LED's Off the shelf

Durgan · April 14, 2017

LED Lamps have some new terms for most. I have been digging up relevant information.
PAR 38 means Parabolic Anodized Reflector. The 38 means, thirty eight times 1/8 inch diameter bulb so a PAR 38 means 38 times 1/8 inch for a diameter of 4 and 3/4 inches. No seller bothered knowing this. So my LED flood lamps are 4.75 inches diameter with a built in PAR reflector. Simple.

Spectrum for growing may be of interest. The bulbs are rated as 3000 Kelvin or 6000 Kelvin which indicates blue at 3000 and Red at 6000. Use the Blue 3000 for seedlings, but my experimenting indicates that either is suitable. This area is mostly sales hype at the present time.

Power consumed should be around 25 watts.

Lumens or light intensity should be around 1000.

So for a bucket lamp choose PAR 38, 100 lumens, 25 watts, 3000 Kelvin. The bulb screws into a typical socket. They should cost around $40 and supposedly last forever.

There are some fancy types in a frame that cost in the $300 to $400 range. They are good bulbs for large deep pocket producers not the typical home grower.

April 14, 2017	#1
Durgan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Brantford, ON, Canada Posts: 1,341	LED's Off the shelf LED Lamps have some new terms for most. I have been digging up relevant information. PAR 38 means Parabolic Anodized Reflector. The 38 means, thirty eight times 1/8 inch diameter bulb so a PAR 38 means 38 times 1/8 inch for a diameter of 4 and 3/4 inches. No seller bothered knowing this. So my LED flood lamps are 4.75 inches diameter with a built in PAR reflector. Simple. Spectrum for growing may be of interest. The bulbs are rated as 3000 Kelvin or 6000 Kelvin which indicates blue at 3000 and Red at 6000. Use the Blue 3000 for seedlings, but my experimenting indicates that either is suitable. This area is mostly sales hype at the present time. Power consumed should be around 25 watts. Lumens or light intensity should be around 1000. So for a bucket lamp choose PAR 38, 100 lumens, 25 watts, 3000 Kelvin. The bulb screws into a typical socket. They should cost around $40 and supposedly last forever. There are some fancy types in a frame that cost in the $300 to $400 range. They are good bulbs for large deep pocket producers not the typical home grower.