T-5 vs. HPS

Hey guys, I need some advice before I make a large purchase at my local Hydro store regarding the use of T-5's vs. HPS.

I am working with a 5x5 flowering room and had originally been planning to purchase a single 1000w HPS. The owner of the Hydro store I visited today recommended going with two T-5 fixtures each having eight, four foot bulbs giving a total of 16, four foot T-5 bulbs.
The reason he gave me was that the T-5's would run much cooler, could be placed much closer to the plant, use up to 60% less energy and would save me a reasonable amount of start-up money. When I asked how they would perform compared to using a single 1000w HPS light he went on to explain that after all the advantages noted above, the T-5's would outperform the HPS by delivering the equivalent of 1760 watts of power to the plants. The T-5 setup he recommended is the same make/model as found here http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/hydrofarm-lamp-3k-t5-fluorescent-grow-light-p-2482.html

He excitedly went on and on about the benefits of the T-5's even going so far as to say that the primary reasons people still buy and use HPS systems is just because either they don't know about T-5's, or they are just stuck in the past and have never used anything but HPS.

He claimed that the 16 bulb T-5 setup would deliver the equivalent of 1760 watts of light to the plants.

From reading here and surfing around other sites I have gathered that the light penetration of the T-5's pales (no pun intended) in comparison to the light penetration of a HPS setup and that while T-5's are great for the vegatative stage, they simply don't produce thick, dense buds on the lower limbs due to their poor light penetration.

What do you guys think? I am about to go back and drop a fair chunk of change to get my grow started and would really like to make the best decision that would in turn provide me with the best results.

Personally, I'd go with a 1000W HPS. It's true that fluros operate at lower temps but they offer less lumens per watt(approx 100 vs 140) and can't penetrate a canopy as well as a HID light. Get a vented hood with a good extraction fan and you've basically fixed the heat issue. It's also true that you'll spend more money on this kind of setup but I haven't seen nearly as many grow journals with kick ass harvests using T5's as I have with HID.

I myself have a 1000 watt hps/mh ballast but I would rather have 2 600's they are more effecient>I have seen nice nugs with t5 but like you mentioned they just lack penetration power.Yes HID takes more equipment to cool=money but you sure get what you pay for in the end.

Hes full of shit.. I have a 6 lamp 4 ft T5 and I hate it.

damn i thought i had t-5s in my house,but just t-12s and t-8s,my t8 is 70w so im guessing t-5's are about 100?

i really think its all about metal halide and HPS,t lamps dont produce the correct spectrum

For veg they are more than great [t5,t12,t8]for flowering hid all the way

yea for veg they are awesome.. Keeps your plants really bushy.. But I have had terrible results flowering with them..

With the floros. you'll need some CFL's for side lighting. Mine is doing just fine and I'm 14 days into flowering.

cfl(spiral t5) grower, haven't used hps so not going to try to compare
my limited experience has convinced me of 1 thing, if you can get those t5's nice and close to the plant, you will get very good results
and i expect there are strain issues, some strains likely will do better with t5's than other strains

T5's maximally do(PUR/PAR) around 140% of HPS, watt for watt(fuck lumens!).

Which, in this case, is around 600w HPS -not 1760w. Guffaw!

You'd also need plant-specialty T5 bulbs(these are 'much harder' to find). Conventional(6500k/2700k) bulbs are going to under perform HPS watt for watt(flowering, not veg). Fluoros are still going to be better(efficiency-wise) for veg, but that's only because you need far less photons and throw(penetration) to grow plants when they're tiny/small/short. And they can be very very close, making very dense plants(more nodes for the space), which will yield much more come flower.

HPS is the best single artifical light source for flowering. MH can do about 95% of what HPS will(the bud quality will be better, but less total bud). T5 or T8's are probably the best for vegging smaller plants(under a few feet). The difference between T8 and T5 is really only a couple lumens per watt(maybe 25% max). And plant-specialty(Gro Lux or Plant/Aquarium, for instance) bulbs for T8/T12s are easy to find.

You should beware products claiming lumens for plant growing. Lumens are for humans. PL/AQ or Gro Lux bulbs only produce around 20 lumens per watt(more for wide spectrum). It's the light that's not heavily 'lumen weighted'(green light) that matters! Conventional T5's can produce around 92 lm/W. Much of it green light. Plants don't use green light.

i would veg with t5s and flowering with the hps
4 x 4 u can easily go with a 600 but 5 x 5 i would get an air cooled 1000 watt with digital ballast thats switchable

hps hands down, it is the best possible light for flowering

T8's bulbs and fixtures at wal mart are much cheaper than t5 and will do just fine.Those guys at the hydro stores are salesman and are trying to get shit sold.

T8 or T12 Fluorescent for veg and Hps for flowering simple as that.

im using t-12 daylights

i'm going to boost my 400 watt hps with a couple T-5's

get an 8 bulb T5 array for veg and clones - about $200, then get a 600 watt HPS for flowering - $250 - $300. Perpetual harvest with two grow areas. best way to go.