We all know how much reflectors make a difference to how much light is directed at our plants. When using small CFLs this reflected light becomes even more important, yet buying a reflector for a bunch of small CFLs would cost a fortune if you were lucky enough to find some for sale. So here we have a cheap easy way to make a reflector out of two drinks cans and a hose clip. Tall 500ml beer cans work really well. First things first, drink the beer... next cut the top and bottom off the can and cut the tube length ways so you get a nice flat sheet of shiny aluminium. Cut the other can in the same way but we only need around a 40mm strip from this one. Fold the strip and flatten Fold the first sheet and snip a 20mm slot in the folded edge. I'm not sure if you can see it clearly in the photo. It's on the right hand side. Fold the strip in half and insert it through the slot, then put a crease to match the first sheet so it fits in nicely These hose clips can be bought for less than a buck. Make sure its big enough to go around your CFL ballast casing. (edit... @[member="Parz3val"] came up with a great idea of using a zip/cable tie instead of the hose clip. Even cheaper if you don't already have any hose clips) Be sure not to tighten the clip too much or you may crush the plastic casing. Bend the strip to position the reflector properly. And that's the finished reflector. A shiny aluminum double parabolic CFL reflector for essentially the price of a hose clip It makes a big difference, no more losing 50% of the light in the opposite direction. Hope you guys like it
http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/174565-how-cheap-cfl-soda-can-reflectors.html?hl=can Yours are clearly much cleaner
thanks for the compliments guys... anyone making some please put your photos up here, I'd love to see some
I like that it doesn't need a fastener, I think he should have left some wings on it because I don't think it would be very effective as it is
Yeah they can be quite sharp. It might be worth folding the edges over with a pliers perhaps. Tape may be ok but with the constant heat it may start to come away eventually
Yeah, it looks like the light will be reflected mostly back at the bulb. I was just sure I had seen something similar somewhere before so I thought I'd share with you
Here's the new hood setup. Cheap cheap. Found a piece of scrap plywood and some loose screws and pieces this baby together. Much more light output and better heat ventilation. This one was taken in the dark. I wanted to really show how those 6 cfl bulbs are focusing all the light straight down on my babies band almost no wasted light.
Ha Awesome.. I did this but with the beer buckets. cut em in half to the bottom,Not all the way through, fold them in half and go from there. Gonna be using this tho for sure soon.