Mega HO CFL

[gunge9]

http://www.bltdirect.com/product.php?pid=235&cat=
http://www.bltdirect.com/product.php?pid=266&cat=



65 Watt is equal to a 325 Watt
85 Watt is equal to a 425 Watt

Good prices, 240v only.

[gunge9]

Look ok i think, i`m gonna try my first grow with them.

[hudson88]

Hey gunge, I had a look at those a couple of weeks back, but got a 125watt envirolite for £20 instead

[Legalizdahurb]

yeah they look good i might try some as sidelighting. I have the 200w enviro and a 125 in the veg cab, they aint as good as the mh/hps but you can touch the bulbs so there are far less temp issues

[emmpey]

65 Watt is equal to a 325 Watt

Yah, and one apple is equal to 7 apples :)

[gunge9]

Yah, and one apple is equal to 7 apples :)



http://www.bltdirect.com/energy-saving-bulbs.php

[emmpey]

That means if you have a 40watt CFL you will need 200watts of incandescent (i.e. regular light bulb) to get the same light output. Considering that most energy in incandescent light gets wasted by heat that's valid.

Lumens is a far more accurate way of comparing lights - for example a 400w CFL will only give half the lumens of a 400w HID and a 100w incandescent will only give a fith of the lumens of a 100w CFL.

Not having a go, but newbies might think that by having an 85w CFL means they've got a 425w grow happening - which obviously they ain't.

http://www.homedepot.com/HDUS/EN_US/energy/en_learn_fluorbulbs.html

[gunge9]

Good chart there boss, so i think with enough CFL`s then you would be getting some good results. I see too many posts where people have 1x125w Envirolite and have like 3 plants, i`m gonna go silly on the CFL front and get some serious light going, and i still estimate the heat to be a fraction of a what a HPS gives off.

[faithlessxxx]

.

Me too, building a new room, almost 2* 2 meters and almost 4 meters high. Together with my 250 HPS, I'm gonna fill the f**ker up with CFL for about 100 squid come monday.
Have 3 female Top 44 clones going right now, that are going to grow up and get their asses cloned in the new room.

.

[emmpey]

I use envirolites and get good results using 200w for both veg and flower (last grow was 4oz dry in 2.5x1.5' - would've been more if I could resist picking the buds before they finished).

They are great CFLs cos they are designed for growing, and therefore most of the light output is in the spectrum used for plant growth. You can also make an effective reflector from the box they come in :)

Household CFL are not designed for growing - though you obviously can get cool and warm CFLs, my guess is they are not as effecient in terms of light spectrum as a specialist grow light.

[MrMR]

Good chart there boss, so i think with enough CFL`s then you would be getting some good results. I see too many posts where people have 1x125w Envirolite and have like 3 plants, i`m gonna go silly on the CFL front and get some serious light going, and i still estimate the heat to be a fraction of a what a HPS gives off.

^^ True. But You can just get some fan's you need good circulation in your grow room any way and the heat hps gives off that's why the lights are a little farther away then cfl's cfl's will get you small grow's so it depends on what you looking for. They'll grow a plant no doubt but if your looking to get some high yeild you might want to invest in the hps or Mh the lumens in those cfl's your getting isnt that great. There are Cfl's out there that have way more lumens than those. Your going to be looking at about 1600 to 1700 lumens. When you can go lowe's or a hardware store and get CFL's that give you 3000 lumen's almost doubleing the one's your going to get.

Technology has advanced so much in the last 15 years that we are constantly refining the process and updating what we know works best for growing. Current theory holds that the minimum amount of lighting needed to sustain growth is around 2,000 lumens per square foot. Mid range is around 5,000 lumens per square foot. Optimal is 7,000 to 7,500 or higher lumens per square foot.

http://www.marijuana.com/cultivation-bible/bible-02.php use that as a refrence.

So with the price you would have to spend getting to Optimal you might as well get the hps especailly if your going to continue to grow over and over again. You get far better quality. And as well most hps 250 watt and up will cover most people's grow room with 7,000 lumens and higher with ease. And the higher above optimal the better chances you have to get the quality you desire. CFL's are just tempting because they are cheaper man.

[gunge9]

Ya know i think i`m becoming more tempted by HPS but it`s still the worry of the heat factor, i think i`ll just up the circulation in the grow room and keep the extraction going. I have a growspace of 35" x 20" x 55" high, the height is worrying as some strains will be massive, whats best to do ??

[hudson88]

The hps route is definately the better in terms of yeild per watt and probably potency, but theres plenty of people more than happy with the results they get using cfls. Have a look around and see how much a hps setup will cost, you'd only need a 250watt light for your space, but then you'd need a powerful fan to exhaust the heat and a cooltube too as you've not got a lot of height to play with so you can't afford to have your lights 18" away. I'd say go with the cfls for now, and when you've got a grow or two under your belt you can decide whether you wanna invest in the hps setup.