sun blaze or hydrofarm
 

was wondering does anyone have a prefrence over one or the other

I have T5s by sunblaze. I had a leftover hydrofarm T5 from starting seedlings a few years ago. It's an unfair comparison as it was older but I like the Sunblaze better. They are not interchangeable by the way. They have slightly different pins.

They shouldn't be different, as the bulbs are standardized. That makes me think the Sunblaze is using a proprietary bulb.

I have used and am using both.
I have had LESS trouble with the Hydrofarm units, however. Both brands, initially, seemed like great robust units but the Hydrofarm units have never given my any trouble, where as the other brands have had multiple "issues" with cracking of the bulb sockets over time (just over the on year warrenty typically!), being "touchy" with ballast function at humidities higher than 60%, etc.
I am using a total of 12 banks of fixtures with 8 bulbs per fixture and currently have 2 of them as Hydrofarm up and performing well.
They Hydrofarm units are a little wider than others and have their bulbs spread out a bit futher too - this is ideal for those orchids that don't like as intense a light as Cats, for example Miltionia and Zygos.
Hope that this helps.

Try searching for "Hydrofarm" or see under "Lights" for more info.
They are about a little over 4 feet in length and almost 3 feet in width for the 8 bulb fixtures. I can measure the exact dimensions if anyone needs them - have tape measure, can do!!
They have excellent light intensity output - too good at times and I have learned to use a light meter to avoid frying my orchids.
With that, I have had no problems reblooming Cats etc.
They DO give off heat - my orchids room has 12 banks of these T5 lights and this creates enough heat that I needed to place an air conditioner unit (with backups) in the room to keep the temps under 80 degrees F. The use of the air conditioners caused the humidity to drop, so I had to place a Hydrofogger in the room to maintain humidity during the time the lights were on.
The plants LOVE this setting and are growing and blooming quite well for me.
My monthly electric bill is another story........
Hope that this helps

The link should be Kelley's Korner Orchid Supplies, We offer everything to grow great Orchids! without the "s".
Sorry. Don't know where that other stuff came from - didn't think I typed all of that !!!!

This is the Hydrofarm 4', 8-bulb "commercial" fixture, at 3”H x 26"W x 46"L:

http://www.hydrofarm.com/image.php?i...320&height=320

They also have their "designer" series:

http://www.hydrofarm.com/image.php?i...320&height=320

Both are rated at about 38,000 initial lumens output.

It is really hard to speculate about what difference tube spacing makes within the ranges of lighting fixtures, as the reflector design and materials make a huge difference. With the output of that many bulbs, you could grow anthring from bulbos to terete vandas - it's all a matter of distance from the fixture.

By the way, First Rays is a discount reseller of Hydrofarm products.

The Sunblaze fixtures use standard bulbs and sockets.

I have both Hydrofarm and Sunblaze. They work great and at a first glance there are no major performance differences. But after a while, my HydroFarm lights are a little bit better in my opinion.