sfttailpaul
Active Member
DIY LED light fixture.
Experimentate or just save some money...
SO-o-o-o, you are interested in one of the newest lighting choices, LED, the latest offering for Horticulture lighting but are overwhelmed by their cost. The manufacturers have flooded the indoor gardener with a variety of claims that range from significantly reduced heat emission to an almost infinite selection of light spectrum combinations available. In the last ten years, LED lighting has consistently come down in price making it more attractive each year. Still expensive, to say the least, these exotic fixtures offer a wide array of options, choices that are purportedly better than conventional HID lighting.
One can make a LED fixture really easy and relatively inexpensive too. You dont need to know how Electricity works; simple Math and Carpentry will be all that you need. \To begin, one needs a piece of ¼ thick "pegboard" cut to the size required. You would already have calculated the size of the panel by the number of LEDs, you will be using. This plan assumes that they will be placed on one inch centers and the peg board fits the bill perfectly. You can get it raw (tempered & best choice) OR already painted. Either way, you will paint it again. Use a good spray enamel like Rust-O-Lium, Krylon or any poly based paint. Paint this with several coats, making sure that you cover all of the surfaces. Dont get too carried away with the paint, you are not dealing with a wet environment, but there is some moisture. There is also a strong chance that you will remove and or rearrange some of the lights, so some touch up down the road is a distinct possibility. Locate a source for Christmas tree light sets made with LEDs. The challenge here will be in locating the color(s) that you want to use. You should be able to get pretty close. You can mix here, different colors and ratios. The pegboard is already drilled with 1/4" holes @ 1" centers which is perfect for both the hole size and spacing. Simply push the individual bulb socket into the holes in the peg board. You might have to remove the bulb from the socket first so it can be negotiated into the hole. Sometimes it is faster and easier to drill the holes a bit larger and glue the sockets in. Any adhesive caulk will do. It all depends on the product you find. Go for the highest wattage because you have more than enough power available at a standard household electrical outlet. Dont worry about all that wire. It will be concealed and anchored onto the back. I strongly recommend an optional frame made from stock lumber with a dado (groove) cut into it for the edges of the peg board. It will serve to keep the panel straight and flat while making the whole thing look good. Size this to provide a decorative reveal at the front surface and deep enough to conceal the wiring and the fan in the back. Inset a ¼ thick solid plywood panel for the back which will also serve as a safety shield and a place to mount the fan.
Wiring the light is simple. The strings are all calculated out to operate on standard household current (eg: 10 lights @ 12 VAC/light = 120V; 20 X 6V = 120V and so on) therefore never alter a string of these lights. They are all either plugged in to an extension cord (that has multiple taps) or the plugs are cut off and the like wires are combined then run from the main cord and plug set. Different colors can be operated from different plugs or take off power from a switch or switched plug.
Imagine, one can build a fixture that has specific amounts of color in the areas one wants to focus and not waste money on wavelengths that the plant doesn't need or use. The LED strings seem to be available most abundantly in Red, White and Blue bulbs which coincidentally, are the ones we need to use. These three seem to work best in combinations of 1-1-10. EG: 1 string of Red, to 1 string of white, to 10 strings of Blue would be for Vegetation; 10-1-1 would be for Flowering. By adding other color options, one can further refine this fixture to be more precisely tailored to ones needs. The most important factor in choosing them is the ability to decipher the color rating the individual lights produce. Most manufacturers publish this on the package. If this information isnt available, do not use them based purely on what the color actually is.
Whisper fans, sometimes called pancake fans, are ideal for cooling. Even though LEDs are described as operating at a low heat output, they still emit heat. Cooling with Whisper Fans also aids in a more efficient operation, increases longevity and costs next to nothing to operate. These fans are most commonly used in the computer industry which operates at 12 volts. You will need to locate the 120 volt versions readily available online, not at the computer store.
There is a lot more to understand, but you get my drift here. This would make the opportunity to experiment more affordable. To share the results with each other would be a beautiful thing. Heck, if a dozen people pickup on this, we could strive to learn the more to know stuff collectively and ultimately experience better results.
I am planning to build my own LED's and soon too. If I do it correctly, I'll detail it all out and post...
