I am planning my first grow, doing extensive research, causing my eyes to salt at times. I'm still gathering information where I can and I need help understanding lighting needs a little better. I need to understand the best path to take before doing math with watts/lumens etc. I plan on doing 2-3 plants in a Secret Jardin tent 36" x 36" x 72". I keep reading pro's and con's to, what appear to be, the cheapest lighting options. Keeping in mind my ideal 2-3 plant plan, would I benefit from CFL's or an LED panel? The price of CFL's + LABOR + HEAT SUPPRESSION appear to almost equal the cost of a decent LED panel. Plus, it seems buds can grow fatter under LED. What would be the best option for my plan? Are LED's even good for reflective tents?
I've seen people do well with either lighting choice in similar spaces. Perhaps the key question is budget. Looking at LED lamps starting at about 180 watts (actual draw), should provide solid light coverage/penetration in a 3'x3'. Lamps of this variety tend to range from $400 - $550. You could also look to start with a less expensive LED (like a Blackstar 240, $280 aprox.) and use supplemental 23 watt CFLs if needed. I lean towards the LED side of the fence, but am not above using whatever is at hand to better the plant's lighting, until budget permits something better. Just my 2¢, e.
All I use is LEDs but I paid a fortune for the ones. As for CFLs well any light source other then CFLs will spank a CFL grow just about any day of the week. There fine to grow with though and many good grows do occur with them...there just are better alternatives. For LEDS Lumens matters not. Lumens are a indicator of visible light in regards to a human eye. LEDs are measured in PAR. PAR is many times better as a unit of measure. In terms of cost, most lights end up costing about the same if you discount T5s and CFLS. Watts still matter. Get a LED with a low wattage you will not be able to grow many plants and itll be shitty. Why I have a 800w 5watt LED light Panel.
IMO you should go with cfls if cost is an issue. I would go with 2 or 3, 100w (actual wattage, 300w equiv.) bulbs. They run around 25 bucks a piece at walmart or home depot. $75 for 300 watts of lighting, compared to 180 watts for $500 for a good light spectrum LED. This is just my opinion though. If you have the money to spend on an LED and don't want to worry too much about heat, like you said, go for it! But in my experience cfls run pretty cool, as long as you have decent air flow in your garden. As compared to HIDs (HPS, mH) bulbs that run hotter.
I've always liked the idea of using both. 100-240 watt led light and a couple 42 watt cfls. The cool thing bout the cfls is you can place them right over your buds so you get much bigget buds! Nlmy set up's going to be a 100w diamond series led (veg and flower) 4-6 additional 42 watters for 1-4 plants!
Plenty of LEDs for a reasonable price. If your even considering LED you most likely are going to be paying many times more for it then HID or CFLs.