When I'm a bit cold and miserable I just look at my "indoor garden" for
a
bit, which sports a horrifically energy-guzzling daylight lamp. My
indoor
plants are happier than I am at this time of year!

Andrew, what lamp?
How much power?
How high above the bench
What area for the bench?

I actually have 2 x 250W "Eco-lite" daylight lamps, one fitted with a metal
halide bulb, one fitted with a sodium bulb. The two bulbs between them give
full-spectrum daylight, from the springtime-like metal halide (strong in
blue and violet end of spectrum, good for plant growth) to the autumn-like
sodium (strong in yellow and red end of spectrum, good for stimulating
fruiting).

The lights are hung above a shelf which is about 4' long and about a foot
wide. They hang about 3' above the shelf, which is necessary to avoid
scorching the plants. The shelf has a bit of plywood about 4" high nailed to
the front, and I've lined the resulting trough with a black plastic sheet to
make a water-trough, which is handy because it means you can leave the
plants for a few days without them drying out. The heat from the lamps tends
to encourage transpiration.

I've grown all sorts of things under them including herbs of all
descriptions and chillis, all year round, although they aren't normally
required in the summer, except for "specialist" herbs - South-facing window
sills will do just fine in the summer! The lamps are great for starting off
stuff for outside in the spring - I don't have a greenhouse. I haven't found
anything yet that didn't love it under these lamps - they go like billy-o.

I sometimes spend hours fiddling about with the plants on my shelf in the
winter - I can actually feel the strong heat and light cheering me up! The
plants love it - they don't even realise it's winter-time. I have the lights
on about 12 hours a day, so the plants get full-spectrum sunlight at the
equivalent of a spring/autumn equinox, which doubles as a growing/fruiting
season with the 2 different kinds of bulbs.

I must admit, my shelf is a huge luxury. I'm very keen on energy efficiency
etc (house completely kitted out with CFLs etc) but the daylight lamps are a
really special thing. I switch them off in the summer if I'm not using them,
they get very hot.

Andrew