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Cheapest store to buy T8 fluoresent bulbs?

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Posted by californian 10 (My Page) on
Fri, Jan 29, 10 at 12:08

I need to buy a dozen T8 fluorescent bulbs for a seed starting rack I am building. I have a Home Depot, Lowes, and Walmart within six miles of my house. Has anyone ever done any price comparisons, and if so which one was the cheapest that had 6500K bulbs which from what I read on several threads is the ones I should get for seedlings.
I seem to remember Home Depot charging around $24 for a box of ten bulbs but I may be wrong. I don't even know if Walmart sells T8s. Are their any online companies that can beat their prices when you also factor in shipping charges?

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RE: Cheapest store to buy T8 fluoresent bulbs?

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I think $24 is about as cheap as they come. Lowes is around the same. I think you are right about Walmart, never seen a case there.

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RE: Cheapest store to buy T8 fluoresent bulbs?

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OK, to answer my own question I went to all three stores today. Walmart only had one two pack of T8 4100K bulbs and wanted if I remember correctly $6.94 which made them the most expensive with the smallest selection. Lowes had a 12 pack of Sylvania 6500K bulbs for around $28.95 but I didn't buy them because the color rendition index was only 75. Home depot had a 10 pack of Phillips 6500K bulbs with a color rendition index of 85 for $24.97 which made the price per bulb about the same as Lowes but I bought the Phillips because of the higher CRI. It is rated 2800 lumens with a life of 36,000 hours. BTW, Lowes had some generic brand of 4100K T8s really cheap, a box of 30 for $29.99 which makes them only a dollar apiece. They were rated 2800 lumens with a cri of 75. But from what I read on this board 6500K is the best for plants so I bought the more expensive bulbs, and anyway I didn't need 30 bulbs. But if I had someone to split the box with me I might have bought the dollar bulbs.

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RE: Cheapest store to buy T8 fluoresent bulbs?

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Those Philips 6500K bulbs with a CRI of 85 will work great. $24.97 was a good price as they are usually $7 for a two pack. You need to keep them around 2" from the top of the plants. I built a pulley system to raise the fixtures which were suspended from sixteen inch chains that are used to raise the fixtures one inch at a time as the plants grow.
The pulley system raises the fixture several feet for working with the plants and watering.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mom's Garden

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RE: Cheapest store to buy T8 fluoresent bulbs?

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I was just doing a little searching and came across these Blue Max bulbs. They are expensive, about three times what you would pay for a bulb in a big box store, but they have 3300 lumens and a cri of 93 in a T8 bulb. Anyone ever try them and are they worth the price?
http://www.ultraluxlight.com/full_spectrum_fluorescent_bulbs_38_ctg.htm

  
 

 

 


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