ebay LED growlight fixture for houseplants?

9 years ago

I was on ebay saw all the good deals on the awesome LED growlights. (the rectangular square ones that range from a staggering 300W to 900W!! I grow houseplants mainly medium light ones and as well as herbs like basil chives dill oregano rosemary basils. etc I use 4 tube 32W t8s per shelf. now if im not mistaken if I do the math these LED 300W fixture ebay sells for only $80 is equivalent in wattage to me using NINE of my T8 32 watt tubes per shelf from my usual FOUR I use now. that's a lot of light!! :) so my question is if I buy one of these 300W ebay LED growlight fixtures do they have to be a few inches above plant tops for good growth like the t8s have to be or can I keep the LED fixture much higher up from plant tops? and for how many hours a day do you run these LED fixtures for plant growth? here is a link to these awesome and very affordable yet very bright and powerful mega light producing fixtures so u all know what im talking about.

the 300W fixture that according to my math is equal in wattage and brightness to using NINE 32W t8s per light shelf!! seems like ultra light for most plants to grow!

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/300W-LED-Grow-Light-Full-Spectrum-Veg-Flower-Hydroponic-Lamp-Panel-USA-Stock-/231495220079?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0amp;hash=item35e630bb6f

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Comments (9)

cooperdr_gw
9 years ago
Looks cool. Why don't they show the actual plug though. What if it doesn't work in a regular outlet?
jay83
Original Author
9 years ago
they give u a choice of plug from a European plug or a US plug.
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jay83
Original Author
9 years ago
i am just curious if anyone tried these and how far i shud keep these from medium light houseplants as well as how far away from herbs like basil chives rosemary etc and for how Many hours a day should i run it
cptcosmos
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I've been using similar lamps for over 18 months now and am reasonably happy. Specifically I have two "300 Watt" fixtures like the one you link to and two 180's as well. I can't compare them to T8s since that is the only Fluorescent type I haven't tried. They are price competitive with the T5HO bulbs I use, somewhat cheaper than the CFLs (mostly because the CFLs burn out too fast) and MUCH cheaper than the old T12s.

A couple of comments about LED fixtures.. the one you show claims to be for both growth and flowering but to be honest I think it would be more for flowering than for producing vegetation (75 + 5 Red vs. 8 Blue is a 10:1 Red:Blue ratio), the ones I have are not quite as heavy on the red (74 Red + 12 Blue 6:1 ) and they don't grow green leafy stuff nearly as fast as the pair of 180s (at 40 Red + 8 Blue 5:1). The extra red means more flowers and therefore more tomatoes and peppers for me, but that doesn't sound like that's what you're growing. (Red is also a big deal for people growing dope (AKA Medicinal Plants) which is why there are so many available). I would look for something with a lower Red:Blue ratio, I would also suggest you see if you can't find something with more "bands" of light, the one you link shows 4 (or 5) bands, my 300s are 7 and 180s are 8 band lamps. There are lots of opinions on whether this is necessary but it seems to make at least theoretical sense.

You can't really compare Wattage when comparing LED lights to anything else. First because a 300Watt fixture means only that it contains 100 3 Watt LEDs and while most (but not all) "3 Watt LED" are technically capable of being driven at 3 Watts they get stinky hot and don't last very long, in real life they are driven at 60 -75% of their rated capacity, which is why you will sometimes see "true watts" listed in the product description, and even then it is to give you an idea of what it costs to run rather than a comparison of light intensity. I don't know of any comparison that is really accurate, even lumens don't really work with the narrow bands of light produced by the coloured LEDs.

Anyway.. I've got mine suspended just shy of 3 feet over the tables so around 2 feet over the tops of the shortest plants they get 14 hours of light a day since I try to keep the spinach, arugula, lettuce and the like from bolting (longer "days" make them go to seed faster)
jay83
Original Author
9 years ago
how far above plant tops do you keep the lights and for how many hours a day do you run them?
jay83
Original Author
9 years ago
ok thanks for the advice!
venomousone
8 years ago
I recommend using the Mars Hydro lights. These actually work and they are a great value. Their gen 1 lights are a real bargain if your budget is right. The Led Reflector model is a good in between model (they have a green body) and are being upgraded from 3W led to 5W led for free. Their newest are the Mars II and these are really nice lights for the price. They have a flower and veg mode via switch.

A low cost alternative that yields decent results are the Galaxy Hydros which too can be found of eBay. I own many versions of the lights I listed. I can vouch that the Mars Hydro lights are the real deal with great build quality and reliability. Goodluck
aruzinsky
8 years ago
But, you won't get even light coverage on your shelves. As I posted elsewhere in this forum, you can buy Philips LED bulbs, 2/$4.97 at Home Depot. You would need approximately 14 at a cost of $35 and pay another $40 for 14 medium base pony cleat sockets which could be spread evenly over your growing area. Besides providing even light distribution, with this setup, the bulbs can be easily replaced or upgraded. Bear in mind, today's LED bulbs will become technologically obsolete before they burn out, but the sockets will be good for your lifetime. I note that Ebay even sells red and blue E27 LED bulbs, but, not so cheap.

Personally, I am looking into buying dirt cheap LED chips and drivers from Ebay/China. There is huge selection or glut, e.g., see

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10W-30W-50W-100W-Bright-High-Power-SMD-LEDs-Beads-Lamp-Chips-For-Flood-Light-DIY-/131397829174?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0amp;var=&hash=item1e97ebc236

http://www.ebay.com/itm/High-Power-10W-20W-30W-50W-100W-White-RGB-Super-Bright-LED-Chip-SMD-Light-Bulb/351257774230?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D30987%26meid%3Dfdf82351a9f04128973a83a675a02bb8%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D191322707762&rt=nc

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10W-20W-30W-50W-100W-High-Power-Driver-Power-Supply-LED-Chips-SMD-Bulbs-Light-/141549714451

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Waterproof-IP65-High-Power-Supply-Driver-Adapter-10W-20W-30W-50W-LED-Chip-Light-/400921774021

I point out that a blue 10 W LED chip costs about $1, a red 10 W LED chip costs about $2, and a 30 W driver, which should operate three 10 W chips connected in series, costs about $10. The chips need to be mounted on a heat sink. I suspect that six chips can be mounted on a 48" x 1" x 1/8" aluminum flat which costs about $4 (Maybe, a 2" wide flat is needed?). You would need two flats for a total cost of approximately 12*$2 + 4*$10 + 2*$4 = $72. Again, the advantage is even light distribution and the easy ability to replace or upgrade bulbs. And, in this case, easily change the red/blue ratio. But, I emphasize that this is speculation on my part because I have no experience with these LED chips, yet.
Yuan Gong Hamilton ON CANADA 6b
8 years ago
I have a 300 W Mars Hydro. The unbranded ones are probably similar. They are pretty good.

ebay LED growlight fixture for houseplants?

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ebay LED growlight fixture for houseplants?

Comments (9)

cooperdr_gw

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