in reply to your earlier message:
I don't think the LOA are bad ... but, I've never seen one ... I have searched high and low to buy one but came up empty, unless I wanted to buy four
my comments about temperatures was just trying to relate some idea of how much cooling you would need, or not need ... if you build yourself a fixture for the LOA lights, and your bulbs never get too hot to hold, then I'd say you wouldn't need any fans ... if you build them into something, and they are so hot you can't touch them without a lot of pain, then they are probably too hot and you need to add a fan
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in reply to your current message:
CFL's generally have a very small diameter "tube", and it's usually in some sort of "light bulb" form ... something that screws into a socket of some sort, or is designed to replace a convential incandescent bulb, and the ballast is generally small and of low wattage, designed to run a single bulb and to be built into the fixture
PC's have a larger diameter "tube" than a cfl, and, at least within the aquarium hobby, they are long, slender, twin tube bulbs, or four tubes (like the 27 watters), PC ballasts are usually separate devices, either in the fixture or in their own enclosure, and can run one or more bulbs
going out on a limb, I think PC's run at higher mA (milliamps) than CFL's, but both run at a much higher mA than traditional T12 or T8 linear's
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in regards to using the current "floodlight" fixture as a pendant
yes, you would probably want to drill some holes to allow for ventailation, since it seems to be a common symptom of those lights over-heating and burning out.
I wouldn't want to have something that looks like an outdoor floodlight hanging in my living room, but if you've got a fish room or somewhere where asthetics aren't important, it's the easiest way to go!