Economical Lighting

[GouldieFledge]

Okay, does anyone have some suggestions as to the most economical/energy conserving lighting that I could provide for my gouldians?

[Dave]

LED can be economical, but initially expensive. I'm using a 13 watt compact fluorescent bulb, screwed into a cheap reflector / socket. 1 bulb per 36" x 18" x 18" cage.

On single layer cages, just sitting on the top sitting down. On stacked cages, hung on one end.

That leaves one end of the 36" long cage a little less bright than the other, which I think is fine.

[ac12]

I currently use both CFL and LED. But I am switching from CFL to LED.

The problem with CFL is, when the CFL fails, it "sometimes" emitts a nasty vapor/smell. I think one of those failures poisoned my gouldians as I lost 4 of them soon after the bulb failed with that nasty smell. To be fair, I only had 1 CFL fail with that nasty smell, the other 6 that failed simply died. But I can still smell that nasty odor but at a much lower level, where it is not overpowering. What that smell is from is a failed electronic component inside the base of the bulb. I've had similar failed electronic component emit a similar strong nasty smell.

LED bulbs are available at Costco for about 3 for $10. So it is down in the affordable range. Which is another reason that I am converting to LED.

My light setup is similar to Dave, 1 bulb in a Home Depot reflector lamp clamped to the side or top of the cage.

[Sojourner]

I buy the $10 or $12 fluorescent fixtures at WalMart - T8, not T12 (that's the bulb type).

I get my fluorescent tubes at either Home Despot or Low's (intentional misspelling) in boxes of 10 or 12, because I grow citrus and they are super cheap in quantity like that.

I have never had a bulb fail because I keep track of when they were installed (put a piece of adhesive tape on the hood of each fixture with the date of installation written in non-fading Sharpie) and I remove them before they fail - because the drop off in efficiency and light output is pretty significant long before they actually fail. Depending on the use (how long they are on and how often they get switched off and on) and the expected life of the bulb, they usually get changed out 18 months to 2 years down the road.

I give the swapped out bulbs away to local charities - they still have some light in 'em, but not good for growing plants or birds so much.

I don't have issues with compact fluorescents (CFLs) but I only use them in regular people lights, not for birds. If I feel I need a warming corner, I use a table lamp with an old incandescent bulb in it. I use regular 4' long fluorescent tubes for birds and plants, and aquariums, when I had 'em.

[GouldieFledge]

ac12

Does it matter what type of LED's I buy? I think I'm going to go this route. And can I just put the LED's into my regular light fixtures?

[slwatson]

GouldieFledge

Right now I'm using these:

http://www.parrot-and-conure-world.com/ ... -cage.html

They're not exactly cheap, but they're working great so far!

[ac12]

ac12

Does it matter what type of LED's I buy? I think I'm going to go this route. And can I just put the LED's into my regular light fixtures?

I would prefer 'daylight' for the nicer color of the feathers, but I have not seen a 'daylight' LED lamp. So I just bought what Costco had.

[GouldieFledge]

ac12

I bought a few packs of these from Home Depot to try out. I've had them hooked up about 2 months or so.

So far, so good--birds seem healthy and happy.

[GouldieFledge]

Here's what the lighting looks like. And though not great quality, image of some coloring in the goulds.