Just wanted to share with you guys that I noticed home depot is now stocking metal halide and high pressure sodium HID bulbs. Prices are very reasonable, $39 for the HD and $21 for the HPS. I don't know if these are as good as the HID bulbs we are used to buying for three times as much, but for that price, I'm giving these guys a whirl. Philips 400 Watt ED28 Clear Metal Halide HID Light Bulb - 140848 at The Home Depot Philips 400-Watt Clear High-Pressure Sodium HID Light Bulb (E)* - 140987 at The Home Depot
I did buy one from HD, and it never worked. Got an Ultra Sun at my shop for about the same price. (was just glad the HD bulb was the prob., since my ballast was a hand-me-down from a friend, and had been put up for yrs) He goes through alot of lights with his 180 gal. saltwater tank, and couldn't remember if it was good or not.
I've seen these before at Home Depot, and was considering trying them out, but was never able to find a ballast there to put them in. I don't know why they sell the bulbs but not the ballasts
somuch2learn- did you try out the HPS or MH? Were you able to get the plants to grow at all? BigGreen1897- yea, that it a little weird. I think they sell all the components and you have to build the ballast yourself.
HD dont sell ballsts u gotta go to an elctrical supply store. its wierd they stock the 400w now bc they used to only stock 50-100w HPS,MH, n MV lights
Oh, it was a HPS. Brought it home, and it wouldn't light. The (untried by me) ballast was still in it's full 3 yr warrenty period, so I just took the bulb and ballast to my hydro shop (Lumatek dealer). He brought out another bulb, and it worked fine. The HD bulbs prob. work great, I just had to pick one out that didn't work at all............lol The weird part, when I brought the bulb/ballast home, it would not light, so I took it back the next day. Figured it was because my friend plugged in the power cord, before I had the lamp cord plugged in.....only thing I could think that might have hurt it.... the man said that should not matter, and as he just saw it light the day before, he gave me a brand new one that was dimmable. (had no reciept, and it didn't come from there.....my friend couldn't remember where he bought it, except it was somewhere online. win win lol
^^^ Gotcha. I don't see why they wouldn't work, unless you get a broken bulb lol. I'm very tempted to go pick up a 400 watt HPS bulb too see if it'll work on a one of my spare 400 watt switchable ballasts. If it works, I would have no reason to spend $60+ dollars on a bulb from a hydro shop.
For sure, man. If you decide to get into it I can definitely tell you the dos and don't. Both hobbies are extremely rewarding.
If you guys are looking for a supplier of cheap bulbs, this is the place I get mine and they work just fine. Can't beat the prices. HPS Grow Lights
I know, right? I was sceptical at first because of the "off brand" but I got a 600watt MH and HPS and both are doing a fine job. Got my bulbs 3 days after I placed my order.
$15 bucks? What? Hell yea that's a good deal. If you say you're tried them and got good results I'll order some. I'm not saying a light is a light, but I haven't seen any yield comparison tests showing that a $100 dollar light can obliterate a $20 dollar light. The day I see that, I'll stop shopping around for cheap lights. But I've had some good results with off-brand lights myself.
The way I look at it..... 90,000 lumens is 90,000 lumens. If the bulb is the same wattage, spectrum, lumens etc...... How could you go wrong? My 600watt MH gave me a nice veg cycle and my girls have been under the HPS for 4 weeks now.
Maybe you guys should measure the light intensity, instead of just looking at the manufacturer's claims. Every el-cheapo 600HPS lamp that I've measured read closer to a 400. This isn't to say that you have to spend a lot on quality. GE 600HPS' can be had for less than $30. Simon