LED Grow lights vs Shoplights? What am I missing?
 

Starting to outgrow my growspace:biggrin:. I grow entirely underlights and have been using a LED growlight setup I got from Timber. The light is fantastic. All my plants have responded and theirs new growth everywhere (my Den aggregatum has doubled in size in 2 moths). The problem is I don't have any more room for any new additions illuminated by the lights.

So here's the question. I can buy another identical setup and be done with it. Or I can buy this LED shoplight

Parmida 2FT LED Linear High Bay Shop Light Fixture, 165W (700W MH/HID Equiv.), 21285lm, 0-10V Dimmable, UL & DLC 4.2, Commercial Industrial Warehouse Lighting, 5000K, Hanging Chain Included - - Amazon.com

Which is about a 1/3 of the price of my current lights (amd buy more plants). What am I missing? It seems like its plenty bright for a additional shelf full of Catts and Catasetums. Are the growlights that much better?

Although I have not used either of the two fixtures you have referenced, I'll venture a guess (about one of those lights being 1/3 of the price). Might be the quality/design/components used in the final product.

Glancing at both websites (Timber & Parmida), I did not really notice any details about the components being used with the ''Parmida" fixture (diodes, drivers, heat dissipation), outside of the basic information (wattage, lumens, kelvin temperature, etc). The "Timber" fixture appears to be a quality item IMO: good components, large heat sinks, and well designed. Not saying the Parmida is of poor quality, but it would be nice to know what type of components are being used, especially if in it for the long haul... more mileage/fewer problems with quality components.

Alot of light output from both fixtures. Should be favorable for your Catts & Catasetums. If you did not want to go with the "plug & play" route, and are pretty good with DIY, you could design and fabricate a quality fixture for a little less money than the "plug & play" fixtures (or a lot less money if you are creative).

So it's just a question of components? Meaning reliability down the line correct?

Light is light and a photon is a photon... plants don't care about the price and/or components of a light fixture.

I do for the obvious reasons. So yes, I do believe the difference in price revolves around the components used in these two fixtures, along with the efficacy of the fixture. If the warranty is good/acceptable, what the hey, give the "Parmida" brand a shot. You and your plants may be very pleased with their product (and you save a buck in the process).

Many do not even know what a photon is. If you are serious about light/photons and the relationship to growing plants, these links are worthy of a read IMO...

http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs-wm/28367.pdf

CalcTool: Power to photon rate calculator

Just a heads up...it doesn't appear to have a power cord and there is no mention of power cord length. You might have to either hard wire or buy and install the proper electrical wiring.

Thanks for pointing that out!! Totally missed it

I learned this one, the hard way, several years ago so now I always take note of it. Installing a power cord isnt difficult or complicated but it is good to know if you'll need to do it.

The advantage to it was that I was able to purchase very long power cords and didn't have to worry about extensions.

It primarily depends on the cost of electricity and how long you are going to use them. Parmida doesn't give relevant specs (even the basic things like lumen output). So I'm assuming that they are not too efficient (maybe around 100lm/W). I'm not sure which models of Timber you are considering, but Timber uses good COB LEDs, and they are around 150lm/W. So 100W version of Timber will probably give the same amount of light. If your electricity is $ x /kWh, you'll save $ x * 50 * 365 * 12 / 1000 per year with Timber if you use it 12h/day. If we use $0.12/kWh, it is $26.38, so Timber becomes cheaper if you use it more than 3 years. But if your electricity is expensive (e.g. $0.22/kWh in AK), Timber is cheaper within 1.5 years.

Agree. That's why the one picture shows three wire nuts in the "parts." Usually a dead giveaway... learned myself same thing the hard way a couple of years ago. No electricians here. :lol: