Lights, what's the best deal for lumens?

[pot2010]

I need help deciding if I should go with the 42w cfl's or the 85w. My grow box is 7ft high x 3ft wide x 2ft long. I will be growing 6 plants. I've listed the cost/how many i need/total lumens for each spectrum and a grand total of cost and lumens for 85w and 42w.

85w
-------------------------
2700k/6- 89.34$ 34,800Lumens
5000k/2- 29.78$ 11,600Lumens
6500k/6- 118.02$ 25,200Lumens
Total lumens - 71,600
Total cost - 237.14$

42w
-------------------------
2700k/6- 17.76$ 16,800Lumens
5000k/2- 21.54$ 5,300Lumens
6500k/6- 64.74$ 16,800Lumens
Total lumens - 38,900
Total cost - 104.04$

Obviously the more lumens the better but would 38,900 lumens be enough for 6 plants in my space?

All prices are listed from 1000bulbs.com, if anyone knows a cheaper place please share!

 

[raiderdave]

man i would just get an $164.95 HTGSupply Ultimate 400w HPS & MH Grow Light for that price you cant beat it..but its your call

 

[pot2010]

Well I would go with a hps but I don't know if my 160 cfm fan would be enough to cool the whole thing, and I dont know how much more a hps would cost my electric a month.

 

[raiderdave]

160cfm fan will be ok i have a 4inch 152cfm fan exhausting with an elf filter and my temps stay at 75-78 in a 2x2x5'3 tent.as far as the bill my bill has gone up 10bucks a month with light,fans,exhaust...just change all the lights in your house to 13-26 watt cfls and your bill will drop and you wont tell a diference.good luck dave

 

[pot2010]

Do you need to worry another using 2700k and 6500k spectrums for hps? I've looked and I see them labeled at 2100k, is that all you need is just one of those hps bulbs and not have to worry about spectrum like with cfl's?

 

[raiderdave]

the kit comes with 2 bulbs th mh is for veg and the hps is for flowering u dont need to worry about spectrum keep it stupid simple less stress on you..we wanna grow the best plant on earth and have fun doing it just keep it simple

 

[pot2010]

Ok cool, sorry for another noob question but the my light is 4100k, I thought you need 6500k? I've read that some spectrums are essentially a waste because they contain light that really isn't used by the plant.

 

[raiderdave]

these are grow lights made for growing your your babys

 

[pot2010]

Ok just making sure, through my cfl research I've just seen such an emphasis on 2700k and 6500k so seeing these hps and mh lights at a different spectrum just got me confused and I want to make sure that those k's will be usable.

 

[raiderdave]

your plants will love them and grow huge