Heat from T5 lights?

[mysbhvn]

I have a two bulb T5 light I just had my husband move out to the kitchen. We put a shelf up under it so I could have more area for my orchids

My question is...I had put a couple of my catts under this fixture before and it actually burned their leaves. I turned it on in the kitchen after we moved it and immediately felt the heat starting to build up. I thought these types of lights weren't supposed to produce heat, just light for growing. Do they all produce an amount of heat or do I have the wrong bulbs in the fixture. I believe they were Ecolux by GE high output 6500K bulbs. Thanks for the input!

[cakedaddy]

There is always some heat output from fluorescent lighting especially at the ballast. The bulbs themselves don't put out the amount of heat as other types. I think I read in one thread that fluorescents generally put out enough heat to create the day/night temp variance that some plants require. I keep a fan on my plants AND lights just to be safe. Mostly for the welfare of the plants...
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[mysbhvn]

I have another light set up on the other side of my kitchen. I can put my hand under these lights and feel no heat coming from them. If I put my hand under the Tek 5 fixture I can feel heat building the minute it comes on.

[orchidlady]

About 3 years ago I switched from T12 to T5 fixtures and have had more issues with burning due to the heat from the T5s. Whenever electricity does work for us, there is some heat generated. The T5s are brighter, but also generate more heat. I control the problem by using fans, opening windows, or even turning the lights off during the summer on very hot days. You will probably have to experiment a little to find what's best for your situation.

Susan

[Michael Saar]

Things to remember:
-A T5HO lamp produces about 75% more heat than a normal T5; they are higher output, not higher efficiency
-A T5 will produce more apparent heat than a T12, since the heat has about 1/6 the surface area to dissipate more or less the same amount of heat

[mysbhvn]

Thanks for the reply, Michael. That makes total sense. We now have the light installed in an area where I am able to raise it a lot farther away from the plants so I think I will give these bulbs another shot and see how things go!

[mysbhvn]

Put some of my orchids under the light we moved to the kitchen. I think the catts will be real happy under it now that it is much higher and not so close to the plants. It was just too much heat before. Gonna keep an eye on things and see how they do. Have the ceiling fan running to keep the air circulating in the area. Maybe I'll get some new growth and eventually some blooms

[Raver]

I have kept plant just a couple of inches away from the light and they haven't burnt at all. The light puts off heat but as long as you have good air flow and a fan blowing on them, they should be fine.

[mushrooms]

I use a T5HO (meant for a fish tank) on my other plants. It has a plastic covering on it to protect it from water, it doesn't get hot enough to burn the matured leaves which are right up next to the light cover but I do see new growth on some plants are negatively affected causing slight deformation in the leaf shape.

[Jef09071984]

it can burn the leaves if its reallyclose to the plant