CFL bulbs

[G-Dog]

HD, I know it is much Easier to just set up a big ol HID and forget about it, but not everyone can handle that much heat or commitment. Like I had said (somewhere) you can get a grow room up and going for less than $50 with CFLs. You can put it up and take it down fast. The only Real drawbacks are not as much power and having to fool around with bulb placement almost daily.

 

[Hogdady]

My biggest obstacle is the $1200 electricity bills......

 

[G-Dog]

My biggest obstacle is the $1200 electricity bills......

Well CFLs will solve a good part of that problem. You get about 4 times better efficiency from CFLs if done right. Is All of that $1200 is from lighting? You pay that much a month? Gotta love that part of the country. Everything is too expensive (but the bud). I want to live there eventually though. Oranges on trees, nice weather and a very cool vibe. I like it up North of the GG.

 

[XxUpInSmokExX]

hogdady, i would love to see your talents put into a cfl grow, it would probably convert all of the "non believers' into using cfls

i have used HIDs since day one, but my next grow will be cfl only, and if the results are pleasing, all my grows for now on will be cfl only as well

 

[Hogdady]

Well CFLs will solve a good part of that problem. You get about 4 times better efficiency from CFLs if done right. Is All of that $1200 is from lighting? You pay that much a month? Gotta love that part of the country. Everything is too expensive (but the bud). I want to live there eventually though. Oranges on trees, nice weather and a very cool vibe. I like it up North of the GG.

$1000 of it is the grow room. 4000w of HID and misc fans,ventilation, etc. The fact PG&E charges $.49 per kwh in the 5th tier is the biggest fukng reason! Now they gotta pay millions for the gas explosion in San Bruno....who ya think will bear the cost of that?

 

[Hogdady]

hogdady, i would love to see your talents put into a cfl grow, it would probably convert all of the "non believers' into using cfls

i have used HIDs since day one, but my next grow will be cfl only, and if the results are pleasing, all my grows for now on will be cfl only as well

I'm honestly considering it.....

 

[XxUpInSmokExX]

FYI, my electric company only charges .12/kw

 

[G-Dog]

Hogdaddy you would need a lot of CFLs to replace 4kw of HID. You would need probably 1kw of CFL.

There was a time when Cali was having some electrical problems and the power rates in Washington state were higher because we were selling our power to Cali. People in Washington State were going crazy and thinking they had a god given right to all the power that was produced here. They don't realize that power, just like oil, is a business and they can market their product on the open market for as much profit as they can squeeze.

 

[TorturedSoul]

$1000 of it is the grow room. 4000w of HID and misc fans,ventilation, etc. The fact PG&E charges $.49 per kwh in the 5th tier is the biggest fukng reason! Now they gotta pay millions for the gas explosion in San Bruno....who ya think will bear the cost of that?

Sh*t, bro. I think about your production numbers and wonder how you'd ever be happy with CFLs.

But I also think about the 49 cents per kWh. In a tiered system, work the system. Rent three houses side-by-side and offer an electrician a pound for a little extra-curricular night work. Or buy a small apartment building with separate meters for each apartment.

Or move to XxUpInSmokExX's town. The savings in electricity alone would finance frequent vacations to your current location, and from those rates I'm assuming that many other things would be cheaper as well.

 

[kfswantoon]

Yep I agree with dem guys above. More lower wattage cfl bulbs gives better coverage. Plus, a 4-pack of 27 watt, 1750 lumen soft white bulbs is less than 10 bucks. If you can scrounge around and find some sockets for cheap or free then you've got a pretty nice setup for not much money. $10 for a 42 watt bulb versus $7.99-$10.00 for a four pack of 27 watt bulbs...I'll take the smaller bulbs. Also what's the deal with T5 fixtures? Seems like I don't hear much about them. The efficiency is like 92 watt/lumen for the 4ft. bulbs. That kills cfls and rivals lower wattage hid bulbs. If you consider PAR then it might beat lower wattage H.I.D's. I really want to try one. Not cheap, though.

 

[kfswantoon]

Hey hogdady! Fluorescents will produce some mighty fine smoke. Sort of like an old mini cooper or something. Might not compare to a formula one car, but it will still produce some thrills. From what I understand light from soft white bulbs produces a little more usable light than an HPS. And for a real small grow they work good, my limited experience tells me that. Especially the 6500k for vegging. My single Northern Lights under them bushed up like crazy. I HAD to remove some of the leaves because it was choking itself out.

