Ok second post now

I have my seeds germinating atm and have put off buying a light until i could get some advice. My budget is about £150 for light/lights.
I have read up on my MH's, HPS's, CFL's etc, but still the lingering questions remain. In the course of asking this question ill porobably answer it myself but there you go

Should i blow the load on a beast of an hps lamp. (i don't want scrawny looking plants)
Should i get a mix of Lights ? (if so what some cheap cfl's and a hps for vegging ?)

My Grow room is yet to be made but it'll be 4ft x 3ft x 6ft

Thanks in advance

My vote would would go for a couple of cheap 20w cfls to start with, and then a 600w HPS, or possibly a 250W HPS if you are only growing a couple of plants

You could buy an CFL ecolight for about £20, that will keep your grow going for a while.

To make best use of that space you'll need to spend £80-ish for a 600 watt and maybe £150 for ventilation.

You won't really save anything by scaling down as you need odour control.

To get them ready for the 600 watt lamp, if you're strapped for cash , it will have to be a fluorescent. Personally I'm incredibly thankful I have a 250 watt HPS for the first 4 weeks ...

I reckon you might get away with 8 or so 99p 20 watt fluorescents - those envirolites look incredibly poor value to me, but the 125 watt ones are reckoned to be serviceable for roughly the same price.

A 250 watt HPS is the best starter light IMHO and by saving 20 quid on the fluorescent lamp(s) and maybe a tenner n electricity for weeks 3 and 4, it'll pay for itself in a few grows.

A single 250 watt HPS would give you 4 to 6 ounces in compost for £60 electricity.

You will still want at least a couple of 20 watt CFLs for the seedling stage.

ok thats great ill get on with that i wasn't sure if cfls were just a last resort, because they don't get a great rep in the literature.

But its good to know they pass. Ill get myself a HPS on order
thanks for the quick responses expect more questions

I hope you noted my comments about odour control. Ventilation will be your biggest expense.

The smallest grow will have the neighbours phoning the fuzz ...

Fan/filter - £150
Electricity £120
600 watt HPS - £80

Composteverde has it down. You NEED to have your air extraction sorted first. Otherwise busts and sick plants are your future.

For vegging you can get away with cheap fluros. Tubes are generally better (more efficient) than cfl's.

For flowering you can get away with as little as a 250W HPS.

Using the above purchases will get you the best bang for your limited buck.

Good Luck!

Thanks guys for getting me to go over cf's and extractors.
I wasn't giving it half the attention it deserved found some combos with RUCK fans and Rhino Filters which i think will fix the problems.

Anyway back to spending the x-mas bonus from work >.< i know it'll be worth it though.

Thanks again for the info