Changing from T8s to big honkin' cfls?

16 years ago

Apologies if this is in a recent e-mail about lights - if you could name the thread, I'll go there.

Otherwise, here's the deal. I've got 2 shelves w/ two 48" T8s above each shelf - not the 4 bulbs above each that often are recommended. Lights are on 16 hours a day, year-round.

Two supplemental growing areas have one cfl each in one of those round, bright gray metal (ugly) clamp fixtures. The GE bulbs are labeled 120V, 60Hz, 42W.

Natural light comes from a 5'x5' E/SE window w/ no obstructions.

Most everything blooms once a year - Phals, Phrags, Paphs and numerous "intermediate" light plants. However, my buddy w/ Halogen track lights has some of the same plants blooming twice a year.

Then, Clara, you said that you'd gotten stronger cfls from an online site, thanks to Howard, and I didn't save the info and have no idea which thread it was in.

Cfls are more appealing for a number of reasons. Vandas don't send me, but it'd be nice to grow plants that need a bit more light - some of the angs, for example.

Questions:

1. What size bulbs should I consider?

2. How far from the plants do the stronger cfls need to be, compared to two T8s?

3. What kind of fixtures do they go in?

4. How many bulbs would you need for a shelf that's 72"x24"? Almost 60" of the top shelf are in front of that E/SE window. Plants on the bottom shelf get some direct sun but hardly as much.

5. How long should they be on each day, and should the length of time vary by time of year?

6. Will these bulbs increase chances that plants will bloom twice or more a year, if the plant's prone to it anyway?

7. What questions am I not asking?

Excited, Whitecat8

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Comments (3)

bob123how
16 years ago
1. I believe the light is the ultra mega coil 85 watt actual usage CFL at 5000k. I don't know where one gets it online, as there is a store specializing in lightbulbs here in Austin. There's a specialty store for everything here in Austin.

Additionally, I have had good results with the 42 w at 5100k and the 40 w at 3000k. They are less expensive too.

2. I haven't used T8's, but my lights hang no more than 8 inches from the tops of the plants.

3. The 40 and 42 watt can go in any standard 60 watt lamp/light fixture. For the 85 watt I had to get a 125 watt clamp light socket.

4. I don't know. But here's some food for thought... Tubes put out their light over the length of the bulb (2-4 ft) with the brightest light being in the middle. CFL's concentrate all the light into a much smaller area. You get more light per "quadrant", but the "quadrants" are smaller, and thus more numerous.

5. Mine are on for 16 hrs/day now and will eventually be down to 12 when the solstice rolls around.

6. I don't know, but I'd imagine if the plant is prone to it, and it's getting more light, and growths mature faster, then yes.

7. Heat. While CFL's don't create that much heat relative to other bulbs, the bulbs will be hot to the touch and plants will burn if they even brush against them. I burned the pants off a mottled leaf paph under a 40 and 42 w about 4 inches away. Consider an oscillating fan blowing on the lights 24/7 too cool them and for better air circulation.

Hope this helps
Bob
claritamaria
16 years ago
WC
My new windows are here and being installed... orchids, lights, thangs all over the place, but I'll have bigger windows!

http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page/001/CTGY/CompactFluorescent

the 42's are 14.00. click the 42 and you will see the option for the 5000k rating
I also get the 85's there. They are very nice and ship fast. Once you try them you'll have another obsession on your hands! Sorry to make this brief.

Clara
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John - Several of us are downsizing. It's funny - the ideal number of plants seems to be around 65. Last month, I went from 108 to 90, heading for 65. Mine are a pain to water. What happened to that 25% - or do you want to say? :) (Kevin got ribbed royally recently by Howard for tossing some of his in the trash.) If you're at the point of replacing T8s or another type tube, or going CFL, the current thread, "Hey, Clara - What lights did you get?" has a couple of posts that may provide a quick tutorial. Summary - CFL good; tubes bad re: amount of light for plants, amount of energy consumed, and amount of utility bill. Additionally, the CFLs provide heat which can cut/eliminate the need for a space heater, if you have enough of them in an enclosed space. (Hope I'm doing justice to the thread.) Last year, I got 2 42W CFLs, along w/ "brooder clamp lights" from HD. They're those round, shiny metal, ugly clamp-on things, but the 10.5" fixtures are the perfect size for the 42W CFLs. A side note - from hours on the Web and phone, I've concluded that's the largest brooder light made. An inexpensive fixture for 85W doesn't seem to exist, unless you want to find parts here and there. Anyway, last winter, I had one 42W bulb over Phals, Phrags, and Paphs. They were about 6' away from the window. Everything rebloomed. Caveat - they were all outside the summer before. So - before you buy more tubes, CFLs are sure worth checking out. 1000Bulbs.com seems to have the best prices. Whitecat8
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My lights are a different brand, I think they are Juno. I hoped most worked the same way. I did do a search on your lights. Most of the trims available for them do say they have dual position socket supports and the diagram seems to indicate one position makes the bulb sit up higher in the can. So, making sure yours are set so that the bulb sits as high as possible in the can might be all you need to do. You can purchase new trims for yours and some might make the bulbs sit up higher in the can. Try the link below and click on the spec sheets for some of the different ones. If they were installed recently, and you told your electrician you wanted to use the CFLs he might have installed the wrong trims. If they are lights that were already there and you just wanted to change the bulbs, that might be where the problem is. If changing the position of the trims you have now doesn't do it, you could try replacing one of the trims with one that might allow the bulb to sit even higher up. You might have to talk to a lighting store or electrician who is familiar with your lights, though, to see if that would do it and make sure you get the correct one. I will keep my fingers crossed, because it would certainly be preferable to just change the position of the ones you have now. But at least if that doesn't do it, the new trims might be a solution much cheaper than new lights or higher electric bills. :) Let us know how you make out. The High Coilex baffle trim looks especially promising. Sue Here is a link that might be useful: Halo H5T
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salvialvr
16 years ago
WC,
I'm not sure exactly how big you are looking for but Farmtek has a lot to choose from including some that go all the way up to 200W actuall usage which I picturing as near to the light blast from an atomic detonation. Actually they have a lot of the big stuff cause they supply to a lot of commercial greenhouses etc. here's the link:

Here is a link that might be useful: FarmTek link

Changing from T8s to big honkin' cfls?

Comments (3)

bob123how

claritamaria

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