without plants your options are easier, ... enough light to make it comfortable to see
with plants, ... single longer bulbs are more power efficient than 2 shorter bulbs to make up the distance (not counting CF bulbs)
T12, T8, T5, ... each is more efficient than the one before it, T5 more light per watt
with HO (high output) & VHO(very high output) bulbs, ... T5HO is the most light per watt you'll get
T5VHO bulbs has even more light, (near an extra 50% over the T5HO), but about 2x the watt usage
a 6500K spectrum is about the most favorable for plants as well
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again, if you don't have plants, ... pick whatever you are comforatable with. if lowes has T8 that is very affordable for you, go for it
... hmmm, never looked at bulbs that are brightest to us, ... not sure what kevin temp to use for that, ... i think 5500K is expected to be most day-light like light, as colors drop to 3500K things start to get yellow (at least to me)
all these numbers, 6500K, 5500K, 3500K (and others out there) are general appearance numbers, they relate to a color range, an appearance, the higher the number the more blue it will appear, the lower the more yellow, when numbers get really low it will start to appear redish.
with plants, ... single longer bulbs are more power efficient than 2 shorter bulbs to make up the distance (not counting CF bulbs)
T12, T8, T5, ... each is more efficient than the one before it, T5 more light per watt
with HO (high output) & VHO(very high output) bulbs, ... T5HO is the most light per watt you'll get
T5VHO bulbs has even more light, (near an extra 50% over the T5HO), but about 2x the watt usage
a 6500K spectrum is about the most favorable for plants as well
---
again, if you don't have plants, ... pick whatever you are comforatable with. if lowes has T8 that is very affordable for you, go for it
... hmmm, never looked at bulbs that are brightest to us, ... not sure what kevin temp to use for that, ... i think 5500K is expected to be most day-light like light, as colors drop to 3500K things start to get yellow (at least to me)
all these numbers, 6500K, 5500K, 3500K (and others out there) are general appearance numbers, they relate to a color range, an appearance, the higher the number the more blue it will appear, the lower the more yellow, when numbers get really low it will start to appear redish.
