grow light help rep for help

Hi all I am running two 300w cfls theses ones

Its costing me a lot more to run .

so I am looking at geting a new light some thing like HPS its going to cost me the same to run an hps light running these two cfls .

I am growing in a grow tent its I have a Secret Jardin grow tent its 60x60x160cm.

I may be changeing the tent soon to 80x80x160cm.

what is going to be the best light to use a 250 watt cooltube/shade or 600W or a 400w

I am growing auto plants the temps in the tent are now 75 to 83.

I do not plan on growing any other types of plants

in an 80x80x160 tent then you do not want to use a 600w as this would probably create alot more heat than you could deal with.

Personally my choice for your tent would be 400w with cooltube and an RVK fan to cool the tube and take the heat away from your tent.

Hope this helped.

J

i agree with jondamon, 400w and cooltube and lots of air.

Dude you can't be serious? Those 300 watt CFL are 300w equivalent and 85 w actual. So if electric costs are your concern then stick with the 2 300w CFLs.

If you switch to HPS your costs will go up and you will have to deal with more heat.

Now if your true motivation is more bigger buds, then switching to 600w HPS (with a cool tube/air cooled hood) is the way to go.

How about some updated pics? I'll show you mine if you will show me yours!

jondamon said:

in an 80x80x160 tent then you do not want to use a 600w as this would probably create alot more heat than you could deal with.

Personally my choice for your tent would be 400w with cool tube and an RVK fan to cool the tube and take the heat away from your tent.

Hope this helped.

J

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I don't think he is going to have any easier time cooling a 400w HPS than a 600w HPS. Either way is is going to be more expensive than running the 2 300w CFL's, and Wifey is not going to be happy with a bigger tent and bigger lights, you're treading on thin ice here buddy.

He has asked which light out of the 3 HPS's would be best for the tent. The cost of everything is up to him. I dont know how people can complain about cost using just a single light setup as my single light setup costs me an extra £12/$20 a month to run (600w). versus the cost of buying your own herb its a no brainer. Yes initial setup costs can be high but the actual running costs dont even compare to buying the herb even if you have a guy that cuts you a good deal its still a no brainer.

Using a HPS would give him more yield compared to the CFL's Canopy penetration would be alot further using HPS than CFL.

I only use a 200w CFL for a little veg time before i switch to my 600w HPS cooltube with RVK for a week or so vigorous veg before switching to 12 12 .

J

I have used 240 kWs thats just about 7 weeks and its costing me £30.00 for 130 kWs

newbud123 said:

I have used 240 kWs thats just about 7 weeks and its costing me £30.00 for 130 kWs

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Switching to any HPS setup is gping to cost you more.

I am focusing on the cost because that is your initial problem statement. If electric costs are not an issue then just switch to either the 400w or the 600w which ever you can afford to cool.

Bonzi Lighthouse said:

I don't think he is going to have any easier time cooling a 400w HPS than a 600w HPS. Either way is is going to be more expensive than running the 2 300w CFL's, and Wifey is not going to be happy with a bigger tent and bigger lights, you're treading on thin ice here buddy.

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I know man I am treading on thin ice she was not happy with the bill as it is now its gone up big time is there any way I can make my running cost cheaper its working out to be about £40.00 per month thats why I am finking to change from cfl to some thing like hps

newbud123 said:

I know man I am treading on thin ice she was not happy with the bill as it is now its gone up big time is there any way I can make my running cost cheaper its working out to be about £40.00 per month thats why I am finking to change from cfl to some thing like hps

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Yeah thats what I was worried about, been following you so I know some of the back ground. Stick with what you have now.

Sounds like you are on a tight budget? or is she just busting your balls? Is she a smoker? My wife is really excited and I have not seen our elcetric bill go up but I also worked on the AC before I started my grow. Don't rock the boat with the Wife, she could make u shut down if she gets tooo unhappy.

Do an energy audit of your house, find out where you can decrease you electric usage, read a book instead of watching TV, keep the lights turned off, change your incandecents to CFL (100w vs 23w). Get creative and then present her with a business plan.

Bonzi Lighthouse said:

Yeah thats what I was worried about, been following you so I know some of the back ground. Stick with what you have now.

Sounds like you are on a tight budget? or is she just busting your balls? Is she a smoker? My wife is really excited and I have not seen our elcetric bill go up but I also worked on the AC before I started my grow. Don't rock the boat with the Wife, she could make u shut down if she gets tooo unhappy.

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yeah I am on a on a tight budget ok man thanks i will just stick to the cfls

been following you so I know some of the back ground. lol time to move out of the bat cave

Here is one of my 5 girls that has been 12/12 under 400w HPS for 17 days. I think 4 plants will be a better fit for my room next time round:



Here are the baby girls that will go to the flower room next, currently under 8 - 2" T5's:

I dont understand how your electric is so high.