 

[Taxx]

I picked up a 200W (misspoke before about 250W) CFL 2700k with a reflector that emit 14,000 lumens for 110$CDN, tax in. It runs pretty hot, but not a problem with a fan blowing between it and the canopy. I use it as the top 'main' light over my 2' x 2.5' ScrOG, and have supplemental 65W, 43W, and 23W CFLs. While I understand that many small ones will work, I also believe that having the large one with the reflector at the top serves me well to provide coverage to the tops of the growing area. I have the 65W ones lighting the sides, and the 23W helping give the bottom area additional light.

110$CDN may sounds like a lot for a CFL solution, but when I do the math it's not so bad. 65W bulbs run ~20$CDN, and the reflectors are about 15$CDN. To get 200W using those bulbs, and a reflectors, I'm looking at 105$CDN for 195W. So there's no real cost savings there.

Unless you're in a really confined space, the potential problem I see with using many small wattage CFLs is that the light penetration stinks. I do like those DIY reflectors that I've seen people make, and I'm eagerly waiting for my next grow to try and create one. I won't be using 23W in there though for the light penetration issues I mentioned - likely use 65W 2700k, possibly mixed with some 45W 6500k.

BTW, when discussing lumen and CFLs don't forget how quickly the lumen deteriorate with distance.

I have a pile of CFLs now - it's just figuring out the best way to utilize them all. So far what I'm doing seems to work for me - but the proof is in the pudding (which is still being made )

 

[TorturedSoul]

I do like those DIY reflectors that I've seen people make, and I'm eagerly waiting for my next grow to try and create one.

Why wait? Just about anything that mounts a bulb horizontally will beat those trouble-light hats. The vast majority of the light from a bulb radiates outward from the "sides" instead of from the tip, so those things only direct a tiny portion of the bulb's light directly onto the plants. The rest either must be reflected off of a rather inefficient reflector or, if the bulb sticks out, the walls of the grow room. Even with NO reflector, a horizontal mount allows much of the light to shine directly onto the plants, and with any kind of decent reflector the advantage increases.

Basically, you're already paying for the FULL use of the light each month. Might as well see that the plants receive as much of it as possible.

 

[Taxx]

Why wait?
..snip..
Might as well see that the plants receive as much of [the light] as possible.

Friggen right man. I'll try to make something on Sunday while watching football. I'm going to try and make some long, light weight fixtures that'll hold two lights each, that I can easily move around and suspend or clamp onto things.
.------------
|.Light|Light.|
.------------

I can use something like that in all types of situations.

Should be fun - thanks for the motivation and reminders

 

[Deacnbleu]

Go for it Taxx, homemade is as good as homegrown! Best part of this whole experience for me is building and growing it, getting better each try.
And Go Falcons!

 

[Taxx]

I put together a contraption using PVC - it's just about done. It holds 6 45W CFLs and is about 2.5 feet(ish) long and a foot wide. Just need to finish the wiring and add the reflector (duct work) to it, and I'll see how she performs.

My poor paws couldn't take anymore stripping and twisting of the electrical wires, but that's 50% done anyway. Once i'm sure that the wiring works I'll finalize the construction by using PVC cement to hold all the pieces together.

2400*6 = 14.4k lumen output. Fun!

Go Dolphins! ;-)

 

[Deacnbleu]

Thanks for sharing Taxx, looking forward to some pictures, always looking for ideas to make this better.
Oh, and I picked the Phins over the Bears this week but...Go Falcons!

 

[Taxx]

I used about 5 ft of 1/2" PVC tubing (hind sight I would have used 3/4") and various T connectors, and a long 90 degree bends (hindsight would have added 1 inch between them). Live and learn, but she works, she's bright, and she weighs about 15lbs.

When the lights come on I'll be adding it to the mix.

 

[surf420]

just decided to go CFL for my first grow, picked up some 2700k's yesterday, but am having trouble finding 6500k....are they just not marked ?

where do you guys find them ?

 

[G-Dog]

I buy my bulbs at discount stores like Lowes and Wallys. They are sold in multi packs and are most usually 2700k. That is all you need in my opinion.