Cost of CFL vs HPS

Could someone break down the cost schematics for me of CFL and HPS lights. My understanding is that 100 watts of CFL will veg more than a 1000 watt HPS but the HPS is better for flowering. Could someone tell me about the costs of buying the equipement, not the electricity bill.

How powerful of a light do you want? I just got a used 400 watt florolux hps for $110 with shipping included. Just look on ebay to get an idea.

It might depend on what size grow you are planning. For example cfl's are purhaps better suited for closet grows because of heat and safety etc in a confined space. I also think your info about a 100 w cfl = 1000 w hps could be inacurate. I would guess that a 100 w cfl = 300 to 400 w of incandesent light but to compare growing or PAR out put with an hps light then I don't know except that a cfl has almost perfect PAR output. So far I'm getting good results from a 105 w cfl for one very bushy plant, but I'm only into the second week of flowering so time will tell and the light only cost me $25 where as a 250 w hps here costs around $250 for the kit not including cooling duct and fans which are not needed for the 105 w cfl.

Shop around and you might find something that suits your budget and needs.

i think mh is cheaper cfl's are expensive

i got a galaxy 250 watt digital... dimmable ballast today and an hps bulb my babys under some 6500k 5000 k and 2700 k right now... im excited to try out the hps... im doing it in a grow cab so ventilations gotta be good and ive got that handled basically.. Ill probably be running the lamp at 175 watts or so... it goes 250 or 175 or 150 with the roll of a switch.. u should get one... kinda good deals aroun here cause theres so many medical patient but... check it out. even if u pay 250 for a setup its nice equipment..

Deezey said:

Could someone break down the cost schematics for me of CFL and HPS lights. My understanding is that 100 watts of CFL will veg more than a 1000 watt HPS but the HPS is better for flowering. Could someone tell me about the costs of buying the equipement, not the electricity bill.

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Your understanding is wrong. a 400w hps can be bought for $120. A 1000w hps will always outperform 100w of cfl, its not even close. a 1000w hps can cover 6 by 6 ft area, 100w of cfls....1 ft by 1 ft. Hid will always outperform cfls, cfls are only a good choice if youve got very little area, otherwise hps is the way to go. 10 of my 40w cfls put out 27,000 lumens, my 400w hps 55,000 lumens.

I just switched from a 125w cfl to a 250w hps can I use both I HAVE 8 VEGGIN HYDRO

sure, i use cfls and hps together all the time.

darkdestruction420 said:

Your understanding is wrong. a 400w hps can be bought for $120. A 1000w hps will always outperform 100w of cfl, its not even close. a 1000w hps can cover 6 by 6 ft area, 100w of cfls....1 ft by 1 ft. Hid will always outperform cfls, cfls are only a good choice if youve got very little area, otherwise hps is the way to go. 10 of my 40w cfls put out 27,000 lumens, my 400w hps 55,000 lumens.

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i know this is an old post but i kind of sounded like a dick there when i read it now, sorry. just in case anyone checks this thread out.