some LED strip light info. strip types, wiring, adapters,etc. 5630-specific

bicit

Well-Known Member
Sounds good to me. Maybe it's time to upgrade the baby killers to 65% from 47%. I must be a supra hater for trying to match or beat his results!
I'm in the same boat! I really need to upgrade my 4 year old 125w cfl.... but it still does the trick, and reducing the heat load is more important.
 

az2000

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't buy a new brand super efficient Mercedez if I wasn't allowed to drive over 30mph. The same way I don't think it makes sense to spend so much money on light to take so little potential from it. With a tenth of that money (3070+driver+heatsink+fan), I could buy 50w CFL and achieve the same results.
Initial cost is an important consideration, as is ongoing operating costs (which would be a negative consequence of CFL).

I hope strip lighting enthusiasts can discuss their thoughts without it being taken off-topic with COBs. COB enthusiasts can be evangelical (as I can with my Cree "lightbulbs."). I'm a little disturbed by the direction this thread is taking. But, since I have no plans to use strip lighting in the foreseeable future I have no skin in the game. If you guys do, I'd urge you to report hijacking if you feel it gets out of hand. (I only mention this because I do think these lights have more of a place in growing than they've received, and everyone can find their way to other lights without this thread becoming dominated by them.).
 

bicit

Well-Known Member
Initial cost is an important consideration, as is ongoing operating costs (which would be a negative consequence of CFL).

I hope strip lighting enthusiasts can discuss their thoughts without it being taken off-topic with COBs. COB enthusiasts can be evangelical (as I can with my Cree "lightbulbs."). I'm a little disturbed by the direction this thread is taking. [..]

@churchhaze
 
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Metacanna

Well-Known Member
So little potential? Your not making sense to me. Car analogies don't really work well =/

Driven so low it's actually getting more out of it(light emitted vs power consumed) than you would if you were to drive it hard. I mean, by the same logic why not use incandescent since it's even cheaper.... Why pay so much for a specialty CFL?

Also aside from the fact a 50w CFL wouldn't fit inside your bucket.... I have a few 68watt cfls. They're giant.
Let me put it this way. Two 27w CFL consume 54w and together emmit 3500 lumens. One 3070 consume half of that having the same output in lumens. Price for the two CFL is 10$, price for the 3070+heatsink+fan+driver is 70$. So, you get the same light output and save 25w with the COB. How much money will you save in electricity?

In the US the average for Kwh is 12 cents. If you run your lights 18/6 365 days a year with the CFLs 54w it will consume 473Khw, 57$ on the bill. With the 3070 running at 700ma (25w) it will consume 219Khw, 26$. Under this circumstances the 3070 up front costs would be paid 26-27 months after purchase. More likely the lights wouldn't be used 18/6 365 days and majority of people pay more than 12 cents per khw, for the average grower it would take somewhere near 3 years to cover the up front costs.

In my personal view, for particulars who grow a few plants per year it doesn't make sense to go after the top notch technology for premium price tag when there are high chances that the same technology will be obsolete a few months later, unless that sector reached a certain level of maturity. I don't think leds in general reached that state yet.

I'm just crushing numbers, I don't have any personal experience with COBs, I would like to try and take my own conclusions. Just promoting a nice healthy discussion :P

I don't know if a single 50w would fit, but I had 3 23w CLF before the led strips. Should I complain about the heat ? :)
 

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
Initial cost is an important consideration, as is ongoing operating costs (which would be a negative consequence of CFL).

I hope strip lighting enthusiasts can discuss their thoughts without it being taken off-topic with COBs. COB enthusiasts can be evangelical (as I can with my Cree "lightbulbs."). I'm a little disturbed by the direction this thread is taking. But, since I have no plans to use strip lighting in the foreseeable future I have no skin in the game. If you guys do, I'd urge you to report hijacking if you feel it gets out of hand. (I only mention this because I do think these lights have more of a place in growing than they've received, and everyone can find their way to other lights without this thread becoming dominated by them.).
The initial cost of CFL is irrelevant. If you try to flower with them, you're wasting your time. HPS!!

The ultimate act of stubbornness is using more than 250W of florescent in flowering. Get a freaking HPS lamp!!
 
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bicit

Well-Known Member
I'm just crushing numbers, I don't have any personal experience with COBs, I would like to try and take my own conclusions. Just promoting a nice healthy discussion :P
Well I have a few problems with your assessment. Not entirely off base, but since you're in the mood for healthy discussion and all...

