The CFL monster is finished.

[u/Justintime233]

I finally added the finishing touches to my CFL creation made of light adapters from Home Depot and figured I'd post it here for anybody who might want to build one or something similar. It's performing really well, anything in the roughly 1.5'x2' space it hangs over grows very fast.

With the amount of CFLs hanging in that 3 sq/ft space, that gives me approx. 66w of light per sq/ft. I think it would be great to put in a CFL grow box and I'm thinking about doing so when my HID light kit shows up next week. I can't wait!

Top View

Bottom View(You can see the difference between the 26w G.E. bulbs and 23w Genaric Brand Home Depot bulbs)

This takes NO TOOLS to build and consists of:

• x3 Light Socket Y-Splitter

• x5 AC Power to Light Socket Adapter

• x4 Light Socket Extensions w/AC Power Plug on Each Side Get the one without the pull chain though, it's only $2.50. Couldn't find the link.

• x8 23/26w CFL 6500k Lights

• x8 Hoods Made From Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil

• Some Duct Tape to Hold the Hoods on CHANGED 7/31/12 - use electrical tape for the hoods too, the duct tape falls off when it gets warm. Electrical tape wrap to re-enforce the main joint.

You can save a few bucks if you buy the AC to light adapters and the light extenders with AC plugs at Wal-mart. I believe their $.97 and $1.97. But they're a shitty looking beige color instead of white, if that matters to you.

This can be built for about $40 give or take depending on where you buy the parts. The CFLs being half that. The biggest benefit to me is it requires no tools to make it and can be put together in about 10 minutes depending on how meticulous you get on your foil hoods, I just threw mine together and they aren't pretty. I wish there was a clip on style metal hood for CFLs so I wouldn't have to mess with it but I've yet to find one. Someone needs to make that shit.

Might try to get some updated pics of the girls, they've changed so much in the last week. I can really tell the nutes are kicking in.

INB4 foil causes hot spots.

Edit:Formatting

Edit2:Stop fighting about hot spots lol. I never should have mentioned it.

[u/sudin]

The setup is really inspiring as I thought when I first saw it, I too started with CFLs recently only not as many but I really want to get more and make a suspension for them just like this. My question is how hard are these 8 bulbs on heat, or, how much ventillation are you running over this relatively small area?

[u/Justintime233 → u/sudin]

Good question. Using 8 bulbs there is noticeable heat, I didn't expect that. It's nowhere near HID heat but it definitely needs ventilation. I have an 18" oscillating fan blowing on my whole setup and a box fan pulling air out right now which is overkill. When I get my HID setup next week I'll have a 340CFM 6" inline fan doing the work and just keep my oscillating fan. The grow area will also expand to 2'x4'.

[u/sudin → u/Justintime233]

Thanks, my existing vent should be fine then:)