Advice on lighting

I'm looking to switch from HIDs to LEDs or fluorescents, but I'd like to hear from growers with experience with the different lighting systems. I've been using HIDs for about 2 yrs now. The results are fantastic but the power bill is cost prohibitive. I've looked into LEDs but I've heard more than once the power to price ratio just isn't there. Even with Blackstar the power is just not there to come close to matching HIDs. I realize I might lose a little bit of growing power with fluorescents but I'm willing to sacrifice a little bit in order to save money on power.

All this being said my questions are;

Is LED or Fluorescent the way to go?

Given the answer to the above question, what will a I need in order to replace a 400w MH for veg, and a 600w for flower and get 8'x3' coverage?

With fluorescents, are home depot lights just as good as the $250 grow fluorescents, or do grow fluorescents have some advantage over regular lighting. (assuming you are using the same kind of bulbs in both fixtures)

Last question, and before you flame. I know I could spend hours googling around to find the best deal, but could you please save me a bit of effort and recommend a source?

Thanks a bunch guys a appreciate the help in advance!

I'd stick with the HIDs if I were you. Flouros put out less lumens per watt than HIDs, so you will need more watts to grow the same amount of weed, and LEDs are not cost-effective (and also their effectiveness is highly debatable.)

I won't get into the LED debate, but my advice would be to stick to HIDs, at least for flowering. You could probably save on some wattage by using flouros for vegging rather than the 400 mh, but I suppose it depends how big you need your plants to get during veg.

Your other option is to flower with the 400. You will get an obvious drop in yields, but it will still yield more than 400 watts of flouros.

Solid advice, I appreciate it. I'm actually finding that 600w gets them waaaay to big in veg. Its a strange complaint a know, but I'd rather do a bunch of little guys then a few big guys. I'm really running out of space under my 600w and buying another light to fit the plants isn't going to solve any of my problems.

I wouldn't replace the HID lights you already have. I would get another 400w MH and 600w HPS to fill out that room. One 600w must struggle in that sized room.

Or if you want little guys section that room and have a few mom and veg plants under the 400w area and have a flowering setup with the 600w on the other side.

you could try 2x8 54w high output t5's with a nice sized blackstar. i think youll get pretty close to what youre getting right now.