GE growlight led

Diggumsmack2

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Anyone have any experience using these on an indoor setup? At 41usd and change a pop, they're not cheap. I was surprised at the narrowness of the beam, not a very wide coverage area in visible light anyway. The package says to space 28" apart for full coverage.
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Glaucus

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With this light, you pay 41 dollars for about 50 umoles/s of PPF. That is not a lot. You could divide 50 umol/s by 41 USD, so for every dollar you spend you get 1.2 umol/s.

Now this is not a fair comparison, but for example the Grow 200 by Grow Light Science has 490 umol/s for 209 USD, you get twice the amount of light per dollar spend on the light itself. Plus the light is significantly more efficient, so you spend less on your energy bill.
But of course this Grow 200 is much larger and maybe way too large for your need. But it puts in perspective how the GE light is inferior.

And that even compares self-reported efficiency by GE and tested efficiency for the Grow 200.

Also, you need about 200 to 600 umol/second per square meter for good growth on many plants. So with 50 umol/second, you can only give 200 umol/s/m2 if you spread out all this light over 1/4th of a m2. Or 1/12th if you want to reach 600 umol/s. Or, you need 12 of these bulbs to cover a 1 by 1 meter area at 600 umol/s.
This is also why the beam is narrow.
For seedlings, light requirements are lower and you can maybe have a light like this and spread the light out a bit more.

Note that outdoors, it is often 1000 to 1500 umol/s in brightness on a sunny day around noon (even 2000 umol/s at the equator). The sun is really really bright.
Therefore, there is a huge difference between illuminating a room so we can comfortably see something. Or illuminating a grow area so plants can grow very well.
 
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ShadyStump

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I've wondered about these lights myself. Other concerns to balance out what @Glaucus said (great way to relay the understanding, BTW) include your grow space geography and intended usage, as well as how the measurements your reading about were taken.
That last one could be a long post on it's own, but sounds like it could play into what you're looking for.

If you're supplementing your window lighting for light hungry tree, this will be quite adequate in MOST cases, but it certainly won't do for the basement. If you're in a situation similar to mine where cost is a big factor, or a big light setup isn't much of an option, then this might be your best bet. DLI- Daily Light Interval- is also a factor. That's essentially how long you need to leave the light on to make up for lack of light efficiency. You can find apps for your phone to help you measure the light yourself.

I've had some decent success with similar lights in certain situations. I have 1 1/2 (one of them half the LEDs have failed) Sansi 15 watt lights like that on my herb pot above my kitchen sink at around 6" and those are doing well. I have two of the Sansi 32 watt lights (more comparable to yours) in my north facing living room window for the bay, pepper, and gardenias. It's not enough for the bay tree, but better than nothing.
At work, with my students, we successfully rooted and have maintained bougainvillea and Barbados cherry with a couple lights half of that, and my Benji's are thriving with it, though growing slower than they could.
I can get pics if you need.

Short hand, if you have to get more than two for a given space, you might be better off ordering something bigger, but if you only need a single light for a plant that can live in relative shade, this should do.
Keep your receipt, and give it a go. Let us know.
 
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