Living Room Grow Light Bar for Houseplants (1st build)

[MadCowTX]

For my first LED build, I’m trying to figure out how to make an aesthetically acceptable 4-foot LED bar to hang over a shelf of houseplants in my living room. I’m thinking I will shoot for around 80W but probably run it dimmed to about half that and hanging 18-24” over the top of my plants. So far, the plan is to use 2 EB Gen 2 3500k 4-foot strips in series with a Mean Well HLG-120H-C1050B (40V each x 2 at 1050mA = 84W).

I could really use some help/suggestions for how to deal with 2 aesthetic issues. (1) How to enclose the fixture and hide the driver? (2) What kind of diffuser or louver would work best? I’m trying to keep this build affordable and relatively easy.

(1) I can’t go into the ceiling or wall, so I need to mount the driver on the bar. To make it look decent, I was thinking about putting it all in a led profile/extrusion like this: www.wired4signsusa.com/collections/hang ... 8425527245. It looks like the upper channel would be large enough to hold the driver, which is 68mm wide x 39mm tall. But it comes in 8-foot lengths. Is something like this reasonably easy to cut (I do have access to a table saw, radial arm saw, and circular saw but I've only used them for wood)? Would this profile provide adequate heat dissipation? Is there anywhere I might be able to buy something like this locally without a commercial account to avoid the shipping cost (I live in a large city). If so, how would I find such a place?

Alternatively I'm also considering attaching the strips to a heatsink with the driver on top and building a wood frame around it (so it would look something like this, but with the wood frame all the way around instead of just on the long sides: www.allmodern.com/lighting/pdp/modern-f ... d=29994083). But that would require some woodwork and finishing that I couldn’t do on my own.

Any other ideas for an inexpensive, easy, and decent looking way to enclose or frame this type of bar would be GREATLY appreciated.

(2) I need some type of diffuser or louver to hide the harsh glare of the diodes from direct view, but I don’t want to spread the light over a wide angle. All the plants are on a 1-foot wide shelf and I’d prefer to minimize the light spillover to the rest of the room as much as reasonably possible. What’s the best option for this?

Thank you so much in advance for any and all help, and thanks for the ENORMOUS wealth of information already shared on this website and forums!!!

[TEKNIK]

You can buy extrusions to suit your purposes in your local market.
Google search for led lighting profiles

There are alot of models to choose from, freight is a killer with extrusions and that's why its better to find them locally

[MadCowTX]

On further consideration, I think I'm going to build the wood frame because it will look nicer and cost less.

Do I need heatsink for 2x 4-foot EB gen 2 strips side-by-side at 1050 mA (84 Watts), or can I get away with mounting them to a length of 3-inch wide flat aluminum bar (the top will be uncovered)? I could make it lighter and a little more compact and simpler to build with the flat aluminum bar. If so, how thick should I get the bar? Is 1/8-inch thick enough, or should I go thicker?

Thanks again for the help!

[TEKNIK]

84 watts is alot of heat. I would suggest C or H Channel be used. Up side of using H and C channel is you could use it to screw the wood into

[the Falcon]

Put the driver on a lead and then its easy to hide it.

[MadCowTX]

Thanks for that tip! Unfortunately, using C channel does complicate the design I had in mind. I wasn't planning to have any screws on the outside of the frame. I was imagining a simple 4-sided wood box with a 1/4" ledge on the inside so it could just slip over and rest on top of the aluminum bar. Hanging hardware would then mount directly to the aluminum bar and the driver would mount to the inside of the frame above. This could still work with C-channel if I mount the strips inside the channel with the sides of the channel facing down instead of up. Would this still provide effect heat dissipation or would it just direct all the heat back at the LED diodes? If I mount the strips to the back of the channel with the sides of the channel facing up, I'll have to add another 1.5 inches to the height of the wood frame, which would make it taller than I'd like - unless I can figure out a clever way to mount the driver horizontally instead of just screwing it into the inside of the frame.

EDIT: I think maybe the best and simplest solution is to scrap the idea of having the frame rest on top of the light with the hanging hardware attached to the aluminum bar/ heatsink. Heatsink USA has 2" heatsink that is less than 1/2 inch thick. I should probably just hang the light from the frame with the heatsink sitting on top of a 1/4-1/2" ledge at the ends. (Thanks again, Teknik, for helping me brainstorm this!)

[MadCowTX]

Would this heatsink be sufficient for 2x 4-foot EB gen 2 side-by-side at 1050 mA (84 Watts)?
EDIT: Keep in mind that this will be enclosed on four sides by a wood frame, so air movement will be limited.

www.heatsinkusa.com/2-079-wide-extruded ... -heatsink/

[TEKNIK]

Would this heatsink be sufficient for 2x 4-foot EB gen 2 side-by-side at 1050 mA (84 Watts)?
EDIT: Keep in mind that this will be enclosed on four sides by a wood frame, so air movement will be limited.

www.heatsinkusa.com/2-079-wide-extruded ... -heatsink/

I would think that it would be OK, you will have to build it to make sure. Ambient temprature will change things alot when you dont have airflow. If you can space out the wooden sides so they dont touch the heatsink it will help alot. Adding some washers or spacers to the sides so airflow can get through will be a big help.

[MadCowTX]

I think I've decided that 80 Watts is overkill for orchids and ornamental houseplants, so I'm going to go with 2x Cutter Cree J-Series 560mm 90CRI strips (www.cutter.com.au/product/ssk-1560-3590cr/). I'll mount them on 4-foot 1" HeatsinkUSA, which should give me plenty of heat dissipation and a slimmer, lighter design.

These strips are rated at 48V and I want to run them in series at 700mA for 67 Watts. Two in series would be 96V. The HLG-60H-700B is rated for 70W and up to 100V. Is it OK to run right near the top end of the voltage range like that or would it be safer and/or more efficient to use an HLG-80H-700B, which is rated for 90W and 84-129V? (Price difference is minimal.)

On the one hand, I've read a few comments suggesting that it's more efficient to run the driver at near maximum capacity, but I also read a comment that drivers may have trouble starting near the top end of the voltage range because LEDs need more voltage when they are cold. Which is correct?

Thanks again!

[TEKNIK]

The Cree 3030 LEDs used on those strips were at 45.5V when I tested them at 700mA that was hot so it will be about 46.5V cold, Cutter generally use the lower voltage bin mid powers. The 60W driver will be fine.
They have 2 different sized PCBs in the range, make sure you get the right one to suit your heatsink