Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.
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February 11, 2019 | #1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2014
Location: illinois
Posts: 281
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Lights For Seed Starting
After decades of using T12 4 tube fixtures, I'm changing it up a bit. I purchased several T8 4 tube fixtures and a case of 32 watt bulbs at an electrical house auction for $50. These will replace the T12's.
Then I started playing around with screw in LED's. I found that the removing the diffuser allowed much more light with greater penetration. I opened these up by drilling a few holes and snipping the plastic with a small pair of wirecutters. They could then be gripped and popped off. I also use a 150 watt HPS fixture to start peppers and plants that need extra heat. The following shows energy consumtion and light output. These #'s are easy for me to understand so that I can compare costs. (5) T8's using 20, 32 watt bulbs 640 watts used. >$50 (6) 60 watt LED's 48 watts used. > (12) LED's consuming 144 watts and providing close to 1000 W (6) 100 watt LED's (1) 10 pack of 60W $10 (1) 10 pack of 100W $20 =$30 96 watts used (10) cheap plastic lampholders-$10 (1) 150 watt HPS 150 watts used > Have owned for many years, no idea of price paid. Just some ideas to mull over. I have $50 in the LED's and a couple hours in wiring, mounting and removing the diffusers. The light is brighter than all but high intensity lighting at virtually no cost. I start seeds in a chilly basement and lights are spread out in the mechanical room and laundry room. Daytime temps struggle to reach 70 and nights around 60. |
February 11, 2019 | #2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Philly 7A
Posts: 739
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Looks great.
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