96w DIY LED Grow Light - How to build it for $57
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- I built a 96w DIY LED grow light with off-the-shelf parts. This is how.
It cost me about $57 - see the plans on my facebook / realvince.samios.1
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Parts required:
8 x GU10 light sockets
8 x 12w LED Down Lights
2 x Choc Boxes with Terminal Blocks
about 3m of Electrical Cable (3 core)
1 Piece of wood
Screws
1 Power Plug
4 x Hanging Hooks
Great build. Your the only fella,except for me that used an electric box for connections. Two things. One mount the light sockets on a metal box/frame. Electricity get hot and Sparks, mounted on wood equals fire And you got a ground going nowhere. If you had a metal frame, you would have a ground for safety. And a fuse isn't necessary but would be nice. I built 3 light bars. Check it out. These pointers aren't to criticize, but for people's safety. ✌
alot of people say you must have red and blue leds but the reality is you can use cool white and warm white led bulbs and get fantastic results. the fact of the matter is cool white and warm white will produce good results just as good as blue leds. its not as bad as people have been making out. people have been making out as though plants wont grow under any other colour when the fact is they will still grow and will grow well.
I would agree save for one point, and that is if something at the terminal block goes a little bit wrong. ie. if a wire comes loose. In that sense, I think it's quite important to have the grounding there. (although by that point it would make little difference)
I've taken them offline because the bulbs kept blowing, so I need to diagnose the reason. But I started the seedlings under the LED grow light, and they grew very nicely with tiny node spacing, which was excellent to see.
This video makes it so easy to understand how to connect everything!! Thank you bro
alot of people say you must have red and blue leds but the reality is you can use cool white and warm white led bulbs and get fantastic results. cool white and warm white work fine for plants in non flowering stage. some people talk as though they wont grow at all. its a little exaggerated or made to sound worse than it is
The 3w LED watt strength is not enough for deep penetration. You have to make sure that the lenses the manufacture use are 90 degree lenses. Generally, most LEDs use 120 degree lenses which defuses the light and doesn't focus them downward towards your plants. Great DIY setup otherwise. I recommend using an LED with the correct lenses degrees (90 degree lenses, again, is recommended). Thanks for the upload.
i think the way to go is vertical growing with large led panels or lightchains that are waterproove put very close to the plants ( like salades) so u could also install a sytem that waters that plants constantly with smoooth raindrops that at the same time are cooling the leds. or for bigger plants like tomatos led cob modules that have higher light penetration.
They'll grow under any light yes, I'm not trying to say they won't, I'm just pointing out that plants need light in different spectrum for chlorophyll production and photosynthesis. Vegetative plants need more blue light to produce chlorophyll than flowering plants. Flowering plants need more red light to make use of the chlorophyll. That said most lights will put out some light at both points in the spectrum anyways. I think this best route is the one that works for you.
Can you share some results from these lights or do an update? I have been looking to build some panels but I really like how simple this design is. Thanks for sharing!
I did, I just need to do a video on it - its fairly minor, just neater and I placed the bulbs closer together, I hope to do a video update on it soon. :-)
Thanks Larry - I will do an update shortly.
This would be good for building ur grow area just put them into the wall panels to add light below the top of the canopyto put light on the lower plant growth
White light is the sum of all the spectrum, so it contains all the visible frequencies, from red to violet. You can provide the plants with only that specific colours, or all the spectrum, so they take what they need, as they do with the sun (which is not red and blue). I think there is some misunderstanding from some people, because professional greenhouses use white light, and aquarium fans use a mix of cold and warm white colours, which I think is the best approach, to cover all spectrum.
You are a real life hero...MY leggy seedlings will thank you for this!
Because its important that each LED be high wattage for maximum light penetration, ie. minimum 1w per LED. Generally the light tubes use SMD LED's which are far less powerful.
Thanks for sharing...I just built my one like this, but using E 27 fitting
What did you find for sockets?
btw leds really can be a costsaving alterntive for horticulture. But its all about efficiency of the leds and the usage of the light. with single chip led u can get that big of a point of source effect as u will get with a hps so if u dont want to build ur leds around ur plants u have to go for chip on board led modules (up to 200 W). the are really similar to the light densitiy characteristics of hps lights. Or you build large panels and put them around the plants.
If you're talking about growing drugs, I believe (if I understand correctly) the final yield is dependent on the total wattage. ie. something like 1gram/watt would be a very excellent yield.
Yup, starting my chillies with them now. I'll do an update with version 2 and grow results.
