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Sprout & Spectrum

SANSI 36W BR30 Grow Light Bulb

The only bulb we cover that publishes a PPFD figure with the measurement distance attached, which is the only thing that makes a PPFD figure useful.

By Scooter M. — An enthusiast who's genuinely into this. I read the manuals, compile the published specs, and do the math. No lab coat.

Published · How we pick

A screw-in LED grow bulb in a desk lamp aimed at a potted houseplant

Photographs on this site are licensed stock and are illustrative of the fixture type. We do not own the units we write about.

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We have not tested these units. Everything below comes from the manufacturer’s own published specifications, or from arithmetic we have shown our working for. Where a figure is not published, we say so instead of estimating one. Read the method.

The reasoning

We have not tested this bulb. SANSI, unusually for the bulb segment, publishes enough that we do not entirely need to: 36 W, 65.6 µmol/s of photon output, and — the important one — 265.58 µmol/m²/s at 1 ft, with the distance stated.

Why the stated distance is the whole story

A PPFD figure without a distance is decoration. AC Infinity publishes “1098 PPFD” for a board with no measurement distance; that number cannot be used to place the fixture or compare it to anything. SANSI publishes a smaller number with the distance attached, which makes it a tool.

Placing the bulb by arithmetic

Published: 265.58 µmol/m²/s at 1 ft. Intensity falls with roughly the square of distance.

At 18 in (1.5 ft): 265.58 × (1 ÷ 1.5)² = 118.

At 2 ft: 265.58 × (1 ÷ 2)² = 66.

At 6 in (0.5 ft): 265.58 × (1 ÷ 0.5)² = 1,062.

So: a foot away puts a plant at the top of Minnesota Extension’s high band; eighteen inches puts it in the low band; two feet is barely above the floor of the low band. That is a placement decision you can make before you buy anything.

Distance at which this bulb delivers a medium light level
~13 in

265.58 µmol/m²/s at 1 ft, scaled by the inverse-square relationship, crosses 200 µmol/m²/s at about 13 inches and 150 at about 15 inches.

The efficacy trade-off

What the screw-in form factor costs

65.6 µmol/s ÷ 36 W = 1.82 µmol/J.

The panels we cover publish 2.3 to 2.75. So the bulb is roughly a third less efficient than a panel, per watt.

That is the price of an E26 socket. You are paying it in exchange for being able to use a lamp you already own, and for not hanging a fixture.

What it is genuinely for

One plant. 65.6 µmol/s is a small amount of light spread into a cone: enough to properly serve a single specimen at close range, and not enough to light a shelf. Trying to cover a collection with several of these is how people end up spending more than a panel would have cost, at two-thirds the efficiency.

Where this bulb fits, and where it does not
SituationVerdictWhy
One houseplant beside a lamp you ownIdealNo new fixture, no hanging, computable placement
A specimen plant in a living roomGood4000 K with CRI close to 100 looks like ordinary light
Three or four plants on a shelfPoorYou need three or four bulbs; a panel is cheaper and more efficient
Seed traysNoWrong shape entirely — a cone over a rectangle

The color rendering detail

SANSI publishes 4000 K across 400–780 nm with a CRI close to 100. That is a genuine practical advantage in a living room: the light looks normal, and you can see the actual color of your plants, which is how you notice problems. It is the same argument that runs through full spectrum versus red and blue.

Running cost

36 W at 12 hours a day is 12.96 kWh a month, about $2.38 at the US residential average. Across an October-to-March winter, roughly $14.42. At that level running cost is not a consideration.

Who should buy it

Anyone with one plant and a lamp. It is the lowest-friction way to add real, computable light to a single specimen, and the only bulb we cover whose placement you can work out on paper first.

The fixture in full

A screw-in LED grow bulb in a desk lamp aimed at a potted houseplant

SANSI 36W BR30 Grow Light Bulb

Grow bulb

The rare grow bulb that publishes both PPF and a PPFD figure with the measurement distance attached, which is the only reason it can be sized honestly.

What SANSI publishes

Power draw
36 W (source)
PPF (photon output)
65.6 umol/s (source)
PPFD
265.58 umol/m2/s at 1 ft (source)
Spectrum
4000 K, 400-780 nm, CRI close to 100 (source)
Rated life
25,000 hours (source)

Our arithmetic

  • Efficacy, computed from the published figures: 1.82 umol/J
    65.6 umol/s / 36 W = 1.82 umol/J. That is roughly a third less efficient than the panels on this page — the price of a screw-in form factor.
  • Electricity used at 12 hours a day for 30 days: 12.96 kWh a month
    36 W x 12 h x 30 d / 1000 = 12.96 kWh.

What SANSI does not publish

  • Beam angle
  • Fixture dimensions

Who should skip it

Skip it if you are lighting more than one plant. 65.6 umol/s is a small amount of light spread over a cone — it lights a single specimen, not a shelf.

Questions people actually ask

+How far should the SANSI BR30 be from a plant?
It publishes 265.58 µmol/m²/s at 1 ft. Scaling by the inverse-square relationship, about 13 inches gives a medium light level near 200 µmol/m²/s, 18 inches gives about 118, and 2 feet gives about 66. Pick the distance from the target your plant wants.
+Is a grow bulb as good as a panel?
Per watt, no: this bulb works out to 1.82 µmol/J against 2.3 to 2.75 for the panels we cover, which is the price of the screw-in form factor. For a single plant beside a lamp you already own, that trade is usually worth making.
+How many plants can one SANSI bulb light?
Realistically one. Its 65.6 µmol/s spread into a cone serves a single specimen well at close range. Once you need three or four bulbs, a single panel is both cheaper and substantially more efficient.
+Will the SANSI bulb look strange in a living room?
Less than most grow lights. SANSI publishes 4000 K with a CRI close to 100, which reads as ordinary white light rather than the magenta glow associated with grow fixtures.

Sources

Read next

Where this sits

This page belongs to Fixture Reviews and Roundups. Every figure on it is either quoted from a named published source or derived in view — the full method is on our methodology page, and how the site is funded is on the affiliate disclosure.