My $18 grow light

Cole_Robbie · February 15, 2015

Actually just the bulb is $18. The rest of it I scavenged from junk. I wanted to make some new lights for starting seeds.

This is the bulb:
http://www.menards.com/main/electric.../p-1856945.htm

It's a 65W, which is 200W equivalent, in "Cool White," 4200 Lumens at 4100K. Menards had a 300W equivalent, but it was in Day Light and not Cool White.

I had an old socket, but a new one is $1.71 at Lowe's:
http://www.menards.com/main/electric.../p-1856945.htm

The socket will take any normal bulb. The 150 watt equivalent cool white spiral CFL is another decent choice; it's about half the price. I wired the socket to an old cord from a computer monitor that died. I made sure to look up the carry capacity of the wire, but I am only running it at 10% of it's maximum load.

The socket is attached to a scrap of plywood with a hole cut in it from a hole saw so the bulb can poke through. My reflector is a plastic Rural King bucket cut in half. I used an oscillating saw to cut the bucket in half. A hack saw or coping saw would probably work, too.

http://i.imgur.com/4V4Kwkg.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/iPSxrM2.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/5rubq5P.jpg

By buying just the bulb and making everything else, the light ends up being 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of buying a pre-built grow light.

February 15, 2015	#1
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	My $18 grow light Actually just the bulb is $18. The rest of it I scavenged from junk. I wanted to make some new lights for starting seeds. This is the bulb: http://www.menards.com/main/electric.../p-1856945.htm It's a 65W, which is 200W equivalent, in "Cool White," 4200 Lumens at 4100K. Menards had a 300W equivalent, but it was in Day Light and not Cool White. I had an old socket, but a new one is $1.71 at Lowe's: http://www.menards.com/main/electric.../p-1856945.htm The socket will take any normal bulb. The 150 watt equivalent cool white spiral CFL is another decent choice; it's about half the price. I wired the socket to an old cord from a computer monitor that died. I made sure to look up the carry capacity of the wire, but I am only running it at 10% of it's maximum load. The socket is attached to a scrap of plywood with a hole cut in it from a hole saw so the bulb can poke through. My reflector is a plastic Rural King bucket cut in half. I used an oscillating saw to cut the bucket in half. A hack saw or coping saw would probably work, too. http://i.imgur.com/4V4Kwkg.jpg http://i.imgur.com/iPSxrM2.jpg http://i.imgur.com/5rubq5P.jpg By buying just the bulb and making everything else, the light ends up being 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of buying a pre-built grow light.