CFL Light Tutorial

this is 1 of my 42w i like.

you guys say 2600L for a 42, well mine get 2800

66.666666666666666666666667L per watt ... :grinjoint:

420_047.jpg
 
Blitty...looks fine as far as bulb selection, I would also use a bit more electrical tape to hold those bulb socket adaptors in to the electrical strip sockets. Maybe you did already and that last pic was just for testing/informational purposes?

Roseman...must be that dang side effect of smoking known as "memory loss" ;) I'll go back and reread it...I know I read that first page once already, maybe more will stick this time.

Weedpipe said:
this is 1 of my 42w i like.

you guys say 2600L for a 42, well mine get 2800

66.666666666666666666666667L per watt ... :grinjoint:
Click to expand...

Nice :) That's a Feit bulb? Where did you get it? I think Lowe's or HD carry that brand but not that bulb...at least not the ones around my parts.
 
just to compare, menards has 2700K cfls are 2720L(40w), while also having 6500K cfls that are 4200L(65w). i would use 7 of the 2700Ks and 3 of the 6500ks in a 4x4 area with 6ft of height, and have 2 small fans, but no actual heat exhaust/venting setup and can keep the temps between 70F(low)-82F(high).

for a total of 475w & 31,640L

(i would start with the 6500Ks for veg, then in the week just before going 12/12 start turning on the 2700Ks but leave the 6500Ks on during 12/12 as well.)
 
Great post Roseman.

I picked up a flashlight w/ a built in parabolic reflector a few weeks back. The amount of forward light that thing throws out compared to a regular flashlight is amazing.

Where's a decent place to find the larger parabolics for CFL's?
 
Lil Neutrino said:
Thanks...I'll double-check next time I am actually there, I didn't see any multipacks of CFL's above 23 or 26W. That's roughly a 20% discount per bulb, not bad. I can't spring for that much right now but I'll keep it in mind, who knows where this road will lead.
Click to expand...

Neutrino,Home Depot had the 40-42 watters in two packs for around 10 bucks before Xmas. It takes some looking,but they're there in the light bulb aisle.

BTW,if you've got an electrician buddy have him go to an electrical supply house and let him buy 'em for you w/ the contractors discount. You can get the monster CFL's and all the accessories in those joints.
 
Man, you guy are taking me back to the grow times of the '70's when CFLs were the only light source available. It's difficult for me to grasp that a CFL set up will be as good or better than HID/HPS. I would like nothin more than to take down my 1000 watters and stop putting the power company's kids thru college...Great research/info all!:thankyou::peace: MF
 
They are more ideal for small grows with only a couple of plants that are more bushy than tall due to the poor penetrating ability of the CFL's. I don't know if I would go "backwards" from HID's to CFL's if I already had them setup and was not having temperature issues. Maybe add some for supplemental lighting of the lower foliage and drop down to some 600's? Probably a crazy thought but worth tossing out there.
 
Lil Neutrino said:
They are more ideal for small grows with only a couple of plants that are more bushy than tall due to the poor penetrating ability of the CFL's. I don't know if I would go "backwards" from HID's to CFL's if I already had them setup and was not having temperature issues. Maybe add some for supplemental lighting of the lower foliage and drop down to some 600's? Probably a crazy thought but worth tossing out there.
Click to expand...

I think the cfl's are perfect for vegging, low heat so the need for ventilation is reduced, though not eliminated entirely. But I feel for the bigger, more dense bud you need to use an HID, though cfl's do work just fine.

I don't realize any energy cost savings, I use a 400w hps for flowering and I use (8) 55w cfl's for vegging, actually more costly than the hps, though you still need to add the ventilation hassle and cost with the hps.
 
FryingPanFlyer said:
I think the cfl's are perfect for vegging, low heat so the need for ventilation is reduced, though not eliminated entirely. But I feel for the bigger, more dense bud you need to use an HID, though cfl's do work just fine.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've seen a few people going that route with the CFL's for veg and HID for flower. As for the buds I think by the time you buy enough CFL's to try and compete with a HID you'd have been better off with the HID for sure. Although, as you said and I've witnessed first-hand, CFL's do work for buds and can produce some very dense product...but I had 11-12 26W CFL's on a single plant that topped out at 13" lol. Hence why I think they would work better (and easier) on shorter, bushier indicas rather than taller, lankier sativa during flower due to the poor penetrating power...unless you just really like hanging lights all over the place high and low. Veg, as you mentioned, can go either way.

Weedpipe...I heard that but I think the electricity bill would give me a stroke!
 
Back
Top Bottom