So I Was Under The Impression The Electricity Bill Wouldn't Raise A Whole Bunch I've got A 430w HPS Running 12/12, An Oscillating Fan, A Sunleaves Windtunnel, and other little fans. Bill went up over $100 dollars?

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so?

Things will go up since your using more power. Just buy some CFL's at home depot for 4-5 bucks a piece to replace all the bulbs in your house. Turn off a few things that don't need to be on. It'll bring your bill back into normal range or even drop it even with your grow room going. CFL's may not be the greatest for growing but they work great at saving energy. We don't need the light to grow so the CFL's are fine. I prefer the full spectrums.

Yep buddy, same here. Funny how some people here say they only pay like 15 bucks to run a 400 watt 24 hours. Well not here. But the end product is worth it in the end, unless you fudge up your plants or something

yes Nasty i've been hearing the same bullshit, even the hydro shop people said a slight raise

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you have to figure you will be running the ac a bit more as well as well, so you have to figure that in. My bill went up 40 bucks last month, but that's just because it's hot as hell down here and my apartment is old. the first month I ran my 400watt hps my bill did only go up around 20 bucks, but it wasn't nearly as hot as it is now. Where are you venting?

Not to mention the cost of electricity is going up... Check and see how much you paid per KW/H last month compaird to this month. That maybe part of it. I felt that one these last two months.

Yeah I agree Toker... The cost of power went up here too. And definately consider the a/c, fans, etc... We have 16 CFL's in a 2 x 3 space and haven't seen much of an increase in the power bill. Even with 3 fans going 24/7. In the next few weeks we want to get a HPS. We figure with the size of our space we only need a 150w. We can use the rest of our CFL's for the undergrowth and for complete coverage. If you are in a small space like us (we have 3 plants in there) you may want to consider a lower wattage and add CFL's to make up the difference. That would make a huge difference I bet. And definately switch out your incadescents with CFL's thru out your house. That will work for sure.

We are having great results with our CFL's, I can imagine what it would be like adding just a 150w HPS. Good luck with your bill man! Everyone here has good points. Check your KW/H for sure!!!

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"Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech..."

It's difficult to say for everyone, because not everyone pays the same price at the same rate. Also, many companies have a staggered rate system, often using a baseline (previous usage) and will bump up the cost/KWh over that which you were normally using at the same time last year.

For instance, let's say you use 1,000 KWh/month for three years, and you're paying $0.10/KWh. Then you set up your grow, and that usage goes up by 500KWh. Some utilities will then increase the rate for the extra energy over your baseline. Does that make sense?

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Ron Paul doesn't deliver babies.
He reads them the Bill of Rights until they crawl their way to freedom!

It shouldent go up by 100$. Thats the price for almost 2x 1k watt lights.

Where im from a KWH is .15$ so if i run a 1k watt light 12 hours a day thats
12KWH a day so x that by 30( days in a month) = 360 KWH a month.

then you x that by .15$ a KWH 360x.15= 54$ a month.