A Better Approach to CFL Lighting

As an experienced electrician, I have seen haphazardly-made lighting setups that truly scare me. It scares me to the point where I would push hard for legalization of Cannabis, just to prevent the possibility of house fires! The most common CFL homemade hood I have seen involves power strips with these light bulb sockets that plug directly into the strip. DANGEROUS! Also, they don't stay put very well, allowing the possibility of an electrical fire.

A better way to setup your own lighting system is to purchase individual light sockets, such as lamps socket replacements. If one does not understand the basic fundamentals of electricity, it can easily be learned in under an hour, the Internet is not only a wonderful source of beautiful ladies, but some fantastic information! These light sockets will run from next to nothing to $3 a piece. Start with 8 sockets, 12 if you are daring, and 28 if you are ready to grow! You will need electrical cords (12-2 or 10-2, or a similar cord is recommended, if you don't know what this is, stop right here, and look up electricity before you get shocked!). Next, chop some wood (1x4 is great, and 2.5ft x 2.5ft perimiter is a decent frame for the lighting). So get about 13ft of 1x4. Cut to length, and layout your lighting frame, how you want your lights arranged. Square pattern is best.

For example, take 4 pieces of wood and nail or screw them together, wide side down, into a square shape (will come out slightly rectangular). Then take a fifth piece of wood to place across the center. With this basic setup (about 2.5ft x 2.5ft), one can place 4 bulbs on 3 strips of wood (12) and also mount lighting to the sides all around the perimeter of the frame (4 on the outside edges, so 16 more), if space allows and if needed. Ultimately, that little frame could hold 12 to 28 light sockets! The sockets should be spliced at a max of 4 per cord, any more can pose an electrical hazard without shrink tubing and electrical knowledge. One side of each of the 4 sockets should all be connected together to one end of an electrical cord (recommending no less than 12-2 gauge), and the other 4 sides should be connected to the other wire of the power cord. The circuit will be formed in parallel. One wire side of each lamp socket on one stripped end of the cord, the other wire sides connected in unison on the other stripped tip. Connecting the wires should be done with electrical knowledge, however, the average person can figure it out easily. Personally, I will connect the wires together to the electrical cord (10-2) and put a wire nut large enough to snugly fit them (do an individual pull test to ensure they are snug and won't pull put), then electrical tape the hell out of it! Two wire nuts per cord per 4 sockets, then tape it!

Series hookup: Hooking the sockets in series (chaining one side with the next socket to the next socket, etc. back to the electrical cord) will cause the load (bulbs) to draw up available energy, and pass what little remaining energy it can to the next bulb, so it is impossible to do more than 2 sockets in series without including more components into the circuit (more parts, money, and a further understanding of electricity).

Make sure to leave adequate wire on the bulbs so they can be spaced apart from each other on the frame, or add wire if necessary. To secure the Sokets to the frame, there are many ways, the best is to find plastic brackets with nails already in them, or pieces of wood nailed onto the frame and strong electrical tape can also make do.

Now, with all this said and done, you can add a 'Y Splitter', which has a normal screw-in on one end, and spurs into two sockets. This can double the amount of bulbs, but not all those bulbs will be of use, and may not be enough room to do but a few. Concluding this, you may find your energy usage to exceed 500watts, maybe even 800W! CFL's DURING FLOWERING is not really cost efficient, nor is it efficient in plant growth or flowering. HPS really is the way to go, there may be less energy consumed and is PRODUCTIVE! Heat can be reduced, look into refrigeration if one must! Any questions or help, let us know!

 

The LED lights look good, I would double check their nanometer wavelength to see if they are ideal for cannabis growing. I think the red is a little to high frequency,i can't remember.

Mirrors actually absorb a lot of light, not ideal. Best reflective surface for the money is aluminum, I would suggest either lining in aluminum blankets or a textured aluminum. Even painting your walls flat white works just as well. Good luck, let us know how your LED grow goes!