I used shop lights for years. Daylight bulbs or better yet, plant growing bulbs. Couple years ago I picked up a pair of LED panels meant for growing from Menards. Has 3 color options for seedlings, plants foliage, flowering. Fits onto my little garden greenhouses perfectly.

In general, you want to keep your seedlings an inch or two below your lights. But as they get bigger you can get away with a couple more inches if needed. Use risers under your plant trays to lift them closer to the light or have the light on an adjustable system.

In general, bars of light can be more effective than spotlights or round hooded lights. Since trays tend to be square, an even bar or square of lighting can be more even than other. LED's run cooler than other bulbs.

When it's time to harden off, start taking your plants outside for a bit a a time during the day, and when you bring them back in don't put them back under lights. Start letting them have night time.

I use 4' shop lights with 4 T8 daylight (6500K) tubes in each fixture. I think the fixtures were around $50 each and the tubes were about $5 each but that was a few years ago. It will probably cost you double that now.

My grow setup

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I would disagree that the hortocultural fixture is overkill. It's just different lighting. For me it's handier- the small panels are lighter, easier to handle to set up and take down, and don't have breakable bulbs that need seasonal replacing. I was out shopping for new light bulbs for the shop lights and the LED panels were on sale and plus the rebate made them pretty inexpensive- and then I don't have to keep buying fresh bulbs. It's been great for growing microgreens through the cold season and getting my seeds done.

And it's a thing to note that I don't need the heat from shop lights for that setup. I have my two greenhouses set up in a large south facing window with a baseboard heater. But when I was growing upstairs, the additional heat from the lights was appreacated. So the shop lights are going to still be used, but moved out to the old stable I'm reworking into my garden shed and the additional heat in that grow room will be appreciated. And more permanant, so the fuss of setting up and taking down the lights will be gone. Then that will be the more cold hardy setup, and I'll keep using the LED's inside for the stuff I want there. Sometimes having two growing zones like that can be handy.

I meant horticultural lighting as spectrally optimal for plants. Not necessary for seedlings. As to fluorescents, as I said, it depends on your situation. Many people are desperate to buy heaters. Don't need to do that if you have fluorescents. Fluourescents don't have to be heavy, as long as you're using newer models that don't need ballasts. True that the lifetime of LEDs is longer.

My T8 tubes will last several years and I don't see any difference in the performance for growing seedings. I don't have a light meter to measure though.

Yes, horticultural lighting for plants and seedlings. Has red, blue, or a combo for purple spectrums to switch between. That's the two I'm currently using that I picked up a couple years ago. I usually keep them on purple or blue- or sometimes one of each. But I have sometimes used the red to help prompt flowering. I can get some baby greens to give me leaves and a few pretty flowers for plate decor that way, and also help along the occasional bulb forcings for the holidays in the fall and winter. And the indoor lights for this time of year when I'm starting seeds for the gardens :)

There is a bit of light difference between years of T8 use that I have noticed after 2-3 years- but for me its more to do with my eyes. I pick up the fluxes and flickerings and it bothers my eyes. So I would either put up with the flickering, or get new bulbs on the regular. They will still work fine for shop lights or grow lights out in the shed, and I can keep using the bulbs longer if they aren't in my kitchen, lol. T8's also weren't as good for the flowering aspects, I for sure get better now with the LED lights.

I used shop lights for years for good reasons. And I will continue to do so, just in a different spot than I used to. I also really like my LED grow lights, and they were quite affordable. Both kinds of lights can be useful in many of the same and some different ways.

A few years back I did get the chance to try out a crazy LED grow panel- it was 2'x3', red, green, and blue, programmable, on pulleys. Yikes. That would have been overkill for just starting regular seedlings. But it sure worked a dream on the dry beans and micro tomatoes in the hydroponic experiment from seed to spent plant. Great learning, but not something I would care to repeat- too fussy for me.