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lighting LED Vs Energy saving lights)

Heard it last week. Tests showed that Energy saving lights) are more cost efficient then LED. Bit surprised by that, where are the ESL. DIY topics?
 
It's a difficult comparison to make and I'd like to see the figures. Most light sources are measured in terms of lumens per watt where compact fluorescent lamps are generally as efficient as T5 tubes, but beaten by metal halide and sodium lamps.

Cool white high flux LEDs are similar to T5's but lumens per watt mean nothing for growing plants as lumens are based on the eye's spectral response. I've yet to see anyone use a PAR meter to compare the sources properly. (If I found time I'd do this myself at work :rolleyes:)

People using red/blue LED clusters should see massively improved efficiency as LEDs are more efficient when used as monochromatic light sources.

Pretty much all discharge lighting contains mercury, so use solid state if you want to avoid that ;)
 
imaguitargod said:
Don't use the ESL, they contain a crap load of Murcury and are horrible for the enviroment.

yes but you can get rid of them properly by taking them to a recycling center.
 
Lee,

I would like to see that report and tests. Bugged posted a picture of how much red light his 5 watt LED blasted into a room. I can't begin to look directly at a 14 watt LED but have no problem looking at a 23 watt CFL.

Just for the fun of it, I tried a simple experiment. I have a staircase with a 23 watt CFL at the top. Walls on both sides, slanting ceiling, etc.

With the light on, I plugged in a 14 watt Red/Blue LED panel. The red and blue were both clearly visible 20 feet away, outshining the CFL.

Now if one wants to talk about the best grow bulb per cent - that's a different story. LEDs are like CFL bulbs six years ago - great but not easily affordable.

Mike
 
White LED will do about 130 lumens/watt at the very best.

HPS will do 150 lumens/watt in higher wattage lamps.

Fluorescent lamps, T5, T8, compact lamps do around 100 lumens/watt.
 
wordwiz said:
Lee,

I would like to see that report and tests. Bugged posted a picture of how much red light his 5 watt LED blasted into a room. I can't begin to look directly at a 14 watt LED but have no problem looking at a 23 watt CFL.

Just for the fun of it, I tried a simple experiment. I have a staircase with a 23 watt CFL at the top. Walls on both sides, slanting ceiling, etc.

With the light on, I plugged in a 14 watt Red/Blue LED panel. The red and blue were both clearly visible 20 feet away, outshining the CFL.

Now if one wants to talk about the best grow bulb per cent - that's a different story. LEDs are like CFL bulbs six years ago - great but not easily affordable.

Mike

Hi Mike,

Before we continue I'll get some more info. about it. Source is reliable!!
 
lee said:
Rohs?.. Thanks for killing this thread IGG :lol:

Great, can't even get away from RoHS on my pepper forum anymore....


At my job we're in the middle of converting all our products to RoHS compliance. And my first "real" task is heading up one of the board conversions. Pretty much what I'll be doing until October or so.

And lead-free solder blows.
 
Txclosetgrower said:
Great, can't even get away from RoHS on my pepper forum anymore....


At my job we're in the middle of converting all our products to RoHS compliance. And my first "real" task is heading up one of the board conversions. Pretty much what I'll be doing until October or so.

And lead-free solder blows.

Yeah RoHS is standard here too. What kinda work do you do :D, sounds interesting?
 
lee said:
Yeah RoHS is standard here too. What kinda work do you do :D, sounds interesting?

I'm a hardware technician. Work for an electronics company that makes test & measurement hardware/software. We have a manufacturing branch over near you in Holland :)
 
wordwiz said:
Lee,

I would like to see that report and tests. Bugged posted a picture of how much red light his 5 watt LED blasted into a room. I can't begin to look directly at a 14 watt LED but have no problem looking at a 23 watt CFL.

Just for the fun of it, I tried a simple experiment. I have a staircase with a 23 watt CFL at the top. Walls on both sides, slanting ceiling, etc.

With the light on, I plugged in a 14 watt Red/Blue LED panel. The red and blue were both clearly visible 20 feet away, outshining the CFL.

Now if one wants to talk about the best grow bulb per cent - that's a different story. LEDs are like CFL bulbs six years ago - great but not easily affordable.

Mike

Remember though Mike, a CFL is a relatively broad spectrum lamp extending to the IR and UV ends of the spectrum. As LEDs are monochromatic light sources, they will clearly appear brighter because the energy is concentrated into a narrow band of maybe 70nm, at your two discrete wavelengths. There is certainly some efficiency to be gained from omitting 'wasted' energy in the 530nm area, but the dominant wavelength of the LEDs may not correspond to the ideal wavelength for photosynthesis.

willard3 said:
White LED will do about 130 lumens/watt at the very best.

HPS will do 150 lumens/watt in higher wattage lamps.

Fluorescent lamps, T5, T8, compact lamps do around 100 lumens/watt.

Comparing light sources in terms of Lumens per watt is like comparing apples with oranges. It's not a valid unit to use, as it is the perceived power of light rather than the radiant flux.
 
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