Hey diggy this is exactly the post I need some info on. I am running a 12 lamp T5 HO fixture which is pushing 60,000.00 lumens of light. Basically same lamp as hemp goddess is speaking of but a total of 12. I was told by a lighting engineer that a 1000watt hid fixture will degrade 30% within the first quarter of a year. Which in his explanation was the output of a 400 hid fixture. He said in reality after the first 3 months, the 1000watt was equal to 600watt luminus efficiency. They say, always replace your hid lamps after 1 year. Also from our conversation he said light and ballast manufactures dont factor in the fact that the ballast have so much heat that the ballast itself will degrade in output voltage which conversley causes permature lamp burn. I keep looking at all the hids and decided to go with this 12 lamp t5. Everyone still seems to lean towards the hid, HPS for flowering. I dont have enough info as of yet to let anyone know how the 12 lamp t5 will do for the flowering state. I think I read from one of hemp goddess posts she likes to push out 5000 lumeneres per square foot. I am only at 3750 lumeneres per sq ft, I have 4x4 tent,= 16 square foot. I am not sure if my 3750 can do the trick or not. I will add look out in the near future for the T5 VHO ballast and lamps they will emit out 90 watts and I belive it was 7000 or 8000 lumeners per lamp.