T5HO or PC

[Bobbo15]

Just wondering how long your bulbs last, I'm using PC and having to change the bulbs every 6 months. There running 12 hours a day.

What are you getting out of yours?

 

[redfishsc]

It's mostly opinion or personal "faith" in the T5's but I would run higher quality bulbs (ATI, Giesemann) for a year.

Lesser quality bulbs (Current USA, "stock" no-name bulbs, etc...), I would run them 6-8 months or until I could swap them out.

 

[chris4869]

Without a par meter it's hard to tell when the bulb needs replacing, so I usually do it early on. I replace most of my T5 bulbs around 10 months and a little longer on some.

I used to have PC light and I replace them around 5-6 months too.

 

[Entropy]

I am running both my halide for 18 months (6 hours a day), and my actinic's (T5) for 12 months (2 hours a day). That probably doesn't help much. IMO the bulbs last a lot longer (all flourescent based bulbs) if they are kept cooler with the use of fans.