# 200 watt cfl's grow?



## boardercross91

i was looking into giving this another shot. i was looking to still use cfls for the small area im working with, i dont want to much heat build up. i was thinking of running 4 200 watt cfls for my 2 new plants. they put out 12000 lumens a piece, meaning id have plenty of light(48,000) lumens for a 3x3 area. do you guys think that using these cfls would work fine for flowering too? id like to stay away mh and hps due to ventilation and heat purposes.


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## That crazy vancouver guy

you should be fine with what you are thinking, however I suggest you incorporate an intake and outtake of airflow into your setup... I find with mine running about the equivalent of 250W of  3 cfl's raises the temp of my 4 x 2 x 3h box substancially without fresh air being forced in at the top and air allowed to leave at the bottom.


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## boardercross91

well,  was thinking of incorparating a small fan at the top for some air flow. the grow area is connected to another room, but the opening to the growroom is 3x3, but is seprated by a white towel, its pretty cold air constantly in its area, around 65 ish w/o the lights on. so i think i should be fine as long as i have some airflow so they dont bake, lol. heres a small discription of what im working with, im just using this room for now, when they outgrow the room they will be moved outside.

im considering 4 150w cfls now, and i can also put in my 2 18 inch cool white 25 w tube lights on each side. plenty of coverage then.


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## smokybear

That sounds like it will work out just fine for that area. Definitely get some ventilation though. That will help out immensely. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. Until then, grow it big my friend. Take care.


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## Thorn

yea whatever you use your gonna need ventilation man. Good luck.


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## boardercross91

sry everyone, i meant to post this pic, see, there is a large open area which isnt exsposed to any light, or plants, nothings in their but its right under the stairs, there is plenty of fresh air coming from up stairs. i was thinking of mounting a fan up in the back of the grow room and blowing the air out of the area, if you guys know what im saying.

as of now i have the 2 18" cool white tubes in their, waiting on the cfls.

hxxp://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h320/kxfreak/Untitled.jpg?t=1205102377

hey boardercross, I edited your link for you. We don't allow cross linking or direct links to off site hosts. 
We provide a safe host for posting pictures, and would much prefer you use it.


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## Fretless

It is my understanding that with lights, the heat put off is about relative to wattage.  So it's not quite true that floro is cooler. And 800 watts of giant CFLs is really a waste IMO.  You'll have all the same heat problems, and significantly less light.


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## md.apothecary

From personal experience, I would never use another CFL over 50w again. It seems that the temps do rise quite a bit because beyond 50w they use built in ballasts that get quite hot. The issue I was having with my 105w cfls was that the ballasts got hot that the glass actually started getting loose from the plastic.

I would also suggest an HID light, for equivalent temps, you get a LOT more light output per watt. Don't jump right into a 400w HID light though, you could get away with probably a 250w much less heat, perfect for that grow area, and most likely cheaper than those 200w bulbs. Why burn 800w of lights that is only going to be equvalent to a 175w MH or 150W HPS? Save money in the long run, and reduce the risk of LEO's investigating.


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## constantine

flo's for vegetative...HPS for flowering. Some like to use MH for vegetative. i prefer high wattage high lumen HID lighting. Ventilation becomes extremely important with these set ups.

 id go with a 175 watt halide for yoru set up.​


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## Hick

boardercross91 said:
			
		

> for a 3x3 area. .


175 watts is far from sufficient for that space. Around 18,000 lumens, enough for about 4 sq ft. You're working with 9 sq ft.




> i was looking to still use cfls for the small area im working with, i dont want to much heat build up. i was thinking of running 4 200 watt cfls for my 2 new plants.


 800 watts of cfl's are going to produce more heat than a 400 watt hps. Which would be ideal for your area.  IMO


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## Timmyjg6

Hay, some times you can only grow with what you got...


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## Thorn

Timmyjg6 said:
			
		

> Hay, some times you can only grow with what you got...



This is true and, speaking from experience, you'd be surprised what minimal equipment will allow you to grow..when used in the right way 

But I agree with most here, if your gonna use 800 watts of CFLs you may as well save money in every aspect (bulbs, setup and electricity) by getting a lower wattage HPS.

