Hey maryjohn,
Not ragging on your set up, do what you like. Have done rubbermaid tubs before, so have a lil experience. Not saying it wont work either, but sometimes more light is not better. There is a rubbermaid thread around here, and the dude tried to put 8 in his once, and it yeilded less than 4 lights. Each set up is different, wish you luck. If it works good for you, that is all that matters! Just not the most effficent way to grow, not to mention that is alot more bulbs next to a fire hazard. 42 watt CFLs are 7-10 bucks a piece. So, you just spent about a hundred bucks on just the bulbs, plus you need sockets for each of them. 30 gal rubbermaid totes, prolly 10 bucks each, and a few cans of spray paint. Easily just spent 150 bucks.
You can get a 250 watt ballast kit, socket, and bulb for 75 bucks delivered to your house. The 250 would be easier to cool, yeild more, and would cost less to run. Craigslist has a free section, where you can find all kinds of free already put together dressers, cabinets,mini fridges and many other things you could make your grow cab for free. If u think your rubbermaid tubs are stealth looking, gimme what your smokin. Maybe if you didnt paint the outside, and there were not wires coming out the sides. Besides, I can see it is not light tight...with the lights on. That paint will, flake off...inside and out the more you move them around. You can use an emergency mylar blanket inside, it will help block light out.
Do what you like, dont be surprised if 12 is too many, and a waste. Shit, for a few more bucks you could have 2 250 watt hps set ups. Same watts are you are intending on using in CFL's. Or you could get 220 watts of pl-l lights for the same price or cheaper than 12 42 watt CFLs. If you are worried about noise, these would be much easier to cool than 12 CFLs and take up less space. Rubbermaids are great and have used them before, but you will get sick of them and realize they are a PITA compared to a cabinet that has a door that opens and closes. Obviously your gonna do what you want, so good luck and hope it works out for you.
Not ragging on your set up, do what you like. Have done rubbermaid tubs before, so have a lil experience. Not saying it wont work either, but sometimes more light is not better. There is a rubbermaid thread around here, and the dude tried to put 8 in his once, and it yeilded less than 4 lights. Each set up is different, wish you luck. If it works good for you, that is all that matters! Just not the most effficent way to grow, not to mention that is alot more bulbs next to a fire hazard. 42 watt CFLs are 7-10 bucks a piece. So, you just spent about a hundred bucks on just the bulbs, plus you need sockets for each of them. 30 gal rubbermaid totes, prolly 10 bucks each, and a few cans of spray paint. Easily just spent 150 bucks.
You can get a 250 watt ballast kit, socket, and bulb for 75 bucks delivered to your house. The 250 would be easier to cool, yeild more, and would cost less to run. Craigslist has a free section, where you can find all kinds of free already put together dressers, cabinets,mini fridges and many other things you could make your grow cab for free. If u think your rubbermaid tubs are stealth looking, gimme what your smokin. Maybe if you didnt paint the outside, and there were not wires coming out the sides. Besides, I can see it is not light tight...with the lights on. That paint will, flake off...inside and out the more you move them around. You can use an emergency mylar blanket inside, it will help block light out.
Do what you like, dont be surprised if 12 is too many, and a waste. Shit, for a few more bucks you could have 2 250 watt hps set ups. Same watts are you are intending on using in CFL's. Or you could get 220 watts of pl-l lights for the same price or cheaper than 12 42 watt CFLs. If you are worried about noise, these would be much easier to cool than 12 CFLs and take up less space. Rubbermaids are great and have used them before, but you will get sick of them and realize they are a PITA compared to a cabinet that has a door that opens and closes. Obviously your gonna do what you want, so good luck and hope it works out for you.
