They do to get hot ....If they touch the leaves they will burn...I had a plant that came into contact with the light for less than 30 seconds and the leaf it touched wilted and turned brown...But I agree they need to be close, about 3 inches awayThe closer the better with CFL's, they don't get hot so don't be worried about burnin the babies!
8 is so small my lil girls jumped to 34 inches today on day 9 of flowering. Your light looks good for now but will have to start moving it up within the next few weeks, the more light the better. Good luckAlso if u built a bigger room would I be able to grow these under these kind of lights when they get bigger and what wattage would I need and how many lights roughly ? Sorry for all the questions , I'm only wanting to grow these 8 inches tall and than I will be flipping them over