ChrisD
11-03-2009, 05:31 AM
Had a look through previous threads and can't see anything dedicated to this recently so thought I'd start a new thread.
So... cool, low energy consumption, slim-line lighting whose components have dropped hugely in price... it's gotta be worth consideration.
Ebay has grow panels for hydroponics use - 12" squares for about 40 GBP. They're 225 leds per panel and can be bought with a mixture of blue (60 leds) and red (165 leds). Total power consumption is 14W and they look like they use 5 or 10mm leds. These panels are too big for many of us I am sure so I have looked into how to maufacture smaller units.
'Superflux' leds seem to be well recommended - more output than the traditional style leds, wider beam, easier to seat flat and yet don't require heatsinks like the power leds. They also have the benefit of being cheaper per unit than the power leds so if you fry one when soldering you're not kicking yourself so much!! Also, there's a guys here in the UK selling pre-done circuit boards designed to fit into 150W floodlight casings (or 2 into a 500W casing) with full instructions on his website.
So, with his instructions (including photos) and a bit of skill with a soldering iron and some diy capability it would seem to be reasonably easy to build a smaller version of the ebay grow panel but, from what I read, the superflux leds would be higher output so hopefully more effective.
The wavelengths are 620nm for the red and 465nm for the blue so they seem to tie in well with the photosynthesis peaks. Costwise for the 150W floodlight version I would allow:
Housing £5
Circuit board (space for 54 leds) £3
60 superflux leds (20 blue, 40 red) £9
So £17, round up to £22 for resistors, wire, 12V power adaptor and any unforeseen costs (I may be being too generous).
For a slimline version, I'm sure a simple box with acrylic front could be improvised for very little money and replace the £5 floodlight housing.
I'm tempted to give it a go and make one or two up and maybe try on one side of my screen. The components also get cheaper if bought in bulk (down to £14 for 100 of the same colour) and £14.25 posted for 5 of the circuit boards.
Any thoughts as to whether I'd be wasting my precious time and money? Any experience, components, volunteers to help out etc truly welcomed :D.
So... cool, low energy consumption, slim-line lighting whose components have dropped hugely in price... it's gotta be worth consideration.
Ebay has grow panels for hydroponics use - 12" squares for about 40 GBP. They're 225 leds per panel and can be bought with a mixture of blue (60 leds) and red (165 leds). Total power consumption is 14W and they look like they use 5 or 10mm leds. These panels are too big for many of us I am sure so I have looked into how to maufacture smaller units.
'Superflux' leds seem to be well recommended - more output than the traditional style leds, wider beam, easier to seat flat and yet don't require heatsinks like the power leds. They also have the benefit of being cheaper per unit than the power leds so if you fry one when soldering you're not kicking yourself so much!! Also, there's a guys here in the UK selling pre-done circuit boards designed to fit into 150W floodlight casings (or 2 into a 500W casing) with full instructions on his website.
So, with his instructions (including photos) and a bit of skill with a soldering iron and some diy capability it would seem to be reasonably easy to build a smaller version of the ebay grow panel but, from what I read, the superflux leds would be higher output so hopefully more effective.
The wavelengths are 620nm for the red and 465nm for the blue so they seem to tie in well with the photosynthesis peaks. Costwise for the 150W floodlight version I would allow:
Housing £5
Circuit board (space for 54 leds) £3
60 superflux leds (20 blue, 40 red) £9
So £17, round up to £22 for resistors, wire, 12V power adaptor and any unforeseen costs (I may be being too generous).
For a slimline version, I'm sure a simple box with acrylic front could be improvised for very little money and replace the £5 floodlight housing.
I'm tempted to give it a go and make one or two up and maybe try on one side of my screen. The components also get cheaper if bought in bulk (down to £14 for 100 of the same colour) and £14.25 posted for 5 of the circuit boards.
Any thoughts as to whether I'd be wasting my precious time and money? Any experience, components, volunteers to help out etc truly welcomed :D.