I am a Karaoke DJ and I have many LED stage lights that are color adjustable…I was thinking if I throw a couple of them in the tent and make them RED supplimental lighting…think it might help with blooming…
I wanted to get a meter to see if I am hitting the right spectrum but can’r find anything on Amazon that clearly states Kelvin color temp or range…most just say par and lumins…
any suggestions on maybe an somewhat inexpensive meter to check wavelengths?
Better to go back to the light manufacturer and let them tell you the spectrum.
I will say that grow lights are in a whole different level of light intensity compared to stage lighting.
If you tell me the manufacturer and model I’m sure I can give you an answer based on the LED’s they use.
I did a similar use with some lights I have but keep in mind I also have a main light that is full spectrum. I also work as an Electrical engineer so I’m familiar with the LED’s in many of the lights I have (in case one ever goes out).
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And I agree with this statement. Depending on the lights you have they may be trash LED’s. Many of the lights I have are around $500-$3000, from events I help with so all my lights are from top companies who spec high output LED’s mainly RGBWA+UV (Samsung, ON, Vishay, TE, etc. ) but if you’re using like Amazon or eBay lights I would say finding information about their LED’s in a data sheet or manual is probably not going to be available.
I have a full spectrum light that is amazing…the results from before it and after it are so different…but these lights are just sitting here and if red helps i figured i would try,
they are made by ULSTELLAR and they are 25w IP66 RGB flood lights that are available on amazon…
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08YJYT79R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
By no means are these my grow lights but the light i have have very few red leds and i was wondering it these would supplement it a little… could it hurt?
McCree action spectrum is what you’re looking for.
So this is based on what I can find and math nothing more.
The output power they claim with 16 LED’s that are only RGB is low. Roughly 1.2w per LED, being generous. The heat sink they have makes me wonder the efficiency of the driver inside. I can’t find anything on their site to allude to lux testing or efficiency curves.
Just thinking of that I would say there’s a possibility the LED’s could be mixing colors if the IC is not matched with a good driving circuit. Hard to say off what I can find. Which also can mean there is no telling what SMD diodes they supply in them. Therefore hard to say what spectrum you’re getting with red selected.
For a comparison, Samsung diodes used in Spider Farmer and many others pull around 2.8-3w per LED, they are also targeting very specific spectrums. Red (650-700nm) that you want to hit is going to pull that much power for a nominal high output. The LED’s I have pull around 3.6-4w per diode. They also have a very high driving IC circuit with adjustments made in .45% increments for power and dimming similar to a full spectrum light. Also being able to mix in UV spectrum and 3-5K spectrum.
Can you use them? I’m sure, will they be effective? Can’t say yes or no, I just can’t find enough about their internals. So would you benefit having them running all the time? I probably say there are better options. Keep in mind the engineer side of me says if you’re willing to eat the cost of the experiment go for it. But to know if it’s working or not you would need a control study, so not a quick answer if they aren’t just wasted electricity.
As for a meter that will identify this, no, at least not unless you’re willing to pay $1,200-$6,000+. For my job without a lot of details we use OLED displays and various LED’s for our projects. We have to test new suppliers on output, spectrum, and efficiency. The equipment we use to measure these are not cheap and often not portable for high accuracy measurements. Without a huge physics lesson, light is measured by wavelength and frequency. That’s not to say you can’t do experiments at home and do the calculations, but I don’t believe that’s how far you want to go. But if you do here is the formula c = λ f
C is the speed of light
Lambda is wavelength in meters
f is the frequency
Otherwise this is a portable option, that gets you within 5% but repeatability is subjective to your environment as you’re measuring light waves a truly dark environment is difficult. Again not a cheap option, you could just buy great lights at $2k.
Hope that helps with your question.
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as always a wealth of information thank you… opted to NOT use one for no other reason than y’all think its not worth it…
i am trying to figure out if i turned my lights to 12-12 ,and a little bit of light is comeing through from the other side of my tent is it going to hurt my plants from flowering?