When i started at Xmas09 i didnt tell my electric company that i was using more electric than they were estimating me for.

When i realised i was going to get a bigger bill i telephoned them and told them i was running around 8-11kwh extra per day.

they then said ok lets put you on a better rate as i am already on dual fuel (gas and elec)

the company was told how much extra i was using they then spent then next 10mins finding the best rate for me and hey presto £12 extra a month based on how much extra i am using compared to before.

It sounds to me like you are being charged a rediculous amount per kwh. Have you found out how much they charge you per pwh during the day and during the night?

I am on a flat rate of 9p per kwh regardless of when i use the electric.

If you need something to tell them why you are using so much then just tell them that you have some reptiles or some marine aquariums.

How do you pay your bill??
I pay by direct debit which also costs a little less as you get a discount for it.

are you on a token meter? THese Always cost more to have electric from.
Are you in debt on that meter as this will keep your bills and price per kwh higher.

Try giving them a ring and find out why you are paying so much more for your electric.

As i said i am currently paying £0.09 per kwh which equates to £12 a month extra to my normal usage when i wasnt growing.


Also i currently use 140Kwh a week so over your 7 week period this would be £88.20 but that is total for all my electrical usage around the house. Could also be worthwhile you changing all your light bulbs in your house for energy savers, Stop leaving things on standby and turn them off at the plugs etc.

I have done this little equation to show you how i and the power company probably worked out what i pay.

140kwh (this is my weekly usage) multiplied by 52 weeks = 7280Kwh per year.

7280kwh divided by 12months of the year = 606Kwh per month

606kwh per month mulitplied by £0.09 = £54.60
I currently pay £44 a month for my gas and £56 a month for my electric costing me a direct debit each month of £100 for my elec and gas.

So as you can see based on this equation you are paying way way way too much for your electric.

No wonder wifey is going mental about the cost.

I run a 600w hps with oscilating fans and an RVK with cooltube.

I use a 200w CFL for around 3-4 weeks to keep node spacing tight and then use my HPS for 1 week of 18/6 then i switch it to 12 12 and run like this for approx 10-12weeks depending on the strain.

The best advice i can give you is seriously dude talk to your power company as it should not be costing you that much for elec.

J

thanks man for your help I will see what i can get sorted out with them thanks man rep sent

newbud123 said:

thanks man for your help I will see what i can get sorted out with them thanks man rep sent

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Hi newbud123

NO worries on the help. Glad to help a UK grower out. You never have to worry about giving me rep im not a rep whore lol Thats not why i help people.

I like to help people based on the knowledge and experience i have gained in my brief time growing.

Always a pleasure and never a chore.


J

Hi I phoned them yestorday.

They said I would have to use 650Kwh's befor they would give me any discount and it would drop to 0.09p they said that the price of per kwhs is 0.22p any time day or night so i said to them why have energy saving bulbs why save energyand they where comeing out with some crap but they still will not change it or make me a better deal so I am looking to change elc companys

Looked at your grow report, loooooks nice, at least they work well!

(and this is not for rep LOL)

I am totally new here and don't want to sound at all rude honestly... My question is how you can possibly even notice 2 300 watt (actual use of what 80/85 watt) bulbs on your bill? I am a video game nut so I have all the big ass plasma's/lcd's going with the systems, I am kinda big so I love a/c as it's very hot where I am in cali and I never ever get the same monthly bill... I don't see how this would be any different from leaving two extra old school 75/100 watt light bulbs on in say your living room or bedroom each month as they don't cost a whole lot to run. I realize your lights put off a whole lot more light but with the newer technology they don't use anywhere close to 300 watts. My 60 watt replacement cfl's for floor/bathroom lights only use 13watts and my 100 watt replacements are like 22 watts for ceiling lights. I moved out of my 6bd 4bath house and the difference on my pg&e bill for those two bulbs would be the diff of having my brother or sister come over and stay for the weekend. Don't get me wrong as I'm sure they cost something but unless you already run a rigerous power schedule to scrape by I don't see how its even possible to notice the diff... Just my 2cents, and if i'm wrong i'd like to know why as it's always a good time to learn something the way I see it. Anyways nice to meet you and hopefully this works out well for ya!

And if I read your other post correctly you said you had one 300 watt (or compared to 300 watt) and one 200 watt light so its only a 500watt grow and actually only using what, 150 watts give or take... that's nothin brotha don't let the wifey bust your balls on that bro. That was literally 1 1/2 light bulbs of the old school incadescent garden variety from 1995 lol. Again DO NOT take this the wrong way, I am absolutly not trying to crack on you one bit, I am not a pro in this field in ANY way whatsoever, but doing the math that's my 2cents.