Soft white light spectrum.

[Luis]

Do you know guys what's the light spectrum of "Soft white bulbs" I know something about cool and warm white but I don't have any idea of this "soft white" .

BTW do you know the spectrum of those spiral compact flourescent bulbs that you can buy at Costco, is this light good for my refugium?

Thanks.

 

[CiXeL]

luis: i was wondering if any of those pinkish hued spiral compact bulbs have a good spectrum. I believe they might. My family likes to call them 'worm bulbs'.

 

[sawyerc]

I've used a spiral compact flourescent over a small hang-on refugium before to grow gracilaria algae. It seemed to work well. Depending on the size and location of your fuge and what you plan to put in it, this may or may not be ideal.

 

[CiXeL]

might also be a good idea to get one of those spectrometer lens thingys. i forgot what theyre called but i used them in an astronomy class to look at the spectrums various heated gasses and how they relate to star spectrums. i bet this would be a good way to see how the wavelengths compare to compact flourescent bulbs and such. i wonder where i can get one cheap. you could also tell immediately if a bulb was giving the right spectrum or if the manufacturer was full of $hit.

 

[Anonymous]

Soft white is a board term. Anything between 4000K to 7000K is soft white, but different bulb maker may have different range.

 

[srbayless]

Howdy,

During my stint at the Electrical department at Home Depot, I found a few bulbs that were OK. The best was the Lights of America 6500K outdoor floodlight that sold for $35. It came with a weatherproof housing and bulb. It was a higher wattage bulb, so you definitely want to use this one on a larger refugium.

On the cheaper end of the spectrum (pun intended) there were the daylight spiral compact fluorescent bulbs. They were supposedly 6500K, but can't attest to that. They were much whiter than the standard spiral bulbs though. These came with a medium base (a regular bulb base) which you could put over your refugium with a regular light socket.

Hope that helps.

Peace,

Scott.

 

[CiXeL]

"The best was the Lights of America 6500K outdoor floodlight that sold for $35. It came with a weatherproof housing and bulb."

ive heard of those. i know someone who bought two and for some reason they were both defective and the ballasts fried. it has something to do with the light sensor detecting whether its day or night.

 

[srbayless]

Howdy,

They do come with a photocell sensor, so that could be problem. Also, lights of America has gotten cheaper in their quality since I left HD. I painted the photocell on my LOA unit black so it would just always stay on when it had power. Otherwise it was a good buy for a 65watt fixture.

Peace,

Scott.