Great post Al B. I'm starting to like ya already.

Yea, I think another way of saying what onequickmove was saying is...

if you were to put the same replace your 400 watt HPS system (~55,000 lumens) with 400 true watts of CFL lights (~26,000 lumens), you would be drawing the same amount of power/electricity (400 watts), but you would be giving your plants less than half of the lumens than you had with your HPS. This means that the HPS is at least twice as efficient as the CFLs.

As was already stated, CFLs are mainly used when (a) you have a small startup capital and need to buy cheaper lighting fixtures...or (b) when you are trying to combat heat in a place where you would not be able to cool a large HID lamp. CFLs run cooler, but cannot compete with HPS in terms of penetration, quality and efficiency. CFLs penetrate a maximum of ~6 inches. A 400wHPS should penetrate ~18 inches. Big difference.


Just some info. Maybe a little clarification? Be cool.


The Fog :rastasmoke: