Newer to CFL's-- Where to get fixtures??

Hey guys, I want to know how yall made your fixtures. I definitely want some CFL going on in my next venture, but fixtures for normal household bulbs at hardware stores tend to run around $15 each, which kind of kills the affordability aspect of using CFL's.

I'm planning to throw in at least 5 into my next 1000W HPS ScrOG flowering scheme, but I need to be able to afford the fixtures if I want to do that, you know?

ALSO: I went to this ghetto Indian variety store on the main strip, and they had 40W spiral CFL's for two bucks!! Is the cheapness of the quality worth the cheapness of the product, or should I skip that for pricier faire?

Home Depot has a screw-in fixture that plugs into an extension cord for like $2. It says it's rated to 600 watts. They are not in the lighting section, they are in the electrical section near the extension cords.

Skred said:

Home Depot has a screw-in fixture that plugs into an extension cord for like $2. It says it's rated to 600 watts. They are not in the lighting section, they are in the electrical section near the extension cords.

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Well I appreciate that but it still brings me right around to the original price issue, since then I'd have to buy an extension cord and power strip for every couple CFL's.

Here's what ya do. you go to a yard sale. you buy a lamp that is break able like a ceramic lamp. you break the ceramic base off and just keep the cord and the light fixture. then use three Y split light outlet to add 4 cfl to one light cord. Then you go to the DIY section here in RIU and find a suitable DIY reflector. I use baking pans from the dollar store. but the question is...... why are you bothering with 5 cfl if you have a 1000W HPS light. seems like adding a drop of water to a lake. ya know what i mean.

blastyblast said:

Here's what ya do. you go to a yard sale. you buy a lamp that is break able like a ceramic lamp. you break the ceramic base off and just keep the cord and the light fixture. then use three Y split light outlet to add 4 cfl to one light cord. Then you go to the DIY section here in RIU and find a suitable DIY reflector. I use baking pans from the dollar store. but the question is...... why are you bothering with 5 cfl if you have a 1000W HPS light. seems like adding a drop of water to a lake. ya know what i mean.

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Well I hear you, but it has been my personal experience that adding some blue spectrum into my flowering stage can be highly beneficial, especially in a ScrOG where CFL's seem to perform very nicely. I'll leave it an open possibility that it might just have been psychological, but I feel quite certain that wherever I placed a 42W CFL I saw a marked difference in growth.

When buying cfls, the first thing to pay attention to is the lumen per watt. A good powerful buld will have a 68 to 70 lumens per watt. If the buld doesnt fall in this range, its best to pass on it regardless how much it sells for.

You prob. want to go with the high watt buld. One, they cover a greater area with lumens. Two, they use less sockets. For example, I replaced my four of my 26 watt bulbs for one 105 watt buld. This allows me to use three times less sockets and three times less wires to run in the grow room.

Since you use a 1000 watt hps, you prob want about 300 watts of blue specturm cfls (three to one ratio is what is recommended for mixed spectrum).

I use clamp sockets that I buy at the hardware store for about 10$ bucks a piece. They are not the cheapest, but they are very versatile.