Considering CFLs ? Pro and Con

For the newbies reading this, I'm a newbie too. There are plenty of more experienced and more knowledgeable growers here at rollitup.org than I am.

Last year I did two Hydro Grows, my first and only two grows until this year. I had two lights, two 85 Watt Spiral CFLs in 2 ten inch reflectors, one red low Kelvin spectrum, and one blue spectrum high Kelvin bulb. Both Grows turned out identical. I started with seed given to me from an indoor SOIL grower friend who had allowed some Northern Lights and some White Widow to mix. After tossing three males, I had three female plants in one 6 cup tank, using a DWC and Bubbleponics System. Both times I wanted to do a FAST GROW, a STEALTH GROW and a Sea of Green Grow. I did not know anything about LST, Stressing, STRETCHING, Pruning, Trimming, Cloning etc. Both times I VEGGed for two weeks and FLOWERed for 8 weeks. Both times I got three "tops" but they were not big and not what I call a cola. Both times I got 2 and half ounces of dried buds. I got 3 buds, 3 or 4 inches long, and lots of two inch buds and dozens of popcorn buds the size of popcorn. ALL the buds were fluffy, and very sweet and tasty. I enjoyed my GROW, I was a very proud grower. Bottom line I got two and half ounces of fluff buds in ten weeks and I was proud and happy.

THEN I CAME TO ROLLITUP.ORG and I read and I studied and I met fdd2blk here.

The most influential post that I read here came from fdd2blk. I owe him a lot. He knows a lot about growing pot and he taught me a lot. He posted back around Christmas that it is not natural to start 12/12 FLOWERING at two weeks on little baby plants. He said it is just not natural, it is like a child getting pregnant and having a baby. He said that if you can, and IF you have the time and space, you ought to VEG as long as you can, at least 2 months or what is close to natural. Here in my part of the country, outdoor growers plant in April and VEGG all summer long. So I tried the same.

Jan 14, I had 6 sprouts, and I started FLOWERing 12/12 on March 20th. My plants were all about 18 to 20 inches tall. I wanted to grow BIG plants so I moved two of them to a 2nd tank to make space and I got 6 additional 85 watt CFL bulbs, and 6 42 watt CFL bulbs, all low kelvin for FLOWERing and all in ten inch reflectors.
I deliberately STRETCHED one plant and concentrated on her. She shared a tank with a 2nd plant. I gave her 5 85 watt bulbs and 6 42 watt bulbs. She got 4 and half feet tall. She had two nice colas, I mean coke can size but longer. I had two bulbs on each cola, 2 inches away. Those two buds are indescribable from the other buds. They are SO VERY DIFFERENT ! NO COMPARISON! They grew white fingers of buds, they are firmer, hardier, stronger, tighter, more compressed, hashier, sweeter, tastier, more sticky and the potency is as strong as I have had in 38 years of smoking. They excel all my other grow's potency tremendously. fROM THAT ONE PLANT, I got the two big colas, a dozen nice BIG buds, and a hundred small fluffy buds. The one 4 foot tall plant gave me 193 grams total of dried buds. The 2nd tallest plant that shared the eleven bulbs gave me 169 grams of dried buds. The one alone plant, although the same age and same height when I started 12/12, only had 3 85 watt bulbs and gave me only 64 grams (slightly over two ounces) of dried buds.

Let's compare. ELEVEN CFL Bulbs = 13 ounces
Three CFL Bulbs = 2 ounces

Duh? Not much comparison.

Let me also add more facts to consider.
I live in a large 1900 sq ft house with central heat and central air. We have lots of pets, fish and birds and we have a large power bill all the time, like $150 a month.
Whether I am growing or not, my power bill stays $145 to $ 155 a month. When I added the additional bulbs, my power bill did not go up.
I did not do anything about VENTING, or COOLING. I did keep a fan on them at all times. This last GROW was started with the Central Heat on, and finished with the Central Air Conditioning on. All those bulbs did not add to the room's heat that I could notice. I paid $29 each for the 85 watt bulbs and $9.95 for the 42 watt bulbs. I am ordering 3 new 105 Watt CFLS now that just became available for my next grow.
HIDs are better, but they are much HOTTER, cost more and not easy to move around.
CFLs are PERFECT for a small SOG, for STEALTH, for low budgets, low heat and small personal grows, in my humble opinion.

ALSO,
This old world is made up of many kinds, many types, different personalities, religions, races, colors, etc. We drive Cadillacs, Kias, Toyotas, Nissans etc and although we are in different cars, we all ride.
And this POT GROWING World is made up of different types too. Soil and Hydro Growers, Indoor Growers, Outdoor Growers, Organic and Natural, Chemical and High-TECH, Primative and Ghetto, Small Personal Use Growers and Commercial BIG For Money Growers. We are all different ! We do it different too.
I feel sorry for the grower trying to grow with 2 23 watt CFLs. He might get an ounce of Fluffy buds, but it is doubtful. BUT, He is Growing, he is part of rollitup, he is learning and he is having fun too. God Bless him.

We'll continue to debate and discuss CFL vs HID, SOIL vs HYDRO, Catholic vs Protestant, Jew vs Muslim, etc........ and the world will grow on!

CFLs should be 1.5-3in away, not 11.