26w Cfl ballast driving 24w t5 ho tube?? also, overdriving with cfl ballasts?

Ok, so In theory, a 26w or 23w cfl ballast should be able to drive a 24w t5 ho tube correct? and it should be just as bright as a regular ballast right? also, does anyone know if a 26w cfl ballast detects bulb length and wattage and then sends it? or does it have a fixed voltage and automatically send 26w??? if this is the case, i could take like a 17w t8 tube and over drive it up to 26w right? or drive a t5 ho 24w tube at 26w for a tiny bit of extra mojo. although, thats not really as important as just being able to drive it with enough power so i can have a cheap set up. so can anyone pitch in with some knowledge? or maybee try it if you have a 24w t5 tube or similar tube?? I am assuming that using t5 tubes would be alot easier than just using the 26w cfls with clamp on lights, am i wrong? because it doesnt seem like cfls actually put much light onto the plant, i have a couple and they are really only covering a small circular area of the tops? they are bright as shit, the design just sucks. maybee i need a bunch of them without reflectors spread around in a reflective grow box.

so no one knows?

In theory it should run the T5 bulb. If you are simply looking for a cheaper alternative to clamp on lights, look for cheap bathroom vanity lights. I purchased several of these 3' 6 bulb for $3 each. Strap a piece of reflective aluminum ducting on the back and it's basically a linear T5. All of that ugly moulding comes off as well to leave a reflective piece of polished steal.

good idea Gas! I may try this...

What ever happend to the good ole HPS?

ya, no. not looking for a cheap alternative to clamp lights, im looking for a cheap alternative to t5 systems. ive done and am currently doing the whole cfl thing. a vanity fixture like that with cfl's wont spread and direct the light well enough. and cfl's, while powerfull really only cover a very small area. the design is just shitty. where as 4 24w t5's mounted on a sheet of wood with some mylar mounted on the top and reflecting the sides would blow away 4 26w cfl's. were talking about like 10,000 lumens with better par and intesity and cri vs like 4k of shitty indirect cfl, actually probably more like 2 or 3 thousand with all the light lost due to the design of those damn spiral bulbs. sorry i know im ranting, cfl's have just been pissing me off lately. a t5 system would be so much easier than having to huddle 6 cfl's around my plant and pay for sockets reflectors ect and still not be happy with the amount of light im getting and my plant getting the shit burned out of it if any of the precariously mounted bulbs moves accidentally because they have to be so close. the way i see it is, IF a 23 or 26w cfl ballast can drive a 24w bulb, and a 24w t5 ho bulb only costs like $5, thats only $20 for 4 bulbs and like $8 for 4 pairs of sockets. after that i just have to dismantle some of the old cfl's i have laying around and i should have a 4 bulb system for around $28. and if i want to add bulbs, make it an 8 bulbs system, then things will be way cheaper than they normally would be. 8 bulb systems are usually like $200.

also, anyone know if cfl ballast's have a fixed voltage? like, can i take a 26w ballast to a 17w bulb and it will be overdriven???