Experimentate or just save some money...
SO-o-o-o, you are interested in one of the newest lighting choices, LED, the latest offering for Horticulture lighting but are overwhelmed by their cost. The manufacturers have flooded the indoor gardener with a variety of claims that range from significantly reduced heat emission to an almost infinite selection of light spectrum combinations available. In the last ten years, LED lighting has consistently come down in price making it more attractive each year. Still expensive, to say the least, these exotic fixtures offer a wide array of options, choices that are purportedly better than conventional HID lighting.
One can make a LED fixture really easy and relatively inexpensive too. You dont need to know how Electricity works; simple Math and Carpentry will be all that you need. \To begin, one needs a piece of ¼ thick "pegboard" cut to the size required. You would already have calculated the size of the panel by the number of LEDs, you will be using. This plan assumes that they will be placed on one inch centers and the peg board fits the bill perfectly. You can get it raw (tempered & best choice) OR already painted. Either way, you will paint it again. Use a good spray enamel like Rust-O-Lium, Krylon or any poly based paint. Paint this with several coats, making sure that you cover all of the surfaces. Dont get too carried away with the paint, you are not dealing with a wet environment, but there is some moisture. There is also a strong chance that you will remove and or rearrange some of the lights, so some touch up down the road is a distinct possibility. Locate a source for Christmas tree light sets made with LEDs. The challenge here will be in locating the color(s) that you want to use. You should be able to get pretty close. You can mix here, different colors and ratios. The pegboard is already drilled with 1/4" holes @ 1" centers which is perfect for both the hole size and spacing. Simply push the individual bulb socket into the holes in the peg board. You might have to remove the bulb from the socket first so it can be negotiated into the hole. Sometimes it is faster and easier to drill the holes a bit larger and glue the sockets in. Any adhesive caulk will do. It all depends on the product you find. Go for the highest wattage because you have more than enough power available at a standard household electrical outlet. Dont worry about all that wire. It will be concealed and anchored onto the back. I strongly recommend an optional frame made from stock lumber with a dado (groove) cut into it for the edges of the peg board. It will serve to keep the panel straight and flat while making the whole thing look good. Size this to provide a decorative reveal at the front surface and deep enough to conceal the wiring and the fan in the back. Inset a ¼ thick solid plywood panel for the back which will also serve as a safety shield and a place to mount the fan.
Wiring the light is simple. The strings are all calculated out to operate on standard household current (eg: 10 lights @ 12 VAC/light = 120V; 20 X 6V = 120V and so on) therefore never alter a string of these lights. They are all either plugged in to an extension cord (that has multiple taps) or the plugs are cut off and the like wires are combined then run from the main cord and plug set. Different colors can be operated from different plugs or take off power from a switch or switched plug.
Imagine, one can build a fixture that has specific amounts of color in the areas one wants to focus and not waste money on wavelengths that the plant doesn't need or use. The LED strings seem to be available most abundantly in Red, White and Blue bulbs which coincidentally, are the ones we need to use. These three seem to work best in combinations of 1-1-10. EG: 1 string of Red, to 1 string of white, to 10 strings of Blue would be for Vegetation; 10-1-1 would be for Flowering. By adding other color options, one can further refine this fixture to be more precisely tailored to ones needs. The most important factor in choosing them is the ability to decipher the color rating the individual lights produce. Most manufacturers publish this on the package. If this information isnt available, do not use them based purely on what the color actually is.
Whisper fans, sometimes called pancake fans, are ideal for cooling. Even though LEDs are described as operating at a low heat output, they still emit heat. Cooling with Whisper Fans also aids in a more efficient operation, increases longevity and costs next to nothing to operate. These fans are most commonly used in the computer industry which operates at 12 volts. You will need to locate the 120 volt versions readily available online, not at the computer store.
There is a lot more to understand, but you get my drift here. This would make the opportunity to experiment more affordable. To share the results with each other would be a beautiful thing. Heck, if a dozen people pickup on this, we could strive to learn the more to know stuff collectively and ultimately experience better results.
I am planning to build my own LED's and soon too. If I do it correctly, I'll detail it all out and post...