The best available high power leds have around 100 lumen/watt (cost around 5-10 dollar per piece). So ud have around 3600 lumen total brightness. Hps have around 150 lumen per Watt. If u want to grow 0.2m*0.2m/bulb u want to liught 0.32 squaremeters with that lamp. that makes around 11 250 lm/m^2 which is just enough light to grow plant in vegetative phase, but to flower plants like tomatos u need at least 30 000 lm/m^2. So the plants grown will 1. stretch 2. only prodce small fruits on the top.
Thanks for sharing. Just a note, the equipment ground wire (grn/ylw) serves no purpose in this setup. You can use a 2 wire cable
White light contains all colour frequencies, not just 460nm and 630nm. Plants need a range of wavelengths, although they do appear to respond MOST to reds and blues. As I said in the video I'm not going to try to play god - plants grow in the sun, I'll give them something similar to sun light.
WTG kid! Good job. You probably already considered or added this but it should have an inline fuse
btw sry for lot of text, really like the way u built the lamp. but i think u should get more red and some blue leds. they are the most efficient especially for growing. Dont look at the lumen thats a scale for human eyes.
Btw the most effienct led produced by osram has 67% efficency. red and blues on the market have 40-50% ( the best ones). whites have only 20-30%.
White light contains both red and blue wavelengths - so it has all the spectrums necessary to grow.
I've found the post and I'm interested to see your version of the grow light :-)
supposedly at the flowering period it prefers blue light, bear in mind LED's are many times more efficient than CFl tubes since most bulbs waste most of their energy as heat rather than light.
You'd be surprised. In a smaller area (this bit is key) the light intensity is similar. We're talking about a 20cmx20cm area for each bulb, as opposed to a 120cm x 120cm area for a 400w hps. the HPS lights 4x the area, but the light intensity is similar. Which is interesting because with the above figures, the HPS covers 36 times the area, 36 x 12w = 432w. So there must be some truth in what I'm saying.
A Combination of 3 watt chips and 5 watt chips is OPTIMAL FOR GREAT RESULTS..AND WE HAVE THEM *** REMOTE CONTROLLED ...PROGRAMMABLE SPECTRUM'S..AND INTENSITY IS ADJUSTABLE!
Thanks! The best DIY explanation for led grow lights
plants can´t do anything with green light! although if you count reflecting as something it can be do with it, you´re right! :D the only reason why leafes are green is because they do not have the ability to absorb green wavelengh. if you would create a sun only for the needs of plants, it would have 430, 460, 640 and 660 nanometers as the dominant wavelenghs, a bit of 500 and 620 for secondary metabolites and nothing more, even these last two wavelenghs can be missing and its completly fine!
Great video but why not just buy the led lightbulbs and screw them into a 4ft socket
fixture and plug it in ?
Socket fixtures also come in all lengths.
Great video! Just wondering about what kind of 12w led lights you used? Any link to them?
That's about the same price as a Viperspectra P600 light. They work great in a 2x2.
In light intensity I'd say its equiv to a 400w HPS, but it lights a smaller area.
Mb the light density (radiation density, photons per area) is similar. But lumens mean the total brightness of a lightsource (for humans, biggest sensivity is @ 550 nm, green. I saw many guys who just look at the lumen when they pick their leds for growin and pick white leds. But white leds have the lowest efficiency cause the light is transformed by a lumious phosphor layer (energy lost 30%).
the best colored leds have around 50-60% efficiency. So the white led have a total efficency of 20%
That doesn't explain the lens degree though. The LED can be a 10w chip and it won't do anything if the lens on it diffuses the light making it unusable to growing. Keep in mind that LED manufacturers create LEDs to light a house, not grow plants. The specification any grower needs to look at, other than the chip size, is the degree of the lens. 90-60 degree lens is what you need, period. Don't care where you get it, but you gotta know what you're buying. So tell me Chris, what's the lens degree?
Very similar to the one I've just built but I've used 12 x 5 watt units in a mix of grow light and daylight. Just a few criticisms...
1) Pinching the wires like that is a no-no but you know that.
2) Please buy a proper screwdriver. Swiss Army knives are for opening beer bottles and getting boy-scouts out of horses' hooves. Terminals should be done up with a terminal screwdriver hence the name.
3) Your earth wire isn't doing anything and can be dispensed with entirely. There's nothing metal you can touch really and the bits you can touch you haven't connected to earth. Two core is cheaper than three core and the gauge of wire you're using is pointlessly big anyway. 96w isn't even pulling half an amp. 0.75mm^2 cable can easily carry ten times that.
