Purple Haze and CFL's safety

[hashcake]

Hi

Iam new to growing and wanted a little help.

i currently have a small plant (photo to follow) which i am running under a 45w 5500k CFL large light (greenLamp brand)on a 24 hour cycle.

however i am worried about running this cfl 24/7 because not only have a i heard they can cause a fire also the uv emitted can be bad???

the reason for my fire concern more then the uv is because i work from 7am(out the door) to 7pm(in the door) and no one is home so i do not want the house going up in flames!

the cfl currently has a fan running on it and is fairly cool to the touch.

has anyone else had any issues with cfls? is there anything else i could use instead, maybe LED?
am i worrying over nothing ?

i feel like if i cant find a cheap alternative to cfl the poor plant will have to be chopped

 

[hashcake]

 

[David Bowman]

to

When you have an enclosed space with both electricity and water present, there is always a risk of catastrophe, the best thing you can do is put in place safety measures which can significantly reduce that risk. For instance, I attach my large canopy CFLs to the overhead supports using zip ties and they've held up well for the last 8 months or so. In the event that one or more suddenly fail, I installed a secondary zip tie as a backup. It is supporting no weight at the moment but if the primary one fails it will be there to help prevent my CFLs from taking out my grow or starting a fire. Likewise, on my sidelight clamps, I've installed bungee cords so that if the lights fall, they won't come crashing down on the floor, breaking apart or burning/melting anything it contacts. IMHO, the most important thing you need to do is keep anything electrical separate from water at all times. I suggest you use a sturdy drip tray that can hold any water that comes out of the pots and keeps it away from anything electrical. I'm sure that other members will chime in on what they do to increase the safety of their grows, you are definitely not alone in your concerns and with prudent planning you can reduce the risk significantly.