HookdOnChronics
Well-Known Member
Alright guys so I made this a while ago when a buddie of mine started asking me "Why not use the big, 150W CFL's instead of all these smaller ones" So I did some research! lol, Here's what I found out, just tryin to spread the love to any other CFLers out there!
Hookd’s info on CFL’s.
Just a little FYI here. But CFL's start to loose their lumen per watt output after about the 30W cfl's. So if it's possible for you, I'd go with an abundance of smaller CFL's, (mathamatically the 26W bulbs are the most efficient lumen/watt wise) rather than 1 HUGE CFL. Because the ONE MASSIVE CFL doesn't put out as many lumens as if you we're to use the same amount of watts, just with more, smaller light's. Does what I'm saying make sense?
Here, this may be better:
I looked at the 150W CFL's, and the one that puts out the MOST lumest/watt that I could find is the "150 Watt CFL Light Bulb - 650 W Equal – Soft White 2700K - 9,200 lumens"
So the best lumen/watt for a large, 150W CFL that I found was 9,200lumens/150watts which calculates to about 61.333 lumens per individual watt.
Now I looked at the kind of light's I use which are the "26 Watt CFL Light Bulb - 105 W Equal - Soft White 2700K - 1800 lumens"
So the best lumen/watt for the smaller, 26W CFL that I found was 1800lumens/26watts which calculates to about 69.231 lumens per individual watt.
Ok so let me break this down for you, straight G style! Hahaha:
A single, 150W CFL, puts out 9200 lumens total. 61.333 lumens per watt.
Now let's see here, 150W/26W=5.796. So it would take about 5.796 of these 26w cfl's to have the same amount of watts being used as the 150w. So let's round that down (just to make a point) to 5 of the 26watt CFL's, that would be a total of 130watts, and you would be putting out 9000 lumens. So for 20 less watts, you would have only 200 less lumens. (Don't forget I rounded down to 5 instead of 5.796 just to make my point.)
If you were to round up instead of down, from 5.796 to 6 which is what logic would tell us to do. That would give you 156watts (Only 6 watts more than the 150w CFL) and 10800 lumens (which is 1600 MORE lumens {almost an entire 26W CFL worth} that the 150W CFL)
So 1600 MORE lumens for only 6 more watts.
Again, just sharing some info. This is what I do instead of using the HUGE CFL's. It's also a LOT cheaper to replace these smaller bulbs for whenever the time comes. Because it's said that CFL's start to lose intensity after about 3 grows. Just some food for thought.
Don't FUCK with me and my CFL's! lol
Hope this helps with your decision. And if not, at least I was able to spread the knowledge. PEACE
-Hookd
Hookd’s info on CFL’s.
Just a little FYI here. But CFL's start to loose their lumen per watt output after about the 30W cfl's. So if it's possible for you, I'd go with an abundance of smaller CFL's, (mathamatically the 26W bulbs are the most efficient lumen/watt wise) rather than 1 HUGE CFL. Because the ONE MASSIVE CFL doesn't put out as many lumens as if you we're to use the same amount of watts, just with more, smaller light's. Does what I'm saying make sense?
Here, this may be better:
I looked at the 150W CFL's, and the one that puts out the MOST lumest/watt that I could find is the "150 Watt CFL Light Bulb - 650 W Equal – Soft White 2700K - 9,200 lumens"
So the best lumen/watt for a large, 150W CFL that I found was 9,200lumens/150watts which calculates to about 61.333 lumens per individual watt.
Now I looked at the kind of light's I use which are the "26 Watt CFL Light Bulb - 105 W Equal - Soft White 2700K - 1800 lumens"
So the best lumen/watt for the smaller, 26W CFL that I found was 1800lumens/26watts which calculates to about 69.231 lumens per individual watt.
Ok so let me break this down for you, straight G style! Hahaha:
A single, 150W CFL, puts out 9200 lumens total. 61.333 lumens per watt.
Now let's see here, 150W/26W=5.796. So it would take about 5.796 of these 26w cfl's to have the same amount of watts being used as the 150w. So let's round that down (just to make a point) to 5 of the 26watt CFL's, that would be a total of 130watts, and you would be putting out 9000 lumens. So for 20 less watts, you would have only 200 less lumens. (Don't forget I rounded down to 5 instead of 5.796 just to make my point.)
If you were to round up instead of down, from 5.796 to 6 which is what logic would tell us to do. That would give you 156watts (Only 6 watts more than the 150w CFL) and 10800 lumens (which is 1600 MORE lumens {almost an entire 26W CFL worth} that the 150W CFL)
So 1600 MORE lumens for only 6 more watts.
Again, just sharing some info. This is what I do instead of using the HUGE CFL's. It's also a LOT cheaper to replace these smaller bulbs for whenever the time comes. Because it's said that CFL's start to lose intensity after about 3 grows. Just some food for thought.
Don't FUCK with me and my CFL's! lol
Hope this helps with your decision. And if not, at least I was able to spread the knowledge. PEACE
-Hookd
And because of having more built in ballasts because of the more bulbs ect...