I'm planning a CFL grow light with a similar setup you'd described. 6 x 45w CFL's. They should be in the post :-)
which of your videos show plants growing under these lights
Vince, I first watched this video some time ago, and found it very interesting. But I was new to all the indoor growing hobby. But I now have my own self-made grow station, which is set up for the 1020 tray system. The frame is 48"w X 20"d X 80h". I now have two four foot T5 systems(one 4 lamp, and one 6 lamp). But I want to try out the led growing way as well. Stupid phones(pun intended) can take pictures, but cannot spot metre a dark portion, and then allow me to shift position and come up with a decent picture. I'll have to use a dedicated camera later.
My problem is that I have limited height allowances and must make the light system only take up a few inches in height. Have you tried setting up a grow system, which uses either the flexible led strips, or the 3 watt individual lights, and making a larger system? Either would be the perfect way to save on height. I know it is a bit more complicated to do, but would be a real feather in your hat if you could come up with a 2 foot, or 4 foot, led grow lamp. Again, I could just double the length of your project here, but I would still have the height disadvantage.
Incidentally, Great job on this project.
10 real Wattage per bulb that is pretty nice for this price.
Are they available in blue and in red?
With HPS light higher penetration( lux/distance) is achieved with reflectors cause of the point of scource effect and 360° emitting.
Do a little calculation on watts per square foot of a HPS - this grow light packs about 48 watts per square foot (or the V2 does anyway, this one more like 36 watts) - a 250watt HPS usually grows in about 9 square feet which is 27.7 watts per square foot. Simple maths :-)
Just subscribed to your channel, really liked this video and I think I'm going to make one of these. Thanks
the only good thing about white leds is that the "fullspectrum" (misses a lot fared, 470 nm and violet range) that is has already a good balance of red an blue. this is the most important thing casue this will define the shape of the plant and in the end the crop. summa sumarum you get double as much energy of monochrome leds. But energy isnt all that counts. its about suger produce/photon. With the same energy u get more photons out of red cause the wavelentgh is longer.
Question: I have a light fitted in my bathroom, its round with cover , when cover is off it holds 36 ( non replaceable L.E.D's-), lamp 16w l.e.d ,would this 250-Hz?????
absolutely, as long as they are standard GU10's
In terms of comparing these LED's with HPS and other grow lights, the biggest single determining factor is the distance the light source can be from the plants. As soon as you add 12 inches below the HPS you've reduced the light intensity (lux) to levels arguably below that of LED's. I tested the power draw on these bulbs and they take 10watts constant - so not the full rated power, but they never do. They run at 18v with a 700mah driver. At 24 inches of distance, the 92w LED puts 8600 lux.
I like the simplicity of your design. I'm interested in a design like yours that is solar/battery powered. 12 or 24 volts. Do you know if they make similar type bulbs and sockets? If not, I'll do the research. I just thought I'd ask.
More important than the lens degree is the optics mine are ground optical lens grade glass
Hi. I love your instruction here. Great demo. I have a question. If I were to use the old fashion full spectrum light bulbs and not LED for just 4 to 6 plants in the first 4 weeks veg...can you advise me as to if they will work good enough? Is thter a wattage to look for? THANKS
hi are these bulbs full spectrum 6500k daylight white bulbs if not what kelvin are there ?? (i like your video you made it very easy to make up thumbs up)
reflectors cause hot spots...but are efficient for those who dont know
I am using both grow GU10 LED and LED daylight GU!) bulbs.
Have you considered rotating the lights with a motor to get even coverage?
Oh sure - I could do a video on how to make a grow light for $15, but that would be like comparing apples and oranges. More light, and more light intensity (a big advange of LED's) means more produce. Also your 4 foot grow light will need to be replaced a few times in the usual lifespan of LED's (50,000 hours)
Does is matter what the sockets are "rated" at 120V or 220V? If they don't have any electronics in them, is there really a difference between '120V' and '220v' socket. In America with '220V' sockets with 120V lamps and 120V electricity.
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I would guess that as there are only 2 contacts on the gu10 bulbs/frittings then they do not require an earth. You're right, the earth is doing absolutely nothing. Should have chopped it at the plug.
Nice system. Very simple. Glad it finally loaded for you Vince :)
Yes that is true .
I appreciate the video and meant no harm..Peace :)
The price seems to have gone up by 30% since I bought them, but ebay is the place to look. Search for "12w GU10"
i used blue, red and warm white 3w led's, 6 red, 3 blue and 3 warm white, thats 36W and the plant grew, not fantastically but it grew - so my led uses next to nothing in power, elec. bill unchanged.
geting the light wavelengts right is vital, otherwise dont bother.
