Err cant think of a short title..

[Cal X]

so been trying to figure out what t5 to get been doing a bit of reading and ive reached the conclusion that i dont know, theres too many bulbs to choose from some with good lumens and some well im not sure been confusing myself a bit. the space will be 1.5 ft x 1 ft (that should be enough for 3 - 4 weeks max grow. i like the sun blaze, but think that's way more than is needed. dont want cheap but aint got loads of money and dont want to buy some ebay reject by accident. so if any of you could point me in the right direction i will be very grateful

The Sun Blaze t5 grow lamps work great, they are more expensive then a lot of other brands; don't know anything about those, there might be some reviews on the web! The high output t5s (6500k) would be the way to go, the brighter the better!

[jilted j]

Using an hps bulb would drain a lot more electricity then cfl's!

Wouldn't a 250 watt cfl use as much electricity as a 250 watt hps, afaik the only differance is lumens and heat.

i have a Ecopower 76942R Plug Through Energy Meter for checking how much electric my bulbs use , i have a 200 cfl ( veg light ) costs 1.3p per hour, 250 watt cfl ( flowering light) cost 2 p per hour, my 600 costs 7.9 p per hour to run , huge difference in price i usually use my 600 but at the moment i have 200 watt ( veg light) over 3 autos & at when they reach day 21 i switch the light over to 250cfl ( flowering bulb )worked out total cost of grow with cfl is about £30 compared to about £200 if i use my 600 hps, i also bought a lumens meter which is great for finding the best spots for your plants, i went a bit ott as i was suprised how much electric some bulbs use, peace JJ

[Dave J]

From reading I've been doing a 160watt cfl would be aprox 650 watt light?. So if working in a smaller space (still not got about to sorting ours out) then cfl surely is a better option in terms of better heat control?. It's suggested (and I may very well be wrong) a 160 watt purple spectrum cfl is more than enough for 1 plant and 1 300 watt cfl or 2 160 watt purple cfl will do 2\3 plants?.

[Boner]

From reading I've been doing a 160watt cfl would be aprox 650 watt light?.

No it would be 160 watt of light.

[Cisco]

And where do you get 160w CFLs ? The ones for growing are 125 , 200 , 250 (if your in uk) we can not get true wattage 300s yet the ones you see on eBay etc are from china (get one and compare to reputable uk ones) will be smaller with less U

[Dave J]

And where do you get 160w CFLs ? The ones for growing are 125 , 200 , 250 (if your in uk) we can not get true wattage 300s yet the ones you see on eBay etc are from china (get one and compare to reputable uk ones) will be smaller with less U

The 160 watts are seemingly only available off ebay. Dont really know why when the same seller also runs there business outside of ebay (UK based) where the only cfl they dont sell is the 160 watt cfl's. Weather or not they are the china imports I guess we dont know. But I'd guess that is the case with all sellers of lights?.

I gather the cfl ratings cause quite a bit of debate on some forums to if they really are as good watt for watt than the regular lights. I mean, is 300 watt of cfl as good as 300 watt of regular light?. Does the same principle of a standard 12 watt cfl (non grow of cause) giving off 50-60 watt of light (4-5 times energy efficency) not apply to grow light cfls?.

[Boner]

They're differant, it's all about lumens and not watts.