I am a maintenance man by trade and I deal with a lot of light bulbs and I'm always reading the packages. I've noticed that they say a 13w cfl is the equivalent of a 60w incandescent but the 13w cfl puts out significantly less lumens. They say a 9w led is comparable to a 13w cfl but again the lumen count is down. I know lumens aren't the ideal measurement for plants but the fact remain that there is less light in each comparison. Its been my observation that when it comes to bulbs you need almost as many led watts as you do cfl watts to make the same amount of light. Being more efficient the led bulbs will generate less heat.
CFL or LED bulbs for veg room
- Thread starter ISK
- Start date
ISK
Well-Known Member
actually it's the 23 watt CFL that is equivalent to 60 watts and the 9 watt LED bulbs are equivalent to 60W
So I would say the 9 watt LED is equivalent to the 23 watt CFL
Merkin Donor
Well-Known Member
A 23w CFL is 100w equivalent and puts out 1600 lumen
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-100W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-T2-Spiral-CFL-Light-Bulb-E-434738/202827179#specifications
An 18w Cree LED is 100w equivalent and puts out 1600 lumen
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cree-100W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-A21-Dimmable-LED-Light-Bulb-BA21-16027OMF-12DE26-1U100/205054835#specifications
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-100W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-T2-Spiral-CFL-Light-Bulb-E-434738/202827179#specifications
An 18w Cree LED is 100w equivalent and puts out 1600 lumen
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cree-100W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-A21-Dimmable-LED-Light-Bulb-BA21-16027OMF-12DE26-1U100/205054835#specifications
ISK
Well-Known Member
I stand corrected....my bad
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ISK
Well-Known Member
Well this LED bulb trial is coming to a close as the tall one is male..... shorter one is undetermined gender but my guess it's a female
Both plants have grown a lot in the last week, as I was giving them sunshine to help pick up the pace, which made a huge difference
I believe the LED bulbs are an viable option but I still question their effectiveness compare to the cheaper CFL
If heat and/or electricity consumption is an issue/concern then LED bulbs would prevail, but if you can control the heat I would say CFL bulbs are more effective and cheaper to buy
I will conduct a true side-by-side experiment this fall but will post in the CFL section as it's more relevant, beside the interest in this sub-forum has been minimal at best
Both plants have grown a lot in the last week, as I was giving them sunshine to help pick up the pace, which made a huge difference
I believe the LED bulbs are an viable option but I still question their effectiveness compare to the cheaper CFL
If heat and/or electricity consumption is an issue/concern then LED bulbs would prevail, but if you can control the heat I would say CFL bulbs are more effective and cheaper to buy
I will conduct a true side-by-side experiment this fall but will post in the CFL section as it's more relevant, beside the interest in this sub-forum has been minimal at best
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ISK
Well-Known Member
I checked a few bulbs and they vary from brand, generation and/or style...this is what I found:
13 watt CFL bulbs (60w eqv) range from 810 lumens (mini-twister) to 840 lumens (spiral A-line)
9 or 9.5 watts LED bulbs (60w eqv) range from 800 to 815 lumens... and the flood light style is 830 lumens
the mini-twister
http://www.londondrugs.com/Philips-Minitwister-13w-CFL-Bulb---Daylight---2-pack/L7718349,default,pd.html?start=68&cgid=hls-lighting-lightbulbs&prefn1=brandDescription&prefv1=PHILIPS&srule=Price - Low to High
the spiral A-line
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-60W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-Spiral-A-Line-CFL-Light-Bulb-4-Pack-E-434373/202826746?N=5yc1vZbmat
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pinacoloda
Well-Known Member
We should celebrate their short lives with a friendly funeral.
ISK
Well-Known Member
agree, I lay them to rest in the local dog park poop-container...even the bums don't poke around in there
King Arthur
Well-Known Member
I like LED's I feel like my plants are more robust and grow faster under them. That said I have a CFL panel for ones I need to slow down.
ISK
Well-Known Member
well I'm not 100% sold on the LED bulbs, but on the other hand I'm not giving up on them.
EDIT...I assume you are talking LED bulbs, and not the LED panel you have in your journal ?
there are many factors that determine the growth rates, so I can't say for sure the LED bulbs are the same/better/worst than CFL, but as I stated several times in my thread that the LED's seem to have been slower, but I'll admit the end product turned out similar to previous CFL grows.
so, I'll hold off final judgement until I can do a controlled side-by-side comparison
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SKUNKPOWER
New Member
dont water to much let them dry out and ph your water to ph 6-7 ,
frica
Well-Known Member
Many LED bulbs do have the advantage that if you remove the cover/diffuser that they have directional SMDs, or a cob in it which means they don't require a reflector and won't have reflector losses.
CFLs are omnidirectional by design and will have reflector losses.
GE brightstiks are good value for money, remove that plastic cover/diffuser and you have a very nice bright light.
CFLs are omnidirectional by design and will have reflector losses.
GE brightstiks are good value for money, remove that plastic cover/diffuser and you have a very nice bright light.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Iriefeelin210
Member
Nice thread! Believe it or not I got some valuable information from this one. I’ve got both cfl and led a19s. Was curious to which one worked better in production: seems you have answered my question! Thanks! ISk
ISK
Well-Known Member
I now use a mixture of both CFL & LED bulbs.
LED bulbs produce almost no heat which is a problem in the winter, so a few CFL bulbs to get the temps up
cheers
ISK