1550 watts of cfl s
- Thread starter bobtokes
- Start date
LemonHerb
Well-Known Member
Neither is paying attention to what other people have said apparently. Mostly people aren't saying that you can't grow successfully with CFLs, they are saying that you can be as successful if not more with HPS while using less wattage then if you were using CFLS.
Now in my case, I am using CFLs and I feel I am doing pretty well. However I am using close to 800w of CFLs when I am betting I can get the same results with 400w worth of HPS lighting. And like I said before, even if the CFLs were free I would recoup cost on the lower electric bills within a few months.
homegrownboy
Well-Known Member
You can grow very nice plants with cfl's during your veg stage. It's when it comes time to flowering that the HPS will kick ass on the cfl's.
homegrownboy
Well-Known Member
Wrong wrong wrong!!!!!!!!!!! Look at my gallery pics to see what cfl's did for my plant...you CAN grow nice bushy thick plants. BUT...you must have enough of them surrounding the plant in order to achieve this.
bobtokes
Well-Known Member
one of the reasons i posted the questions was that the general opinion on a lot of the threads i have read is that u need 3000 lumens a sq ft of grow space. The envirolites supposedly chuck out over 5000 lumens. I never intended using the full 1550w all at once 650w for vegging then swapping the bulbs for the 900watts of the more important flowering bulbs.
LoudBlunts
Well-Known Member
sure cfls use less power.....
they also give you less bud and yield...lol
they also give you less bud and yield...lol
bobtokes
Well-Known Member
is that the price u pay lol
LoudBlunts
Well-Known Member
yes!
but see more buds....grow 8 oz with 100 bucks is a good reference book....
but see more buds....grow 8 oz with 100 bucks is a good reference book....
bobtokes
Well-Known Member
the best thing ive read is al b fuct's get a harvest every two weeks. what a grower
Hawk
Well-Known Member
1 watt of power consumption is 1 watt of power consumption. CFL's are can be considered to consume less energy only if you're using "incandescent equivalent" wattage as your point of comparison. For example, a 27w CFL is equivalent to about 100w from a traditional incandescent light bulb. "Incandescent equivalent" wattage means nothing for growing purposes though.
I just want to confirm that when you say "...2 x 200w....2 x 125w....2 x 200w....4 x 125w....", those numbers the actual power consumption of the bulbs and not the "incandescent equivalent" wattage. If the 200's are actually 200 watters, they must be monsters! I've got some 105w CFL's and they dwarf a normal sized light bulb.
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nickfury510
Well-Known Member
why are you using 800w of cfls when you know that 400 hid is better off......and why would you want to pay a higher electric bill for less of an outcome....im not talking shit or being a smart ass...i just dont understand this one...
LemonHerb
Well-Known Member
Because the HPS hasn't arrived in the mail yet. I never intended to use that many CFLs actually, I just kept adding as I saw the need. It's pretty easy to do when you can go to the grocery store and buy a 4 pack of 26w bulbs for $1.50. Once I finally took a half second to think about it and realized how much I was using I ordered an HPS.why are you using 800w of cfls when you know that 400 hid is better off......and why would you want to pay a higher electric bill for less of an outcome....im not talking shit or being a smart ass...i just dont understand this one...
BigBudBalls
Well-Known Member
400watts is 400watts. Doesn't matter what bulb its pushing.
Watts is the power its using.
Read the CFL box. 26watt=100Watts of standard bulb. *thats* the savings. but the CFL is using 26watts (NOT pushing 100 watts of light)
So, if you have 16 26watters (416 watts total electric use) it uses the same electric as a 400W HPS/MH. (ok, there is a slight inefficiency with the ballast)
Cost? HID is still cheaper, for equipment, and electric use, plus you get better light.
Heat? pretty much equates to the watts. Power dissipation. 400 watts is still 400 watts. (Now how much IR is given off, may skew it a bit)
This is your plant. This is your plant on HID. Any questions?
gethigheveryday
Well-Known Member
bobtokes, iv just almost completed my 9 plant grow using cfls:
i used only one 250w envirolite for veg under 9 plants (4 ladys) vegged for 4 weeks then for the 1st 4 weeks of flower i only used 250w aswell.
it was only from the 4th week to 10th week i used 625watts cfl all togeather, thats with a mix of blue and red
i am very happy as this was my first grow and i got some huge colas which iv never seen in my life before.
i dont know how much weight i yeilded overall i dont have scales and most of the buds are drying just now.
what i can say however is that i do not regret growing with cfl's one bit, i agree that had i of used a 600w hps then my yeild would be a lot better however, bear in mind that for the first 60 days of the grow the plants were only under 250w envirolite and they still started budding like 5 days into 12/12.
im pretty sure had i of used 600w all through the grow i would have doubled my yeild, purely because the 1st 4 weeks of flower are when they grow the bud, last 4 weeks they jus fatten up.
another thing il add is that my ak48s took around 65 days to fully mature (some are still going at day 6
and my norther lights is still going at day 68, however i reckon thats them all about done, so remember when using cfl's it will add about 2 weeks to the total flower time.
heres my pros cons of growing cfls:
PROS-
- electricity bill was unchanged, could not tell any usage difference in bill to last quarters bill, infact this quarter was slightly less, which is weird since my ps3 is on 24/7 due to gta 4!
