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fluorescent tube replacements with LED's

Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2017 1:54 pm
by swerfer
As an amateur I have been researching artificial growth light for Carnivorous plants some time now. I have even tried some new small Led lights with specific blue and red spectra for growing some Drosera. My initial goal was to turn any Drosera dark red with the lowest Watt’s. Although LEDs have great potential, I cultivate these plants in our living area, and the purple Led lights are not that fun to look at. This color spectrum is not suitable for human eyes. So back to fluorescent lighting, or white light. I am working on a new light armature using a combination of 3 fluorescent light tubes (PL). I have done my research on what my plants need and what the fluorescents light wavelengths can bring me. A combination of 3000K,4000K and 6500K will do fine, total Wattage of 70 watt. As I was doing my lamp research I stumbled on Fluorescent light tube replacements with LED tubes. Although the Lumen amount is less, the wavelengths are the same, 3000K-6500Kelvin.

MASTER LEDtube InstantFit (HF) by a famous Dutch company…

Has anyone here tried these fluorescent tube replacements with same color wavelength Kelvins? With what results?

Kind regards,
Youri

Re: fluorescent tube replacements with LED's

Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2017 6:00 pm
by nimbulan
LED replacement tubes for fluorescent fixtures will work just fine for plant growth and are easy to use, but the power efficiency tends to be mediocre compared to purpose-made LED fixtures. The bulbs should still last a lot longer than a regular bulb though.

I hate the red/blue LED lights too (and based on the scientific information I've read about photosynthesis, I don't think they have any benefits over white lights.) I build my own LED fixtures using high efficiency white LEDs, though it is quite a lot of work compared to buying a commercial product.

Re: fluorescent tube replacements with LED's

Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2017 6:49 pm
by Shadowtski
I'm trying LED replacement tubes in one of my old T-8 fixtures. I used 2 of this lamp from Amazon. They are 22 watts, 6500k color temperature, and they put out 3000 lumens each. They can be popped directly in to an existing T-8 fluorescent fixture or they can be wired in direct without ballast. They were about $10 each, if I remember correctly. So far, they appear to be working fine.

Good growing,
Mike

Re: fluorescent tube replacements with LED's

Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2017 11:00 am
by roarke
Shadowtski wrote:I'm trying LED replacement tubes in one of my old T-8 fixtures. I used 2 of this lamp from Amazon. They are 22 watts, 6500k color temperature, and they put out 3000 lumens each. They can be popped directly in to an existing T-8 fluorescent fixture or they can be wired in direct without ballast. They were about $10 each, if I remember correctly. So far, they appear to be working fine.

Good growing,
Mike
What is the life expectancy ?

Re: fluorescent tube replacements with LED's

Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2017 12:11 pm
by Shadowtski
roarke wrote:
What is the life expectancy ?
They have a five year guarantee so I guess 10,000 hours or more.

Good growing,
Mike