the latest bump in cfl performance

i've been using the GE 26w soft white cfls for flowering, cheap and good results
they were the highest in lumen/watt when i did my cfl research 2 years back
1750 lumens from 26w, about 67 lumens per watt
but science marches on, and now i do see a number of brands advertising 1700 lumens from 23w
that's about 74 lumens per watt, curious if any have noticed grow improvement

That is a great question. Not sure I have the answer. My 2700K I am running are doing 62&69 lumens per watt and 5000K are at 64 LPW and the 6500K are also at 69 LPW.

tnelsonfla said:

That is a great question. Not sure I have the answer. My 2700K I am running are doing 62&69 lumens per watt and 5000K are at 64 LPW and the 6500K are also at 69 LPW.

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thanks for starting the conversation, good to have all the data we can get
with lumens, many will mention the PAR(photoactive region - or some such) is the critical number
but straight lumens is useful, and more readily available

This chart is all I care about PAR-
http://futuregarden.com/lighting/PAR_chart.jpg

borbor said:

This chart is all I care about PAR-
http://futuregarden.com/lighting/PAR_chart.jpg

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if every cfl came with a par chart, it would be great
different manufacturers use different phosphor mixes, and this gives a different spectral mix
i suspect that the CRI number is not a complete characterization for fluorescent technology
fluoro's will have spikes in certain wavelengths, though i would guess the CRI is accurate for the human eye