choomer
Well-Known Member
Since I have 14 old school T12 80W 4' fluorescent fixtures in my basement (some so old some ballasts don't have the “No PCB” disclaimer), most of which had at least 1 dead bulb/starter, I decided to investigate LED replacements for energy and wallet conservation instead of buying more fluoro.
Started out ordering 4 of these (single row, single ended, 85+ CRI, 18W ballast compatible @ 112 LM/W) except in 3500K bought from Amazon in Nov. for ~$65 to test out the hype.
When they arrived I installed/tested/compared and liked, but a bit pricey and I wanted a whiter (bluer) light as I spend a LOT of time in the basement.
[TIP: Ballast compatible are more efficient w/o the ballast , but that necessitates rewiring the fixture.]
Then I ordered a 25 lot for ~$260 of these from ebay (double row [billed as 1 strip 4K & 1 strip 5K but the bulb label says 5K only], double ended, 80+ CRI, SMD3528, 16W non-ballast compatible @ 100 LM/W) pulled a test fixture, ripped the ballast, rewired, and did so to the rest of the fixtures including 2 corded 4' fixtures I use for veg.
I don't know if these numbers are actual but they did come from various applicable areas describing the LED products on the above websites.
I didn't get all the tubes until mid Jan. and the entire retrofit project in the basement was finished by the end of the month.
So that's 29 tubes for 32 tube openings which would usually mean some fixtures stay dark, but since each bulb is direct AC not having to use bulb pairs like a ballasted light, it allows me to cheat on some fixtures and only use 1 tube so the veg area can be fully populated.
Here's the veg area pre-retrofit (VERY ghetto) under 2 - 80W fixtures w/ fluoro covering ~6'X6' @ ~4.5' on NYE:
Pretty scraggly I know but I only had 3 plants make it outside (all female) last season and I wanted to keep those strains alive so I was making the tiniest cuts I could that would still live (2 is one, one is none, etc.) and it's only 160W of fluro light.
The flowering container in the corner is getting re-vegged and that's why it looks bigger/darker than the rest.
Once everything was done the room sacrificed its fixtures to the greater good of veg for a total of 4 fixtures in the 6X6 area @ ~4.5' high.
Each veg fixture has 1 3500K and one 5000K which means they had to be a special wiring of one side single ended and one side double ended.
[TIP: If you're going to do a T12 fixture retrofit, use only one end type (single/double) and label everything!!!]
So having 4 – 16W @ 100 LM/W (6400 LM) with a conversion factor of ~0.0146 and 4 – 18W @ 112 LM/W (8064 LM) with a conversion factor of ~0.0181 (Conversion factors source HERE) covering a 6'x6' (3.344 sq. M) area is:
4 x 16W x 100 = 6400 LM 3500K / 3.344 SqM = 1913.87 LX per SqM?
4 x 18W x 112 = 8064 LM 5000K / 3.344 SqM = 2411.48 LX per SqM?
ergo 3500K having 1913.87 LX * 0.0146 = 27.94 PPFD and 5000K having 2411.48 * 0.0181 = 43.64 PPFD for a mean of 35.79 PPFD @ 132W or 0.27 PPFD/W (per SqM assumed), correct?
Looking @ the comparison table in the link below make that number look REALLY small.
There is a LOT of math I haven't used before with unfamiliar factors so if I'm wrong please point out where so I can recalculate it!
So fast forward almost 5 mo. (4 mo. Under LED) and one spidermite infestation later with me being pretty lackadaisical about everything except getting rid of mites (2 mo.), starting a few new strains, and rooting clones/potting them in preparation for the new season in case rage against the mites failed, and this is what it looked like:
and the lights:
Not bad, but not great for almost 5 mo. Veg even in the “less” ghetto environment (the new mylar wall covering SUX because I can see through it so light passes obviously).
The mites really took a defoliation toll because I misdiagnosed them as a nute/pH deficiency at 1st.
You can see in the pics the No Pest strips I had to resort to with everything being under 24/0 veg since Dec.
Now fast forward a mere 23 days later with proper nute/pH and this is the result:
and
A far cry from the previous 4 months, eh?
Even having the mite damaged leaves you can see that's not bad growth @ all.
So did the dismal numbers above provide this or are my numbers hopelessly fudged?
