New LED Lamp

[caleb316]

I know little about these lamps but used to grow under HID lights and the most important feature was the foot candles. How do these 13W bulbs compare to let's say a 400W HID light. Just getting back into orchids and am intrigued by these lights.

[isurus79]

Untitled by Isurus79, on Flickr

I took a ten gallon incandescent aquarium hood and hung it next to my Cattleya section. The orchids on the right are in for the winter and will not require water, but I felt they would need some extra light for their dormant period. I have to say, looking up at the 4 bulb HO T5 light rack hurt my eyes less than the looking at the 2 bulb LED system, for what that's worth!! I'd love to see some actual light meter comparisons between the two though!

[seaj]

It hasn't been long but, any updates to share anyone?

[DavidCampen]

Originally Posted by caleb316

I know little about these lamps but used to grow under HID lights and the most important feature was the foot candles. How do these 13W bulbs compare to let's say a 400W HID light. Just getting back into orchids and am intrigued by these lights.

I don't know about HID lights (are you talking about sodium or metal-halide?).

As for fluorescent lamps vs LED arrays, someone needs to make detailed photometric measurements to compare T5HO fluorescent against white LED arrays. It would need to be more than a single point measurement, you would have to place each at a fixed height over an area with a grid layout and measure the light intensity at element of the grid to get a value of foot-candle*square-foot that you then sum to get a value of foot-candle*square-foot for each fixture.

From what I can tell; current white LEDs or T5 or T8 fluorescent lamps all have about the same efficiency in converting watts of input power to watts of (visible spectrum) photons. Fluorescent lamps though, compared to LEDs, waste some of these photons by emitting the light over all surfaces of the bulb whereas LEDs direct all of their output forward. So a bare fluorescent lamp without any reflector would probably be less than 1/2 as effective as an LED array in delivering photons to plants underneath. I don't know anything about the effectiveness of fluorescent lamp fixture reflectors but I would guess that compared to a fluorescent light fixture with a good reflector an LED array would be no more than twice as effective per watt of input power and probably even less, maybe only 1.5 times as effective.

If you are willling to use an LED array that emits only deep red light at about 660 nm then you can get about double the effectiveness of white LED arrays.

[ALToronto]

I'll give Ray a plug here - the lights are awesome. Because the light is directed, more of it reaches the plants. While the lumens output may be the same as HO fluorescents, fluorescents scatter much more of it.

I tried taking a photo of the operating light, but it's far too bright to show any detail on a simple digital camera. Here is a photo from behind the lights. Sorry, I don't know why the photo uploads sideways.

[isurus79]

What an interesting way to grow orchids!!

[newone]

I have found at a Hydroponics store the use of two LED reds and two T5 white light in one fixture. How about the best of two worlds?

[bethmarie]

Hi Toronto, I'm using these bulbs and would LOVE to know what you're using for a fixture. Looks way more versatile than what I've got(shop type clamp lights with the reflector removed.)

Originally Posted by ALToronto

I'll give Ray a plug here - the lights are awesome. Because the light is directed, more of it reaches the plants. While the lumens output may be the same as HO fluorescents, fluorescents scatter much more of it.

I tried taking a photo of the operating light, but it's far too bright to show any detail on a simple digital camera. Here is a photo from behind the lights. Sorry, I don't know why the photo uploads sideways.

[ALToronto]

Originally Posted by bethmarie

Hi Toronto, I'm using these bulbs and would LOVE to know what you're using for a fixture. Looks way more versatile than what I've got(shop type clamp lights with the reflector removed.)

Tertial work lamp from IKEA, minus the metal lampshade.

[butterfly_muse]

Hi, just stumbled on this thread. I am looking to set up a growing light operation in our new place that has a NW facing window shaded by oak trees. Are these lights too bright for Phals? I've also got two African violets and a begoina that enjoys full sun, would these lights work for those guys? Or is it too bright? (I read the African Violet in Ray's house did well, so I was thinking perhaps mine would be happy too). If they would work, how far would I have to keep them (and how many would I need) from each plant type?