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Fluorecent light life

Does anyone know how long T8 fluorecent lights would last before I would have to swap them out to maintain light intensity and quality? They are on for about 15 hours a day. I know that i will have to replace them a while before they die to be useful to my plants, but how soon?
 
I have been told the every 6 months is best. I do it about every year as I buy the higher end grow bulbs. With my reptiles I have to replace my bulbs every 6-12 months.
 
I think a good rule of thumb is once a year. They start losing a lot of intensity if left in for very long.
 
I'm cheap, I don't replace mine until they fail to light at all.
 
only been in this for 7 months, haven't changed em yet, yay, another expense (note the sarcasm..heu heu ;) )
 
Joseph has to be cheap because he burns like 8 tubes over each flat, LOL, same as I used to, so he can get away with it. I pretty much would let mine fail, but it isn't so critical if you have a lot of them as when you have few or one since all are maturing at a different rate. I believe and may be wrong that studies said 8 months for optimal spectrum.

Always best to incorporate some real sunlight too, even if only partial, whenever possible.

Cheers!
 
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