648 watts of pure cfl power

not true buddy, I do have 400 watts of cfl's they produce the same amount of heat.

gangjababy said:

not true buddy, I do have 400 watts of cfl's they produce the same amount of heat.

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I dunno bro, I have had a 400watt hps and that thing could melt plastic around the initial bulb. Maybe the room rises the same but that thing gets hot when anything is close. With CFL the heat around the bulb is almost non existent, I have had leaves that could sit on some CFLs and not even burn.
-Mister Nice GUY

MisterNiceGuy said:

I dunno bro, I have had a 400watt hps and that thing could melt plastic around the initial bulb. Maybe the room rises the same but that thing gets hot when anything is close. With CFL the heat around the bulb is almost non existent, I have had leaves that could sit on some CFLs and not even burn.
-Mister Nice GUY

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i totally agree bro. i dont know what kind of 400watt hps you guys are using but when i had a 400watt hps it cost me like 150 not to mention the cost for ventilation. that fucking thing was hot as motherfucker when you try to put it close to the plants, some of my cfls are actually touching leaves with no burning. and there is no fucking way anybody can put a fucking 400watt hps in a closet and keep temps down without having to spend a bunch of cash on ventialtion. one more thing, lets not leave out the fact that i only spent $114 TOTAL!

bigd921 said:

So you are using 648 watts producing so for every 23 watts you produce 1600 lumens, so you are putting out roughly 45,078 lumens. My 400watt HPS puts out 55,000 lumens. In order to match my lumen output then you need 143 more watts of cfl's. So you would need to use twice the amount of watts or 800 watts of cfl's to match my 400 watt HPS. Yeah cfl's might be cheaper initially but you end up paying more in electricity, so they really don't pay off in the longrun. I spent roughly twice as much on my light as you did with your cfl's but I pay half as much in electricity bills. Sorry to burst your bubble buddy but CFL's are really not worth the trouble!
A 600 watt HPS put's out 95,00 lumens it is more efficient then the 400 watt...

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everyone seems to forget the added time and exspense of proper ventilation for an hid, not to mention if your bulbs burns out or breaks you loose 100% of your light , and have to make a trip to a special store to replae it, in the cfl array you loose one point of light if a bulbls blows and I dont know about you but I have a walmart on nearly every corner most open 24/7 so replacing a bulb is a breeze, not to mention my electric company gives certificates for fee cfls....but this isnt the place for that debate sorry for interupting your journal.........[/QUOTE]

FYI the 23watters i have put out 1750 lumens, and the 42 watters put out 2600 lumens, which equals 45,300. it would only take a few more bulbs to equal that of an hid - BUT those couple bulbs can be added anywhere. they could be added for side lighting or i can just focus it on a main cola! you cant do that with hid's. there is no fucking way you can fit hid side lightng in a closet without some kind of ridiculous heating problem. also, my electricity is only 60 bucks a month!

hackel said:

Ahh! Those plants look really good! Did you have any slow starters or are you the type that culls the weak? How many mothers do you have to make all those clones?

PS - I know that this is a cfl forum and all, but when someone asks if you've ever thought about HID's or if you think they could be better, don't you think it would be better for the CFL cause to not get too aggressive in your responses? I mean I just felt bad for the guy that mentioned it...

Great work though! I hope I can get somewhere close to that level!

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i actually did. this strain that im working with called the church is relatively short but the buds are great. but i dont discriminate! as long as i have roots its goin into flower! i have 4 mothers- grandaddy, og kush, the church, and grapefruit kush.

and as for that guy, im sorry but that is so cliche for someone to come to someones thread in the cfl and forum and ask a question like that! im jus so fucking tired of it! whenever i look through a cfl journal with at least 5 pages there is some one asking that stupid ass question! we all know what HIDS do!

I think you are forgetting that you need to replace the the cfl's at least once a year too, not to mention you are paying twice as much in electricity as I am .

once a year? Do you know how long CFLs are supposed to last? I have had the ones I am using on and off for a long time, they were the ones I have been using in my house and have had them for more than a year. They can last over 5 years man. Even if it didn't last long you don't loose all of your light while growing and might have a dollar store one to replace it till you get a better bulb for it.
-Mister Nice GUY

of course they last but they lose lumens over time making them less effective. I'm talking about them being effective for growing not just lighting your house.

gangjababy said:

of course they last but they lose lumens over time making them less effective. I'm talking about them being effective for growing not just lighting your house.

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Solid-State Lighting: Life and Lumen Maintenance

Guess what? HIDs do as well. That's a government study.

SIMKAR Lighting Corporation | T5 Technology Sheet

There's a manufacturer study. Note that where your HID bulbs over time lose up to almost 50% of their lumen capacity when they hit their service period, T5 HOs, at least from this company, maintain 95% of their lumens through service life.

Warehouse Lighting: T5 High Bay Fixtures

This company has 90% lumen maintenance.

Let's check out CFLs: Here's a quote directly from Energy Star:

"The power factor (PF) of today's ENERGY STAR rated CFLs must be 0.50 or greater (average of ten samples). Power Factor is a measure of how effectively a device converts input current and voltage into useful electric power. Many CFLs have a 0.6 PF rating. Look for the HPF (High Power Factor) designation in CFL nomenclature such as the CF15/DQ/27K/HPF bulbs from Genesis Lamp. ENERGY STAR rated CFL lumen maintenance must be greater than 90.0% of initial (100-hour) lumen output @ 1,000 hours of rated life and greater than 80.0% of initial lumen output at 40% of rated life (e.g., @ 4,000 hours for a 10,000 hour CFL). The Color Rendering Index (CRI) must be greater than 80. This compares to lumen maintenance of a little over 90% at 40% of rated life and CRI in the mid 80's for fluorescent tube lamps."

This means that CFL bulbs are about held to a similar standard to T5 bulbs in their rating, maybe a little more slack given the lower lumen output and higher operating temperature efficiencies.

I understand HID's do as well, I have said that on the previous posts. I'm saying you will need to replace your entire setup at least once a year. Probably more then that, 1000 hours of 12/12 use is only 2 months and it loses 20% of it's lumens. This is actually a lot faster then I thought, this just goes to prove my point that CFL's in the longrun are a hell of alot less efficient then HID's and a lot more expensive to run then HID's. I buy a new bulb every 6 months for mine, it costs $20.

the best cfl set-up I seen so ,keep up the good work. what if your feed

Umm, not really. Having been a warehouse maintenance person, I can say we've used CFLs that are running 24/7 nonstop, they've lasted up to two or three years rather well before starting to flicker or dying out completely. The T5s hanging above the warehouse floor are almost the same way. It's been almost 7 years since I worked there, but I'd bet they've only had to replace the bulbs twice since I've left. And the warehouse was a computer repair depot - 24/7 operation. Proper cooling of ballasts and bulb electronics is the trick to long life, and even those tricks don't apply to HID bulbs because of their insane operating temperatures. Overall they kept their brightness nicely.

I'm not talking about the light lasting, they lose lumens over time as posted previously. It is gradual and you can't tell just by looking at them.

gangjababy said:

I'm not talking about the light lasting, they lose lumens over time as posted previously. It is gradual and you can't tell just by looking at them.

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Which is why the maintenance people there had access to everything from light meters to power draw meters for testing equipment, lights, etc.

gangjababy said:

I'm not talking about the light lasting, they lose lumens over time as posted previously. It is gradual and you can't tell just by looking at them.

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look man, if your even a tiny bit close to knowing what your talking about, the 26 watts cfls cost $.99 a piece. if for some dumb ass mysterious reaon that i come home and they are all shattered, its not a proble because let me remind you that they cost $.99 a piece....ITS ALL ABOUT SAVIN MONEY AND ENERGY BABY! GOD WOULD AGREE!

KaliKitsune said:

Umm, not really. Having been a warehouse maintenance person, I can say we've used CFLs that are running 24/7 nonstop, they've lasted up to two or three years rather well before starting to flicker or dying out completely. The T5s hanging above the warehouse floor are almost the same way. It's been almost 7 years since I worked there, but I'd bet they've only had to replace the bulbs twice since I've left. And the warehouse was a computer repair depot - 24/7 operation. Proper cooling of ballasts and bulb electronics is the trick to long life, and even those tricks don't apply to HID bulbs because of their insane operating temperatures. Overall they kept their brightness nicely.

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Well put bro!

check out my moms! i setup a micro drip irrigation for em! yea i said it! drip irrigation for plants in soil! on a small scale! im turning them into bonsais which is why there so short! granaddy, og kush, and the church. i had two more (grapefruit kush and purple kush) but they wen into flower today after producing clones for a few months

oh yea i forgot to ask you guys your opinion on this.....my walls are already flat white but i have the extra cash to get mylar, should i make the switch or should i stick with the flat white

I say stick with the flat white, mylar is about 5% more reflective, but it will also make your grow area warmer, which IMHO negates any increase in reflectivity.

Stick with flat white paint. I might be taking down my mylar soon enough. Maybe not, I do like the diffusion.