Will these lights get me Busted?

I don't think you'd have anything to worry about. I would question why you'd use 400watt T5 over a 400watt hps though. I think most people would agree that smell will get you busted quicker than using up to 1k extra power.

edit: Just re-read.
TEK LIGHT T-5, 48" Light 8 x 54W lamps $419.95
Power Growers @ approx $100

I'm sure a lil bit of ebaying would give you more bang for your buck, could be wrong of course.

p.s. I wonder if the cost of the T5's is a coincidence

 

Please, take my advice on this. No matter what the reason you are getting the T5's for they're not worth it. You're using just as much (if not more) wattage (power/electricity) as you would if you used a 400 wat hps.

If you think it would be good because of the heat, you are very mistaken. T5s get hot as hell for a CFL. The ballast/relector for the t5 will heat up and put out just as much, if not more heat than a 400 wtt HPS. How do i know this? Well, I grew with 2 t5 fixtures (4 bulbs total) and decided it wasn't good enough for flowering. So, I broke down and bought a 400 wat HPS, and you know what happened? My grow area actually became cooler, and more easy to manage.


Plus, the 400 wat HPS I got cost me 150.00 shipped from HTGsupply. Don't get me wrong, you can pull some nugs from CFL's, but it's not as easy as it is to do with a HPS. I grew some wonderful ladies, and I know others have too, it's just that T5s aren't all that people think they are.

Just think about it this way simply. That fixture you are looking at is somwhere around 50k lumens of output (I don't know the exact without doing the math). A 400 wat HPS is 50-55k worth of lumens. The 8 x 54 wats of T5s is actually using more electricity than the 400 wat HPS will. The T5s will also put off just as much, if not more, heat than the HPS will (that is if you can keep the balast outside of your grow room, if not I'm going to say they're probably equal). Plus, like I said, the HPS cost me 150.00. Also, if you go that route, you have to think about replacement bulbs. For the HPS, you have one bulb to replace, for the t5 fixture, you have 8!



NOW, if I didn't talk you out of the t5, to answer you question it's simply no. Running 400 wats of t5s (or any light) is about the same as keeping your computer running 24/7. A single light is not going to get you busted by the electric company. What will get you busted by them is having about 20 - 1000 wat lights (maybe an exageration... ). But like was said, the light won't get you caught, the smell might... But that's a whole other predicament.

 

I disagree on the T5, I love mine for the veg room. Little heat and plenty of light for my moms, seedlings and clones. I wouldn't flower with it, although you could, but nothing beats HID lighting for flower.

I'm running an 8 bulb T5 in a 5x5 tent and have no heat issues, the moms are about 3 inches from the fixture and do not burn.

 

gonna chime in to add to 400w hps over 400w cfl. Can't really envision any way 400w of CFL light in a given area would be better in any way than 400w of hps light in that same area.

And I don't think 400w will get you noticed by anyone.

 

400 wats, if your going to be using that much you might as well use hps or something like that..... your already at that wattage usage but you'll get way more results with HPS.

cfl and t5 are typicaly used for people who dont want the heat. but if you have 400 wats you pretty much have just as much heat to move out...




to give you an idea of watt usage... i have reptiles that use 600 watts durring the day. i have a few 150 wat bulbs to keep them warm in there big enclosures and i've never had any one knock on my door. i also have about 4 fixture flood lights in the front of my house... that uses alot too...
i wouldnt worry about watts usage. i'd worry about heat build up though

 

Do Work, did you flower many small plants or a few big plants under your t5's? I don't think t5's will be very great for flowering big plants.

The key with t5's is efficiency because of how close you can get plants to the light source. With a HID light you need to keep distance from the plant tops, to avoid burns. With florescent lights, there is minimal infrared energy from the bulb, this is what is important. The overall heat created by the fixture is not as important considering the difference in amount of thermal radiation emitted from the two types of bulbs.

i kinda just read up on this so i might be mistaken about how brightness is calulated.

Brightness can be measured in footcandles, by the amount of candlepower in lumens, divided by the distance squared... lets compare a 6 bulb 324W T5HO fixture with a 400W HPS.

assuming a 400W HPS is 55,000 lumens, and a 324W T5 light is rated at 30,000 lumens. obviously you'd assume that the 400W is better... keep in mind that lumens is measured at 12 inches from any bulb.

HPS makes the surface brightness 55,000 footcandles at 12 inches, and the t5 will be 30,000 footcandles at 12 inches.

HPS at 8 inches from the surface. Brightness is 97,000 footcandles.

6 bulb T5 fixture, lets say we've got it positioned 6 inches from the surface. Brightness is 120,000 footcandles. bring this in another 3 inches, which is completely possible, and now you've got 480,000 footcandles of brightness, and if you consider an 8 bulb 432W setup at 3 inches will be 640,000 footcandles. Yeah, that's 6 times the brightness...

That is without even mentioning the differences in quality of the light spectrum, or the effect of shadows in a single light setup. HPS lights have very intense but unfortunately narrow frequency of light, and when you compare that to the sun which is made up of a very wide arrangement of colors, what do you think the weed wants? Probably something with wider available frequencies of light to make higher quality product.

