im thinkingg about buying a big CFL but it says MOGUL BASE ONLY well, does that mean i need a ballast ? or can i get a mogul socket and wire it to a long extension cord ?
All a Mogul base means is that it is a larger diameter than a typical Edison size. With a Mogul sized socket, one would typically need either a step up (in the case of using 120VAC, sometimes 240VAC) or step down (if one has access to higher voltage) transformer, in the circuitry of a ballast. So, questions for you is, what kind of light bulb will you be using, what is your supply voltage, what wattage does the bulb require, how many bulbs, and what voltage range is it approved use for?
Let me add, bigger IS NOT better with CFL. With CFL, is is quantity, degree kelvin, closeness to the plant, reflectivity, and placement. A single 250W CFL is not only inefficient, but will prove not to be conducive to growing plants.
This is what I want for a light. My wall socket is 120v. I was wondering if 2 of these bad boys could be used with a splitter, and how would you increase the wattage rating it can handle?
wait, these are normal sockets... okay, well still, how do you increase the wattage rating? For example my lamp says 40w max, should I just go to the hardware store and buy one that is rated for 250w and use a splitter to power 2x105w?
I think you are asking if you need to switch sockets, or the entire fixture because of the low wattage rating on the socket? You have down 'v' for voltage, got contused! The majority of sockets are rated for just over 100W, but there are much larger ratings. Just go to the hardware store and get ceramic sockets, usually will carry both Edison and Mogul sizes, in case you want to try something bigger! For what you may be spending to purchase two 105W CFL, socket, Y-adapter, and whatever your wiring is (I'm figuring total cost, $60), you could probably link up 4 regular sockets of the 63W CFL for less money, and have a wider surface area of bright lights.
Have to disagree slick...More watts means more lumens and yes in the proper kelvin spectrum for veg and flowering..... You can buy the mogul base with or, without the cord attached. Think they are called U39 and the same as for hid bulb but, without using a ballast. You can also buy an adapter for a standard light bulb socket to the larger mogul you need.
no. with CFLs more watts = shittier ratio of watts/lumens. ya u get more watts but if u usin that much electricity HPS is the way to go because it gives you more light per watt. on another note. Lumens is how the HUMAN EYE sees light. it has nothing to do with plants but how bright the light is to your eye.
More watts = more lumens, this is not true. For example, the 150W CFL produces 5900 lumens. 39 lumens per Watt. A 30W CFL produces 2050 lumens. 66.6 lumens per Watt. So, one could purchase 5 of the 30W CFL (150W, the equivalent of the one bulb), and it will produce 10,250 lumens (4350 more lumens than the one bulb), and cover a MUCH larger area for the plant! One will find that reflectivity of a CFL is rather useless, as the optimum output is just inches away from the bulb itself. Thus, the top portion of a cylindrical CFL often goes unused or as background. In other words, there is waste. Still on the road with MH/HPS as the most efficient way of growing indoors. Outside is optimum though
I have decided that I will be using 3 power strips, 9 splitters, and 18 23-26w bulbs. I will have 12 of the bulbs as 5000-7500k and the rest 2500-3000k for vegging, and then swap the ratio for flowering. That should suffice.
Has anybody ever heard of growing outdoor plants until right before they flower, then take cuttings from those plants and MH all the clones for a month under 16/8, hydroponically, then finally HPS and flower under 12/12? I feel as if this would be the ideal way to get the best yield per seed.
ok this thread needs actual electrical advice... yes you can take a mogul socket and wire it on the end of a 120v cord with no problem if you were going to use high wattage CFL's, the reason you can do this is because the transformer is made into the lamp itself. on the other side of the coin, you're wasting money buying a single large cfl over several smaller ones.. the higher wattage the cfl you start to lose your lumen/watt ratio. if you feel like you need a big CFL keep them under 50w's and you will still have a decent lumen/watt ratio... i have a large 105w 2700k cfl in my box, along with a 2 26w cfls. the smaller lamps simply put out more light, plus they are cheaper then the large ones, which not only saves you money on lamps, but with the money you'd be saving you can buy the daylight and warm white lamps, instead of dropping $100+ for a larger lamp of each light spectrum.
haigai im sort of glad you brought it back into the light. there is information on this thread now that wasnt there before.. if you ask me its progress.