Overwhelmed with options

[kelchm]

Over the summer I fell into a new hobby and as a result I have a ton of plants and not a lot of great places to put them indoors. As a result I've been trying to figure out what I can do to help keep my plants alive and (hopefully) help them thrive over the winter.

A couple weeks ago I naively purchased a GoGrow bar light on Amazon. It's basically a copy of the 2ft King bar light. While my plants seem to have responded positively to the added light, I know know enough to know that this light will not be sufficient on its own.

To give you an idea of the are I am working with, I've included some photos below (note: that's a 24" straight edge in the first photo). These are southern facing windows in a basement that get a decent amount of light (for a basement window). My goal is to supplement this light for the plants directly in front of the window and also have usable light for the plants on the lower shelf. Currently my plan is to buy/build a light for each window and hang it at about a 40º angle in front of each window/shelf.

I've spent a lot of time researching and reading, but I'm still overwhelmed by the options that are out there. Options I'm currently considering include:
- Roleadro '400W' COB
- 2x Photon Phantom Sun Board 240
- A LT-H562D based DIY build

Thoughts?

[Ted]

Over the summer I fell into a new hobby and as a result I have a ton of plants and not a lot of great places to put them indoors. As a result I've been trying to figure out what I can do to help keep my plants alive and (hopefully) help them thrive over the winter.

A couple weeks ago I naively purchased a GoGrow bar light on Amazon. It's basically a copy of the 2ft King bar light. While my plants seem to have responded positively to the added light, I know know enough to know that this light will not be sufficient on its own.

To give you an idea of the are I am working with, I've included some photos below (note: that's a 24" straight edge in the first photo). These are southern facing windows in a basement that get a decent amount of light (for a basement window). My goal is to supplement this light for the plants directly in front of the window and also have usable light for the plants on the lower shelf. Currently my plan is to buy/build a light for each window and hang it at about a 40º angle in front of each window/shelf.

I've spent a lot of time researching and reading, but I'm still overwhelmed by the options that are out there. Options I'm currently considering include:
- Roleadro '400W' COB
- 2x Photon Phantom Sun Board 240
- A LT-H562D based DIY build

Thoughts?

The "400w" cob would probably be the easiest and cheapest.

The phantom board would be the cheaper in the long run, but more work.

The strip build would be the coolest, and probably your most expensive and time consuming option.

Id say strip build, and go big!

[Jolly Green Giant]

welcome to the forum!! I would start with what ever your comfortable with building.. I know I wasn't ready (and still not) for a strip build for the size I need when I first joined.. but I could probably manage one for your space now...

I started with quantum boards on a RapidLED frame.
cob/pcb builds are easy.. plenty of info on here to help you along..

but I would stay away from that roleadro light... to me it sounds like a "fake/low quality/cheap" light...(I have also heard growmau5 say that something made by them that said cob wasn't really a cob and to stay away from it) it says 400w... actual 200w... ran at 600ma with two "Cree cxa3070 cobs"... that to me sound impossible from what I learned on here and watching growmau5... my quantum boards ran at 600ma/50ish volts only put out maybe 30w each... there's no way a cob ran at 600ma/less than 36volts(because is being ran really soft) can put out 100w each.. to me it sounds like it is one of those companies that makes something as cheap as they can and sell it to others to slap a sticker on it and triple the price...

check out the vero29 gen7 cobs if you want to go the cob route.. they are some of the most efficient ones out there at the moment.

again welcome!!!

[LEDG]

Hey kelchm, thanks for signing up

Like others have said, I'd avoid the Roleadro. The route you go will depend on how handy you are and how much work you're willing to put into this.

The Photon Fantom boards would be a great way to get into this hobby. They're nice and easy and less labour-intensive. The LM561C strips would be more work and more challenging, but more rewarding and an excellent opportunity to learn how this stuff really works. Either way you go, there's plenty of help available here for you if you need it.

[kelchm]

I'm sure the Roleadro COB isn't the greatest quality, but even if I replaced the guts with my own driver and COBs, it wouldn't be a terrible value. Given that this is in a living space and not a dedicated growing space it's certainly nice to have a decent metal enclosure for both looks and safety. I do dislike that it requires active cooling. It's hard to know for sure, but the particular model I linked to doesn't appear to use Cree cobs. Who know what you're getting

My biggest aversion to the DIY route is coming up with an enclosure/frame that looks better than some aluminum angle screwed together. I do have a pretty solid understanding of electronics, though it admittedly has been almost a decade since I've taken a circuits class.

[Jolly Green Giant]

I get it.. you want something that is aesthetically pleasing to the eye... my old man is the same way with his tin knocking work... me on the other hand rather have function over pretty

I would try to find the cheapest light you can similar to https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LY14B57 that style of fixture and gut it for your boards or cobs... figure out what sizes there are and which boards will fit in there... the photon boards being nearly 14 x 9 are probably going to be a tight fit in most of the 300 so call watt fixtures..

then there's HLG kits like https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/products/hlg-65. or the https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/c ... qb-led-kit. with the first one all you need is to hang it and plug it in.. no frame no heat sink.. just a thin piece of aluminium angled in the spot.. the other kit comes with a heat sink but it's pretty much the same thing.. put it together and hang it... you could even wire the driver so it's father away ( say in that closet) so you don't have to see it or worry about it getting knocked loose or damaged.. there's also cover reflectors to protect the diodes and spreading out the light that fit those.. (they would fit better in some of those fixtures being a little smaller board size)

keep asking questions and taking it all in... with all the different styles and types of builds on here.. your bound to figure out what would be best for your needs. cheers

[majorana]

I have the Roleadro fixture. It isn't terrible, and having everything ready off-the-shelf is definitely a consideration. But the fans... At the best case they just give out that low annoying hum old computers used to put out. And yes, it can also get worse. (And when it's suddenly silent, that would be the worst.) I don't have any experience with the others, and I'd start out again I'd go with them.

[Ted]

If you want something that doesnt look out of place in a finished basement, you should consider the samsung strips encased in a fluorescent fixture. The samsung strips are made for direct placement into 1', 2' and 4' fixtures. It also doubles as a great "normal" light as well. You can find these fixtures at any hardware store for cheap. You would have to mount the strips and driver inside the fixture, as well as do all the wiring, but it would look pretty legit.

[LEDG]

If you want something that doesnt look out of place in a finished basement, you should consider the samsung strips encased in a fluorescent fixture. The samsung strips are made for direct placement into 1', 2' and 4' fixtures. It also doubles as a great "normal" light as well. You can find these fixtures at any hardware store for cheap. You would have to mount the strips and driver inside the fixture, as well as do all the wiring, but it would look pretty legit.

That's a cool idea.

[kelchm]

I ended up deciding to give the Roleadro '400W' COB a try and received it in the mail today. Actually seems decently put together. I was hoping to be able to identify the COBs used in this light, but no such luck. The identifying markings were wiped away as I removed the thermal interface material. The only identifiable marks on the COB were "66W" and "2017".

There are four 28-36V, 1.2A constant current power supplies in addition to a 12V, 1A power supply for the fans.