Monday, April 16, 2012

What To Know About CFL Grow Light

By Frank Dixon


Whether you have prior experience establishing and working with indoor plant life or are a first time green thumb looking to learn more about the process, a CFL grow light is a guaranteed way to maximize the yield from your investment. CFL lights not only last longer and save you money, but are an environmentally conscious choice that creates less worldwide waste.

Before considering the specifics of how your indoor grow may operate, make sure that you visit a retailer that specializes in lighting meant to stimulate horticultural growth. CFL lights are specifically designed to produce the greatest plant yield in the shortest amount of time to save you money in the cost of materials and electricity.

Next, no matter if you are a veteran indoor grower or not you will want to make sure that you are choosing the right product for your specific setup and environment. Specifically, CFL lights excel at helping organic life prosper in high humidity environments. This means that unless you are planning to house species that naturally live in moist and damp environments, you may want to consider another type of bulb.

Now that you have considered both the type of plants you will be growing and the general size of your intended endeavor, you will want to calculate the approximate cost of electricity over the intended period of time. For instance, using CFL lights can encourage faster growth and thus may save you one month or more in electricity bills. This also means that for every penny you spend on electricity you will reap more yield from your crop and thus will bring the overall cost of your grow down.

Another important quality of any bulb or indoor growing equipment is its durability. Obviously if you purchase inexpensive bulbs, you can expect that they will be more prone to spontaneous failure and will have shorter lifespans in general than higher quality bulbs. For this reason, CFL lights are preferable not only because they can stand up to humidity, but because they have an average life expectancy of 10,000 hours.

Similarly, when considering the purchase of a CFL light make sure that you are dealing with a reputable retailer so that your purchase will be protected by either a store or manufacturer's warranty. For this reason, it is always preferable to purchase new bulbs rather than trying to acquire them second-hand.

Finally, speak with a professional at a nursery or other garden-related outlet about accessories that can further improve the yield and efficiency of your space. Most indoor bulbs can be improved by adding a rounded metallic hood above them to reflect stray light back down toward the plants below.

To summarize, remember to select the right bulb for the type of plant and environment in which you are growing, remember to try and purchase the most cost-efficient and highest quality CFL grow light to bring your overall operating costs down, and try to buy bulbs from a store that offers a warranty. As always, speaking to a professional is likely the fastest way to plan, purchase, and execute any horticultural endeavor.




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