I don't have a suggestion about the fixture but I love your namesake.

Brooke

Thanks, Brooke! At one point, I was Whitecat7 cuz there were two 2-leggeds and five 4-leggeds in the house, including Kerplunk, above, the most recent arrival at the time. When we got a 3rd dog, it became WC8. No way was I going to be Muddy-Colored Black and Brown Dog8. :) Despite subsequent fluctuation in the number of critters, the name's stayed put.

Kerplunk is the 'chid killing cat (not really; I just like alliteration). He only goes for grass-like leaves on orchids... and spikes. You think I'd learn not to leave plants vulnerable, but just last spring, he chomped off 3 of the 4 Hab radiata spikes when the pots were draining in the kitchen.

Kerplunk needs a smarter 2-legged. So do the orchids. :)

Hi WC. Being a City girl, I have no idea what brooder fixtures look like (are they for chickens?) Got a shot?

Jane

WC, the only really tasteful lighting solutions that I've seen are the ones that require some wall breaking and remodeling. It is a decorators dilemma, but I'm always on the lookout for this sort of thing. Right now my Ikea floor lamps are keeping me company :)

I am not sure if this will help you or not. I recently bought some decorative 19 watt - C30 CFL. It is a CFL that is enclosed in frosted plastic and glass globe. It is a 19 watt equal to a 75 watt bulb that produces 5100K full spectrum.
I had bought them to try in my greenhouse. The CFL are great but they have a vent hole and when the misters come on water gets in and they burn out.
These are $9.26 each. I don't think I can tell you were I got them on this forum. But if you email I will give you my source.
With the round glove you can just about put them in any kind of fixture.

WC8,

They are a litle pricey, but take a look at some of the CFL aquarium lights. I run a black @30" wide by 12" fixture with 2-65watt CFL's. These are the long thin double tubes as opposed to the spirals. I purchased mine as a build it yourself kit from ahsupply.com for about $150 4-5 years ago, although I'm not sure they sell the actual wooden enclosures any longer... Still using it too, although I've had to replace bulbs. BTW: It came with 55watt bulbs but the ballast can/is handling the 65watters.

Jeez, I don't even take the time to key in Whitecat8, let alone the MCBBD8 variant :-)

Bob

Here is a link that might be useful: Aquarium Lights

I'm too looking for something to use in my living room. So far I found a few possible choices that I think I can put behind my orchid table. Depends on the height of your shelf, these might work for you.

http://www.csnlighting.com/Kenroy-Home-30674ORB-LO4539.html?cv=

http://www.amazon.com/Ore-International-Arch-Floor-Lamp/dp/B0019CII6Q/ref=pd_cp_hi_2

The first site has several of this kind of lamps that arc in different directions. The prices are on the high side but they seem to be of good quality. The second one is a lot cheaper but looks more generic.

Thanks everyone.

Jane, here's a link to a picture of the size brooder light fixture I use - about 10" diameter at the wide end. I took off any of those guards that bow out from the opening - one less thing to tangle up the orchids.

(The fixtures themselves are usually called brooder lights. Yep, they're for baby chickens, plus baby quail, baby turkeys, etc., but those arenâÂÂt the right names.)

Ron, thanks for the good suggestion. For 2 years, Phals in the middle of the room bloomed under a brooder light with a 42W CFL. A few months ago, I hung 3 of those above all the orchids in the orchid room. Even the âÂÂnon-blooming varietiesâ are loving it.

Bob, yeah, the orchids have spent all their allowance, so no $150 purchase, but thanks for the good alternative. That's funny about MCBBD8. Case in point why I didn't start using it.

forapple, thanks for linking to the nice-looking lamps. For the crush lamp, I didn't find info about the highest wattage bulb possible, but could have missed it. Then there's that $$ thing.

For the arc lamp on Amazon, one reviewer said it takes only 40W incandescent candelabra bulbs.

Now that IâÂÂve nixed all your thoughtful suggestions :)... y'all's ideas have given me one - clamp-on light fixtures that will take 42W CFLs, if they exist. They could clamp to the sides of the shelves. The living room would look even better cuz the floor lamps would be gone. And DH would be happier - yea.

Thanks bunches! WC8

Here is a link that might be useful: Brooder light

That looks like the shop lights I have from HD, minus the wire. I still use those plus the octopus lamps.

Jane

WC8, I added those links to my favorite list a while back and forgot the details. Yeah, the Amazon one doesn't work but the crush lamp can take up to 100W and the shade is 9" in diameter. This is the only one that I found that could take 100W. I also thought about the clamp-on lights but I thought you wouldn't like them as they are not as attractive. Most of them take up to 60W so I think you should be OK to use with 42W CFL but the dimension is the problem. If you do find something that works, please keep us posted. At least I might be able to use your idea too :)

Apple

Jane - that's funny. "Shop lights" to me are the long, rectangular fixtures, usually white, that take T5s, T8s, and T12s. Who knew?

forapple, the lamps you mentioned above sent me on a nice afternoon researching LED lights and the costs, compared to fluorescent tubes. Bigger upfront cost, as you can imagine, and from 29%-40% in savings over the 16 years used in this one study - supposedly the lifespan of these LEDs when used in office buildings. I'll start another thread soon.

Yes, for the clamp-on lamps, I'll see if any of the specialty bulb & fixture places have them large enough for my 42W bulbs. If they're out there, I'll post links here.

Hope I have the correct forum/place for my light question (Whtecat7). I want to use a flexible, gooseneck floor lamp with CFL light. Anyone have suggestion. Don't want the octopus as I don't have room. Want something rather unobtrusive looking. How many orchid (Phal) would one lamp take care of? Just beginning. I've seen one on Amazon that comes w/27 watt CFL. Doesn't say if that's the max. wattage u can use. Guess I should find out?

Lin

hmmmm. You guys are talking about 45W CFL. I'm thinking that would be too much for my few Phals. From what I'm reading on an old forum on Garden Web, 27W should be enough. I'm only guessing I'm on the right track here.
Thanks, Lin

Lin, my suggestion is to start a new thread with your question in the title, esp. because it's different from this topic. WC8