Hard time finding a t5 panel within EUrope

I've looked all over. The UK has some interesting things for a 1m² area, most notably the 3ft sunblaster, but they only ship within the UK. Is there anybody that has found 3foot T5 lighting, that is is decent priced for a 1m² tent that ships within the EU? I've spent hours looking to no avail. I live in northern Europe, btw. I will keep looking and keep you posted on something very interesting if I find it. Any help is super appreciated. Thank you.

Thank you very much for the response, PetFlora. The main problem with LED's is not knowing what to buy. There is so much mixed talk out there, and I am too lazy to view specs myself(to a certain extent), that I just want to hear what other growers have to say about how good or bad something is; therefore, I really appreciate your advise about the LED's. I also did not know that the CFLs didnt last long. I ended up getting 2 of these (http://www.dutch-headshop.com/en/turbo-neon-tl-75watt-grow-6500k-p-829.html) from that exact site, and got free shipping, the cheapest I could find. I also use these 85 watt lamps that are quicksilver powered, and very VERY good for growing and seedlings, that I have not seen discussed anywhere on the net by growers, so that will have to supplement my to 75W CFLs, and I would really like to add on of these LED panels you suggested into the veg chamber. What I REALLY wanted, was something like thishttp://www.hydroponics.eu/lighting-c-24/neon-grow-light-s-42/neonkit-megalux-22-000-lumens-220w-1242.html), but that was kind of a steep price, AND reviews of their site turned off off so fast that I was not going to support a company that did stuff like that to people like you and me.
I also found that these 3 foot tubes would be perfect for a 1meter squared veg, but they only shipped to mainland UK. I contacted their head office in North America, and they said they forwarded my request on where to get these shipped to me in Northern Europe to their offices in the UK... Great.. So the Same exact website I was looking at contacted me I told them the problem was at checkout, UK is the only option. They said it was a website problem, and fixed it REALLY fast.. The problem is shipping is 35£, making it some of the most expensive neon fluorescent lights I would have ever bought.. no thanks.. Too bad though, those look really nice, and the right length. PetFlora, have you purchased from this site before? http://astirgrows.com/en/led-panels/3-24watt-led-panel-vegetative-stage.html that is what I am interested in, if it is any good. I will have to wait til next month if I want to buy it though. Thanks again for the support, sir.

Thanks again, PetFlora. I appreciate you.

Hi!

I cant tell you where to buy a plug&play T5 light panel, but I can tell you that its very easy to construct it yourself, even if you are not a professional electrician. It is also much cheaper and performance vise just as good as the manufacturey built ones.

For my micro closet grow with a surface area of 90 x 50 cm I use a diy light panel with four 39W Osram LUMILUX T5 HO fluorescent tubes that are driven by two ECG ballasts also by Osram. These tubes are 849mm long and each delivers 3500lm or 82lm/W. With a lifespan of 24000h ( rated lamp survival factor at 16000h:0,97 and at 20000h: 0,85 with a 10% decrese in luminus output ) so I dont think thats too bad, they go a long way.

You can buy all the components you need at any decent electric components store (central Europe), and they are not at all expensive.

The ballasts I use are Osram quicktronic proffesional 5 (each drives two tubes)... price: 19eur with tax.

The tubes are Osram T5 HO FQ 39W, 849mm... price: 3,8 eur with tax.
[h=1][/h]And the lampholders are like 50cents/piece.

Ive made my own reflectors but you can buy them at aquaristics shops for around 16eur/piece (and these are very nice ones specially designed for T5 lights with efficiency rated at 95%).

http://www.reflekta.com/ ... this is their website... as it turns out they make they make comlete light modules as well, not just reflectors.
No need to go DIY, but anyway...

So a two lamp unit with reflectors would cost you around 60euro + some extra materials, like wire, switches, cables, and some metal or wood and some screws for construction of a frame.

My light unit costed me around 200euro but that was many years ago, now it is much cheaper, the prices above are the current ones , and I have diy reflectors which are the most difficult part to construct. Dont know how efficient they are. But they cant be too bad, since these lights (156w alltogether) produce just over 100g of bag seed staiva buds, or 0.65g/W. And the best Ive got was 143g with NL cuttings, and thats pretty close to 1g/W. I grow in soil with Sog method.

And this unit has been in use for almost ten years now with no issues whatsoever (replaced the tubes only once) I do three to four grows a year and use it for flowering.. and also for clone propagation for my guerilla gardens (for this purpose I originally bought these lights).

So if you are up to it, you can do it yourself (its really very simple, you just have to wire it up exactly as the diagram shows you) or have a friend who is more at home in this field help you. You will save some money aswell.

Or you could go LED.

Ive been looking at some LED street lighting panels by Osram, and they seem very nice, but too pricey for me at the moment.

PrevaLED copact module delivers 6000 lm and consumes 47W thats 129lm/W, and it costs around 110 eur, and their strongest modul delivers 10,000lm for 78W, thats 130lm/W and costs around 200eur. But the lifespan is very long at 60,000h. The color temp. is 4000 or 5700K... so this should work very nicely indeed.

Im really tempted by this LED lights, but cant bring myself to making this expence since I am very happy with the system I allready have, but If I was starting from scratch I would definetly go with these. Cheers.