Quote Originally Posted by pinkdolphin113
I wish I could tell you whether or not 250W would cover that space adequately, but I honestly dont know from the top of my head. I'm sure someone could tell you though.

As for heat; my 250W doesn't produce much heat at all. The plants have been less than 10 inches away from it at points and showed no signs of high-heat-stress. So, I firmly believe using a 250W light in a 2ft x 4ft space (w/ventilation) wouldn't be a problem.
I'm just looking to cover the space. My mothers can go off to the side - they don't need a ton of light. I really just want to light up 6 - 8 clones through a 1' veg with low heat and low power consumption. The costs roughly equivalent. I was looking at PL-55 fluoros but I'm now leaning towards using two 125w compact CFLs hung vertically. That way I can start with one bulb and then add the second towards the middle of veg. Fewer total lumens, less penetration but less heat and option to run 1 or 2 lights. Anyway, I won't clutter your log here. Thanks for the feedback.

Nice setup and interesting back story. I recommend this kind of clean break for anyone single and mobile. Push yourself to self reliance. Key to controlling the social factors is to minimize your grow to personal use (don't grow for friends) and tell no one. Too bad your room mate is on board b/c you can't control his/her mouth. NO ONE. It sucks that you can't share the hobby with friends but 99% of people can't keep their mouth shut about your business.