Quote Originally Posted by mspofford032579


Sunnyvale420: Remember, when you buy one of these compact fluorescent bulbs from walmart or wherever, the wattage is not the actual wattage. For example the "100 watt" compact fluorescent bulbs I bought from walmart (made by GE) only take 26 watts apiece. The "100 watts" is an incandescent equivalent. Or, in other words, they only use 26 watts of electricity apiece, but because they use fluorescent technology, and not a fillament, they put out the same ammount of light as a 100 watt (traditional, fillament, incandescent, hot ass burn your fingers) light bulb. They usually print the actual wattage in smaller print somewhere else on the box. They want you to see the equivalent wattage so that when you buy one, you have a reference to a technology you are familiar with to guess how bright it will be. That said, you SHOULD (I'm not an electrician) be safe using these bulbs in that fixture, because the maximum wattage per socket is 60, and you would be only using 26watts per socket.

This is a terrible first post, but I'm glad you're not an electrician. I am...although it wouldn't take an electrician to read his post and see that he was planning on using TWO 42 watt cfls per fixture. They sell 42 watt cool bulbs at Lowe's; I believe that is what he is referring to. The tiny 13 watt is what they call "equivalent" (complete bs) to a 40 watt so i believe the OP was referencing the actual watts on his bulb. 2 x 42 = 84. That exceeds the rating for the socket by more than 35%. Would you put honda civic wheels on an F150? Don't put 84 watts in a 60 watt fixture. Those ratings are there for a reason, there is a real fire hazard when overdrawing for 18 hours at a time in a confined space.

Sorry to resurrect this thread but it has been a great resource and I want people attempting to build this at home to have a safe experience.

Also:

full spectrum bulb guy: you want the 6500k "cool white" or "daylight" style bulb. Cool/daylight/natural etc are just marketing terms. Any reasonable bulb should have the kelvin marked on the ballast (base of the bulb) or on the back of the box. It's better to know because some are in the 3500 range (you want lower) or 6000 range (you want higher) Also good resources are the GE, Sylvania, and Bright Effects (Lowe's house brand) websites. Bright Effects has gotten some pretty negative reviews and is only $2 cheaper. Sylvania is around 3000k for the warm and 6000k for the cool. GE is 2700k warm and 6500 cool. Something like 8 or 9 bucks at Wal - Mart. The full spectrum I believe is the terrarium/aquarium/plant bulb stuff....more $$$ than standard bulbs and not much better.

Rawtunes - Duct tape is your friend. If you're like me, it might be your ONLY friend. Forget glues, they don't fill wide holes and provide support. Make a tighter collar with cardboard to give the glue something more to adhere to if you must go that way. I'm not totally convinced that silicone caulking would destroy plastic tubs, either. In fact I think you'd be okay using white silicone general purpose stuff. I wouldn't use one meant for say, cement or wood. Also in Lowe's or Home Depot they have rolls of weatherstripping caulk that is like clay rope. Fills in fairly large gaps and easy to work with. Also, it's cheap. I use it in subwoofer enclosures among other things. Non-reactive (won't melt ur plasticz dood) but does stain a bit.

Foil tape guy - Foil tape is with the other tapes at Home Dizzle or Lowe's, don't get the stuff with writing on it, get the blank kind obviously. Use the widest size you can (less rows) they had 2" and 3" near me. I chose to use white spray paint.


White spray paint - works well, doesn't bunch up like foil. Blindingly bright. I don't believe there is much of a difference between the two in practical applications. The foil tends to crinkle and cause valleys. Not sure how detrimental this actually is, but layering foil tape sucks and spray paint is a cheap buzz. Okay, ignore that last part...but if you do use spray, get Krylon or Rustoleum plastic - specific paint. Otherwise you need to sand the plastic with some 100 grit or so first (just rough it up, don't chunkify it with 60 grit or it'll take 4 coats of paint to get it smooth) Avoid the crap plastic paint they sell at Lowe's; it's fairly chip resistant but goes on poorly and is extremely thin which causes drips if you don't go super slow. No matter what you use, you'd better baby your walls, plastic paints kinda suck. Roughing it up might help as was mentioned earlier, I am lazy and didn't do that (paint directions don't call for it either, just a wipe which I did)

Ducted fan guy -- Home Depot carries inline ducting fans. They are with the household ducting/heating supplies. They are used to get more hot/cold air to a distant room in the house. Available in 6, 8, 10, 12 + inches. I'd go for 8 probably, the 6 is only 160cfm or so. Like a desk fan (but more expensive at 30$) The suncourt brand seems to be the low end. Poor reliability ratings, but the Fantech (mercedes benz of the inline duct fan world) models start at $100; so the suncourt is not without it's charms for someone on a budget. FYI lots of online hydro shops sell in line duct fans as well, for about the same prices. I don't bother with all that but it's an option if you don't have a local home store. I buy local so if my cheap plastic crap happens to break I can bring my receipt and get a free one.


Hope this helps those of you still checking out this thread! It's an excellent resource! Just keep the temps down.....

Peace~~~:rastasmoke: