# [Wet Thumb Forum]-'regular' flourscent screw-ins? Any good?



## JB_In_Fla (Feb 18, 2003)

Normally I would expect to hear "not the right color temp" or something about CRI, but lookie here:

BulbsA2Z

They have screw-in flourscent bulbs (the kind like you see at wal-mart) but they have up to 6500K (full spectrum), 5100K and many others on the site in other wattages. At $13.98 each I could have 6 of these for almost 300 watts (then use my 2 NO bulbs for actinic or something). Then you could buy generic fixtures from home-depot and have this thing going pretty cheaply. Any thoughts on this idea? Anyone tried it? As a 'man of meager means' I need to save every dollar possible!

- Joe


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## JB_In_Fla (Feb 18, 2003)

Normally I would expect to hear "not the right color temp" or something about CRI, but lookie here:

BulbsA2Z

They have screw-in flourscent bulbs (the kind like you see at wal-mart) but they have up to 6500K (full spectrum), 5100K and many others on the site in other wattages. At $13.98 each I could have 6 of these for almost 300 watts (then use my 2 NO bulbs for actinic or something). Then you could buy generic fixtures from home-depot and have this thing going pretty cheaply. Any thoughts on this idea? Anyone tried it? As a 'man of meager means' I need to save every dollar possible!

- Joe


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## Rex Grigg (Jan 22, 2004)

You are not going to get the full value of these bulbs due to restrike. Also without reflectors they are not going to put much light into the tank.

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## ScottH. (May 13, 2004)

Are you saying the bulbs cost $13.98?

My goal is a sea of green.


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## JB_In_Fla (Feb 18, 2003)

Yes, $14 per bulb but they are standard 120v 60hz type that don't require a ballast (or if they do it's built into the bulb?). My thought was for $60 I can have 200watts extra at typically a household lights are at low K values but these come in K's up to 6700 so I'm wondering if they might work.

- Joe


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## Kathy (Feb 2, 2003)

I am using 6500K bulbs I found at Home Depot for $8 on my ten gallon tank. The store gets them in and they disappear fast! This tank appears much brighter than my daughter's ten gallon which is lighted with nasty old under the kitchen cabinet style fifteen watt bulbs. I have translucent java fern and anubias leaves and shadows on the bottom of the tank. Looks really nice. Home Depot also sells Philips 5500K bulbs for $16.

I think these bulbs work as well as standard fluoresents but probably not as well as compact fluorescents. I put a piece of reflector on the ends of my incandescent bulb fixture where there wasn't a reflector and can see the difference.

If you price it out the good stuff might be cheaper but it will work. Make up some sort of reflector whatever you do though!

I've used screw in compacts for two years now. One good thing about them, once you upgrade the lighting the bulbs can go elsewhere in the house. My first 3000K bulb is now in a floor lamp and the 5500K is over the kitchen sink.


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## JamesHoftiezer (Feb 2, 2003)

They have the ballast in the base and that can be an issue. I use them on my terrariums, and they work fine but PCs are much better.

If you try to put in a confined space (10" work lamp) the ballast will overheat and fry.

The light from them is good, but you will effectively get less than half the wattage compared to a good PC/Reflector combo.

Lastly, you can ge the same bulbs on ebay (generic name) for $6-8.

*James Hoftiezer

Tank Journal - Aquascape ( Latest / Archive )
Tank Journal - Parts and Construction ( Latest / Archive )*


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## ScottH. (May 13, 2004)

At the home depot by me you can get 2 bulbs 65000k, 2325 lummens for 5$. Im not sure if any other h.d. does that.
Another question kinda off the subject.
How do you keep the ballast from overheating? I have the light s built into a hood ( kind of confined) but there are ventalation holes in the back. Im probably going to take off the top of the hood and put a screen on top instead.

My goal is a sea of green.


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## qbal18 (Jul 19, 2004)

i ran 2 of those 5k bulbs for 6 months on a 10g tank and they never over heated. also now after seing that i think i am goign to go look arounf i need to get about 60-80 mor watts so i may pick up 2 or 3 of those. with a bit of a reflector they may not put 100% light into the water but defenitly a noticable biference for the size they are.

tank specs are in my profile


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## mchernecki (Feb 3, 2003)

I have been running two of the 13w bulbs over my 10 Gal for over 6 months with no over-heating. One warning though, you MUST use glass between the bulbs and water. I popped the glass out of my hood so that I could soak it in the sink for a while. I came back under 2 hours to a horrible smell, one bulb had blown the ballast. The base of the bulb where the cooling slots are had black soot streaks coming out and the whole inside of the light cap was black. I guess it did not like the moisture over an open tank. 

Mike


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## Skippy (Feb 4, 2003)

Could anybody using the home depot bulbs possibly remember hte model names and or numbers and such?


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## Kathy (Feb 2, 2003)

The ones I am using are by Commerical Electic.

EDXOS-19 6500K 19W SKU#772-429 
V#42836

The brand is sold in a number of different color packets depending on the wattage and the color. Sure wish mine only cost $5 for two bulbs! At least they mark them to color temperature. Look for ones marked 'daylight', Soft white and warm white are very low K and are probably not the look you want but they will grow plants just fine. Philips sells a daylight bulb also but it costs a lot more, is larger and has a solid capsule around it.

Why would these bulbs get hotter than the 25 watt incandescent bulbs the hoods were designed for? My hood is plastic with a metal 'reflector' that just barely sits off the plastic. My ballast doesn't touch the metal but the spiral bulb does. I raise the hood off the glass about a 1/4" with several split key rings and one roller pen cap and the glass doesn't get but a little warm to the touch. The ballast is not something I would want to hold on to for a long time but not hot enough to burn if has some ventilation.

Sure would be great if Home Depot sold compact fluorescent shop lights so we could put the bulbs we like in there! I see them selling bulbs but where are the fixtures for these bulbs?


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