Is it ok for cfls to touch the walls?

[Stonerman]

I have a small grow box that I am planning on filling with CFLs. The walls are painted flat matte white. I was wondering if it is safe for the cfls to lay where they are actually touching the walls, or would this be a fire hazard?

Thanks!

 

[Roken]

As long as there cool bulb's you should be fine. If you are using the hot bulbs then this would definetly be a fire hazard. I would still try to keep them at leat an inch away from the wall just to be shure nothing funny happens while your away. The cool bulb fluorecents you can actually touch and it feels rather cool while there on. Keep us posted, Peace and Love!!!!
Roken.

 

[Stonerman]

As long as there cool bulb's you should be fine. If you are using the hot bulbs then this would definetly be a fire hazard. I would still try to keep them at leat an inch away from the wall just to be shure nothing funny happens while your away. The cool bulb fluorecents you can actually touch and it feels rather cool while there on. Keep us posted, Peace and Love!!!!
Roken.

Thanks! The CFLs I have are the curly bulbs that go into a regular light socket. They get kind of hot, but I can touch them and hold my fingers on them without getting burned. I will take your advice though, and try to keep them about an inch away from the wall.

 

[massproducer]

wow, i don't know about that. While Cfl's don't produce as much heat as HID's they still can get rather hot after continuous use. I would not advise using the bulb if it is going to touch anything, that sure sounds like a fire hazard to me

 

[That crazy vancouver guy]

here's the word... I've been doing electrical for a LONG time...

DO NOT LET ANY FIXTURE TOUCH ANYTHING OTHER THAN AIR... even close proximity is bad.

wanna burn yer house down over some pot plants???... I think not...

do not let anything touch any light... trust me.

don't be a fool and kill yourself or your family....

 

[MeNtAlPaTiEnT]

I was thinking about doing a test using CFL's and seeing how long it would take (if ever) to burn a cardbord box down with continuous contact with the bulb. Outdoors of course. Just to see... Maybe go a little further with a test box made of wood and flamable materials.

 

[Roken]

Yeah if there hot to the touch, i wouldnt use them. Anything can happen man and like the guys said "you dont want to kill your family just to grow some pot plants". I dont think you should risk the chance man, not worth it.
Roken.

 

[Stonerman]

I was thinking about doing a test using CFL's and seeing how long it would take (if ever) to burn a cardbord box down with continuous contact with the bulb. Outdoors of course. Just to see... Maybe go a little further with a test box made of wood and flamable materials.

That would be a good test to try, let me know how it goes.

 

[Stonerman]

Thanks for all the good advice everyone! I will make sure that the bulbs stay away from the walls. How far from the walls would you guys recomend? What I have is several of those clamp lights, which I took off the reflectors and added Y-adapters so each could have two bulbs. I was going to have one hang against each wall. Should I leave the reflectors on? The main reason I took them off is because they take up alot of room in my small box, and I can have alot more lights without them.

 

[White Widow]

Make sure your flat mate white paint is @ the very least not oil based, water based is better (latex).

Please keep the bulbs @ least 2 inches away from the walls to not burn the walls and/or have fumes be slowly leaking/fuming into your grow area.

Last but not least I would suggest a mogul socket/bulb. Maybe 1-200 Watt is all you might need instead of 3-4 regular bulbs. Plus you have more information on light bulbs when they are using mogul sockets, gives you info on spectrum, lumens etc... right on the box. Not the case on some smaller bulbs.

 

[Stonerman]

Make sure your flat mate white paint is @ the very least not oil based, water based is better (latex).

Please keep the bulbs @ least 2 inches away from the walls to not burn the walls and/or have fumes be slowly leaking/fuming into your grow area.

Last but not least I would suggest a mogul socket/bulb. Maybe 1-200 Watt is all you might need instead of 3-4 regular bulbs. Plus you have more information on light bulbs when they are using mogul sockets, gives you info on spectrum, lumens etc... right on the box. Not the case on some smaller bulbs.

Thanks! Yes, The paint is latex. Would Home Depot or Walmart carry a mogul socket and bulb? having just one fixture would definately make things easier. I originally wanted to use a small hps, but I was advised that it would probably be way too hot in my small box.

 

[White Widow]

Walmart, no. Home depot, maybe. Guaranteed ... Hydroponic store. I'm sorta lucky that way because I live just 2 blocks from a hydro store so I can walk up there anytime. If you want to order from online I've shopped at discount-hydro.com, they are fast reputable and have the bulbs as well.

Bear in mind that this bulb is great for cloning, moms, seedlings and vegetation phase of growing weed. I would not advise it for flowering. For flowering you can use a 3000k bulb cfl and you'll do just fine.

Hope this helps.

 

[BigTree420]

walmart has little metal ballasts for lights with a clip on em ...if u use them it'll keep the bulb from touching the box...im using them on one of my plants i had to bring indoor...take a look if u want its in my grow journal