Hey I've recently started designing my grow room. I had a few questions, I live in Pacific Beach, San Diego, clones are easy to get your hands on for 5-10$ a piece. Starting with clones would cut my grow time about 3 to 4 weeks, is there any reason I shouldn't start with clones and order seeds? I'm trying to grow on a budget, though if need be I would spend the extra money. I bought 5 CFL workshop fixtures, that hold 80 watts of CFL a fixture. I'm thinking of going back and buying 5 or more of the fixtures, though I'm debating if spending the extra money on getting an HPS is worth it. A few reasons I want to stay away from the HPS is to avoid the heat problems that come with them (have to create an exhaust sucking heat from bulb area) and the big thing, the price. I guess if I have enough watts of CFL, can that make up for not having a HPS?
I'd start with clones, don't really know how it is in California - but they should be more refined phenotypes rather than starting with seeds and using selective cloning/picking a mother from the most genetically attractive one. You also are able to cut the grow period down, like you said. CFL's also produce heat, and if you want to stack enough CFL's to compete with the lux output of an HPS, it will probably be a comparable amount of heat. You can get a 150~cfm inline fan for very cheap, and in Cali you could probably find a ton of used blowers and ballasts.
I had a closet grow before, and the CFL's really didn't seem to heat up at all. In fact at one point on of the plants was completely touching a bulb with absolutely no burns on the plant from it. Though I do see your point, I'm sure I could hunt something cheap down on Craigslist. As far as a ballast, what exactly does that do?