hps and powerbills

do you see a change, if so what, and at what watt will it be a BIG differance. like real big, to me if its 20 extra $'s it may be worth it, right now i use cfls, but after being on here i have to try atleast one hps grow, i see alot of 400w'ers on here..... so whats good

How many watts of cfl are u using??It probably wont be much of a difference in the bill.A 400 alone puts on anywhere from 20 to 60 dollars depending on what u pay kwh.

thanks bro that was helpfull

on full I use a 400w, 3-42w cfl, 1-80w cfl, 1-100w cfl and 5 fans. runs about 50.00 a month. forgot the 2 air pumps and 1 water pump

My 600W Quantum raised my power bill around $28.00 last month, x2 months for flowering = $56.00, well worth it in my opinion. I veg with cfl's and only use my HPS for flowering, also helps keep cost to a minimum.

Hey, thanks Stumps. That figure also includes my 6" Vortex fan, a 6" Honeywell fan, and my air pump.

stumps said:

on full I use a 400w, 3-42w cfl, 1-80w cfl, 1-100w cfl and 5 fans. runs about 50.00 a month. forgot the 2 air pumps and 1 water pump

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this is gr8 info man thats was realy what i needed to here

420BudMan said:

My 600W Quantum raised my power bill around $28.00 last month, x2 months for flowering = $56.00, well worth it in my opinion. I veg with cfl's and only use my HPS for flowering, also helps keep cost to a minimum
Hey, thanks Stumps. That figure also includes my 6" Vortex fan, a 6" Honeywell fan, and my air pump.

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gr8 idea what type of cfls do you use and how many

That 5hit said:

do you see a change, if so what, and at what watt will it be a BIG differance. like real big, to me if its 20 extra $'s it may be worth it, right now i use cfls, but after being on here i have to try atleast one hps grow, i see alot of 400w'ers on here..... so whats good

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you will see a big change in your bill and a bigger change in your quality and yield.

i wouldnt bother with a 400 unless its in like a 3x3 area or so... if you have a bigger area than that, get 600 or 1000... 750 digitals are good too.
if you have any decent amount of space at all than you should start using a hps set up.

$20 is outta the question though... gunna be more than that for sure

is the cooling that will cost ya, 400 watt digital is decent on power... made the rocket in my avatar

i use 2 400 watters and my bill is about 20 buck's more a mouth

DR growgood said:

i use 2 400 watters and my bill is about 20 buck's more a mouth

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shit my 400w bulb + 2 cfl and 3 fans only adds on about 8 bucks a month to my bill so i dont see anything so big of a deal unless your paying like 20 cent per kwh and im only paying 11cents per kwh

i use 430w 58,500 lums @ 4.5ish amps,that plus the low heat factor is why i use them.

jberry said:

you will see a big change in your bill and a bigger change in your quality and yield.

i wouldnt bother with a 400 unless its in like a 3x3 area or so... if you have a bigger area than that, get 600 or 1000... 750 digitals are good too.
if you have any decent amount of space at all than you should start using a hps set up.

$20 is outta the question though... gunna be more than that for sure

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why do you say you wouldnt bother with a 400w. please go into detail on why, r the running cost about the same or something for all bulbs

well first off make sure you have/get the correct ballast for the bulb u r using... 400, 600, 1000. all have their own ballast.

to answer ur question in my opinion a 400 is only good for a 3x3 foot area maybe 4x4 max... unless you are just using it for veging than you could stretch it out a little further, but for flowering big hard dense buds i would say 4x4 tops.
you could and should throw some more around/outside of that perimeter but they will probably be fluffy not so great buds.

if i plan on keeping the plants small how many can i put under a 400 w
all the way to harvest

small (2ft)

how much space do you have and what size pots?

1000 watt HPS lights will cost a considerable amount of money to run. Look at how your power bill is tiered. Beyond what they call "baseline", the rate goes up exponentially. Sometimes up to 4X baseline. Once you're in that category you better have your shit together.

That 5hit said:

small (2ft)

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2x2? ok just use the 400 4 sure than.
can you set up sum sort of automated irrigation ?... if so u can use really small pots or rockwool cubes. like 4-6 inch pots/cubes.

or do u plan on hand watering? if so u will need a little bigger pots and may want to use soil if you cant water often.

give them little or no spacing depending on ur pot size and flip to 12/12 around 6 inches.

Mcgician said:

1000 watt HPS lights will cost a considerable amount of money to run. Look at how your power bill is tiered. Beyond what they call "baseline", the rate goes up exponentially. Sometimes up to 4X baseline. Once you're in that category you better have your shit together.

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do you know if there is a maximum ? does it go beyond the 4x ?