For seeds, I'd buy cheap shop lights. For the indoor winter growing, are the plants high light and how tall are they? It would help if we knew what kind of plants they are.

Thanks for the tips on the cheap lights for seeds. For the winter growing, typically growth could reach 3-5' tall. Kinda difficult to narrow it down as to what could go under this light, but probably the best starting point would be tomatoes.

As for the "cheap shop lights" - could I do any worse/better than standard T8 40w bulbs?

For big, high light plants like tomatoes, you probably need an HID light. They work well, but they're expensive.

Any comments on the light system in the link below? Wondering if the $160 system will work.

Also, any tips on types of bulbs or anything regarding the cheap lights for seed starting?

Thanks for the advice...

Here is a link that might be useful: SunSystem 400W

More precisely (re: fluorescent lights)...

$40, 4' T8 2-bulb ballast w/10" reflector
-or-
$25, 4' T8 2-bulb ballast w/o reflector

Is it worth the extra $15 for the reflector with regards to seed starting?

Some sort of device to get the majority of the light onto the plants is almost essential. Without it, probably half the light will be going somewhere else, sideways, up, or out the window. That is light you want on the plants. Get a reflector, surround the whole thing with white card, put the propagator and lights inside a big white box, drape it in mylar, do whatever you have to, but get the light on the plants. Placing the lights close to the plants is a very poor substitute for having a reflector.

The real comparison, to get equivalent growing conditions for the plants, should be:

$40 4' T8 4-bulb ballast w/o reflector $2/month to run

-or-

$40 4' T8 2-bulb ballast w/10" reflector $1/month to run

I think you see your answer now :) Although there are home-built methods of getting the light on the plants, as I mentioned.

Hi, I use 1241cw lights from cheaperlights.com they are cheap and have nice reflectors. this is a discontinued item, so buy now, and get a few extra. I use 10 of them for a 4' x 6' suspended growing area that I built from plywood and 2"x2" lumber, hooks and chains, etc. they use 40w fluorescent t12, so I mod them out with t8 ballasts, but if you're on a budget, run the T12's until you have a budget for T8 ballasts (available cheap on ebay, $35 for 10, if you look hard) For myself, I actually overdrive them with 2 ballasts per set, with a switch to control the overdrive. see my pic at flickr:

Here is a link that might be useful: My gro op, rose cuttings, etc.

I'm curious what is wrong with the original T12 ballasts?