I use 10 of the 23 watt CFLs in a home made fixture. It seems to work really well and when the plants get big enough I turn on the 10 dual tube 4ft flourescent fixtures on the sides.
Mississippi Steve Reviewed by Mississippi Steve on . CFL wattage I bought some 40 watt (150 watt equiv.) CFLs the other day thinking they would be better then the 23 watt (100watt equiv.). I decided to look into it more and found out they only have 2000lumens when I could use two 23 watt bulbs to get 3200lumens. I'm guessing I should probably return my four 40 watt CFLs for eight 23 watt CFLs. That way I could put 4 bulbs on one socket instead of just two and still be under the 100w rating while getting way more lumens. Rating: 5