Introduction

I like growing some herbs and flowers indoors but becuase they are in the basement the plants I grow often struggle due to the lack of light available. To help my green friends out I decided to build some DIY grow lights from simple parts you can purchase on the internet.

Parts, Supplies, and Tools

Parts:

• 20W White LED COB ($2.49)
• 120V to 12V AC/DC converter ($14.87)
• LED lens, reflector, heatsink, and 12V fan kit ($18.38)
• Electrical plug with switch (free/recycled)

Supplies:

• Thermal paste ($1)
• Flux ($0.10)
• Solder ($0.10)
• Velcro ($1.00)
• Heatshrink tubing ($0.10)

Tools:

• Soldering Iron

Total Cost: $38.04

Assembly

1. First solder the neutral and live ends of the electrical cord to the marked pads on the LED COB.

   Tip: Don’t attached the LED to the heatsink until after all the wires have been soldered.

2. Next solder the neutral and live wires of the APV-12-12 to the marked pads on the LED COB.

   Tip: Use something to press down on the wires to keep them from lifting off from the pad while the solder is liquid.

3. Solder the fan wires to the 12V wires of the APV-12-12 (red to red, black to black).
4. Apply thermal paste to the heatsink then attach the LED to the heatsink.
5. Attach the lens on top of the LED.
6. Attach velcro to the APV-12-12 and heatsink and attach one to another.
7. Test!

Results

Thoughts

I chose to use a 20W COB for this project and I think that was a mistake. Before building this light a was using a simple utility lamp with shade and a 100W euivalent household LED and the growing light was only marginally brighter. The noise from the fan is another con for the growing light; it is always on and is very noticable in a silent room.

Finally, the cost of this light doesn’t seem bad but when compared to just buying a grow light that will come with a nice housing and higher output in lumens its not good.