Dangerous CFL setup?

I was wondering if this would be ok? Or is there any possibility of them getting hot and bursting? Ive heard bad things about whats inside a CFL. These are all 26w ea. There touching ea other.

http://i42.tinypic.com/2vtnrpi.jpg


This is how they hang.

you should remount your lites with the sides pointing down, not the tips. i've read over and over agin that the sides of flourescents emitt the most lite. and i have since turned my flourescents sideways. but to answer your question, no they shouldn't get too hot from touching each other if they're only 26 watt.

maybe think about spreading your lites around your grow area too. Having your lights in a central spot means growth in a central spot on your plant.

jonnymafia said:

I was wondering if this would be ok? Or is there any possibility of them getting hot and bursting? Ive heard bad things about whats inside a CFL. These are all 26w ea. There touching ea other.

Click to expand...

There is always a possibility of bursting, but it's more likely from physical or temperature shock. They are designed to withstand much higher temperatures than what you might get with this configuration. But you definitely don't want to use plants that have mercury and other nasty stuff sprayed on them from a bulb.
I wouldn't recommend having the bulbs touch, but if they are all lit at once, there shouldn't be much problem with temperature differences.

There is a good point about the desire to spread out CFL bulbs to get the best light transfer and coverage, since CFLs are diffuse and produce light asymmetrically.

Anyway, it's not as efficient as it could be, but the design should be fine.

Thanks for the advice, and fast responses. im getting the Y adapters soon that would help with the angle of the lights and let me add a cpl more. I just didnt want them popping for the time being.

I think you would be better off with the 3 Y splitters holding 2 bulbs each. That way you could add one more making a total of 8 bulbs.