Need Help Picking Lights

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~dopeman~

Member
I'm debating between a T5 2 ft - 4 lamp, 1 125watt CFL, or the AG light upgrade with 3 bulbs I have to stay with fluorescent due to temperature but if some one could let me know witch one would be better that would be great. and I know T5 put out 92.6 lumens per watt and cfl's can range 50 to 100 lumens per watt and the AG upgrade probably puts out 3000 to 4000 lumens total but there all about the same price I cant decide witch one would be more practical bc u also have to replace bulbs and 1 bulb is easier and cheaper to find and replace but 1 bulb is also not going to have as much surface area for light. Its a small closet size grow and I'm using aerogarden classic right now. attached a pic of what I have with just AG classic two 26 watt lighting a little over 2000 lumes
 
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PoorDad

Active Member
T5 24" bulbs are 24 watts. I use those on fish tanks. So, a 4 bulb unit is 96 watts.

Given the choice between CFL or T5 --- the T5 is going to deliver more lumens per watt than a CFL. It's been studied and proven again and again in the salt water aquarium hobby. T5 is just better at putting out lumens when compared to a CFL - watt for watt. If you can cool the bulbs on a T5 you can increase efficiency even more. That's why a lot of aquarium setups have fans blowing directly on the bulbs.

A single bulb 125w CFL is probably about the same lumens as a T5 96watt fixture with 4 bulbs. I'm just guessing, so don't beat me up if I'm off by a few percentage points.
 
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