Do you think it's (the last 23 days) appropriate growth for such a ghetto environment?
Regardless, I'm pleased w/ the output of a 132W cost.
Started out ordering 4 of these (single row, single ended, 85+ CRI, 18W ballast compatible @ 112 LM/W) except in 3500K bought from Amazon in Nov. for ~$65 to test out the hype.
When they arrived I installed/tested/compared and liked, but a bit pricey and I wanted a whiter (bluer) light as I spend a LOT of time in the basement.
[TIP: Ballast compatible are more efficient w/o the ballast , but that necessitates rewiring the fixture.]
Then I ordered a 25 lot for ~$260 of these from ebay (double row [billed as 1 strip 4K & 1 strip 5K but the bulb label says 5K only], double ended, 80+ CRI, SMD3528, 16W non-ballast compatible @ 100 LM/W) pulled a test fixture, ripped the ballast, rewired, and did so to the rest of the fixtures including 2 corded 4' fixtures I use for veg.
I don't know if these numbers are actual but they did come from various applicable areas describing the LED products on the above websites.
I didn't get all the tubes until mid Jan. and the entire retrofit project in the basement was finished by the end of the month.
So that's 29 tubes for 32 tube openings which would usually mean some fixtures stay dark, but since each bulb is direct AC not having to use bulb pairs like a ballasted light, it allows me to cheat on some fixtures and only use 1 tube so the veg area can be fully populated.
Here's the veg area pre-retrofit (VERY ghetto) under 2 - 80W fixtures w/ fluoro covering ~6'X6' @ ~4.5' on NYE:
Pretty scraggly I know but I only had 3 plants make it outside (all female) last season and I wanted to keep those strains alive so I was making the tiniest cuts I could that would still live (2 is one, one is none, etc.) and it's only 160W of fluro light.
The flowering container in the corner is getting re-vegged and that's why it looks bigger/darker than the rest.
Once everything was done the room sacrificed its fixtures to the greater good of veg for a total of 4 fixtures in the 6X6 area @ ~4.5' high.
Each veg fixture has 1 3500K and one 5000K which means they had to be a special wiring of one side single ended and one side double ended.
[TIP: If you're going to do a T12 fixture retrofit, use only one end type (single/double) and label everything!!!]
So having 4 – 16W @ 100 LM/W (6400 LM) with a conversion factor of ~0.0146 and 4 – 18W @ 112 LM/W (8064 LM) with a conversion factor of ~0.0181 (Conversion factors source HERE) covering a 6'x6' (3.344 sq. M) area is:
4 x 16W x 100 = 6400 LM 3500K / 3.344 SqM = 1913.87 LX per SqM?
4 x 18W x 112 = 8064 LM 5000K / 3.344 SqM = 2411.48 LX per SqM?
ergo 3500K having 1913.87 LX * 0.0146 = 27.94 PPFD and 5000K having 2411.48 * 0.0181 = 43.64 PPFD for a mean of 35.79 PPFD @ 132W or 0.27 PPFD/W (per SqM assumed), correct?
Looking @ the comparison table in the link below make that number look REALLY small.
There is a LOT of math I haven't used before with unfamiliar factors so if I'm wrong please point out where so I can recalculate it!
So fast forward almost 5 mo. (4 mo. Under LED) and one spidermite infestation later with me being pretty lackadaisical about everything except getting rid of mites (2 mo.), starting a few new strains, and rooting clones/potting them in preparation for the new season in case rage against the mites failed, and this is what it looked like:
and the lights:
Not bad, but not great for almost 5 mo. Veg even in the “less” ghetto environment (the new mylar wall covering SUX because I can see through it so light passes obviously).
The mites really took a defoliation toll because I misdiagnosed them as a nute/pH deficiency at 1st.
You can see in the pics the No Pest strips I had to resort to with everything being under 24/0 veg since Dec.
Now fast forward a mere 23 days later with proper nute/pH and this is the result:
and
A far cry from the previous 4 months, eh?
Even having the mite damaged leaves you can see that's not bad growth @ all.
So did the dismal numbers above provide this or are my numbers hopelessly fudged?
Do you think it's (the last 23 days) appropriate growth for such a ghetto environment?
Regardless, I'm pleased w/ the output of a 132W cost.
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