What do you suggest?

I want to get a small setup going just 2-3 plants max. I just wanted to know if you guys suggest using cfls or cree led bulbs? Personally im leaning towards crees because they run cooler, no toxic chems inside, less fire risk and better energy efficiency, they also come with a great warranty. (If i dont remove globes) the only downside i can see is the price its about 80 dollars for 6 9.5 watt bulbs in the soft white color as i plan to use leds for flower only. For veg i have a 2' ho t5 panel that puts out 2k lumens i plan to supplement with a couple cfls or leds. But my question is geared more towards flower as thats where im going to use the most light.

Also thoughts on gas lantern method?
If it works and i can use less energy sounds good.

Thanks guys. Peace!

It sounds like Cfl's would be fine for you, as long as you use enough cfl light and use them correctly.They are pretty cheap to run and don't give off lots of heat. I run 200 watts at a time all the way up to 800 watts sometimes.For every 100 watt bulb, I'm only using 23 watts. The gas lantern would definitely be out, at least for me anyway.

I picked up one on those LED bulbs and it was FAR from cool.

Can't you just change the bulb on the T5 to a 2700 kelvin for flower ???

Commander Strax said:

Can't you just change the bulb on the T5 to a 2700 kelvin for flower ???

Click to expand...

Im starting to think the t5 is not strong enough to veg with and it would be better to use cfls or leds. Its a one tube t5 so it only puts out 2k lumens nd seems to just take up more space than light it provides. Its a 24 inch one

I'm not big on LED's so I don't really have much knowledge on them, except that they run slightly cooler. With that being said, CFLs don't really run that hot either. 130w of CFL with decent ventilation will run around 75-78F in a small cab. But if that's only around 60w of LED idk if that's enough to grow much more than one plant. Imho, with $80, I'd just get a small 150w HPS lol.

And about the energy efficiency, idk if you're talking about how much it's using, or how many lumens per watt you're getting. Cause 60w is 60w and that's how much it'll use. The only difference is how many lumens per watt you're getting. I'm not sure how LED's work, but CFL grows aren't bad either, but there definitely IS a diff between an HPS vs CFL grow imo.