I'd still stay away from the halogens... Too many minuses and not enough pluses. Heat is enough of a problem for me to stay away. Heck, those things are going to heat up their cover glass to the point where salt spray on the cover glass may risk shattering it! Or worse yet pose a fire hazard if you put a 500W halogen into an enclosed canopy (aka "heat sink").
If "inexpensive" is the operative word here then go get yourself a galvanized piping T, two ceramic light sockets, some wire, and two self-ballasted CF bulbs, and hey-presto you're done, and you've got lighting for $30 or less.
At least every six months I've seen somebody "discover" halogens and convince themselves that it's a revolutionary idea that will turn the hobby upside-down because of the all money that they will save. The bottom line is, we don't even use halogens for growing plants in the gardening/horticulture/hydroponics hobbies/industries. Halogens are good for lighting your living room or spotlighting a picture on the wall .... and that's about it, IMO.
Just my $0.02 ...
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-- Tony
My next hobby will be flooding my basement while repeatedly banging my head against a brick wall and tearing up $100 bills. Whee!
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