4x8' grow tent, need some LED DIY guidance

So I ran a test. We have light! This photo does NOT give you any idea how bright this thing is.

PS - Do not EVER look right at these things. I was not prepared for the brightness when I turned it on. I am seeing checkerboards everywhere.

So I decided to scrap my original plan for the control box. These ones I got are too small. I forgot I need to make room in there for the power converter for the fans too. I'm getting a couple of these so I can fit everything in. Also can't hurt to build this thing with a little style, right? I have a bunch of these fans left over from a computer build not long ago so that's how I'll be cooling the boards. It's all starting to come together.

Covetsculitvars said:

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So the screw in high end 90+ CRI bulbs that are 17.5 100w replacement bulbs are kinda like mini boards I could say? An experiment with screw in LEDs actually made me pay attention to this tech. I have 8 of these bulbs right now veggen several varietals. I assume the boards out perform the bulbs? Each bulb is about 1700 lumens each.

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Mini boards? Maybe in just looks yes.
But those LEDs are about a little over half as efficient and put out less than half the photons as Samsung's or bridgelux ones.

I appreciate the insight.... Flying by the seat of my pants here sorta speak, are you saying Samsung and bridelux have screw LEDs like the ones I have!?

I was looking at these

https://www.samsung.com/led/lighting/led-modules/
The orig pic I posted was the experiment I used...........I figured that setup was less than 35 a month in eletric Bill...........maybe I should pump out 10 bulbs per vegetation area.....using vanity strips for bulbs like you'd see in a bathroom mirror cabinet lighting up the bathroom above the sink mirror. Just thoughts rolling through my head

I half-heartedly considered the screw in LED bulbs but I already had a 4 foot t8 fixture. I got t8 led tubes for veg. I had to bypass the ballast and replace the tombstones on the fixture but it wasn't too hard. My baby plants are going into the veg tent today, hopefully. The big lights I am building are for flower only.

So I drew up a diagram for wiring my control boxes. I am no electrical engineer, just trying to plan this out. I wanted to get this all down to make sure I have all my ducks in a row before I start running wires. I plan to use a SPDT on/on switch so the fans are on or the standby switch circuit is closed to turn the lights off. Lights will be powered on when fans are on and the standby switch is open. I'm planning to use a 12v DC 25A switch. Any issues with what I have planned? Should work, no?

Switches finally arrived. I connected everything to the switches and ran a test tonight, everything worked as planned. Although I did mislabel the switch in my diagram above. Should be a DPST switch. Anyhow, everything seems to work as I intended. Now just to put this thing together this weekend.

Before you go buy LEDs, do you have, AC, Dehumidifier, humidifier, extraction fans, RH controller etc?
I'd spend my money on climate control first. I don't care how good your light is, you mess up with that, and you are going to get sub-par results.
It makes much more sense for someone with an established grow and all the supplementary gear to switch over to LED.
HID gear goes for a song now.

Way too late for that, LED parts have long since arrived. I am also not sure how well plants will grow with perfect environment and no lights. Overall cost of running these for the foreseeable future outweighs how cheap HID lights are to start with. HPS would about double my electric bill, not to mention the added cooling I would need. LED is the way for me.

PS I do have a fan/carbon filter and an AC unit, c02 and a controller is next but I am looking for a deal. So yes I do plan to do all that stuff eventually but my plants are coming out of veg in a couple of weeks so I need lights asap.

Obviously, for you, I posted this as a general response to other people considering this.

Very VERY rarely do you need dehus or AC with LEDs. I sure as fuck don't in a 4X8.

Airwalker16 said:

Very VERY rarely do you need dehus or AC with LEDs. I sure as fuck don't in a 4X8.

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I live in a very hot area so I got a small portable AC unit to be safe and make sure my plants are kept at a reasonable temperature. Summers are brutal where I live. I feel like the AC will take care of dehumidification duties as well. It's dry where I live and very rarely gets above 50% humidity. Until I manage to afford a controller and c02 setup, I think I can get by on fresh air exchange and keeping the room at temp.

Airwalker16 said:

Very VERY rarely do you need dehus or AC with LEDs. I sure as fuck don't in a 4X8.

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I think it has more to do with the local climate rather than tent size.
Why would LED eliminate the need for a dehu?

1212ham said:

I think it has more to do with the local climate rather than tent size.
Why would LED eliminate the need for a dehu?

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Cause he said he doesn't live in a humid area and with LEDs you don't have a ton of heat.

You're saying LED eliminates the need for a dehu because he doesn't live in a humid area?

I hope I don’t need a dehumidifier. I just spent all my money on LEDs.

Plants will respirate at an almost fixed rate per square footage covered. The only way to reduce this is to stay on top of your VPD game or to defoliate.

For those that have no idea what vpd is (like me) here's a link. Lots to know, lots to learn. Thanks to all the old masters helping out newer growers like myself.

Airwalker16 said:

Very VERY rarely do you need dehus or AC with LEDs. I sure as fuck don't in a 4X8.

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@Airwalker16 Might I ask a little bit about your setup that allows for no dehumidifier need?