 

Zebot, I'll put a 400hps up against your 400watt flouros @ 640,000 foot candles anytime

 

You won't ever meet a grower who is worth listening to that grows with flourescents for more then a month vegging. Truth be told.

 

ok consider this.... I can flower 16 clones in 6 inch pots in 4 feet of space with NO veg time, keeping the light an inch away. so I will be harvesting sooner and therefore more often. probably better quality too, even if less, because of the spectrum of received light by the plants.

If you did find a way to get the HPS close enough for max efficiency like a cool tube, it will bleach the color right out of the buds.

 

This is nonsense right here. I saw a medi-grower who grew two plants at a time in a 4x4 area with one 1000w HPS that was water cooled. He put the HPS about 12 inches away from the plant at ALL times.

The only problem he had was that his colas were getting too fat for stem to hold up! He would only grow two plants at a time, and would average a pound+ / harvest. The colas were as wide as your thighs...



I'm not saying you can't grow with a CFL. You can grow amazingly with CFLs. But, unless you want to do LST or SCroG you won't be as succesfull as you would with a HPS.

What I would suggest with that overpriced fixture would be to do a 4x4 SCroG. You will be able to keep those lights about 2-3 inches away from your buds, and you'll get about 50 - 6 inch buds about as fat as your wrist. This would be the most efficient way to use those t5s. Using it on a regular 12/12 plant, and just letting her grow as she see fits you'll end up with a fat cola, and a bunch of tiny little nugs, that aren't worth much.

 

If this logic was right everyone would use t5 lighting.If your new to growing let knowledgeable people smarten you up.Don't buy into what a company that is trying to sell you something says!Listen to people who are not trying to make money off you.These forums always has some newbie arguing about this or that because they have done a couple months of reading and now feel like their some kind of expert.

 

I agree with red and do work. I've got about five years into this my friend. This floros talk is probably being debated elsewhere on these forums as I am typing this. It always has the same result,

"I think floros will do the job well," at the beginning of the thread at the end of the thread they always say," my yield was okay but for next go around I think I'm gunna go with hps."

You get on here to learn stuff right?

There is no debate, just people with experience and people without it that take the word of someone who doesnt grow quality pot. Think of all the sorry pot you've smoked before, I know I've smoked my fair share. The growers of such had the same intentions as I do, but the results come with experience, and the right tools to get the job done.

Take my advice if you want it I'm just trying to save you some money along with these others that sound like they know what there talking about.

 

I use both lights, they both are great if you understand thier limits and capabilities... if you want to spend the time and space making big plants, and you have all the right equipment, there is no doubt that HPS is the way to go.

For doing very efficient SOG in a small space in the quickest amount of time, I'd personally prefer to use t5's. A steady crop every 7 weeks works for me, plus i've still got room for mothers and cloning. The clones i take from the mothers are basically just maintenance trims anyway.

Sure a 4x4 room will grow two monster plants with HPS, but how much does space and time does the entire grow setup take up if you've also got mothers and clones plus maybe a veg room?

Most people who use t5's and give up aren't using them right. they won't grow you the 2 monster plants with big buds in a 4x4. I think they are however one of the most efficient ways of growing.

 

I dont want to tell you how to setup your growroom. But if your working with limited space, forget about the mothers, you dont need em. Take clones from the plants you got before you put them into flowering as long as you know you can turn those clones into plants. Then you can afford to grow your plants out a little more with the space you got. Start with ideas like this when talking efficiency. Zebot, no offense but you are very new to this, I can tell you that T5 floros have been tried numerous ways with similiar results. They are good for veg, not flowering, You will end up with looser buds that arent the quality you thought you would have. I have had the same debate numerous times over LED lights which people swear will give them results, and then after there first grow they say, damn, i wasted how much money? Why would you trial and error it when you have exprienced growers telling you what to do? I would have killed for help when i was figuring this all out on my own. Now after i figured growing out all this shit is readily available all over the internet, and then there are people who still dont want the advice? Makes no sense to me. Like my man said before, we got nothing to profit off this bro.

 

woah theres a big debate here.

all in all with 400 wats of fluro you dont get as many lumas as 400 wats hps. but you have to keep the hps further away and the light disipates over the 12-18 inches you must keep it away from the plant...

it all depends on what your set up area can handle as far as heat goes. if you have the money to spend on 3000 and 6500 bulbs and they are close enough with efficient circulation and heat management then more power to you....

good luck with your grow.

 

Mick,

my indoor grow is 2 1000 watt hps on a trellis connected to a a 12 inch can fan and filter. For my veg I use five rows of five foot double bulb floros running 24/7. Also run central air all the time and my bill has never given me an issue. You are fine buddy. The only suggestion I have is use heat resistant shields to line your flowering room to not detect heat from helicopters if you live in a city, like I do. But like I said my bill has never Been an issue.

 

What kind of ventilation are you going to have?

 

Just to throw my 2 cents in, I've never had any problems getting anything from HTG Supply, so whatever you decide to go with that's where I'd get it if you are in the US. I use a 400MH for veg, and a 400 HPS for flower, the whole kit ran me about 170 with ballast, bulbs and timer. Since I have my grow box in my basement (which is always nice and cool), I've never had any heat problems at all with a fan blowing between the plants and the bulbs.