Odyssea t5 48 inch lighting?

Yes to your first question. The 4 x 54 watt t5 ho lights should be plenty for lps, softies, colonial polys, mushrooms, and even some of the lower light sps corals. (Monti caps, digitata, seriatopora/birdsnest and even some acroporids as some are not as demanding light wise). Of course keeping the tank parameters in optimal ranges will greatly factor in with the lighting as far as coral health goes. That 24 inch depth also give you a good light gradient from top to bottom, just remember that even high light corals can suffer light stress if conditions from one tank to the next vary as far as intensity of light goes. As far as the upgrade goes, halides certainly get the job done but they are like anything in this hobby, pros and cons. I would take a look at some of the work Sanjay Joshi did in comparing all the different medal halide ballasts/bulb configurations. The information is insane, from par values to color spectrum analysis, the best thing is you can configure any brand ballast/bulb/wattage and see what kind of output you can expect. Just search his name and medal halides. That said, halides are not the end all of reef tanks, I have seen some amazing setups utilizing T5s and LEDs that rivial many halide tanks. I would imagine the burn your house down stuff is in reference to the heat of MHs. You have to consider the cost to buy, energy used, heat produced, bulb efficiency too. Just be aware of the newer options when you plan the next tank and make an informed choice. I have had great luck with both T5s and MHs in my tanks, the LEDs are out of my price range now but in the future... happy reefing