300 WATT CLF's!!! Yay or Nay?

Hey guys! Came across these 300Watt CFL lights today and wondered if anyone has used them yet and/or how there results were! Unfortunately theres nothing online, no reviews or videos so i sort of hit a brick wall with wondering how well these would do in a tent space providing they were on a pendant light hanger/reflector

And whats the overall hype with these little guys (CFL) would buying it be an investment?

Light sources:
MARS HYDRO Reflector 144x5watt (700watt)
(Possible 300W CLF)

Ive used 250's in the past and grow some alright bud, they're great for small closets and cabinet grows . the 250's I used dont have that good of light penetration. So If you decide on buying them I suggest doin a scrog grow. Look and check to see if they at true watts and not the equivalent. Try buying true watt bulbs

Oh yeah , yay!!! if your on a budget, and nay! If your not,

farmerfischer said:

Oh yeah , yay!!! if your on a budget, and nay! If your not,

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Not so much on a budget but wanted to seek all options, i've put up a 600W HPS bulb with the 700w LED so they should do fine but my concern is possible heat issues so if CFL could eliminate the heat issues while still bumping it up by 2 300 Watt CFL's (Possibly 600w altogether) then i'd be happy doing it that method... Also this week ive started to scrog to fill out the space.

shogon92 said:

Not so much on a budget but wanted to seek all options, i've put up a 600W HPS bulb with the 700w LED so they should do fine but my concern is possible heat issues so if CFL could eliminate the heat issues while still bumping it up by 2 300 Watt CFL's (Possibly 600w altogether) then i'd be happy doing it that method... Also this week ive started to scrog to fill out the space.

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Your better off buying venting your room to keep it cool then buying cfl's, you'll have a far better yeild, two 300 watt cfl's if they are true watts not the equivalent to 300 will give you a good yeild but nothing like H.I.D's, my sugjestion s to buy t5 hi bay's( tubes) they are also called t5 h.o.'s hi output lights, dont be confused by regular t5 tubes which are only like 17 watts, you can get hi bay t5's on eBay, check them out before you consider them 300's

shogon92 said:

Not so much on a budget but wanted to seek all options, i've put up a 600W HPS bulb with the 700w LED so they should do fine but my concern is possible heat issues so if CFL could eliminate the heat issues while still bumping it up by 2 300 Watt CFL's (Possibly 600w altogether) then i'd be happy doing it that method... Also this week ive started to scrog to fill out the space.

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CFL is less efficient than HPS or LED.
It would worsen heat or lower yield while heat issues still remain the same.

The only possible way to remove heat issues is either better ventilation or less wattage lights.

shogon92 said:

Not so much on a budget but wanted to seek all options, i've put up a 600W HPS bulb with the 700w LED so they should do fine but my concern is possible heat issues so if CFL could eliminate the heat issues while still bumping it up by 2 300 Watt CFL's (Possibly 600w altogether) then i'd be happy doing it that method... Also this week ive started to scrog to fill out the space.

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CFL's are still hot and with CFL's the larger the bulb the less efficient it is for growing. With CFL's you're better off using a bunch of smaller bulbs(which become a pain in the ass to move around). I don't see CFL's being optimal for your conditions.

The big downside to CFL is light penetration.

With CFLs I see two options! You can either surround your plant with a lot of little lots or a few large ones, or you can get one big one like this with a reflector hood and set yourself up a proper scrog. A single high wattage CFL should provide a decent amount of light and energy to a properly scrogged top canopy.

Cyrus420 said:

The big downside to CFL is light penetration.

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Nah, it's efficiency or rather lack of efficiency that's the big downside to CFL.
HID and LED are both much more efficient

frica said:

Nah, it's efficiency or rather lack of efficiency that's the big downside to CFL.
HID and LED are both much more efficient

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How do you measure efficiency?

The effectiveness of a CFL is determined by how close you keep it because it doesn't penetrate the canopy of your plant and give light to the leaves down below like a HPS, MH, or LED. You can still get some pretty good results off CFL you just need to maximize light exposure to the canopy. This is why CFL's can be amazing in a stealth scrog grow.

I'll also will point out you're not doing OP any favors by pointing out HID or LED is more efficient as this is the CFL Sub-Forum and I'm sure most of us already know that CFL < HID.

Cyrus420 said:

I'll also will point out you're not doing OP any favors by pointing out HID or LED is more efficient as this is the CFL Sub-Forum and I'm sure most of us already know that CFL < HID.

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The thread title is : "300 watt CFL yay or nay"
So I gave the answer that it's much less efficient than HID which implies a "nay"

And if you're willing to spend money on a 300 watt CFL a budget 250 watt HPS set is the same price which is also roughly the same price as 2 "300watt" marshydro led lights.
The HPS and LED both being more efficient than the big bulb

And a 300 (actual) watt CFL has no place in a stealth scrog grow

And CFL bulbs have plenty of "penetration" when you're actually using a reflector.

frica said:

The thread title is : "300 watt CFL yay or nay"
So I gave the answer that it's much less efficient than HID which implies a "nay"

And if you're willing to spend money on a 300 watt CFL a budget 250 watt HPS set is the same price which is also roughly the same price as 2 "300watt" marshydro led lights.
The HPS and LED both being more efficient than the big bulb

And a 300 (actual) watt CFL has no place in a stealth scrog grow

And CFL bulbs have plenty of "penetration" when you're actually using a reflector.

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Good point, you're right you answered the question.

Don't CFL bulbs need to be near the plant to be effective? Even with a proper reflector if your bulb is more than a foot away it won't do much for your plant but make it stretch.

I used 2 42w (150w incandescent equivalent.)

CFLs are more stealth, HIDs are more useful, and LEDs are a mixture of those two qualities, but with often very good quality results, depending on whether or not you invested much in the lights to buy from a good name. Cheap Chinese no-names are probably not your best bet, but I can't say from experience. I use 1x 240w and 1x 500w (both Lighthouse Hydro BlackStars) because I got lucky and had a family member who grew long before I started this year lend me some lights he had on hand.

Thanks for all the replies guys!

It seems like CFL's have to be done in there numbers for good results! I think i would need loads of them to cover a 4 x 4 space.. I've got my Marshydro LED in there and i've put a 600W Sunmater with a fan blowing directly on the bulb.
Temps seem to be good im around 25-27c and humidity is only between 20-30% so i think im on the right track at the moment.. gonna stick with what i've got but it would be nice to actually test those 300W CFL's under a few reflector hoods

Hps lights are nowhere near as efficient as a cfl.....or else they'd be in every lamp and household........like a cfl.A high pressure sodium bulb emits a full spectrum of light red,orange, yellow blue green...etc,etc,etc.Cfl bulbs are spectrum specific which is more efficient for growing.Tha advantage of hps over cfl is light penetration and intensity.Cfls are great for smaller grows and scrogs and anything under 400w.If your space requires more light I'd recommend an led or hps with fans and ductwork.

I didn't mean efficiency as in consumption of electricity, I meant in terms of production of proper bud and work vs. payout.

But, yeah, if you're just growing for personal reasons and aren't looking for crazy yields, CFL's good on your electric bill, and it is still effective.

I'd stay away from the higher watt cfl bulbs...for the simple fact that if one broke you'd be out 300w of light.Plus it's better to have multiple light sources surrounding a plant than just a single light source