DIY Compact Fluorescent (CFL) Strip Light Retrofit

I will give it a try, thanks for the feedback!
 
White paint sounds fine. Cheap and easy. So I have a question about wattage now. Would it be better to go with fewer, higher watt bulbs, or more, lower watt bulbs? I'm really torn. Will one way create more heat than the other?
 
I assume the heat/wpg output would be about the same as long as the wattage was similar. I looked around and was unable to see if bigger bulbs generate more heat than the smaller CFL or vice versa.

Let me know if you find out if one generates more heat than the other. The only info I found was on GE's website stating that CFL's generate 30% of the heat of their normal bulb equivalent.
 
angyles said:
White paint sounds fine. Cheap and easy. So I have a question about wattage now. Would it be better to go with fewer, higher watt bulbs, or more, lower watt bulbs? I'm really torn. Will one way create more heat than the other?
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Since you are building your hood, I would go with more lower wattage bulbs so you can space them out well and get full coverage. Those dark spots can really promote algae growth.
 
BoCoMo, I think your post could use a little more cowbell, and put some feeling into it :P
 
BoredAgain- I'm so glad for this thread! I got a cheap 30 long and have been trying to figure out how not to spend 3X what I paid for it on a light.

I don't have an old strip light but I do have some old metal (aluminum??) guttering piled up out behind the shed- I'm thinking of cutting a piece 36" and put on endcaps to use as my light strip "shell". I can paint the outside black & the inside white.

Not sure how many fixtures will fit in there but I ordered 3. I am thinking of skipping the switch and just plugging into a lamp timer.

Sound do-able?
 
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