what's the difference between NO and PC lighting?

[CHINABOY1021]

I've been browsing a lot of forums lately and I've heard too much mention of ahsupply.com pc fixtures. i just want to clear everything up,

what exactly is the difference between PC and NO (orginal LFS "plastic canopy" fixtures)?

i know PC are tightly fit jsut about anywhere.
other than that i dont know any other difference.

considering i'm going to plant like crazy, if i have sufficient wattage and same wattage from both PC and NO lights, will there be a difference?

thanks!

[750t]

Pc=power compact. Standard striplite 24 inch 15 watts. The pc 24 inch kit 55watts.

[slipknottin]

PC bulbs are T6 fluorescents bent in half.

While the lower the diameter of the bulb (the T number) the more efficient the bulbs are, CFs have multiple problems. One is that the bulbs are easily broken. Two is that there is alot of light loss from the bulbs because you can not reflect the light back into the tank. And three, when a bulb is bent in half it inherently becomes less efficient as all fluorescent bulbs are dimmer at the ends.

As for CF vs. NO, it depends on what kind of NO bulbs your talking about. NO bulbs are typically found in either T8 or T12 variety. T12 NO bulbs are going to have less output per watt than CFs, and T8 bulbs are about the same.

[125gJoe]

Let me guess as to what's asked...


NO = Normal Output

CF = Compact Flourescent

CF's are brighter (more Watts) and more expensive..

[CHINABOY1021]

cool thanks. that helps a lot

what's the diameter of t8s?

[slipknottin]

T8s are 1" in diameter.