What's the difference between the cheap HPS bulbs vs the expensive HPS bulbs? Or metal halide bulbs for that matter. On amazon you can get an HPS bulb for $20 or $30. At the grow store the bulbs cost $130. I seriously can't afford these expensive bulbs right now and I'm only using the bulbs that came with a light ballast kit that I ordered online. I'm finding that it would probably be a good idea to have some extra bulbs on hand in case one burns out or won't fire up and I started looking for them onlline and in a store and found that the price was more then I had to spend. So why are some of these bulbs so high priced? And is it OK to use the cheap ones? Sent from my XT603 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Only diffrence to my knowledge is the amount of lumens in each bulb, more lumens more $, but obviously the more lumens means better bulb so if you really want the best light for your plants go with a bulb with more lumens. Sent from my C6506 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Also the reason why you pay more at a hydro shop is because they put a high markup on there products so they can make money.
Lol uh no. If you look at the charts you'll see expensive bulbs scale actually goes to 100,000 where as a cheap as bulb only goes to ~6,000. The most intense light from your cheap bulb is weaker than the least intense light of your expensive bulb. And side by side you can actually see the difference in light. Cheap bulbs are super orange/red color and expensive ones have a good amount of blue. If you go in and talk to your local hydro store they can explain everything better.