Grow Room Suitable LED's For limited vertical space (34")

[G.Leave]

It looks like you can get two for under $200 and that's a pretty fair price. But like you said, they'd have to be flush mounted, and I'm not set up to do that. For my money I think a couple of UFOs set up at the ends on a diagonal would be a much easier fix. All of them seem to have fan intake slots on the ceiling side of the units, which makes it much harder to figure out. But at least if the units were put in at a diagonal, there would still be some space where they could freely draw air.

My budget is real tight, so it'd be pushing it for me to even spend $112 for two UFOs. But I've also got a number of CFLs I can use to beef up the light intensity some. I think the combo of CFL and LED should work great and using them both should help keep the heat down. I also want to keep my electricity usage down to a minimum, if possible.

I figure whatever $$ I put into the system I will get out of the system. Just remember if you are on a really tight budget that there is other things you will need in addition to lights! I too am on a tight budget, but since I already have the unit setup with mylar, timers, powerbars, medium ect I am already halfway there with supplies.
I also did think about the airflow needed on the back of the lights and figured I would have to leave at least 1/2" clearance for the chord so it wouldn't be blocking the inflow. If worse came to worse I could always set up a pc fan to blow into the gap forcing cooler air into the vents. In a way i'd almost be more sensible to do what you are doing with the ufo's instead of going all out with the 300's but I don't know....it is quite tempting to go with those two dimmable 300's. At worst I would have to run them at less intensity which would further increase the life of the light. Another possible option would be plugging non dimmable lights into a variable control power source.(assuming these exist? lol)

 

[Nuggz]

I've grown lots of times before, so I'm pretty well set with all the other stuff. I used to do big grows with sodium vapor and halide, but that ended when I sold my place and moved into much, much smaller quarters. I have several 300 watt CFLs along with some smaller ones, but I really think the girls will need some LED if they're gonna pack on any weight. Halides, of course, work great in flowering, but I don't think we could get away with it in a small grow space. The heat would just be brutal.

I only plan on flowering out one or two plants at a time and I'm sticking to fairly small strains. I've got another small grow space that I could use for vegging if I need to, and thought I'd probably just run CFLs there. I'll maybe try my hand at femming out some seeds in that smaller space too.

 

[G.Leave]

OH cool...so you are set up with the rest of the stuff too. Sounds like you have almost the same plans for the setup as me...I want to grow out 3-4 autos at a time, maybe make a bit of seed. I want to avoid CFL's completely so hoping i can make the LED's work somehow.

 

[greenjeans]

I am in the process of switching to LED and am adding on to my cab for the extra height. I will have 42" from the top of the pot to the bottom of the lights, and I am feeling like I will need more.. I can't imagine trying to work with 34" of total height. I recommend a cabinet upgrade, bro. If your environment isn't right, it is going to cause you headaches. But I have seen folks doing it in little tiny boxes. I wish you luck..

 

[Nuggz]

Well, if you're starting out from scratch, I can see why you'd just want to stick with LEDs. That said, I really do think CFLs have their place too. The seedlings and clones love 'em, and they are great in vedge stage. In a pinch you can flower with them too; but the buds just won't be as dense. CFLs also work really well when you need to isolate a single plant; like when you've intentionally hermed a female and she's sportin' male flowers. The 26 watt CFLs (100 watt equivalent) fit in just about any kind of light fixture and you can get them in warm or cool light spectrums, so that makes it really easy to set up another small space if you need to. I'm glad that I have some CFLs because they allow you to be more flexible. Seems like when you are growing, you always need another little space that's sort of away from the rest of the girls, where you can do a little bit of experimenting.

The other thing in CFLs favor is that you can have your plants extremely close to the lights without harming your girls. Since we are both seriously lacking in headroom, that's really a huge thing in their favor.

And of course, in my case, I don't have a whole lot of money to spend, so using my CFLs to bulk up the light is going to be really important. And I've seen some killer grows on youtube using a CFL and LED combo; big, fat solid buds just as thick as your forearm. Made me drool...

 

[G.Leave]

I am in the process of switching to LED and am adding on to my cab for the extra height. I will have 42" from the top of the pot to the bottom of the lights, and I am feeling like I will need more.. I can't imagine trying to work with 34" of total height. I recommend a cabinet upgrade, bro. If your environment isn't right, it is going to cause you headaches. But I have seen folks doing it in little tiny boxes. I wish you luck..

Thanks for the comment greenjeans. I was actually just reading your DIY box thread....unfortunately the cab has to stay as it is.(not my choice..lol) Hmmm...now comes the choices...do I abandon this idea and just stick with outdoor? or do I spend just over $130US on a 300W (150real W) dimmable light and see what happens....hmm I think I am going to have to ponder on this, but I am pretty sure I am going to try it out. Given the size of the LED unit I am looking at (16"X8"X3") I could easily mount it on an angle in the corner for more room....alright I have to try. Enough bullshitting about this. Come oct this is game on.

 

[G.Leave]

Hey Nuggz- I wasn't knocking cfl's, I just don't want them for this setup. When i veg out photos in this space with t8's I am constantly moving lights around to keep it at optimum. With the led's it be more of an issue spending time tying them down so they don't get too big.

 

[Nuggz]

I am in the process of switching to LED and am adding on to my cab for the extra height. I will have 42" from the top of the pot to the bottom of the lights, and I am feeling like I will need more.. I can't imagine trying to work with 34" of total height. I recommend a cabinet upgrade, bro. If your environment isn't right, it is going to cause you headaches. But I have seen folks doing it in little tiny boxes. I wish you luck..

I hear you Greenjeans. I'm really sweating 4.5 feet, floor to ceiling. I think trying to do it in 34 inches would just be a nightmare. A couple of guys on AFN are doing it in solo cups & keeping their plants all under 1 foot in full bud, just tiny plants with no branching. But they cram a lot of them into a small space & seem to be able to keep themselves in bud. Sure would take a whole lot of auto seeds though.

 

[Nuggz]

Hey Nuggz- I wasn't knocking cfl's, I just don't want them for this setup. When i veg out photos in this space with t8's I am constantly moving lights around to keep it at optimum. With the led's it be more of an issue spending time tying them down so they don't get too big.

No sweat, Greenskell. I get where you are coming from. You don't want to move lights and instead would rather tie down the plants. Me too. Moving the lights in that small of a space would be a big drag. What kind of pots are you planning to use? Seems like you'd have to go low and wide if you are going to use soil. I figured to tie down, I could use 1/2 gallon milk jugs filled with water, lay them on their side on the floor and tie off to the handles. I'm just going to do 1 or 2 plants to start off with, 'cuz it's going to take some serious figuring out. Seeds are too danged expensive these days to make big mistakes.

 

[G.Leave]

I hear you Greenjeans. I'm really sweating 4.5 feet, floor to ceiling. I think trying to do it in 34 inches would just be a nightmare. A couple of guys on AFN are doing it in solo cups & keeping their plants all under 1 foot in full bud, just tiny plants with no branching. But they cram a lot of them into a small space & seem to be able to keep themselves in bud. Sure would take a whole lot of auto seeds though.

Thanks once again for the comment Nuggz...it very well may be a nightmare...we shall see. I have been training plants since I read it in Marijuana Handbook in '91 so I am pretty well versed in that aspect with photo strains. I will not be doing tiny pots and using piles of seed, though I will be using as shallow pots as I can get away with(likely smaller Rubbermaid type containers) Going to keep my pot height at 8" max (possibly 6") As I have decided to just buy one light to start instead of 2 just to make sure this will work i'll start 2 auto's and see how it goes. I could probably cut the floor out of the cab and get another 6"...lol