id prefer hps over cfls.
though ive never tried over 55w cfls. dont know how they compare, just know that around these parts, you might as well get a 600w hps, the prices of 150w+ cfls are ridiculous, the 250w comes close to the price of the 600w hps ballast.
i did try 400w of 23w cfls lol. and 196w of t5´s.
150w hps kicks the ass of 196w of t5. though you could get the same yield from both, with the t5´s its fiddle all day, every day with your buds and its only the same yield cause the t5´s (4foot) cover more space (3 times, so that tells you alot about budsize difference)
the 150w hps (2 of them) were easier to cool than the 196w of t5´s , though not alot, but its much easier to remoteballast the hps, so its easier to cool actually.
plus you need to keep the fluo much closer, so you actually need more fanpower to cool the plants..funny really, considering most people´s fears about hps.
...so
hps are much better priced and easier to cool, much better spectrum for flowering, much more power to boot.
less fiddling with your plants (dont need to adjust the lights or plants for days, instead of Every day)
on the other hand, fluo´s will give you healthier plants and bit more potency. (probably healthier cause they arent pushed so much)
so they make a nice sidelight.
some people find cfls cooler, that Is true, to some extent.
some cfls are cooler, they are usually more expensive and better made.
i havent tried those, did find a brand or 2 that were cooler right from the start, but
as cfls age (for me anyway) they grow hotter.
some bulbs were too hot to touch (Even the ballast) after 6 months of use.
meaning that i needed either to buy much more expensive bulbs (up to twice as costly)
which i dunno how often ive wouldave needed to replace, probably though not greatly less than with the cheaper bulbs, but changing every 6 months and with bulbs more expensive than hps bulbs?
cfls dont work for me, except as a veglight and sidelight.
there is too, how much you need? id need a shitload of cfls to replace my 600w hps. but im a daily toker, 1-3g a day. if i only smoked on weekends , i might get away with a 150w hps or a 250w cfl.