The 8-CFL adaptable light

I've been messin around with CFL setups and came up with a light system that can get more wattage closer to the foliage for cheaper and less time than any I've seen before so I thought I'd share in case anyone's in the process of designing a CFL setup like I was a few months back.

It also "surrounds" the top of the plant with light as opposed to shining only straight from above which can block light a lot of light from the leaves close to the bottom of the stem.

If you can screw in a light bulb and tape a piece of paper after walking down one aisle in Home Depot then you can pull this off. It'll cost you:

y-adapters 7x$2.50ea=$17.50
lights 12 pack 23w=$17.97 (mine are all 2700K currently but the beauty of it is its adaptability. With this setup you can build a custom light spectrum for your plants based on their age)
paper
tape

$35 and you'll have four extra bulbs to put wherever you'd like.

So this light can be anywhere from a 8x19=152w to 8x42=336w with any combination of lights from 2700k to 6500k.

The $35 setup with four extra bulbs mentioned above is 8x23w=192w and can come within an inch of the foliage no problem. Beat that. They claim the 23w lights put out 1600 lumens each so 12x1600=19,200lumens= 549 lumens per dollar for the whole setup. My HPS: 214 lumens per dollar.

I've found that the most useful and available CFLs are 2700s, 3500s, 5000s and 6500s. 1000bulbs.com unless you have a Home Depot nearby. I had a few 4100s but after looking at the graphs below it's clear that its not a great temperature to peak at so I took them out. Now I've got a nice combo of 2700k, 3500k, 5000k and 6500k which are orange white and blue color peaks.

It's compact, I'm limited in the vertical dimension more than any other (the main reason many of us use CFLs, no space to keep an HID up high) so I wanted something that could be mounted very close to the ceiling of the space. This one is exactly 9" in total height with the $2 female plug pictured from Home Depot. Due to the shape of the light, the main stem can grow up toward the middle to within 4" of the ceiling. This is another strong point, this setup could be used in something as small as a rubbermaid grow bin.












I'll post a flower picture when the lights come on to show you how well it works

 

thanks. Should be fixed now

 

Not at all. The CFLs never even get within 150 degrees of paper's combustion temperature, 457F.

Had it running well over 200watts for 20 hours and it still looks exactly the same.

 

Yeah it would be a piece of cake to cut a few small pieces of thin plywood or card stock and paint them white to replace the paper, but that could involve tools that people don't have access to.

EDIT: Actually luckily I do have access to wood and tools so I'l be making a more professional looking reflector, and I can add some pictures of it but I'll no longer be able to claim that the whole rig took me less than 30 minutes to make...

You could leave them without reflectors like the first pic and lose some light upwards or just put another material that would make you more comfortable directly between the bulb and paper to give it some space from the paper.

Honestly though I love the fact that it reflects practically no heat, is as flat white as flat white gets and doesn't block a whole lot of airflow in the space.
Paper's the perfect reflector for small CFLs in my opinion.

 

So I also created this light's little brother, the $25 6-CFL adaptable light which is pictured with my vegetative spectrum (46watts 6500k, 114watts 5000k).
chain for $0.50 a foot $1
light socket $2
5x y-adapter $12.50
6x CFL $9
Optional: inline switch pictured is $2
This one's a 114-252 watt setup with 19-42watt CFLs but of course you can go bigger with monster CFLs.




Photos of some buds engulfed in the 6-CFL light (veg spectrum). Every top bud gets within an inch of a bulb without touching. This light also has a small enough profile from above that it can be hung right under an HPS (obviously not on in the pictures) for side lighting like I had it without blocking much light at all.






Also, pictures of the buds under the 8-CFL light as promised

 

That's a very good light reflector but it also reflects a good bit of heat. It also requires a felony and using tools most people don't have.

 

For those of you who still don't believe that paper doesn't burst into flames easily...

I put my hottest CFLs (2x42w) directly against the paper right where it was taped (far more likely to melt and combust than the paper) for 12 hours and re-checked. Still there, still cool to the touch on top.

I realize the skepticism you guys have, largely due to the fact that we're all well aware of the scorching heat our HID lights produce but these are a world apart and will not burn paper.

EDIT: If ANY of you can even BOIL WATER (212F) with a CFL bulb less than 42w, I'll eat my paper hood. It would probably be pretty easy to test, suspend the bulb above the cup and fill the cup enough to keep the ballast dry.

I can shoot a laser thermometer at my 42 watt if it would make you guys feel better

 

(457 F) - (200 F) > (250 F)

what's to question? I'm not saying this is the best material and design if you have some materials and ability, I'm saying it's the best material and design if you don't.

Wood painted white would be best and that's what I'll be making. Pictures this week.

 

then show me an equation with "common sense" factored in

 

Haha my wiring is a bit amateur at the moment, forgot to get the right size shrink tubing so it's obviously just tape. Lots of it though so it definitely won't arc on me. But yes, it will be fixed soon and sealed properly.

Aren't those windshield protectors also meant to keep out heat though?

 

Here's a little test, proof that these lights stay under 200. This is a 27W 5000K, one of my hottest lights, with the bulb sitting in water after 2 hours. There are a few tiny bubbles on the glass surfaces from my faucet sticking them to the cup but clearly no boiling.

And yes, I put it all up against a piece of PAPER