crazy power bill

When i had the big grow running i was lucky to see a $1,500 power bill in winter months , normally around $2,200 in the hot summer months , dont turn your dimable ballast down trying to save $20 a month you'll get seriously dimished yields .

I found the reason:
Current rate I'm using:
Tiered (E1)
Overview
This is the tiered rate plan for all residential customers. If you use most of your electricity during weekday afternoons and are unable to shift or reduce your usage to other times, this might be the best rate plan for you.

How it works
On this rate plan, the price of electricity stays consistent throughout the day.

The price you pay for electricity is based on how much you use throughout the billing period. It starts out low and increases as you use more energy. Learn more about this tiered pricing.

The price you pay also changes by season. Prices are higher in the summer and lower in the winter.

I've been using my light overnight...so I'm switching to time of day use instead of energy per month....time to CHANGE my rate.

Residentially i pay 1500 month electric and went 4 months paying 2400 month... no issues, just paid on time and cut down on lights and made my gro more efficient

140 a month not bad for smoking good weed, i smoke a ounce a week so do the math.i would be happy paying that much.lol..

haight said:

A 600w bulb should run you about 3-4 dollars a day running at 12 hours. The further you are from the source the more electric will be used by resistance in the wires.

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The meters are attached to your outside wall, unless your house is 2000 ft. long, it won't make much difference. His rate is double mine, big difference. My grow is costing me less than $100.00 a month. It's my A/C that is the bulk of the bill. We have off-peak billing here, if you want it. You can go online and check to see if you typical usage would warrant it. I use 70% of the power during 7am to 7pm. My grow is in night mode then. The lights are off, nobodies home but the dog. Only thing on is the A/C.

I just got a new A/C, so maybe the bills will be lower now.

I'm in Oakland too. I partially blame the "Smart" meter. My bill has been all over the place since they started using those stupid things. I've had them replace it about 3 times, I still don't think it's accurate. The reason it does get so expensive is because of their tiered billing.. The .22/kwh almost triples towards the end of the month as you hit each tier of usage. My charts show me using 500% more energy than homes similar to mine in the area.

slump said:

I'm in Oakland too. I partially blame the "Smart" meter. My bill has been all over the place since they started using those stupid things. I've had them replace it about 3 times, I still don't think it's accurate. The reason it does get so expensive is because of their tiered billing.. The .22/kwh almost triples towards the end of the month as you hit each tier of usage. My charts show me using 500% more energy than homes similar to mine in the area.

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ya those smart meters aren't too smart by any means....tiered billing sucks...it def does triple the end of the month...sigh...i think i'm going to change my rate if I can to save money

dak1b said:

ya those smart meters aren't too smart by any means....tiered billing sucks...it def does triple the end of the month...sigh...i think i'm going to change my rate if I can to save money

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Yeah...baseline is like 0.13 through tier 1 and tier 4 hits 0.36/kwh - You can get lower summer rates but they raise your winter rates a bit, overall it's cheaper in the long run. You could also see if you qualify for CARE which reduces the kwh cost per tier.

slump said:

Yeah...baseline is like 0.13 through tier 1 and tier 4 hits 0.36/kwh - You can get lower summer rates but they raise your winter rates a bit, overall it's cheaper in the long run. You could also see if you qualify for CARE which reduces the kwh cost per tier.

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thanks for the info slump. happy growing. oakland!!!!

.34 for tier 4 electric here. Your bill sounds chill. Mine was averaging about 115 a month. It's now over 2 grand per month. As long as you pay it they aren't worried

Build greenhouse to offset power costs. I dont sweat my 2500 summer power bills

i switched to nite so i need less cooling, just a thought?

Red1966 said:

The meters are attached to your outside wall, unless your house is 2000 ft. long, it won't make much difference. His rate is double mine, big difference. My grow is costing me less than $100.00 a month. It's my A/C that is the bulk of the bill. We have off-peak billing here, if you want it. You can go online and check to see if you typical usage would warrant it. I use 70% of the power during 7am to 7pm. My grow is in night mode then. The lights are off, nobodies home but the dog. Only thing on is the A/C.

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Assuming everyone lives in a house. But a guy living in an Apartment that is three floors up and at the other end from the meter, well there'll be significant line resistance.

i think its best if you keep to 65% of your amp limit, so if you have 15 amps per line on a 110, you would have 1 1k light only. ONLY. 220 is used for this exact same reason, less line resistance.

i went solar panels. i now pay 9 cents per/kwh standard rate locked in for 20yrs. and i have 70l/m air pump, 4 thou wows goin, and 4-4't5 HO's. 2 -10" hurricanes and 3-18"osc. just in my flower room. my veg i run small air pump 24" 4 lamp T5 veg lamp and a 4" inline exhaust fan(grow cabinet)

yeah but how much did it cost to get going , meaning the panels batterys and everything.

solar power in a great investment. my g/fs parents use to pay $550/ month on power now they pay about $100!! Its a great long term investment if you can afford it.

weird i run 4 600 w hps atm just got my 3 month bill it was $878 i was super happy

Man, fuck utility companies. They can charge whatever they want, and if you don't like it, what can you do? They only have one company per area. Seems kind of like a monopoly doesn't it? It's fucked up. Fuck those dicklickers.