I have been useing metal halide t5 combo for nearly 20years, and have no complaints about the lighting. I bought the unit nearly 20 years ago 2 150 watt halides, and 2 t12 flourescents. About 2 years ago I rewired the halides with new ballasts and went to 100 watts. The flourescents were also rewired with new ballast to t5. I have separate timers and the t5's come on first for a total of about 10 hours, the halides are on for about 7 total hours.