LED Noob after some advice on DIY fixtures to add to my PC grow.

Hey all,

I've been trying to figure out a way lately of getting some more light into my tiny pc growbox. I was pondering on the idea of switching from CFL to LED, but there was the cost involved. After putting a post up in the CFL forums asking for suggestions, a mate came up with the suggestion of using these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5x-10W-High-Power-IC-LED-Flood-Light-Lamp-Bulb-Chips-Warm-White-DIY-Outdoor-/380747266391?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item58a64e3957

The more I've been thinknig about it, the more ideal it seems. I'm pretty handy with basic electronics/soldering/etc, and I'm thinking it'd be pretty simple to just chuck a few of these into my existing CFL setup, at what looks like a very small cost. Giving me a dual cfl/led grow.

The reason I'm posting here, is that on the auction page it states pretty clearly that you need to follow the rules for these bulbs, and that you'll need to use a heatsink, so I'm wondeing if anyone here has used something similar and could perhaps gimme a bit of a heads-up on where to find the relevant info I need and how do-able the idea of chucking a few of these into my already crammed pc box would be.

Thanks all/
mewk.

Damn no idea here. I wanted to get a LED pannel but it's way too expensive :/ ..Tho,this Leddies right here,are looking decent,but i'd still can't figure how to connect em.I've never seen one ;P. I got my Lumatek 400w HPS and my plants are happy.They did not even gave a fuck from the transplant . Check em if you can!!

seems quite simple, as explained here... http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-build-your-own-led-light-panel#.UptFYI01HjB

or just buy a few of these

View attachment 2913382

heres my very simple home made led setup,i bought all the leds marked down clearance items at lowes,total cost about 40 bucks,the driver operates the 5 small lights,with 7 led flood in center,took a tupperware container and cut out hole in center for the flood,its glued in place with contact glue,then i contact glued the 4 inside around the flood,mounted 1 led on rear wall of grow box that is 3x2x5' tall ,the plants seem to love it,befor flower i plan on adding a couple more leds around inside the box,,not sure how it will do ,my first indoor led grow,so far so good.

I'm pretty new to the LED game, still reading up. Not so new with the ladies. Looks like you got some serious stretching going on. Might need more intense lighting. Get the light dialed in and you'll be good to go.

Thanks for the feedback all. I think I'm gonna go the way of some 5050 LED Strips in the long run. They'll be easy to work around my existing setup, pretty low cost and low hassle too.

Also Joob, I'm with dude9000, those girls seem to be stretching pretty bad. Maybe stack something underneath the pots to bring them a bit closer to the lights. Just gradually reduce the stack as the girls grow.

DIY LED is perfect for micro grows. Efficiency is critical in a small enclosure because of heat and noise. Normally only the big HPS guys (600/1000w) get to enjoy very high levels of efficiency (40%) and that cannot be scaled down except by using DIY LED. If you bought the best emitters available you could reach 45% efficiency or even 50% if you run them at 350mA and it would far surpass HPS watt for watt.

Probably cost about $4/watt to buy the very best and that includes heatsink, LEDs and driver.