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Compact flourecents

  • #21
I got my Fluorex on eBay.

So returning it may be a issue.  I'll try.

For now I got those two warm 23 watts on it.  Costed me only 20 buks for a temporary setup which I plan on using for my plants in the garage during hibernation.

Is 2 hours of warm light better than 2 hours of blue light? Since I'm hibernating VFT's and Sarrs isn't the light in NC and SC more red in the winter?
 
  • #23
Usually the higher wattage and brighter lamps will be mogul but not always.

Tony, are the Flourex better quality light than Regent or did you mean in general than incandescent or tube?

Goodluck with the return.

BTW I can touch my lamp and it isn't even warm to the touch. Even after well..............It's on 24hrs a day, still not hot, though running like this will cause me to have to replace the bulbs more frequently.

Joe
 
  • #24
Leslie - the bulbs you found at goodmart.com look nice to me. Not quite as high in wattage as the 65w but the 6500k is ideal. Those bulbs will work in any screw in fixture that will hold an incandescent bulb. The difference is that the ballast is built into the base of the bulb whereas the Regent and Fluorex fixture the ballast is in the unit and not the bulb. The dissadvantage with the first setup is that you pay for a new ballast with every bulb so costs tend to be a little higher in the long run.

Personally I wouldn't use warm or soft white. During dormancy the plants don't need or want more red. A 6500k bulb puts out plenty of red for the plants need as well as a high portion of blue which is what the plant needs to maintain optimum photosynthesis, even during dormancy.

Joe - the fluorex and regent are essentually the same. They use the same bulb as far as I can tell. I have heard the regent is higher quality and less prone to stop working but I have not used either personally so can only go on what others are saying. Generally speaking.. just about any consumer fluorescent is better than any consumer incandescent. If I had no other option I would even use soft/warm fluorescent before an incandescent.. even the so called plant type incandescent. The inherent nature of the heat produced by incandescent makes them unsuitable for plants. It is impossible to produce enough light for the plant and to illuminate them properly without roasting the plant.
Tony
 
  • #25
Thanks Tony.

I'm going to give my father my warm CF's I just bought to replace some house incandasents of higher wattage. It will save electricity and make up for the extra wattage I'm using now for my plants.
smile.gif


I'm off to find a better light again.
smile.gif
 
  • #26
Incandescents don't produce much important light either, do they?

I used to use a light by ZooMed called 'Power Sun' that was a 100wtt MH that had a ballast in the bulb. It was an incandescent that had a Phosphur layer on the in or outside (?) and it was great for igaunas and such wich need the good light for optimal growth and digestion but quite abit on the warm side for plants. In an enclosed 4'x6'x4' it would get to 115-120degF on the general.

Joe
 
  • #27
Well I got a new lamp and my Fluorex finally setup.
I used a neat method to hang the light inside the 10 Gallon tank.

Right now I am getting alot of lumens and 6500K colored light in my small square foot area.
smile.gif
 
  • #28
So is warm white light okay, or does it have a negative affect like soft warm light? I went to Home Depot today and grabbed a 100 watt flourescent, but there's were the only two types of bulbs they had.
 
  • #29
Its better than incandescent, but not as good as comp. flour. I have heard of a few people using 1 warm white and 1 cool white to get a better spectrum. They'll need to be as close to the plants as possible though. Every inch loses alot of valuable light.

Joe
 
  • #30
I have my Fluorex without the heatsheild about 2 inches from the top of my plants.  I hope they do well.
It's 6500K color and lotsa lumens.  
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Fygee, I would get a Fluorex at Home Depot. It costs 35 buks there and is a good spectrum.
 
  • #31
Went to Home Depot. They had no Flourex, and the closest thing I could get to compact flourescent listed here was a Phillips with the Daylight Spectrum. Its 6500k, but its only equivilant to a 75 watt incandescent, and they had no higher ones.

They probably had some better ones that are in tube form, but I don't have a tube lamp and those won't work with my round terrarium.
 
  • #32
Did you check in the outdoor light fixtures? The Fluorex is a whole fixture designed for outdoor security lighting. Looks like a horizontal rectangular box with a transparent shield over the front.

Tony
 
  • #33
Yep, gotta look in the outdoor lighting fixtures. Actually I believe the Regent is a streetlamp of sorts.

Joe
 
  • #34
Yes, it's labled under a Lights Of America Brand.

It should be by the driveway lights and spotlights that turn on with motion etc..
 
  • #35
Ahhhhhhh, one of those.

Yeah, I don't think I want something as powerful as a street or parking lot light in my room. :p
 
  • #36
It's 65 watts and pretty bright.

I'm gonna tint the front of my terrarium with autoglass so the light isn't as bright.

But then again, most lower powered lights won't do as well as this one.

---------------------

For 25 buks you can get this flourescent shop light. It's got two 13 watt 6500K bulbs in them. It has a yellow handle and is a shoplight, the kind you can carry around and use under the car etc...
It also comes in a single tube model for 20 buks. They are small and less bright but the right spectrum.
 
  • #39
-_- compact flo. lights are good?

if i knew that, i wouldn't have spent the hundreds of bucks on shop lights for my growing environments and terrariums.

and they fit in regular bulb outlets and bust out 75watts of flo. light? goodness.
 
  • #40
The Flourex bulb that I have does not fit in standard socket. The electrical ballast is inside the reflector.

But I did find a site that had bulbs that had all different colors with ballasts built in. They run about 12-16 buks for a bulb and they went to about 50 watts I think. Here's the link again.

Goodmart CF page.
 
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