cfl vs fluorescent tubes

after my last goof on buying a bunch of 1300k bulbs im looking at 54 fl tubes nad 65w cfl's? whats teh better bulb?

fl tubes are cooler i believe so it wont get as hot

wildfire97936 said:

fl tubes are cooler i believe so it wont get as hot

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Heat usually isn't a problem with CFL's they put out little or no heat. I'd say go with the 65w CFL's. You can buy single light fixtures for like $2 at home depot and a pack of bulbs for $10. CFL's are also easier to position than flouro tubes. I use flouro tubes in my veg box as well as CFL's though so. GL~

I'd say CFLs all the way. Good luck!

both work it depends, i use 4 foot tubes in my veg room on chains so i can lower/raise them whenever i want and so far ive been happy with them for growing mothers and clones

as a physics student, its the design on the cfl that i dont like.

i look at the tubes and can only think that it would be better to sheed light on a 2 foot area evenly. then radialy with a bunch of energy getting trapped in the middle.

the on cfls i do like are high up that are just 1 bend tubes, but still the only advatage is the modular power adapter than the cfls bring.

marsbud said:

as a physics student, its the design on the cfl that i dont like.

i look at the tubes and can only think that it would be better to sheed light on a 2 foot area evenly. then radialy with a bunch of energy getting trapped in the middle.

the on cfls i do like are high up that are just 1 bend tubes, but still the only advatage is the modular power adapter than the cfls bring.

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it could also be easier to mount the fl tubes than that many light bulbs

marsbud said:

as a physics student, its the design on the cfl that i dont like.

i look at the tubes and can only think that it would be better to sheed light on a 2 foot area evenly. then radialy with a bunch of energy getting trapped in the middle.

the on cfls i do like are high up that are just 1 bend tubes, but still the only advatage is the modular power adapter than the cfls bring.

Click to expand...

The benefit of the single CFL's is usually about how easy they are to position around your plant. It lets you keep stretching down to an absolute minimum by being able to place them wherever you need it. As mentioned before, it's good to have some of both.

There are a few major differences. CFL's (spirals) allow you to add more light per square foot, so are better for micro growing. If you have lots of space to work with, tubes would be a better option.

The other issue is that tubes can have the ballasts remotely mounted, while CFL's (spirals) have the ballasts integrated, and therefore will produce more heat per given area.


And to the above poster, the spiral design is not to allow for optimal use of light, but to fit in a standard light bulb fixture.