I've been reading this thread for a while, and can't determine if this is the way to go or not. I've never grown, but have a friend who's going to try to start up their own grow. I understand the electrical arguments, but am considering whether there are other reasons for the quality of growth with less energy. There is an article in the July/August 2006 of 'The Indoor Gardener' about these lights which some might find helpful making a decision.

Once someone attacked Tico for marketing, my friend went back to the HPS, which many people here seemed to swear by. After reading this article, I'm wondering if he made the right choice. I'd post a copy here, but I'm not sure about copyrights.

Some of the arguments in this article included reduced heat (which translated to reduced stress) and a better spectrum of light, closer to that of regular sunlight. They demonstrated two grows, one with HPS, and the other with the T5.