Kamel's CFL Guide

[SmknVTEC]

sharkman,

For 12 hydro plants you are going to need more than 400 watts. Unless you plan on growing 12, small, sea of green plants, figure you will need at least 1000 watts of HID Power.

[sharkman081490]

ya i changed my mind because i was than thinking of getting 600w but i didnt have the money so im just ganna grow 8 for now

[Hedonist23]

Hey Kamel, first I just want to say that this is an excellent thread that you started with some great information. I just started my first grow, a single plant, using CFL's. I like the CFL idea because I want to experiment a bit before I invest too much more and wiring up stuff to my closet sounds like more work than I care to do. However, I looked at the lights that I purchased and, although sold as daylight lights, they are only 5500K instead of 6500K. Is that going to be a problem, do you think? I have plenty of 2700K lights for the flowering stage, but I want to get there with as good of a vegging stage as possible.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks a ton.

Hed.

[SmknVTEC]

Hedonist23, I once started 3 little ones under 1 27 watt 5500K CFL [one for each plant]. It worked just fine albeit way to slow compared to the 400 watt HPS.

[KamelRedLight]

Yeah 5500k is ok, just not as good as 6500k. 5500 is not as blue, but it should work fine.

[koudakat]

First off, I appreciate tha info on CFLs, but I got a question about wattage. I've been on google all day trying find this out...does a 200 watt CFL use as much power as a 200 watt HID? Where I live people get caught because of their HID usage, and I don't want that...lol. thanks

[koudakat]

aight....forget it...i know it might be a stupid question but I just cant find it anywhere else.....

[SmknVTEC]

Originally Posted by koudakat

First off, I appreciate tha info on CFLs, but I got a question about wattage. I've been on google all day trying find this out...does a 200 watt CFL use as much power as a 200 watt HID? Where I live people get caught because of their HID usage, and I don't want that...lol. thanks

Usually a CFL package will give info such as” equivalent to 100 watts of incandescent light". That usually means, a 100 watt equivalent CFL will draw around 30 watts of power but shine as bright as a 100 watt incandescent bulb. Therefore, it depends on how the CFL wattage is being measured.

I can't imagine that 200 watts of anything would tip off the cops to what’s going on. Generally, the size of the residence is a key point they look at. If you are in an apt. and cooking 1000 watts of HID, then I would worry. But, for 200 watts and a couple of fans? I would not be concerned. Plus, you can always practice other energy saving techniques such as changing the household lights to all CFL, raising or lowering the thermometer, washing dishes by hand instead of w/dishwasher etc.

[KamelRedLight]

Yeah just watch what wattage you're looking at. If it's 200 actual watts used by the CFL (that's pretty big), the CFL uses 200w. With HID's however, I get the impression that they use more than they are rated, hence the huge amounts of heat. Overall yes, 200w CFL will use as much energy as a 200w HID. But anyway I'd never bother with a 200w CFL. If I wanted one big light, I'd get a HID.

[koudakat]

oh..ok, I'm new at indoor ya know, lol I just want a safe grow. Thanks for tha info, vtec, and kamel...peace

[koudakat]

oh, and about tha 200 watt, I was just using a big number as an example, because I saw on someone grow journal using that type...aight peace

[pottismgod]

hey i was in home depo today and they had 4cfls 100w day/white 4pack for 12bux.

you guys all talk about spending like 20 bux on a single light....how come these are so cheap wont they work?

is there anything wrong with those 4packs for 12 bux are they different in some way?

[SmknVTEC]

Sounds like those lights would work.
Go for them.

[KamelRedLight]

The big ones on 1000bulbs.com are like 20 bucks, but yeah in any light bulb section in any store, you're gonna have wattages in the 13-42w range. Those 100s are actually 26w or close to it, and there's nothing wrong with them. Wal Mart has 65w CFL floodlights for 11 bucks, but you get what you pay for. Remember, look at actual watts, not incandescent equivalent.

[pottismgod]

well there are tons that say like 26w on them, and then there are the ones with 100w. how is it that those would be less? i mean the label is in the same spot on both packages.

so how many of those 100w that you say are 26w would there be needed per plant? i want to grow two plants about 1.5 ft tall each.