READ THIS if you use florescent lights for seedlings.

[Gardener123]

You may want to stock up on the bulbs.

https://news.yahoo.com/goodbye-fluoresce ... 43502.html


AMSTERDAM (AP) -- If you've worked in an office, you're probably familiar with the soft glow of fluorescent tubes drifting from the ceiling. If Europe's Philips brand is right, those lamps could soon be history.

Royal Philips NV, the Dutch consumer appliances giant, said Thursday that it has developed an LED light that will soon be far more efficient than the best fluorescents on the market. That should make it cheaper and greener, as well.

It's a combination that will inevitably help the LED dominate the market for illuminating the world's workplaces, according to the global leader in lighting sales.

In an interview with The Associated Press ahead of the unveiling of the new light, a top executive said the prototype LED is headed to mass production and will hit the market in 2015. He claimed that in 10 years, LEDs will replace at least half of the world's fluorescent bulbs, which have been the main source of workplace lighting since shortly after World War II.

"This is a major step forward for the lighting world," said Rene van Schooten, CEO of Philips' light sources division. "It will bring an enormous savings in energy."

Experts outside the Dutch company say they have long expected LEDs to eclipse fluorescents. If Philips' predictions are correct, however, the arrival of the LED in office spaces will come faster than expected.

The potential impact in energy and cost savings, as well as pollution reduction, is significant — though toxic materials are used in manufacturing both fluorescents and LEDs.

Lights suck up more than 15 percent of all energy produced globally, and fluorescent lights currently make up more than half of the total lighting market.

[rainbowgardener]

we can grow our plants under LED lights! and use less electricity in the process...

[Gardener123]

we can grow our plants under LED lights! and use less electricity in the process...

Well, I won't disagree, HOWEVER, by trade I am mobile DJ, and LED lights are just starting to be good enough as to where I would consider using them. In fact, I don't own any yet because I am not happy with the brightness from them.... YET.

[rainbowgardener]

I don't know much about LED and haven't researched (yet!) about how adequate they are for growing things. But I can say that we switched over to LED outdoor Christmas lights and those are brighter than the old style ones they replaced.

[RobinColtraine]

Hi rainbow


"I don't know much about LED and haven't researched (yet!) about how adequate they are for growing things"

you'll probably be interested in this then!! https://www.ledhorticulture.com/why-is-l ... or-plants/

[Gardener123]

Hi rainbow


"I don't know much about LED and haven't researched (yet!) about how adequate they are for growing things"

you'll probably be interested in this then!! https://www.ledhorticulture.com/why-is-l ... or-plants/

Seems like it is rather self serving.... but maybe not since I don't see them selling LED lights.

That said, As I said, in DJ LIGHTING, LED lights are just "OK" at this point. The lights seem not to "throw" the light as far as more conventional types of lighting. But for close stuff, like seedlings, I believe it probably has a chance to be good.

[viblog]

People who keep coral reef aquariums have been successfully playing with LED lights for a few years.

Most are still using lighting systems that look like something out of close encounters of the third kind, but a few good examples are out there.

Corals aren't plants, and water is a different world, but I wanted to throw out an example where people have worked with LEDs to the point where they can replace a metal halide system.

All hope isn't lost =)

[mattie g]

I'm interested in starting from seeds seriously for the first time next year and am really interested in using LEDs rather than fluorescents. I've been reading a lot about it, and the results seems really promising, but since it's a fairly new technology and there isn't much literature out there on it, it's hard to figure out how to lay out the growing setup. This is especially so for someone like me who only has room to plant about 15 tomatoes/peppers/herbs each year.