Gene Schurg ) wrote:
: News,
: Aesthetics are a tough challenge for most light systems. After all plant
: lights don't lend themselves for mood lighting.
: The four feet long shelving units are the perfect length for two standard
: shop lights that happen to be 4 feet long. They can hang from chains from
: the shelf above. This type of lighting is perfect for Phals, Paphs, and
: Phrags. You would have difficulty blooming higher light plants with this
: type of lighting unless you have some natural light to suppliment the setup.
: If you wanted a "brighter" light you could move to Metal Halide. These
: units are very bright. A 400W unit would light a plant area of about 4 x 4
: feet with the light 4 feet above the plants. The problem is that they
: generate a lot of heat and might be a bit difficult to live with in an
: apartment.
MH is as efficient (or marginally more efficient) *per Watt* as fluorescent
lighting. MH seems hotter since you are typically working with higher
wattages in the first place and because flourscent bulbs are longer and
spread the heat over a greater area.
You could step up to VHO lighting too. It has the advantage of distributing
the light better due to the length of the bulb. MH is more of a point source
and suffers from small areas of peak intensity that fall off rather rapidly
as you radiate outward. OTOH, some MH bulbs (e.g. the Iwasaki 400W 65K)
have a demonstrated longer useful lifetime than other bulbs. For example,
after a year's usage the Iwasaki bulb output has typically only declined 5%
or so. In comparison, VHO bulbs have a typical usable life span of 9-12
months.
Another candidate would be any of the many CF systems that are available. If
you're inclined to DIY then there is a type of CF bulb with the brand name
Fluorex that comes in a 65W size and a 65K color temperature (i.e. lots of
PAR). They are sold for use outdoors and places like Home Depot carry the
bulb and fixtures.
For sources of different lighting systems check the various suppliers for
the reef aquarium hobby such as:
www.sunlightsupply.com Sunlight Supply Inc.
http://www.ahsupply.com Aquarium Hobby Supply
http://www.aone.com/~pfolight/aquarium.htm PFO Lighting
http://www.premiumaquatics.com Premium Aquatics
http://www.aquaticlight.com A.L.S - Aquatic Lighting Systems
http://www.championlighting.com Champion
Dave