Usually not very well. The diodes in them are notorious for having extremely low efficacy.
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Dude @dbrn32 first off super belated happy birth/anniversary day 
. Second stop reading this and enjoy the family! Well deserved vacay (and this aint even yo job man but you are SUPER goat bro)
Third if you still reading im just saying thanks. This is my 3rd complete lighting forum (i cant finish the big oneā¦ 1100~ messages 
) but yeaā¦ id beyond love for a lil mini build like this. Seems like overkill for a āfridge tentā tho. (I found it from the box grow you commentd and refered here around April) but still beyond intriguing. Keep up the enlightenment bro
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No problem, and thank you!
The best thing about this type of build is that you can add or subtract strips as necessary, and then just size appropriate driver. And the strips are available on different sizes to accommodate different size grows. Itās a very flexible way to go.
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So if i was thinking 1 auto in a mini fridgeā¦ the 150$ build from earlier would a. Fit (12ā-12ā i think so)
B. Not be complete overkill?
Right now im using a fridge wrapped in foil with about 12 philips in diff color temps on two sproutlings in 5galls.
How are your temps? I know the insulation on those refrigerator grows can be a hassle sometimes. If thatās s concern, you can drop drive current down to 350ma. That will lower waste heat and allow leds to run a little more efficiently. Youāll be running about 7 watts per strip like that. So 10 strips about 70 watts for example. Or run more or less strips as you feel needed.
The interior dimensions of your fridge are 12āx12ā? Or you were asking about the light? Itās exactly 12āx12ā.
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Ill get better measurements in the am. I just have a few sprouts in a fishtank right now. And i live in a fair sized house with big yard. Hella private inside so figured if 1 or 2 plants no big need for a tentā¦ this grow 
. But i think the fridge is around 2x2x2.5-3
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Thatās about perfect for this light. Iāll tag you into a grow using one.
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Thanks man
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Not well, and in all honesty you would likely get the same strip direct from China for less anyway.
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@juweedy, I bought three rolls of them and they suck. Even tried slightly overdriving the voltage to make them a little brighter to use as side lights last summer and found the 12v version is barely capable of lighting a driveway at night. Waste of time and money in my opinion. I tried all of the cheap options because I am really poor financially but wanted to grow indoors for better results. Had to give in and spend money when I was lucky enough to get a little on good equipment.
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Thanks young lady!
You can grow with 12v 5730 Superbright strip, but the efficiency is obviously down on a āproperā panel or hard strip driven properly.
So, for the same price as 5050 you can get better output from the 5730 SB, think 120 leds per metre or 600 on a roll versus half the number of 5050 LEDs per roll, you could easily get your side lighting cheaply.
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It needs to be clarified that there are big differences in manufacturer performance. A bigger cheaper diode can be less performance than a good smaller diode.
Indeed, as how it is driven affects things too.
But when it comes to the cheap flexible strip referred to, and knowing I can get 10m of said strip and a power supply for less than the cost of the 5050 strip in South Africa then it does become a cheap option for additional lighting.
Tell you what, Iāll order it up, itās only ā¬27, and make up a panel using only the 5730 SB strip instead of the current mix of 5730 and blurple and see what results I get provided I donāt kill the plant, then Iāll bend your ear about a diy solution on the cheap to cover one or two plants.
PS. @juweedy. ā¬27 with free delivery on AliExpress works out at 433 SA Rand. Thatās 10m of 5730 Superbright 120 led/m 3000K strip PLUS a 12v 360W psu for less than the cost of 5m of that 5050 strip in SA. 9.8m of that can be stuck to a metal plate 35cm x 28cm in size and will easily outperform that 5050 strip even if you did the same thing and spent more than twice as much on 10m of 5050 strip from that link you posted.
Be aware that what you see on these websites can be bought for much less ādirect from the sourceā in China, a perfect example being the markup a former boss of mine put on 24v 5050 strip used in his āartisanalā light fittings.
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Just out of curiosity, what is efficacy and power level of a setup like that?
She pulls a real 137w from the wall, calculated by actual current draw, and can easily throw out an indicated 50k-plus lux at no effective change in ambient temps around it, with an actively cooled power supply sitting remote from the panelā¦ If you look in the 20 Days of April thread youāll see some pics, thereās a couple of decent sized colas, by my standards, on a White Haze Auto under 12/12 using said panel.
In all honesty a 65w QB would likely outperform it, but at the price I paid I aināt complaining. Better to learn by mistakes without spending megabucks than spend a lot of money and get disheartened by the time it takes to get a successful grow and start recouping the money spent. I reckon thatās why I see so many second hand grow tent setups for sale here, a fortune gets spent on the kit and then the first couple of grows go sideways, costs are effectively going up as youāre still buying to keep going until you can harvest, you end up giving up.
Keeping it small, cheap and cheerful to learn the art works better for me, itās a long term project so gradual improvements are the order of the day, learning step by step, and as failures are expected then thereās nothing worse than knowing you have a couple of months worth of food tied up in something that aināt producing.
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Iām not as sure as to say what would outperform what without more information. I was just looking to see what performance data was available to try and make some sort of comparison is all. If weāre looking at efficacy similar to cfl or t5, how does cost stack up. And outside of people plenty capable messing around with different stuff, can I tell people to spend xx amount doing something like this and what to expect.
Half of the justification of spending a little more money is strictly in the availability of performance data. I can tell someone who doesnāt snot about lighting what the difference is in some random $80 light vs a $200 light. Or whatever random example we can come up with.
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Well, they talk 110 lm/w so thereās a base, as is up to 50-55 lm/led but more typically closer to 35 lm/led at 120 led/m giving 1176 leds on a 28cm x 35cm plate using 9.8m of strip according to specs I seeā¦
No, itās not the most efficient and the Samsung, as an example, strips would be much better when driven properly but, as I say, itās a learning curve and the move to something much better will happen in the next couple of months.
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Do they give you that at any current and temp specs? It seems most are listed by either case or junction temp of 25c with a max of about 85c. Ballpark estimate on most is around 10% drop in performance from 25c-85c. With most of us being closer to 50c region for either measurement. A similar relationship is expected with output current as well. For every 50% reduction in current, we can usually expect about a 10% increase in efficiency.
You can certainly use some current/temp relationships in your favor on some lower cost leds.