But it also contains blue and green which the plant doesn't need so surely its inefficient use of energy? chlorophyll A and B only absorb red and blue dont they?
WHat have you been able to grow with that any videos?
Hey Vince, any updates regarding the DIY grow light videos?? I'm about to try making my own grow light, some updates and tips regarding the ones you tried would be most helpful!
if I wanted to triple this amount of light (96 x3) should I just extend them with wire like you do connecting the boxes or do the 3 sets with individual power supplies? I have a 6ft 90 gallon tank and want 3 watts per gallon.
Was wondering how to find those Choc Boxes on ebay, i was trying to find but nothing appears. Could someone put link where to get them ? Thanks
I made similar. But with 10 bulbs.
It just wasn't bright enough.?
Is it possible to grow with only 1 light spektrum? Lets say we use 6000K during vegetative growth and 3000K during flowering. Will it work?
thanks for the instructions.. explained very well.
I got them on eBay - keep your eye out for some good deals.
when is your next update and where did you buy the light bulbs i can find dem
should calculate in par not wattage, if you like to get the best spectrum for growing. even the question part 2 you can´t answer with watts! You should use also temperature for explaining the specific life cycle usage. 2300k flowering, 5500k vegetating.
Excellent video - thank you. I'm hopeless with electricals but this is accessible. You mentioned an improved version at end of the video, just wondering if you completed it?
Thanks again.
hi buddy nice video, would i be able to run this off solar panels and a 12 volt deep cycle battery? i live in spain and were i grow we don't have mains electricity and my idea would be to use this system for a winter grow. we get 9 hours good sun in the winter. i would leave the plants outside during the daylight hours and let the batteries charge then put the plants into a grow tent under your light system for the remaining 9 hours of light that they need in veg mode. what do you think? any help much appreciated!! thanks
how are those doing for you as far as growing? have u done any tomatoes or anything like that with them?
thanks for the video, will be getting on this right away.
If I did this with smaller wattage bulbs, or fewer bulbs, would it still be a normal wall plug-able device?
Awesome vid Vince. Don't listen to all the idiots that pretend like they understand high school science. Most of the fools just need to go take few entry level biology and physical science classes at their local community college.
heh, what idiots? oh, you means the ones I don't listen to :-)
No worries, I didn't think you did :-)
How did this work? Was thinking of setting up something like this for my vegetable seedlings to get them off to a good start.
I don't think the extra power consumption would really be justified and although it's a novel idea, but makes the whole thing five times more complex.
Hiya mate. How much heat do these bulbs put out? And did you figure out why the bulbs kept blowing? Cheers
Either which way, cheap easy and effective m sure
those plastic thingies with that help bind the wires (i dont know what theyre called but they kinda became dust on my fluorescent setup, must ahve been the heat of the wire, what seccion of wire is needed to wire these gu10 leds together?
what size screws did you use to fix the gu10 sockets
The GU10 LED look like having silver plastic, not alumuminum. Can you confirm it?
Great video. Can you provide an online source for those LEDs at such a great price? I can't find anything...
Surely, you do not need the earth connected? do you?
And you also have to know the real! W consumption because there are a lot of people claiming its just a scam, 12w led takes form 2,5w to 5,9W Think about it!!!! It actually means that you have 48W grow and that's just to low for this area.
Awesome video Vince, thanks for sharing.
are you using 12w power consumption leds or they light like a 12w bulb? I can only find 2w and 3w of those lights here
hey how much would you charge for one of those i got money at the same time if you can or have the time let me know was up ,also im can i get a reasonable deal i know shit aint cheap or free
hey vince, i finally have the budget to buy the bubls necesary for this fixture. i didnt know, or remember that the gu10 base was screwed in. make my life 100x easier, i was looking for thermal glue. how strong are your leds? i found 5w=50w at 500lm each, (with one diode and another with 4 smaller diodes) all high power
do you know what lens angles your leds are using? i dont know if 60 or 45 degress is better.
so let me get this straight. YOU DONT have to use red and blues if you don't want to?
and red for vegetative stage
I've looked for those lights without luck.
could you tell me how to, or where to get them, please. thanks.
hey i found them on ebay from a US seller, 20 12w or 15w (3w diodes) for $150. just search ebay 12w gu10.
Hey mate, can u check the Voltage consumption because i heard that they take 5W instead of 12W ;) Maybe that's the reason they are not hot.
Don't plants need blue and red light 460nm and 630nm more than just plain white light? Wouldn't you be better off with those lights and just an LED made specifically for human vision?