Installing LED chips as ceiling lights

[OwlHoot]

Many thanks for the replies everyone.

But having planted 400 tobacco seeds at the weekend, I now have an even more bewilderingly complicated lighting problem, which is to find the best system of grow lights for the plants oince they start sprouting in a week or two!

Every "expert" iin the tobacco growing and gardening forums seems to have a different theory on what the best types of lights are, and of course many of these are US-based and of varying topicality (as lighting technology is advancing rapidly, so posts from even five years ago may be somewhat out of date).

However, I've tentatively concluded that the best bulbs, taking account of a dozen variables including effectiveness, average lifetime, and colour temperature (which should be 6000K plus for baccy) are Sylvania HSI-T Daylight bulbs. But I still have the problem of finding what extra kit one needs to actually use these, and if I will need any supplementary UV lights.

But any amount of effort and expense is now worth it to deprive HMR&C of all that tobacco tax

[Contreras]

I ended up going for LED lights in a standard GU10 bulb form factor.
The reason is LED do go dimmer and dimmer over time so after 5 years you're looking at 50% light production or so.
By that time I also expect the technology to improve and prices to go down.
I've also installed a bit more than I need so I normally only turn half of them on and perhaps in 5 years time I'll need to turn them all. Especially if I get dimmer myself

You need to be a bit careful when buying 240V LED lamps. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=gu10+led+unsafe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keaE7QTKTYE

I'm currently looking at fitting 12V LED ribbon lights, appearance doesn't particularly matter as it's for the garage and these should fit nicely under the beams. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=le...white&tbm=isch

[yasockie]

I ended up going for LED lights in a standard GU10 bulb form factor.
The reason is LED do go dimmer and dimmer over time so after 5 years you're looking at 50% light production or so.
By that time I also expect the technology to improve and prices to go down.
I've also installed a bit more than I need so I normally only turn half of them on and perhaps in 5 years time I'll need to turn them all. Especially if I get dimmer myself

[vetran]

LED is most definitely the way to go.

around the ceiling in a recess seems to be the cool way. a few ideas

Ceiling led Search Results

[northernladuk]

Can't comment on the tiles.. Sorry didn't read your whole thread in detail.. Doh

[northernladuk]

I ended up buying these from Led Hut and am super pleased with them. Warm white with 120 angle which is better than halogens so room looks brighter and bigger. Had to buy nearly 70 of them to do the whole house. About a quarter if them are dimmed but the don't dim very low and you can hear a slight buzz in a very quiet room but not enough to worry me.

[northernladuk]

This is what I mean

[northernladuk]

I'd get one to look at first. The actual element or whatever you call it (the yellow squares) are incredibly bright so can't have them in eyeline. Gotta be recessed or something. I got some bulbs with the element next to the lens and they were just too bright. I'll see if I can find a pic as an example.

[OwlHoot]

I'm wondering if one could install decent, safe, robust LED lighting by just using LED chips from LED Tiles Light Engines | UK and not bother with bulbs.

Basically I have a large (20' by 40') room in which I plan to install six foot long suspended ceiling panels with wide-angle dimmable daylight-white LED lights, the aim being an even, practical light but a classier and far more energy-efficient alternative to naff flourescent strips.

Those LED chips, especially the Duris E3 50 Tile, look like they emit ample lumens, and they have a Colour Rendering Index (CRI) of more than 95. (Apparently cheap and nasty LED bulbs, or older designs, can have a CRI below 90 or even below 80, which starts to make everything look bizarrely miscoloured and washed out.)

Also, I'm glad to see LED lights are dimmable, provided one buys the correct kind of dimmer.

I've emailed the company to try and find out more, and I'll post here a summary of their reply, if any. But in the meantime, would any electricians or DIYers care to comment? Seems like LED is definitely the way to go.