Hey all.. So I succsessfully set up my shelf, and I'm now thinking about improving it with a reflector. The shelf itself is already a tanish off white thats a kindof a glossy metal. I'm wondering if this would be considered very reflective and also, if it isn't, what alternative material could I use? I would prefer an easily workable material as in something that can easily be cut with scissors. I am worried though about the heat from my cfls and how they will affect the material though. Don't wanna burn the house down lol.

Drop the CFL down in between the plants. You don't need a reflector or a lot of watts.

Alright.. Is this pretty much how everyone feels? It makes sense to me that there isn't as much wasted lumen output from the tops of cfls as there is an HID thus making a reflector halfway unnessecary although it couldn't hurt really. Well if it reflects heat I suppose.. idk any other views would be helpful, thanks for the quick reply though

You could always make some quickie pop can reflectors

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View my current Bubblelicious CFL SOG. Daily Pictures. Comments welcome

Dial into your plant's needs. Don't work to keep your plant alive, make it work to stay alive.

Oh thanks.. that sounds like a decent idea.. I'm a little bit skeptical though. I know tin foil reflects heat as well as light, wouldn't a tin can be about the same?

it would reflect heat for sure........but the amount would be pretty small so if you have a fan or two on 'em, it should be fine.

You're probably better off painting the inside of your grow cab flat white.

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Yeah....I lie. A LOT. Especially about growing weed. I'm not into that. I just grow tomatoes.

Is it safe to hang CFL horizontally and use foil tape and cover the top half of the CFL bulb that is emiting light to the top of your cabinet? The foil tape should reflect the light back down to your grow area.

you could cut the foil tape into thin strips, and tape the thin strips to the top half of your CFL bulb.

All aluminum surfaces reflect heat better than PAR(commercial 'German aluminum' hoods, reflective Mylar, aluminum foil, Foylon, etc.) And if it's better at one type of reflection it's better at both.

Why do people still call it tin foil? You've probably never bought or used tin foil in your entire life.

Tin's bad ass. Did you know most sheets of glass are made from floating molten glass on a molten river of tin(Pilkington process)?

Tin is also a great reflector, but aluminum(all highly pure & smooth forms, like most foils, 92-99% pure Al) is excellent.

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Why people believe strange things: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T_jw...eature=channel

So would using foil tape in thin strips and taping it to the top of a horizontally hanging CFL bulb work? Is it safe?