CFL is PL-L?

[RogierT]

Hello all,

For a few years i grew plants under T8, then i started to use PL-L lamps and since a few months i use T5.

I was reading up here on the boards and saw several CFL experiences. Now i know CFL lamps here in the netherlands as Energy savers, the replacement in the livingroom for the standard energy bulb.

But what we use in the terrarium / plant grow hobby in the netherlands is PL-L lamps. Basicly an bend T8/T5 with 4 pins connection.



But these lights emit at 55 watt about the same amount lm (4500lm per 55 watt // Philips Master PL-L 55W ) compared to an 54 watt T5 lamp (4250lm per 54 watt // Philips Master TL5 HO 54W)

Now i have seen a few comments here on the boards about CFL lamps. Are we talking about the same lights here? Are our PL-L lights the same as your CFL?

I have seen a few comments about how CFL lights would be less efficient than T5, however if i see the statitics on Osram and Philips sites then i question these comments.

Especially for terrariums which cannot afford the wide of 1200mm (47,2429 inch) an compact PL-L would be a great benefit. Im very interested in what downsides it could have, since both are powered by the same kinds of balast


So in short:

PL-L is that your CFS?
Why would it not be efficient?

[johnblagg]

If I could find pl lamps like you are showing I would use them instead of what we call cfl....they are basicly the same thing but our cfl bulbs are usually a spiral tube, and I have my suspicions that they are not qute as good at getting the light on the plants as a bulb like you are showing would.....

I would be able to build a reflector for your type of bulb much easier than for a spiral shaped cfl

[Becca]

These PL-L lamps are what is used with my orchidarium that I bought from Orchidarium.com. I have no problem finding replacement bulbs, and much cheaper then what Orchidarium.com offers their replacement bulbs for.

[RogierT]

Originally Posted by johnblagg

If I could find pl lamps like you are showing I would use them instead of what we call cfl....they are basicly the same thing but our cfl bulbs are usually a spiral tube, and I have my suspicions that they are not qute as good at getting the light on the plants as a bulb like you are showing would.....

I would be able to build a reflector for your type of bulb much easier than for a spiral shaped cfl

The ballast i use from Vossloh can handle both:

29104880 € 22,00

Vossloh Schwabe 188618 ELXc 254.865 TL5 2x54W, PLL 2x55W

So basicly your CFL are energy saving bulbs?

[camille1585]

As far as I know the CFLs are the same everywhere in the world (if that's what your asking), and you find them in every supermarket and hardware store here (but hard to find higher wattages like in the US unless you look online).

I also use PL lights (in France they're called Turbo Neons), they diffuse light way better than a coiled CFL, and they pack twice the power in half the space compared to standard T8/T5 tubes. Perfect for terrariums, and the 55W one is the perfect size for my windowsills. And they're easy for me to get, so why not use them? I live only a few km away from the shop of rainforest-frogs.nl.

One dutch friend originally installed 4 x 36W PL over her Phals (they're in a roughly 2meter long 'growbox', and she had to turn off 2 of them because the plants were starting to fry.