t5 grow light . what one should i buy ?

B

bryan oconner

Well-Known Member
i want a 4 footer 8 bulb. i want the ability to shut off some bulbs when thy are not needed by hitting a switch . purpose of these are for veg small plants under 10 inches tall . not looking for junk . some thing that last me under 250 bucks . i did look at led . the foot print and actual power out put for what i want to spend does not look like it will fill the bill . . i am looking @
http://www.ebay.com/itm/QUANTUM-T5-4FT-8-Lamp-Hydroponics-432W-Fluorescent-Grow-Light-Fixture-Open-Box-/122004279829?hash=item1c68059215:g:kSUAAOSwzJ5XUH2V
i have always veg with mh . i notice i have to have the light so close 12 inches . and only getting about a 2 foot square spread with a 400 watt bulb. so i try to save the juice bill raise it and not getting any looms . so i get pissed off end up turning on a 1000 mh power and wallet killer to get the desired amount of sun . i need to flood about a 4/3 foot area what are your suggestions ? the mh is in a cool tube . i could buy a new hood . but i really need this ballast in flower . i need to buy a new light no matter what way i go .f087e56e9d7d9e003f5e89585420097e.jpg
 
StoneyMcphatter

StoneyMcphatter

Well-Known Member
bryan oconner said:
i want a 4 footer 8 bulb. i want the ability to shut off some bulbs when thy are not needed by hitting a switch . purpose of these are for veg small plants under 10 inches tall . not looking for junk . some thing that last me under 250 bucks . i did look at led . the foot print and actual power out put for what i want to spend does not look like it will fill the bill . . i am looking @
http://www.ebay.com/itm/QUANTUM-T5-4FT-8-Lamp-Hydroponics-432W-Fluorescent-Grow-Light-Fixture-Open-Box-/122004279829?hash=item1c68059215:g:kSUAAOSwzJ5XUH2V
i have always veg with mh . i notice i have to have the light so close 12 inches . and only getting about a 2 foot square spread with a 400 watt bulb. so i try to save the juice bill raise it and not getting any looms . so i get pissed off end up turning on a 1000 mh power and wallet killer to get the desired amount of sun . i need to flood about a 4/3 foot area what are your suggestions ? the mh is in a cool tube . i could buy a new hood . but i really need this ballast in flower . i need to buy a new light no matter what way i go .View attachment 3704884
Click to expand...
Get the Bad boy T5's. I got them and they work great. And stop posting dirty pictures. That girl looks filthy.
 
Budley Doright

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
Not sure if you have access to electrical wholesaler, may be cheaper there. I think I would buy a polished reflector type if buying again.
 
B

bryan oconner

Well-Known Member
Bose said:
Sorry if that offended you. I ment no harm.
Click to expand...
were all good ! . hey i have an experiment going . . i hit he homedepot and bought a fixture for a t8 yeah i know t8 suck compared to t5 . any ways . i bought the led t8 direct screw in bulbs . i put 8 of the bulb led on top of the plants . and its much more bright then the 400 mh actually light the room up more bright then the mh ! impressive . led tubes are about 2 inches away from the plants . getting some serious lighting now . here is the experiment . the t8 led tubes . are 5000k saves a lot of juice on the light bill . i can run a boat load of them . they are for shop lighting . so we will see in 5 days if they can grow the plants like the mh bulbs do . it does not say the par or so on and so on . the color temp to my eye is white . they look like t5 bulb color 6500 k to me . go ahead and bash me . in 5 days i will be back to post if they work if so they look like real winners . they pull 17 watts per bulb and put out 2700 lumes i did some math i can run 23.5 of these compared to 8 t5 . same watts and the lumes will be 63529 compared to the 40000 of the t5 . useng 400 watts the mh is 37000 i think off hand and actually only getting 15000 if i am lucky at the height im forced to have it to flood the area .so thats some real savings and improvements . 10 bucks per bulb and the fixture on sale was 75 bucks . 175 plus tax . 3 year warranty on the bulbs and 2 year on the fixture . these have to be a lot better then those mars hydro led lights . who know we will see i used one of those and i was not impressed . i hate pink lights cant see shit .with out glasses .
 
Bose

Bose

Well-Known Member
I have no experience with t8 I know they can be used to grow. If they work out well 23592 lumens more at the same watts is awesome. Let us have a look when you get them up and running.
 
Bose

Bose

Well-Known Member
bryan oconner said:
if the t8 leds suck i will return them its always fun trying new things .
Click to expand...
i forgot when i started out I think I had t8 2 four foot bulbs on my plants for about two weeks while waiting on my t5 and led lights to come in. The seedlings did very good under them.
 
Bose

Bose

Well-Known Member
Corso312 said:
Those led tubes are great..you will be buying more not returning...2" from plants? ... You are going to burn em... I'd raise that up 10 more inches.
Click to expand...
Are they good just for veg or can they be used to flower also. No I'm interested in this experiment.
 
