Alright, so im starting my 2nd stealth grow. my first was about 2 years ago and i just sorta threw it together, not enough light, ventilation etc. so this time i want to do it right. i have been having a hard time finding the right lighting solution for my cabinate. Dimensions of the Cab: 18W X 23L X 24H I have come to the conclusion that i am going to use CFL because of the confined space, but i cant find a fixture at home-depot or online that i can simply mount and plug in. Im not an electrician and do not want to burn my house down so i do not want to try and put something custom together. is there anything you guys could suggest? I only plan on on growing 1-3 plants at a time, and they will be in soil. i am interested in doing a screen of green. while searching around on Ebay i came across these: Hydroponic Lamp 225 LED Grow light Panel Red + Blue Mix - eBay (item 390088998624 end time Sep-04-09 08:18:30 PDT) i have seen alot of success/talk about LED's but these look extremely underpowered when compared to the lights in these threads: http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/435401-led-grow-test-vs-hps.html http://forum.grasscity.com/general-indoor-growing/431359-lumigrow-es-330w-led-test.html im looking for something cheap and easy and those LED are appealing if they will be powerful enough. What do you guys think? any specific products you can suggest?
CFL lights will fit in any fixture intended for incandescants that's the real beauty of the little things. I'm sure you can find a light which takes a regular bulb to put in there
Alright, i figured it out. i got a little set up going on now. now i just need a bulb. i have been looking at these: 105 Watt Compact Fluorescent They r god damn expensive!!! can anyone suggest a better site or store to purchase these from? im a poor student!
Make sure you check how many lumens each light puts out because it's not necessarily the watts thAT HELP PLANTS GROW BUT THE LUMENS...
The workplace clamp lights are an excellent option for hooking your CFL's into, if you've not considered them yet. They're quite cheap ($5-7), can be found in any hardware store, and the metal sheath reflector thing can be easily removed to maximize the light coming off the coils of your CFLs (assuming you're hanging them sideways, as you should be doing). Also, they have a switch built in, so you don't have to continue to plug and unplug.
I've read that every type of light has a sort of maximum efficiency range, beyond which the ratio of heat to lumens increases (bad). For CFL's that's the 23w & 42w. Those 105's will be well out of the best efficiency range, as well as costing more than the equivalent wattage in 23w's or 42w bulbs. But that site you linked will be one of the cheaper places around. Also, you should be able to get sockets that plug directly into outlets. I've seen them in threads, so I know they exist, but I'm not sure where to get them. Some of those and an outlet strip or two and you're ready to go, if custom wiring worries you.