New breed of CFL
- Thread starter Minion
- Start date
look ok to me i use 150 watt cfl that only use 42 watts
Minion said:
Should work just fine for vegging. You'll want the warm bulbs for flower. Around the 2700K spectrum.
If you want to find out the spectrum of the bulbs you have, check the manufacturer's website or call their customer service line.
Couple tips on future CFL purchases.......
After about 50-60 watts you start to lose efficiency and gain heat. Less is more in this respect and the 23 to 27 watt bulbs are the most efficient of the coiled up types.
Use 2700K spectrum or close to it to flower with. (Check manufacturer website for this information if it's not on the box)
If you're interested in more efficient CFLs in the future, check 1000bulbs.com as they have good pricing and a nice inventory and they specifically state the spectrum on the item listings. (Very handy)
I just purchased 4 55W PL-L lamps, a Fulham Workhorse 8 ballast (220w ballast that will run all four lamps at once. Sweet!) and the 4 base sockets the lamps plug into for under $110 shipped!
You'll have to phone order though. Their website doesn't list the sockets. They're part number SOCK-EG36070 and they'll happily accept a phone order.
They're extremely efficient CFLs as they're a simple flat loop about 21" long. The lamps look like this......
They come in a wide spectrum choice from 3000K to 5600K
The 55w ones I ordered are 21 inches long and less than 3" wide. I'll be able to pack all four lamps into a space 18 inches across.
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Minion said:
If you look at your bulbs you'll see that they actually only use 23-26 watts. You're just fine with those
The 60 and 100w labels you see are the wattage incandescent bulb they're designed to "replace". (Sheeple Marketing Tactic)
Minion
Member
Hydro-Soil said:If you look at your bulbs you'll see that they actually only use 23-26 watts. You're just fine with those
Yep, I actually don't think it's a marketing tactic. The knowledge of CFL's of the indoor grower is a quantum step ahead of 99% of the people just replacing burned out light bulbs.
EDIT: How long have these compact CFL's been out??!??
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M
mexilandrace
Tanuvan said:
in a pinch you can use 55watt fishtank bulbs, they should sell them at any bigger pet store. They cost a ton though, the spectrum on them is really impressive.
tejashidrow
Active member
Hey Hydro-soil...
I was kinda wondering about the HIGHER WATT to efficency ratio of cfl.
I was doing a "i just wonder what will happen" experiment in my fresh built micro v-scrog. I had two 65 watt cfls and then two 42 watt cfls (total 4 cfl) in a row.
The bud under the 2 65's just were nothing when compared to the bud under the 2 42's. My next run will be ALL four will be 42's. While my TOTAL watts will drop (from 214 to 168) i feel the effeincy will go up... THANKS for the info!!! pax
I was kinda wondering about the HIGHER WATT to efficency ratio of cfl.
I was doing a "i just wonder what will happen" experiment in my fresh built micro v-scrog. I had two 65 watt cfls and then two 42 watt cfls (total 4 cfl) in a row.
The bud under the 2 65's just were nothing when compared to the bud under the 2 42's. My next run will be ALL four will be 42's. While my TOTAL watts will drop (from 214 to 168) i feel the effeincy will go up... THANKS for the info!!! pax
XFieldofDreamsX
Member
I am actually using those right now, but as stated above "warm" is better for flower, but so I like them.
Tanuvan said:
Yes. They will fit.
The 55w are 21.7 inches long max and the sockets add less than an inch. (I think)
I'll have mine here in a couple weeks and will do a measurement. I went with the longest bulbs they have for 55w.
tejashidrow said:
Heyas
Yes, you'll get better results with the 42w but the 27's will give you an even better lumen per buck ratio. The main issue is that after 27 watts with the coiled tubes you're generating extra heat by lighting up the backs of the other coils not facing your plants.
With the PL-L lighting you don't have the heat issue until you go over the 55w mark. At that point they seem to generate more heat per watt than 55w and below.
They also make PL-L lights in lower wattages with smaller bulbs. The 36 watt ones are only about 8 1/2" long.
You could run 6 36 watt bulbs off of one Fulham workhorse 8 ballast. (220watts)
Sweeet, eh?
GreatWhite
New member
I think all of those will work
BlueberryTerry
Member
Those will do you just fine
HeftCinch said:
Hey Heft,
Check out my previous post in a little more detail for the ballasts on the long plug in CFLs.
I ordered the Fulham workhorse 8 ballast which will run up to 220watts of lighting
With the 55w PL-L's that's 4 21" lamps.
The ballast info states it comes with 36" leads so I'm assuming it's a maximum distance at this point (Until I get the final spec sheet) for remoting your lamps.
Hope that helps
