Have I just made a major discovery about light...

For what its worth I ran my 175watt metal halide through flower my last batch and everyone thought my light was way too low but in the end I came out with some Rock Hard Dense buds!! My friend suggesting to have the light higher grew sticks and stems in his grow because he had his way to high concidentally.

HID bulbs degrade over time pretty rapidly... most people switch them out every grow... sometime 2-3 (up to around 9 months).

MH also have a re-strike time. If it goes off and you turn it back on within 15 minutes it's like kicking it in the nuts(it's the worst thing you can do)... permanently damaging it.

I tripped my breaker once(or more) and a 1000w was on, when i went to flip the breaker, I forgot about the light and it blew the digital balast, light was fine. I replace bulbs twice a year. My light meter will also read different, couple things are effecting it; the spot at which its reading from and if the bulb is at max output. Of course they will age and dim over time but that shouldn't be noticed daily..

i think the best way to accomodate lights it to lift them till there are no shades in the underleaves...