Let me put it this way. Two 27w CFL consume 54w and together emmit 3500 lumens. One 3070 consume half of that having the same output in lumens. Price for the two CFL is 10$, price for the 3070+heatsink+fan+driver is 70$. So, you get the same light output and save 25w with the COB. How much money will you save in electricity?

In the US the average for Kwh is 12 cents. If you run your lights 18/6 365 days a year with the CFLs 54w it will consume 473Khw, 57$ on the bill. With the 3070 running at 700ma (25w) it will consume 219Khw, 26$. Under this circumstances the 3070 up front costs would be paid 26-27 months after purchase. More likely the lights wouldn't be used 18/6 365 days and majority of people pay more than 12 cents per khw, for the average grower it would take somewhere near 3 years to cover the up front costs.
I won't dispute this much except you cut the CXB3070 short by about 1000lumen. Realistically a 25w cree would replace 3, 27w CFL bulbs, not two. So 530kwh for a grand total of $63 per year to run. So it'll actually pay itself off in about two years of continuous growing in both space and electrical savings. Not to mention reduced heat and never having to replace the bulb.

This also completely ignores getting something like a vero 18 for $13, a cheap passive heatsink, and a cheap fasttech driver. $30 for the whole assembly and you'll still be over 40% efficient.

Or a single vero-10 for $5, a $3 driver, and a $7 heatsink.

In my personal view, for particulars who grow a few plants per year it doesn't make sense to go after the top notch technology for premium price tag when there are high chances that the same technology will be obsolete a few months later, unless that sector reached a certain level of maturity. I don't think leds in general reached that state yet.
I don't understand this line of thinking. It's not like your light is going to stop working because it's 'obsolete'. If that were the case there would be a lot of very unhappy HPS users.... 55% efficiency is nothing to sneeze at.... You could enjoy decades of growing with a single cob....
 
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Metacanna

Well-Known Member

bicit

Well-Known Member
I'm thinking the vero 2.0 lineup is going to be outdated by the time they hit shelves though.... they're taking their sweet ever loving time.
 

Metacanna

Well-Known Member
It gets harder to argument against COB when you bring the Vero line into play, that would be the Volkswagen in the LED world :). For my way of managing money/investing that would be more acceptable as the up front is significantly less and the efficiency only slightly lower than the top performers.

I don't understand this line of thinking. It's not like your light is going to stop working because it's 'obsolete'. If that were the case there would be a lot of very unhappy HPS users.... 55% efficiency is nothing to sneeze at.... You could enjoy decades of growing with a single cob....
When I was more enthusiast of new tech than I am today, I used to feel frustrated when I put good money on a product and a few weeks/months later a new model was launched and my version of the product automatically lost 50% or more of the value I paid. I'm afraid the same would happen if I paid too much for a COB.
 

OneHitDone

Well-Known Member
Well I have a few problems with your assessment. Not entirely off base, but since you're in the mood for healthy discussion and all...



I won't dispute this much except you cut the CXB3070 short by about 1000lumen. Realistically a 25w cree would replace 3, 27w CFL bulbs, not two. So 530kwh for a grand total of $63 per year to run. So it'll actually pay itself off in about two years of continuous growing in both space and electrical savings. Not to mention reduced heat and never having to replace the bulb.

This also completely ignores getting something like a vero 18 for $13, a cheap passive heatsink, and a cheap fasttech driver. $30 for the whole assembly and you'll still be over 40% efficient.

Or a single vero-10 for $5, a $3 driver, and a $7 heatsink.



I don't understand this line of thinking. It's not like your light is going to stop working because it's 'obsolete'. If that were the case there would be a lot of very unhappy HPS users.... 55% efficiency is nothing to sneeze at.... You could enjoy decades of growing with a single cob....
Can you expand a bit on the vero 18 and 10 combinations you are referring to as far as parts requirements? Would they be good competition for Kessil lights?
 

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
Vero line into play, that would be the Volkswagen in the LED world :).
..... I don't even know where to start with this one... lol...

I've driven a lot of VW's, and I will never go back now that I own a hyundai.... Every VW I've ever owned has been a mistake.
 

OneHitDone

Well-Known Member
..... I don't even know where to start with this one... lol...

I've driven a lot of VW's, and I will never go back now that I own a hyundai.... Every VW I've ever owned has been a mistake.
Vintage Vw = Building a relationship with your tool box
Late Model VW = Building a relationship with your local VW Dealership
 

SPLFreak808

Well-Known Member
Interesting. My first light was an ABS panel of 150 red 5050 led's and 150 blue 5050's on a 100w power supply. Kinda worked, seedlings got stretchy as fuxk though.
 
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