Another light question from a freshie

So I'm upgrading lights, but I'm conflicted. I've seen how well some people on here grow under CFLs, but it's usually like 1 or 2 plants. I was originally thinking 2-3 plants under CFLs would be fine, but I'm wondering if I wouldn't be better off just getting one 400W HPS and doing 12/12's. I have space, but not a lot of resources, and I'm just growing for my own personal use. I plan to continue growing in some sort of soil or soil-like mix, obviously smaller plants going 12/12 from the start. I'm considering 12/12 from the start because I do use it for health reasons and would like to be able to supply myself without having to purchase from outside sources. I currently use 2 zips a month.

So, folks, what do you think? I'll break it back down for the tl;dr crowd:

1. CFLs or 400W HPS for 4 plants?
2. Would 4 plants grown 12/12 from seed yield enough to accomplish my goals of keeping myself from having to buy? (2 zips a month useage)

400 watt bulb hands down. Its got like this IMO - Sun, HID lights "MH or hps", cfl's, leds

Im not sure on yield estimates. Never grown 12/12 from start

1/2 oz a week? WOW.
I veg with T5's and flower with a 400 HPS and love it.

You think 1/2 oz a week's a lot, eh? Meh, it's what it takes right now, but I guess I omitted the fact that this is another reason I want to grow my own : To produce quality. Because of how this area is all I can readily get is pretty low-grade stuff. It gets you there, but you don't stay long, you know? Anyway, once I get the ones I have going under my belt and get my new light I plan to get some good seeds and then maybe start cloning. It seems like it might be more cost effective than seeds.

self sufficient is the way to go. I started my own strain and am still working the kinks out but some people have tried the seeds I made and love it, check out my Conway Cartel thread somewhere in here.

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/418747-conway-cartels-first-strain.html

Nice looking stuff there, I'd LST those lanky bitches into a rollercoaster.

I would definitely go with the 400 hps if you can afford it and are able to afford cooling it. You will not be disappointed with your results with that light versus the cfl which I think the best thing for you is to clone and run perpetual. IME flowering from seed is great if your using sea of green with lots of plants because under a 400 even I think your plants are gonna be small compared to a seedling that vegged for 2 weeks then flowered. If you have cfl lights already on hand I would use them to make myself a veg area and flower under the 400.
IME I can hit 2 zips off 1 plant easy under a 400 which leaves you room for a second and third plant which if you start them staggered your well on your way to a perpetual harvest. Good luck man and happy growing.
KnB