More lights or higher wattage?

Talkin some CFL's here
I already have a setup with 6x 42w 6500k bulbs.
They're doing just fine although they do heat the room up quite a bit.

When i do go ahead and buy bulbs in the 2700k spectrum I was wondering if buying splitters and running 12x 23w bulbs instead would reduce the overall temp of the room.

Current setup:
6x 42w (150w equiv) = 16800 lumens and 252 Watts (900 equiv).

Proposed setup:
12x 23w (100w equiv) = 19200 lumens and 276 Watts (1200 equiv).

Do you think that more bulbs at lower wattage would be a noticeable decrease in temperature?

I think it will work but the light it self won't travle as far as the 42 watt would (meaning the overall light in the grow space will end up being less but with more lumans).

Increase ventilation for better cooling, then go with 12 - 42watt cfls for more lumen output.

I use cfl's and dont notice a big difference in heat from the 42 to 27 watt bulbs. just like the constant gardener said add ventilation add a fan the 42 watt bulbs are a bit more money but they are worth it in the long run... I personally had very little heat problems with half ass ventilation and a little fan now i have a 400 watt mh in there with the 14 cfls about half 27 and the other half 42 watts and the temp is up but not crazy in the low 80's . anyways try fans not sure what kind of area you are talking about but if you can get a good airflow you should stay within a manageable temperature range

All that money on cfl's when you could have bought an HPS , oh well good luck .

he can still use the cfls as side lighting if or when he decides to go with HID lighting

Hey I have to agree with joe on this one. If you are going to spend that much why not go with a light that is proven to get you some real growth? I really don't see the advantage of cfl's.

Heat is the main concern here, hitting a little over 90 is not uncommon in this closet, so HPS would put it well into the fryer zone.

If you had an air cooled hood that was gasket sealed that would make a big difference. That is on my wish list. The gasket keeps any heat from leaking out that you can feel around the ones that have the glass just slide in and out.

mogie said:

Hey I have to agree with joe on this one. If you are going to spend that much why not go with a light that is proven to get you some real growth? I really don't see the advantage of cfl's.

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The advantage is you can spend $20 at a time and continue to upgrade your lighting as you need it. This is much like buying a prepaid cell phone I guess. I agree that in the end you'll end up spending more on CFLs and other HIDs are much better for the task, but cfls are a good way to go for first time growers who can't spend $100-$300 just to see if growing is right for them.

I dont disagree with you TheConstantGardner but the benefits of a HID are incomparable .

joekikass said:

I dont disagree with you TheConstantGardner but the benefits of a HID are incomparable .

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I imagine so. I plan on upgrading my flower room in a harvest or two and I'm sure I'll be singing the praises of HID lighting. In the meantime I'm doing really well with CFL and learning the other fine points of growing. However, my veg cabinet with a very impressive cfl setup would be hard to beat. I don't see many young plants (preflower) grown under MH or HPS that are as thick as mine are now. I'm getting close to 30,000 lumen spread over a relatively small area containing 10 plants.