Led will hurt your pocket when first bought but your electric bill and yield will be happy. CFL is about the cheapest option you can go but fuck that. https://forum.grasscity.com/index.php?threads/1401087/
I'm using mh and hps bulbs. This is my first grow but I have heard good things about them as far as yields go. I know they can get really hot and also they are not the most energy efficient.
All I know is that the saddest plants I see here are usually under CFLs. That isn't to say they can't be done correctly, buy they may not be your best bet. It's only partially about the quantity of plants. You also have to consider: What kind and size of space? Box/tent? Open? Desired yield? Lectric bill. Do you want to have to upgrade again in 6 mos? These are important things to consider. Be kind. Perfect your craft. Give more than you take. We are family.
If you use CFL learn to Scrog. You should learn the any ways, you can get an 8 bulb CFL 4x2 for around 120$ Look up CFL Scrog, people can pull decent returns for them self. All depends on your needs and your budget for some one to answer this fully.
No prob. Check here Post those SCROG screens If you led or cfl, in smaller spots or were you have good amount of plant good idea, will start helping you learn advance tricks as well. I am sure you'll find every one from led, hps and CFL in there.
You're going to end up needing multiple CFLs for 4 plants, not to mention the cost of bulb sockets, cords, splitters, reflectors. LEDs aren't as expensive as they used to be, and I've read that using both LED and CFL together rivals mh/hps. I'm using both now and my plant seems revitalized after looking sickly for the longest time when it was just under CFLs.
CFLs are well suited for tiny set ups where the grower doesn't want much bud, or can't utilize much space, or most common, totally skint. Once you get to about 200 watts then CFLs aren't much good because they are so energy inefficient. HPS give off 2-3 times as much light per watt of electricity used. So if you were planning on using CFLs of over 200w, you would be far better off buying a 250w HPS instead. LEDs are comparable to HPS when it comes to efficiency. Small LED panels can be quite cheap, but once you get to around 400w+ they start to become costly causing HPS to be favoured by many