Gotta use reflectors!

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leafminer

Bloody H E L L !
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I'm absolutely convinced that reflectors are totally the thing. The main problem with CFLs IMO is that people just stick them near the plants with no reflectors. 2/3 of the light energy wasted! Light that goes up is useless.
I'm making my own reflectors for the CFLs that I am using to supplement the HPS lamps. I can see the difference. It's not rocket science; just get some stiff card, use art glue (spray), and paste Mylar on each side. I wired mine on to the holder with a little steel wire.
 
Why bother with coating both sides of the cardboard with mylar? The only side you are concerned with is the side towards the bulb and the plant. You don't really care what the light hitting the outside/back of your reflector does.

I have used the same basic technique to build reflectors for the Home Depot/Lowes bare fixture without reflectors and saved over half of the price of buying a reflector fixture and have a higher reflection rate than the general lighting fixture any way. Also, I can "focus" my lights by changing the angle of the reflector and have NO cover/lens to absorb my light.
 
Yeah it works well doesn't it. I can hardly believe last grow I was using a huge heavy crude wooden board full of holders with about 150W of CFLs that fell on the plants after heavy rain and was all broken and a total mess. Gah, how embarrassing. And expensive. Like something out of Cheech & Chong.
I put mylar on top so that I can lower it below the HPS lamps if I want to, it will reflect the HPS light into the grow area. There was such a flood of useless white light coming up after I upped the array to 105 W that I just had to do something. Simple is best - and cheap!
 
I agree with you leafminer - reflectors are the way to go. You lose a lot of light just hanging the bulb by itself. I tell everyone who's just starting to grow with CFL's to buy reflectors with their lights. I tell them at least a dozen times not to skimp on the reflectors. To me, I feel they are essential if you're going with compact floros.
 

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