which is safer

hey all sry its a new b quistion. i have my mind set on an 250 watt hps for about 3 sq ft or i was thinking of doing 4 42 watt cfl but i want the one that will use less energy.... people have been telling me to watch out for the police helicopters flying over head and seing heat coming from my house and suspecting a grow so would this be too much light to ware it could get me in trouble? if not about how much lighting and electricity usage would it take to get my set up to hot for the police. thanx

i would really like to go up to 400 watt hps with a cool tube do you think it will put off to much heat and electricity and get me cought up with the dea

With the proper precautions you can do anything. Its all in the planning.

no, people run 3 x 1000w and are fine, your TV probably uses around 400w if i'm not mistaken.

The government dose not do fly bys looking for grow Ops with technology there are plenty of excusable reasons for having a slightly heated box in your house as temps in ur box should never be too high anyway. CFL will definitely be cheaper to buy and to run if ur doin a small OP then power consumption shouldnt be a detction issue you should be more worried about odor and other things when only groing 1-6 plants

ok thanx alot guys i appreciate it

run the cfls. i use a 150w hps and 2 42w cfls, and those damn 42w are bright! i have a electric portable heater that runs hotter and uses more juice than my grow boxes, unless your into the 2-5 1000w you should have no problems