so close, take the extra step and start with the LED chips. DIY LED’s are BY FAR cheaper for anything over 100 Watts.
great cheap lights for clones.
Anyone see the Gorrilla grow tent video making fun of leds with white light. They were claiming kind led is superior with there blue and red etc.. diode specific Color’s. They claimed all Leds with white diodes were wasting light and not efficient. They had a big comerishal video on it targeting new growers who don’t know the difference. The video was laughable. While kind makes good leds to claim they are the best and all Leds with all white diodes are crap in just wrong. The best tested leds in the world by Shane and others use mainly white diodes like Samsung and osrams with the bull being white mix’s of like 3000 and 5000 kelvin etc.. worth a look. Ghetto grow still some folks growing that way in a pinch who can’t afford a led anything to get you growing untill you can afford something better.
Same with BlackDog LED 2015 called and wanted their light back!
I watched it and I agree with you. I'm sure that kind is a great light but that DOES NOT make white LEDs, junk. I was thinking of buying the 220 kind but changed my mind after I watched they're video.
The white isn't f0r the plant. It's for the grower. Tell those idiots at kind Good luck diagnosing deficiencies under burple lights 😂
"the bull"?
Yeah any companies whose reps, specs or advertising are lying I avoid like the plauge. Really any decent quality led will give very similar results as long as its sized for the space
Better off just buying a real grow light for around $100. You gotta keep them bulbs too close to the plant to do much.
Viparspectra xs1500 pro is a killer 100 dollar light. Best ive used at its size
Just buy Shane's stuff people!
These ones? As in two or more?
Lumens per watt means more light with less heat, but when the light cant hit the leafs, it makes no sense to use them. The other light with the small quantum board is more sutable for seedlings. It is dangerous and illegal to use them without electrical protection.
Do you mean to use without plastic flasks (diffusers)? Is it dangerous?
@@user-ig7gx8ii6w yes.possible
👍🏼👍🏼🍀🇮🇪☘
It's much easier to get a light bulb in prison. Thats how that Alabama slamma is cultivated.
This guy is a liar he only cares about saling certain brands
Feit makes a 300 watt replacement LED with a pop off diffuser I believe they are 34 watts you should try those they are also 3000k light
just shows you what a rip off all these arrays costing 2k + are.
So ... I bought 18 - 6,5 W - 160 lumen/W led bulbs (3000-4000-6500 K), that gave me 221 PPFD/W. I bought new lamps and cables, and second hand timers, connectors and sockets and payed €67 for all of it. Each bulb has a guaranteed life of 50000 hours. I only cut the top of the diffuser off and made it to a reflector by using aluminium tape on the inside of the diffuser that surrounded the LEDs and even made cooling fins on the outside. Now each bulb is a spotlight and that boosted the direct light from each bulb. I can dim the lights by unscrewing bulbs, change color temperature by changing bulbs, change individual broken bulbs and change the height of each individual bulb by pulling and locking the cord on the outside of the grow-place. It has been fun. I'm happy! 😁 Oh, by the way ... Those bulbs are discontinued now! 😖
theres ikea bulbs that are efficient. solhetta, with either 9,5w for 1521 or the more pricey version with 8,2w for 1521 lumen, both 2700k. how was the yield with your setup?