Whys is everyone using CFL's?

I was away from RIU for a while and now it seems as though most people on here are using cfls to grow. What ever happend to the good ole HPS? Can you cfl growers tell me why the attraction to cfl's? I dont get it. They are less efficient than the hps. They just dont make sense to me so please help make sense of it all.

They are cheaper. They don't get as hot so you don't need as much ventilation. You can use them in a smaller space.
BTW I use a 400 hps and cfls.

I would argue the heat issue. A watt of light puts pretty close to the same amount of heat no matter what type it is. And when you say it is cheaper it all depends how you look at it. Initial cost may be cheaper but you are losing money through your light bill due to the fact that cfls are more inefficient and have a much faster lumen depreciation over the life of the bulb. As far as the space issue I have seen hps's in pc cases.

I run an HID as I no longer have ventilation and noise issues but this was my thinking when I was using cfls: I can grow an oz a week in my tiny tiny closet with a $20 CFL set-up that doesn't require any ventilation and makes no noise. HPS just can't do that - more noise, more heat, more cost.

CFL also is a much cheaper equivalent to T5s for veg - equal in most every way but 1/10-1/4 the price.

bigv1976 said:

I would argue the heat issue. A watt of light puts pretty close to the same amount of heat no matter what type it is. And when you say it is cheaper it all depends how you look at it. Initial cost may be cheaper but you are losing money through your light bill due to the fact that cfls are more inefficient and have a much faster lumen depreciation over the life of the bulb. As far as the space issue I have seen hps's in pc cases.

Click to expand...

What about LEDs? I'm pretty sure my 184 watts of cfls didn't increase my cab temp more than a couple degrees. I just turned them off though so we'll see pretty soon.

LEDs are not light bulbs.

I was using CFLs for quite awhile...and then I felt that my plants were sub par when compared with other people's examples, so I kept buying more and more and more--Ah ha ha---and one upgrade was a MH/HPS 400w light...so I went from a 250w CFL not an equivalent but 250w, to a 400w MH/HPS...Huge difference...CFLs are good because they are cheap, easy to find, don't require anything unusual to use, no special plugs or fans, they don't use very much power at all, they stay cool, and can be place right near the plants without burning...--They are way less likely to set your house on fire for this reason...but to tell you the truth unless you spend as much on CFL bulbs as you will spend on the MH/HPS ballast and bulbs, and they just don't grow as dense...for real. Some people have had great results but for real my plants always looked kinds spindly and sad looking, and after switching to the MH they all look AWESOME!!!...

So, in summation, people like CFLs because they are easy to find and install, they cost less monthly to run and up front to buy, they stay cool.

but no matter what great plants people have had with them I never could...so I made the switch...

Even MH bulbs put out less heat than HPS..that is fact...I have a ballast and both bulbs...the HPS gets like nurn the hair off your arm hot, and the metal halide bulb gets hot, but not like wildfire hot...lol.

I use cfl's for side lighting, but have grow start to finish with them when i was just getting started

My MH bulbs run way hotter than their hps equivalent.

bigv1976 said:

LEDs are not light bulbs.

Click to expand...

Ok, but you didn't say anything about light bulbs. You said "a watt of light puts pretty close to the same amount of heat no matter what type is."
LEDs are definitely a type of light.
BTW they do make LED light bulbs.

A watt does not equal heat.... Place a 100w incandescent next to a 100w cfl and know that isn't true...

I live in an apartment, I don't need electricity consumption attention. My grow box is a CONSTANT 73f. & They're easy for me!

bblzs said:

I live in an apartment, I don't need electricity consumption attention. My grow box is a CONSTANT 73f. & They're easy for me!

Click to expand...

well 150 hps is gonna cost the same to run as 150w of cfl's.. which is just over what you need for one plant, so i dont really think electricity cost comes into it. a watts a watt

My MH runs hotter than my HPS too...

When I was first learning and on a low budget I started with cfls too.
Made this fixture for my first plant I ever grew. (6) 23w CFLS for a total of 138w=1 plant.



I now run two HPS though, much better results hands down!

My bill went up 15$, with 12 23w cfls.. so?

blimey said:

They are cheaper. They don't get as hot so you don't need as much ventilation. You can use them in a smaller space.

Click to expand...

+1 as well as the fact that I can use them around the house after the grow lol

In over 30 minutes my temps dropped a whopping 2 degrees with the cfls off...

bigv1976 said:

I was away from RIU for a while and now it seems as though most people on here are using cfls to grow. What ever happend to the good ole HPS? Can you cfl growers tell me why the attraction to cfl's? I dont get it. They are less efficient than the hps. They just dont make sense to me so please help make sense of it all.

Click to expand...

they sell them at home depot

I started off with CFL's, went to LED's, got a 400w HPS/MH, then got T5s, then got a 1,000w HPS, then got 4 more LED's, finally I got another 1,000w HPS. ...I'm covered.