me and my friends had been growing using T5/T8's during high school (a friends brother grew and he got us started as freshmen, lol) and after 3 years we did this also because we never thought about it even though we knew that you needed these "boxes" to run the lights we had seen that before but we never thought of it - we also "liberated" a street lamp that was on the ground not put up yet thinking we could use that and it turned out we needed 440v power 30amp line which you cant even get in a residential house, it could be switched to work with 220/240 60amp but it wasnt worth spending the money and we would have to use the dryer plug so it would be strange 11 years latter and we still have the stuff in my friends moms basement, lol