I went with CFL because I am cheap and I did not want to pay the big bucks for a ballast light set up. At $200/ea plus shipping I would have been backwards with those. I spent $27 a bulb x2 bulbs flus the DIY fixture cost me about $20. Why not go with a T5 ballast setup, or even a LED set up at that price?
I use the CFL globes because they work for me , no heat , that is a problem in the grow room .
All plants are looking fine , it was not because of economics I chose CFL , I use them in the grow rooms to boost things along. I have more than 100 plants outside for chilli production only . I have 16 plants in grow rooms in my house , this is to ensure pure seed from my plants , for which I must thank Novacastrian for and for his generosity I will be returning 100 seeds to him and releasing 200 for free here for postage price ( but not until grown :-) )
It is going a bit overboard I know but that is the way I do it and have done for years. I am more than 3 miles from the closest house and only grow 1 variety but I like to do it right . I will in the next few days start a grow log of my plants under cfl in soil . at 2m high the grow tent does not allow much room . 3 weeks from germination my plants are at 7-8cm with approx 8-10 true leaves under 250w dual band cfl's in soil, they even outgrow the plants in my poly hothouse , double the size in fact , same soil , same nutrients
I have also been down the led road , do not beleive all the hype they do not work , ufo's , light panels are all crap leading to stretched light green sickly looking plants
small grow rooms require CFL due to the heat factor of MH and HPS lighting , they work and I have been down all different lighting roads over the years the best growth ever is what I am getting now in a 1.2m x 1.2m growroom with 4 plants and 1 x 250w cfl