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CFL Club!

st1cky1cky

New member
could you show some pictures on what you mean i am not really experienced with electricity so i dont know all the terms, note i am from europe
 

DemonPigeon

Member
Veteran
For a start... Don't strip the wires that far down!

electrical tape wasn't designed to insulate wires like that... not in that length of exposed livewire...

And yeah, don't try to split the wires like that.

Get a store bought extension cable, hang that in you cabinet and wire up ONE bulb to each plug.

picture.php
 

al70

Active member
Veteran
hi guys, i'm pretty new to the game, i'm currently running 300 watt cfl closet grow, i'm gonna upgrade to an 8x4 tent soon, my question is this, will I get the same results with 1200 watt cfl's as I would from 1200 watt hps ? and will 1200 watt cfl's use the same amount of electricity as the 1200 hps ? i'm in the uk, my electric company charges me 16p per kwh, cheers guys.
 

DemonPigeon

Member
Veteran
Man,, I hate to say it, but that definitely looks like a fire hazard... Get some extension cords, they're cheap, cut off the female end and then only strip off as much insulation as it takes to make a proper seat in the receptacle, then get a multi-outlet strip and plug into that... best of luck!!!


I hope we replied quick enough, lol, if sticky never makes a third post I'll assume he just plugged it in as it was ;)
 

DemonPigeon

Member
Veteran
hi guys, i'm pretty new to the game, i'm currently running 300 watt cfl closet grow, i'm gonna upgrade to an 8x4 tent soon, my question is this, will I get the same results with 1200 watt cfl's as I would from 1200 watt hps ? and will 1200 watt cfl's use the same amount of electricity as the 1200 hps ? i'm in the uk, my electric company charges me 16p per kwh, cheers guys.

You will get different results - but that doesn't mean one is definitively better, if you use some of that wattage wisely then small CFLs can be hung all around the plant, (look at my cabinet set up) the small ones won't burn the plant unless you basically let the plant touch them, if you want to use just HPS you'll need to keep the hps more distant than a CFL. You also can't hang mini HPS around your plants, you could always use a mix.

Wattage is your electric use not light intensity, I'd check out the lumen rating of your stuff, even household CFL's can give you a lot of lumens for very low wattage, around 12Watts can give as much as 1000 lumens in a decent light spectrum (don't try to use hallogen household bulbs, they'll just burn your plants) remember to check the lumen output because in those small bulbs it can range a huge amount for example: 600 lm (lumens) vs 1000 lm for the same 12 watts.

You should also look at lumen output for the proffesional grow bulbs, I think CFL will give you more output at a cooler heat and remember that the closer they can get without burning the plant the more energy the plant can get from the bulb.

but really you need to find someone who can tell you about light wavelengths I've read that can really impact the plants growth, I've always read that if you want the best results (and you aren't using CFLs :p lol) that you should Veg under Metal halide (which is more blue), then flower under HPS (which is "Golden Yellow", like sodium streetlamps).

1200 watts - 1.2 kw = 19.2p per hour, (I think?)
 

al70

Active member
Veteran
You will get different results - but that doesn't mean one is definitively better, if you use some of that wattage wisely then small CFLs can be hung all around the plant, (look at my cabinet set up) the small ones won't burn the plant unless you basically let the plant touch them, if you want to use just HPS you'll need to keep the hps more distant than a CFL. You also can't hang mini HPS around your plants, you could always use a mix.

Wattage is your electric use not light intensity, I'd check out the lumen rating of your stuff, even household CFL's can give you a lot of lumens for very low wattage, around 12Watts can give as much as 1000 lumens in a decent light spectrum (don't try to use hallogen household bulbs, they'll just burn your plants) remember to check the lumen output because in those small bulbs it can range a huge amount for example: 600 lm (lumens) vs 1000 lm for the same 12 watts.

You should also look at lumen output for the proffesional grow bulbs, I think CFL will give you more output at a cooler heat and remember that the closer they can get without burning the plant the more energy the plant can get from the bulb.

but really you need to find someone who can tell you about light wavelengths I've read that can really impact the plants growth, I've always read that if you want the best results (and you aren't using CFLs :p lol) that you should Veg under Metal halide (which is more blue), then flower under HPS (which is "Golden Yellow", like sodium streetlamps).

1200 watts - 1.2 kw = 19.2p per hour, (I think?)
my power company charges me 16p English money(I live in n.i.) per kwh, my math is pretty bad, I can't work it out per 24hr,lol
 

DemonPigeon

Member
Veteran
so it's not wattage I need ,, it's lumens,,

You need to get good lumen output for the amount of watts you use, if you need help with the maths then show me your options and I can help.