- heat wasnt an issue as i was growing in a cubbord with no ventalation apart from window in the room the cubbord was in and a small 7" fan.
- quality of bud is top notch, because you spend more time moving lights etc around plants as they grow, i find you always get nice good dense buds if lights moved around regulary.
- safety is much better with cfls. id much rather leave the place knowing theres cfl's rigged up rather than an hps with a ballast and all the heat.
CONS-
- Granted yeild may not be as much as with hps
- longer flower time (in almost all cases comparing cfls to hps)
- moving lights about constantly around plants (not so much of an issue if ur like me and want any excuse to be around the plants)
overall i would say if your wantin to grow with cfl's, do it, dont let anyone tell u otherwise, it was my first time, and i am over the moon with my buds.
if u got any questions dude fire away
i used only one 250w envirolite for veg under 9 plants (4 ladys) vegged for 4 weeks then for the 1st 4 weeks of flower i only used 250w aswell.
it was only from the 4th week to 10th week i used 625watts cfl all togeather, thats with a mix of blue and red
i am very happy as this was my first grow and i got some huge colas which iv never seen in my life before.
i dont know how much weight i yeilded overall i dont have scales and most of the buds are drying just now.
what i can say however is that i do not regret growing with cfl's one bit, i agree that had i of used a 600w hps then my yeild would be a lot better however, bear in mind that for the first 60 days of the grow the plants were only under 250w envirolite and they still started budding like 5 days into 12/12.
im pretty sure had i of used 600w all through the grow i would have doubled my yeild, purely because the 1st 4 weeks of flower are when they grow the bud, last 4 weeks they jus fatten up.
another thing il add is that my ak48s took around 65 days to fully mature (some are still going at day 6
and my norther lights is still going at day 68, however i reckon thats them all about done, so remember when using cfl's it will add about 2 weeks to the total flower time.
heres my pros cons of growing cfls:
PROS-
- electricity bill was unchanged, could not tell any usage difference in bill to last quarters bill, infact this quarter was slightly less, which is weird since my ps3 is on 24/7 due to gta 4!
- heat wasnt an issue as i was growing in a cubbord with no ventalation apart from window in the room the cubbord was in and a small 7" fan.
- quality of bud is top notch, because you spend more time moving lights etc around plants as they grow, i find you always get nice good dense buds if lights moved around regulary.
- safety is much better with cfls. id much rather leave the place knowing theres cfl's rigged up rather than an hps with a ballast and all the heat.
CONS-
- Granted yeild may not be as much as with hps
- longer flower time (in almost all cases comparing cfls to hps)
- moving lights about constantly around plants (not so much of an issue if ur like me and want any excuse to be around the plants)
overall i would say if your wantin to grow with cfl's, do it, dont let anyone tell u otherwise, it was my first time, and i am over the moon with my buds.
if u got any questions dude fire away
nickfury510
Well-Known Member
.haahaaaahaaaa.....dude did you really use 600w of cfls.....what a complete waste of time....for the same money and power usage you could have used hps and doubled maybe even tripled if conditions were right your final yield.....why would you use 600w of cfls instead of going to hid...bobtokes, iv just almost completed my 9 plant grow using cfls:
i used only one 250w envirolite for veg under 9 plants (4 ladys) vegged for 4 weeks then for the 1st 4 weeks of flower i only used 250w aswell.
it was only from the 4th week to 10th week i used 625watts cfl all togeather, thats with a mix of blue and red
i am very happy as this was my first grow and i got some huge colas which iv never seen in my life before.
i dont know how much weight i yeilded overall i dont have scales and most of the buds are drying just now.
what i can say however is that i do not regret growing with cfl's one bit, i agree that had i of used a 600w hps then my yeild would be a lot better however, bear in mind that for the first 60 days of the grow the plants were only under 250w envirolite and they still started budding like 5 days into 12/12.
im pretty sure had i of used 600w all through the grow i would have doubled my yeild, purely because the 1st 4 weeks of flower are when they grow the bud, last 4 weeks they jus fatten up.
another thing il add is that my ak48s took around 65 days to fully mature (some are still going at day 6
and my norther lights is still going at day 68, however i reckon thats them all about done, so remember when using cfl's it will add about 2 weeks to the total flower time.
heres my pros cons of growing cfls:
PROS-
- electricity bill was unchanged, could not tell any usage difference in bill to last quarters bill, infact this quarter was slightly less, which is weird since my ps3 is on 24/7 due to gta 4!
- heat wasnt an issue as i was growing in a cubbord with no ventalation apart from window in the room the cubbord was in and a small 7" fan.
- quality of bud is top notch, because you spend more time moving lights etc around plants as they grow, i find you always get nice good dense buds if lights moved around regulary.
- safety is much better with cfls. id much rather leave the place knowing theres cfl's rigged up rather than an hps with a ballast and all the heat.
CONS-
- Granted yeild may not be as much as with hps
- longer flower time (in almost all cases comparing cfls to hps)
- moving lights about constantly around plants (not so much of an issue if ur like me and want any excuse to be around the plants)
overall i would say if your wantin to grow with cfl's, do it, dont let anyone tell u otherwise, it was my first time, and i am over the moon with my buds.
if u got any questions dude fire away
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gethigheveryday
Well-Known Member
as i stated above because im growing in a very small cubbord and would have major heat issued with an hps, not everyone is in a position to use an hps