I, too, use a 125W CFL for extra lighting, but mine is horizontal in a
reflector. It;s too much for phals at a distance of 18", which easily
covers the 4' x 5' area I had it lighting.

The first lasted well over a year before the ballast started smoldering....

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info!


wrote in message
...
Here is a bit of what I have seen on the 200W CFL bulbs
The first one I ever ordered came broke right out of the box. The
spacers that are glued at the top of the tubes had come loose and the
bulb was cracked at the base. The replacement for it lasted about
three weeks then just did not light at all. I have had one other just
give up with less than 100hrs on it. And of course I have broken two
of them myself moving them around (one of them by putting it in a
fixture and one by it slipping in my hand and I tightened my grip and
it just snapped) The 200W are very fragile. I have 4 of the 200 watt
bulbs that have been running 18-20hr a day (two in fixtures and two
hanging in between rowes of shelving) a good bit over two years and
they still put out resonable lummes.
I prefer to use the next wattage down (the 125watt) because...
They are cheaper, put two together and you have more light at less
cost, less fragile, standard base socket and did I mention less
fragile?
I use them just hanging vertically from a socket on a cord.
Also the 200W runs pretty hot (not like the MH or HPS but still they
are hot) My personall opinion and unfounded non scientific reseach
says they run hotter than a 48" 4 tube light and if you have pots
above them they will dry them out in a hurry.
Again this is just my personal research and opinion, yours will very.

On 14 Sep 2007 19:09:19 GMT, ?
wrote:

On Thu, 13 Sep 2007 14:28:49 -0700 in
.com
wrote:

[SNEEP]


I did something similar to what Gene suggested.
I took 4 48" T12 tube flourescent fixtures intended for use with suspended
ceilings and converted them to corded "shop lights".
(Because someone local was selling those fixtures for less than
the $7 2 tube shop light at Lowes).
I then hung those from the 48"x18"x72" 5 shelf wire shelves.

All in all it was a few power tool replacement cords, half a bag
of wire nuts, several bags of S hooks, a box of bandaids, and some
swearing while drilling holes for S hooks and getting to the ballasts
to hook up the power cords.

I screwed up grounding on one fixture and managed to buzz myself
with it after I moved.
If I were to do it again I would have done two things different.
1) Weld washers at the right locations for use with the S hooks.
2) Plug the lights into a GFCI power strip.

I do keep looking at one actual grow light fixture for the orchids
my wife keeps in the dining room. That would be something like
item 105072 from farmtek (Hanging Full Spectrum Light w/ 200W CFL).

If you have a clue about working with electrical fixtures
the "troffer" lights are the way to go. Look for job sites where
they are upgrading the lighting system to smaller diameter tubes.