1200 W would be 19.2p X lighting hours

I'm not sure what lighting hous you use, if it's not one of these then let me know, So:
20 hours of light £3.84 per day
18 hours of light £3.47 per day (actually it should be £3.46.6)
12 hours of light £2.30 per day (actually £2.30.4)
10 hours of light £1.92 per day

oh and if you tell me how many weeks you use for veg and flower I can work out the total cost
 

st1cky1cky

New member
For a start... Don't strip the wires that far down!

electrical tape wasn't designed to insulate wires like that... not in that length of exposed livewire...

And yeah, don't try to split the wires like that.

Get a store bought extension cable, hang that in you cabinet and wire up ONE bulb to each plug.

View Image
hey man thanks for the information but i was trying to avoid having one bulb at each plug, than i would need to plug the extension cord with the bulbs to a timer and the timer to another extension cord, just seems a whole lot of work and money better spent elsewhere

http://www.emvetron.si/image/44.jpg could i do something with this?
 

DemonPigeon

Member
Veteran
I don't know if that'd be the best idea, certainly I'd not want you to hang bulbs from it by stripped wires, or even the internal wires without a proper protective layer, if you do you'll need some kind of support or something to hold the bulbs up. Certainly DON'T do that if you're planning on using big bulbs.

*Edit: just realised that it's Al who is using a 1200 watts, not you lol!*

Also - Please don't try to run 1200 watts from one socket, apparently the peak capacity is ~1500 watts, but you shouldn't run at/near peak for hours and hours, I ran my set up from one socket but I usually keep to just a few hundred watts, sometimes less than 100 watts for a small space.

A friend who uses bulbs like me went with:
~100w of bulbs -> multisocket extension cable (cost under £10 it's not a massive expense) -> timer
but his cab was right next to his plug, he wasn't using much wattage and he hung all his bulbs together.

I always try to split mine up to light the cabinet better so I usually have:

bulbs -> multisocket cables -> multisocket extension cable -> timer

And I've always thought electrical safety is a more important thing than yield, but I don't speak for everyone I'm sure lol
some people wire around electric meters afterall
 

al70

Active member
Veteran
You need to get good lumen output for the amount of watts you use, if you need help with the maths then show me your options and I can help.

1200 W would be 19.2p X lighting hours

I'm not sure what lighting hous you use, if it's not one of these then let me know, So:
20 hours of light £3.84 per day
18 hours of light £3.47 per day (actually it should be £3.46.6)
12 hours of light £2.30 per day (actually £2.30.4)
10 hours of light £1.92 per day

oh and if you tell me how many weeks you use for veg and flower I can work out the total cost
I got it demon, thanks a lot
 

dociron

Active member
@ Sticky,,, I honestly don't think so,,, the connectors you showed,, have some promise though, just remember to only trim off just enough insulation as you need... run a main line and "branch off' from it and that should work for your mounting method.. best of luck!!:wave:
 
I just partially finished (I harvested one plant today, will do the other Monday or so) my first grow, under all fluoros. Not all CFLs, but all fluoros... (4T8s, 2T12s, 4 23wCFLs), and I think it turned out great! I had tiny plants... I probably should have vegged for longer... but for how cheapy the grow was, I was pretty happy with the yield on the one plant so far. She was about a foot tall (seriously... she was NOT more than 13"), and yielded 60 grams wet. Yeah, I know that isn't awesome for most, but I figure it'll be, what... about 15 grams dry? I go through a gram in like 3 weeks, so it'll last me quite some time! The other plant probably won't yield quite as much, even though she is a little taller (18"). She doesn't look quite as dense. Who knows, though? I will find out on Monday or so :D So, it definitely can be done!
 

dociron

Active member
:woohoo:
I just partially finished (I harvested one plant today, will do the other Monday or so) my first grow, under all fluoros. Not all CFLs, but all fluoros... (4T8s, 2T12s, 4 23wCFLs), and I think it turned out great! I had tiny plants... I probably should have vegged for longer... but for how cheapy the grow was, I was pretty happy with the yield on the one plant so far. She was about a foot tall (seriously... she was NOT more than 13"), and yielded 60 grams wet. Yeah, I know that isn't awesome for most, but I figure it'll be, what... about 15 grams dry? I go through a gram in like 3 weeks, so it'll last me quite some time! The other plant probably won't yield quite as much, even though she is a little taller (18"). She doesn't look quite as dense. Who knows, though? I will find out on Monday or so :D So, it definitely can be done!

Sounds pretty awesome!!! You got the 'Budsicle" concept down perfectly with that one,, keep doing the same thing to more of the same cut and you've got an endless supply!! :dance013:
 

iamoni

Member
What do you think about 3000K CFL lights?

What do you think about 3000K CFL lights?

I have a 3000K cfl pumping out 2375 lumens lying around. I am thinking of including it in my grow. Since we recommend the use of 2700K cfl or sometimes around 2200K on the color spectrum, what could be the implication if I add this 3000K bulb?
 
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