New LED "Shop Light" from Hydrofarm

[Ray]

As one of their resellers, I just received an announcement from Hydrofarm about a new 4' 40W LED "Shop Light" they are now offering.

It's white in color, 4000°K, with a 5-year warranty...and retails for only $40.

I have no stake in this. Hydrofarm often sells stuff on Amazon for less than I can buy it wholesale in small quantities, so I normally just direct folks there, but it doesn't appear to be available through that channel at this time.

If there is anyone that needs supplemental lighting and wants to experiment, let me know and I'll be happy to set up a drop-ship order for you.

[Dollythehun]

That looks interesting, Ray.

[Ray]

I thought so, too. Which I why I posted it.

[Dollythehun]

Let me look at it. I had been poking around the Hydrofarm site anyway. At $40.00, it's cheaper too.

[Ray]

If you decide to try it, let me know. I can likely discount that $40 a bit.

[Dollythehun]

Will find, let me check w the Chief. I was planning on replacing my 2' vivavolt.

[Dollythehun]

This is what I was thinking of:
ViaVolt 4 ft. 4-Bulb T5 High Output Copper Fluorescent Grow Light Fixture with Timer-V44 KIT - The Home Depot

Since this would hang over the top of my rack, what do you think the spread would be? Thoughts? Please dumb it down a bit for me

[Ray]

That's going to depend upon what you're growing under it, but I'd say you're pretty much looking at a 3' or 4' x 6' area, with brighter-loving plants at the center, and low-light ones at the perimeter.

If they're all phals, maybe bigger, because you can raise the lamp, while vandas would probably need to occupy a tight space right under it.

Personally, I'd purchase 4 of the LED strips before that:

• Approximately the same price.
• You can space them apart and at different heights to accommodate your plants - far more versatile.
• The T5HO lamps consume 54 watts per bulb, for a total of 216, versus 160 for the LEDS.
• The fluorescent fixture has an "initial lumen output" of about 216x90=19440 lumens, but not all of that is directed at the plants, and has to reflect around the fixture to get out, and some of it is blocked by the bulbs themselves. In the case of the LED, 4 of them would be 4 x 40 x 100 = 16000 initial lumens, but 100% directed at the plants, Probably roughly the same effective light output.
• The T5HO lamps will put out a LOT of heat. Less for the LEDs.
• To maintain the spectrum and output, T5HO lamps should be replaced annually; the LEDs will be virtually unchanged for a decade.

---------- Post added at 07:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:26 AM ----------

I've gotten several PM's about these, so let me add this:

If you're interested, please email me (raybark at firstrays dot com) the following info:

1. Quantity desired.
2. Full name
3. Address
4. Phone number

I'll work up a delivered drop-ship price for you. If it's acceptable, I'll send you a PayPal invoice, payable from your PayPal account (if you have one) or by credit or debit card.

[Paul]

Definitely interesting -- and sounds like a good deal for fixture + lamps. My concern would be as to whether the K rating would high enough to really do the job. IIRC, (5000-6500K) is the optimal K rating which is what I usually aim for.

[Ray]

If the lamp is incandescent, HPS or MH, then a color temperature something in that degrees Kelvin range is good, as that approaches the spectrum of sunlight plus the blue back-scatter from the sky. In the case of fluorescents and LEDs, however, it is a "correlated" or "corrected" color temperature, meaning "it looks like that to the human eye", and is not truly a reflection of the spectrum at all.

Generally speaking, white LEDs in the 3400-4500K range tend to be the most efficient, in terms of light flux per watt, and being as these are designed specifically for plants, I'm sure the spectrum is fine. Millions of pot growers would have Hydrofarm's head on a platter, otherwise.

The Philips commercial LED "production unit" lamps I have been using have a color temperature of about 2500K, but my plants love 'em, and I don't know how you'd even designate a temp for the red/blue LED strips that are so common.