CFL's are good for those on a serious budget, you just cant get the yield on a per watt basis compared to HID lighting. As for led's, Ive never tried them personally and Ive heard very mixed results, I dont see them replacing hid lighting any time soon, but to each his own, I still grow in soil when I know I could get faster, bigger results in hydro, but I like working with soil and having that buffer to work with, just more comfortable for me. If going with cfl's use as many as you can afford, warm/cool spectrums both and make sure to have signifigant side lighting to get as much veg growth within 3-4wks and flower, really no reason to try and grow big plants with extended veg times without hid lights, just my opinion, keep it short and sweet. Basic point is I dont know anyone who would rather grow with cfl's over hid lighting, but if theres budget concerns or space issues then you gotta do what you can. Personally if it was a budget issue I would have a cycle or two and invest in hid lighting, its well worth the intial investment for the subsequent results.