Need help with lighting. . .

Moved this from the growroom thread, hoping for more responses:

The question is, what is the best way to light a 33 x 15 inch bookshelf? Its 3.5 square feet, basically like this, only two inches wider:

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The idea is to take out the bottom few shelves to create a grow space for 2 or 3 small plants. One top shelf will be a seedling/cloning area, and one will be for storage.

Unfortunately the shelf space is too narrow for 3' T5 lights to fit. The general issue is that its somewhat of an odd shape, being narrow and wide, and I'm concerned that something like a 250W HPS won't cast the right "footprint" of light.

Any suggestions as to type of light or specific brands? I'm open to pretty much any type of lighting, including LED, though I'm trying to get away from CFLs.

CFL will do fine in there..u can get a couple 42 watters..u cud go to homedepot and get a 4 socket vanity fixture for around 17-20 $..get a few Y-socket splitters $2 a piece..and get 8 42 watters and youll be golden..u dont have to worry too much about heat and ull be able to get those lights real close to ur plants..id thtll light 3 plants up pretty well. good luck

I say 150/250 HPS with a couple of cfls on the sides for that lack of footprint you're worried about.. I'm sure you'll do fine with just the HPS.

Thanks for the responses.

avrum said:

I say 150/250 HPS with a couple of cfls on the sides for that lack of footprint you're worried about.. I'm sure you'll do fine with just the HPS.

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Yeah, I'm starting to think a 250 may be the answer here. The issue is which reflector?

Some of them are literally too big to fit into my space.

well I'm a CFL guy myself but I guess for those dimensions its best to get a cool tube reflector to keep good temps inside, if money is not an issue ofcourse.

whats are you doing about heat? cause your gonna get WAY more heat from a 250 hps then you would from cfls or t5s.

if possible and this isnt a super stealth thing i would use a 250 with a air cooled hood if you can get it the right size to fit in there and cut a hole in the side and use a duct fan and some ducting if needed to pull all the heat out of the light and into the room