If you are buying CFLs, it is cheaper to buy many lower wattage than few larger.
At 1000bulbs.com a 55 watt CFL costs $16 each and offers 3600 lumens so you'll need five to get 18,000 (I know, it's more than 16,000) lumens and ideally you will need one set for veg and another for bloom. That's $160 before you even buy the sockets and/or reflectors. I have found clip on, plug in reflectors suitable for CFL for about $5 each. So that's another $25 dollars. So for a complete set of CFLs for veg and bloom you will end up spending $185 plus you will need to buy replacement bulbs every year, more or less.
The 23 watt bulbs that everyone seems to use cost $2.70 each at the same site but give off 1600 lumens so you will need 10 to reach 16,000 lumens at a cost of $27. So for a full set of veg and bloom, you would spend $54 but you'll need twice as many sockets/reflectors so that is another $50. So that is a total of $104 to reach 16,000 lumens and again, you'll need to replace your bulbs every year.
You can buy a 150 watt HPS which gives off 16,000 lumens for $95 at htgsupply.com. You'll need a flange ($7 at the same site) and duct (about $20 at most hardware stores). for a total of $122. However, you'll only need to replace one bulb each year for $10.
55 watt CFL set up: $185 plus $160 per year in replacement bulbs.
23 watt CFL set up: $104 plus $54 per year in replacement bulbs
150 HPS set up: $122 plus $10 per year in replacement bulb.
Now I know you can buy CFLs in smaller quantities and can make do with a mix of spectrums so you don't have to buy 2 full sets and you can probably shop around to find lower prices on everything here, and many of you can find things around your house such as sockets, reflectors and even bulbs, but this is a pretty good example of the over all costs of CFLs v. HPS. Sure for many of you, cost isnt' the only factor in going with CFLs, but I just wanted to show that CFLs are not really that much cheaper in the end!
Hope this is useful to someone! I will add the price of t-5s soon as well.
At 1000bulbs.com a 55 watt CFL costs $16 each and offers 3600 lumens so you'll need five to get 18,000 (I know, it's more than 16,000) lumens and ideally you will need one set for veg and another for bloom. That's $160 before you even buy the sockets and/or reflectors. I have found clip on, plug in reflectors suitable for CFL for about $5 each. So that's another $25 dollars. So for a complete set of CFLs for veg and bloom you will end up spending $185 plus you will need to buy replacement bulbs every year, more or less.
The 23 watt bulbs that everyone seems to use cost $2.70 each at the same site but give off 1600 lumens so you will need 10 to reach 16,000 lumens at a cost of $27. So for a full set of veg and bloom, you would spend $54 but you'll need twice as many sockets/reflectors so that is another $50. So that is a total of $104 to reach 16,000 lumens and again, you'll need to replace your bulbs every year.
You can buy a 150 watt HPS which gives off 16,000 lumens for $95 at htgsupply.com. You'll need a flange ($7 at the same site) and duct (about $20 at most hardware stores). for a total of $122. However, you'll only need to replace one bulb each year for $10.
55 watt CFL set up: $185 plus $160 per year in replacement bulbs.
23 watt CFL set up: $104 plus $54 per year in replacement bulbs
150 HPS set up: $122 plus $10 per year in replacement bulb.
Now I know you can buy CFLs in smaller quantities and can make do with a mix of spectrums so you don't have to buy 2 full sets and you can probably shop around to find lower prices on everything here, and many of you can find things around your house such as sockets, reflectors and even bulbs, but this is a pretty good example of the over all costs of CFLs v. HPS. Sure for many of you, cost isnt' the only factor in going with CFLs, but I just wanted to show that CFLs are not really that much cheaper in the end!
Hope this is useful to someone! I will add the price of t-5s soon as well.