Corso312

Corso312

Well-Known Member
I've never flowered with them but I'm sure they sell bloom tubes that are 3k or 3500k that would work great.
 
Bose

Bose

Well-Known Member
bryan oconner said:
were all good ! . hey i have an experiment going . . i hit he homedepot and bought a fixture for a t8 yeah i know t8 suck compared to t5 . any ways . i bought the led t8 direct screw in bulbs . i put 8 of the bulb led on top of the plants . and its much more bright then the 400 mh actually light the room up more bright then the mh ! impressive . led tubes are about 2 inches away from the plants . getting some serious lighting now . here is the experiment . the t8 led tubes . are 5000k saves a lot of juice on the light bill . i can run a boat load of them . they are for shop lighting . so we will see in 5 days if they can grow the plants like the mh bulbs do . it does not say the par or so on and so on . the color temp to my eye is white . they look like t5 bulb color 6500 k to me . go ahead and bash me . in 5 days i will be back to post if they work if so they look like real winners . they pull 17 watts per bulb and put out 2700 lumes i did some math i can run 23.5 of these compared to 8 t5 . same watts and the lumes will be 63529 compared to the 40000 of the t5 . useng 400 watts the mh is 37000 i think off hand and actually only getting 15000 if i am lucky at the height im forced to have it to flood the area .so thats some real savings and improvements . 10 bucks per bulb and the fixture on sale was 75 bucks . 175 plus tax . 3 year warranty on the bulbs and 2 year on the fixture . these have to be a lot better then those mars hydro led lights . who know we will see i used one of those and i was not impressed . i hate pink lights cant see shit .with out glasses .
Click to expand...
Any chance to show a picture of the light and fixture you have.
 
Budley Doright

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
bryan oconner said:
were all good ! . hey i have an experiment going . . i hit he homedepot and bought a fixture for a t8 yeah i know t8 suck compared to t5 . any ways . i bought the led t8 direct screw in bulbs . i put 8 of the bulb led on top of the plants . and its much more bright then the 400 mh actually light the room up more bright then the mh ! impressive . led tubes are about 2 inches away from the plants . getting some serious lighting now . here is the experiment . the t8 led tubes . are 5000k saves a lot of juice on the light bill . i can run a boat load of them . they are for shop lighting . so we will see in 5 days if they can grow the plants like the mh bulbs do . it does not say the par or so on and so on . the color temp to my eye is white . they look like t5 bulb color 6500 k to me . go ahead and bash me . in 5 days i will be back to post if they work if so they look like real winners . they pull 17 watts per bulb and put out 2700 lumes i did some math i can run 23.5 of these compared to 8 t5 . same watts and the lumes will be 63529 compared to the 40000 of the t5 . useng 400 watts the mh is 37000 i think off hand and actually only getting 15000 if i am lucky at the height im forced to have it to flood the area .so thats some real savings and improvements . 10 bucks per bulb and the fixture on sale was 75 bucks . 175 plus tax . 3 year warranty on the bulbs and 2 year on the fixture . these have to be a lot better then those mars hydro led lights . who know we will see i used one of those and i was not impressed . i hate pink lights cant see shit .with out glasses .
Click to expand...
Keep us posted as I'm pretty sure they have the same thing in t5 style as well which is all I have, t8 fixtures I had are all gone :(. I was planning the same thing but I won't be starting till October.
 
tyke1973

tyke1973

Well-Known Member
I use the 6 tube t5 love it saves you a fortune,when vegging,but take into account the heat the bigger you buy the more you will need to get a bigger fan to sort heat out.
 
Budley Doright

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
tyke1973 said:
I use the 6 tube t5 love it saves you a fortune,when vegging,but take into account the heat the bigger you buy the more you will need to get a bigger fan to sort heat out.
Click to expand...
What is the footprint of your plants? Just curious if they provide more or less usable light than a 400 hid. Which is only using 80 watts more. I use T5's as well but just starting to look at other sources for fall startup. Power consumption is a pretty big part of the equation for me due to high per KW cost. Heat I can control but light needs are what they are :(.
 
B

bryan oconner

Well-Known Member
i am doing some expanding . i will be veg in a space that is 8 by 4 soon . when i used to do a space that big i used to pump 2000 watts and murder the electric bill . now i will be using 2 of these led hoods . total electric draw will be . 272 watts . im sure they will not grow as fast as the powerful 2k watt mh but who cares . heat is not an issue i am in a 4000 square foot area . yes the led sit about 2 inches above the tops of the plants . my room i keep it cold for better root growth my opinion only its 74 f there is a fan blowing across the top of the plants no chance of burning . i put my hand directly on the bulb i feel 0 heat . the foot print of 1 of these lights 2 or 3 inches above is a bit bigger then the light about 4.5 wide and 2.5 .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top