To save money don't use a metal halide for veg, use T5 floros tubes or something then switch to a 400W HPS or 2 250 watters or even 3 150 watter to spread out those lumens.

In my opinion HPS setups are much more woth it than those big CFLs. Just my 2 cents 

Hope it all goes well for you


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## boardercross91

well, i dont have the height id need for a hps. correct me if im wrong, but dont hps lights have to be like 4 ft from the plants or it will burn them, im working in an area with about 3.5 ft tall, so the ability to keep the bulbs close to the plants will work, maybe ill just go with 3 150w cfls.


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## Thorn

no, it depends on wattage but generally about 6 inches to about a foot. Correct if i'm wrong please experts 

Also i'd expect with high watt CFLs you gonna nee a bit of space between them and your plants as they are gonna get hot!


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## md.apothecary

constantine said:
			
		

> flo's for vegetative...HPS for flowering. Some like to use MH for vegetative. i prefer high wattage high lumen HID lighting. Ventilation becomes extremely important with these set ups.
> 
> id go with a 175 watt halide for yoru set up.​



Why stick to just a MH? He'd end up having to get BOTH if he really wanted to produce good flowers, OR simply VEG/FLOWER with an HPS and save money at the start.

you CAN veg with an HPS without any problems and your FINAL outcome is always greater with HPS in flower. or you can get greater veg with an MH with a slightly weaker flower phase. I'd go HPS all the way around if this was necessary to pick just one light.


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## Crazy Horse

My 200 watt cfl does not get hot whatsoever. I can touch the bulb with my hands no prob. I have no ballasts for mine, plugs right into the wall. It kicks a** for veg, would use nothing else. My buddy used it to flower a clone which ended up being a foot tall. Worked surprisingly well, could of had another plant in there the same size no prob. But my cfl is 18,000 lumens, and for a bigger grow, hps for flower all the way baby!


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## md.apothecary

Your CFL is ballasted, the screw-in part is directly attached to the ballast, and the glass of the CFL is then inserted into that same piece. The ballast/bulb is all one unit. 

And using my special skills, I am assuming that you must be using an envirolite... and if you are, those are DEFINITELY ballasted, BUT also designed to have the lowest heat output available in a CFL, however, their design requires a ton of space just for their bulb. You're looking at something as long asyour arm just for a single bulb.

Space was an issue for me and these bulbs and I decided it was not worth paying for a bulb of this nature. $200 USD price tag was a bit high for a single bulb I couldn't use...


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## Fretless

Crazy Horse said:
			
		

> My 200 watt cfl does not get hot whatsoever. I can touch the bulb with my hands no prob.


 
   Seriously?  I believe you Bro but I have 40 watt CFLs that are most definetly too hot to touch.  So I'd assume a 200 watter would be screaming hot.  What is that, an Envirolite?  
   Not to be rude but are you diabetic or something, losing feeling in the extremities?  Or some kind of monk? 
   Still, a 175 watt MH crushes a 200 watt CFL in lumens and in $$$ efficiency, particularly in bulb replacement.  But the big CFLs own all HID lights in terms of healthy spectrum.  
   It's an eternal debate really.


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## smokybear

Truth on both sides. CFL's are pretty practical when you have a very small grow area to work with and they are good with the veg state but they simply cant put out the lumens per square foot that an HID system can. If I were you, I would go with a small hps system. They are the best for flower and thats what we are all out for....good buds. Just my two cents! Good luck on whatever you do decide to do. Keep us posted my friend. Take care and good luck once again.


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## md.apothecary

CFLs are LARGE when they are HIGH watters... a 200w is at _*LEAST*_ 14" in length and probably a good 7" diameter, THAT'S the size of a small trash can!

a HPS reflector is approximately the same size as that CFL, and the bulb is like 6" long, so space can be an issue as well.  And if you use multiple small ones, you really start to loose efficiency.

I am NOT against CFLs, I love the smaller 23w ones I have in a grow box now, they're great for veg. But in my solo HPS grow (Veg/flower) it's winning hands down in both veg and flower over the MH and CFLs.


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