# Power Consumption / Light Cost



## -=4:20=-Guy (Dec 7, 2006)

All you need to do is download the spreadsheet and enter a few bits of info.

*How it works

* To calculate your cost per month you will need a copy of your last few power bills, and this spread sheet. If you just want to estimate and know how your power billing works just check out the pic.

First you need to find out how much your power company charges you and how much you allready use. Take your power bills out to do this. 
There are three things you will need *Total Usage*, a *Baseline* power allotment (this is important as you go over this Base the price per kWh will increase), and the *Pricing*.

Next find your setup, or enter your own on the *Lights *sheet.

Lastly enter your info. Start with info from your bills. _*
Previous Usage *_cells, enter your Total Usage from your last 3 bills. 
*Baseline*, find and fill in you baseline power allotment.
*Pricing*, Dont worry if all the entrys arn't on your bill, they usualy increase by $0.05, just fill them *ALL* in._*
Your Lights*_,enter the number you looked up on the Lights sheet.

On to Version 2. Let me start by adding this post


babygro said:


> Ohms law is relatively straight forward and can be used to calculate an accurate figure of wattage useage from any light system, and this would probably have been a better way to go. To calculate total wattage used from a ballast HID system you need to use the amperage figure not the bulb wattage figure. To show you how your figures are inacurate, OHMS Law is Volts x Amperes = Watts, so if we know two of those figures we can calculate the third.
> 
> The real wattage of a 400w HID system is Volts x Amperes or 120 x 3.8 = 456watts for an average 400w system others would be -
> 
> ...


By using the new Ohm's Law section you will be able to get even more exact with your estimate. I recomend useing this section to get your actual watt usage. As pointed out by babygro and A Good Keen Man useing only bulb comsumption and not power loss in the ballast will throw your results by up to 15%. By useing Ohms Law i think it will be more around 5% Give or Take so I added a range of costs derived from -5% to +5% less or more KWh usage.

98% of electronic equipment will have its Amps posted on it somewhere. As for your voltage just about everyone should know their local voltage but it is usualy posted to.






Refferances:
GCSE Physics: kilowatt-hour <---How to do the math yourself.
Electric Bill Detail - PG&E Bill <---Sample Bill.
download: Download Central <---*Free *Open Office

Well I hope this is informative and helps you find your right setup for your homes Power Base. To unlock document *toke*.


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## Widow Maker (Dec 7, 2006)

Great find! Maybe GK will sticky?


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Dec 7, 2006)

I did it all by myself  and that would be awsome!


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## farmer.joe (Dec 7, 2006)

i looked it up, man! i need to switch electric company for 30 days 16h per day it will cost me &#163;80.00 i think , if i have done it right.
I havent got an electricity bill as it is a prepaid meter when the cash runs out it goes off. but i do know its more than double what i normally use.


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## Garden Knowm (Dec 7, 2006)

very NICE!!! 

I am working on it..

cheers!!!


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## potroast (Dec 8, 2006)

Why not ask the real moderator?


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## Widow Maker (Dec 8, 2006)

potroast said:


> Why not ask the real moderator?


Ohh.. You dirty dog. lol. Maybe if you see one you can let them know. hehehe.


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## Garden Knowm (Dec 8, 2006)

Hey mr. roast... is the indoor section your?


AND 

What have you done with our KING?

iloveyou


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## Garden Knowm (Dec 10, 2006)

Hey 420 guy...

Your post is a fantastic contribution to the site. It will eventually be moved into the FAQ section..... 

cheers
GK


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## Vote 2 Legalize Marijuana (Dec 27, 2006)

​ 
http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/static/articles/1006_eltrc.asp 
Thought all of you might also find this Kill A Watt meter interesting!
http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/Itemdesc.asp?ic=MKAW&eq=&Tp=


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## Garden Knowm (Dec 27, 2006)

Mr. Vote?

Do you have one of these?

cheers


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## Vote 2 Legalize Marijuana (Dec 28, 2006)

Garden Knowm said:


> Mr. Vote?
> 
> Do you have one of these?
> 
> cheers


 Yes I do, but it's kind of worthless for me though. I was curiuos about it and bought one. Works great, and comes with the formula for figuring out consumption and cost. I use solar and wind power to offset the cost of my electricity bill.


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## Garden Knowm (Dec 30, 2006)

Vote 2 Legalize Marijuana said:


> I use solar and wind power to offset the cost of my electricity bill.


YOU ARE SUPER COOL... you use both wind and solar!!!

hats off BRO

hats OFF!!!

picture?


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## Vote 2 Legalize Marijuana (Dec 31, 2006)

Garden Knowm said:


> YOU ARE SUPER COOL... you use both wind and solar!!!
> 
> hats off BRO
> 
> ...


Thanks!
A friend turned me on to it when he sold his house, and this is mostly what powers my grow rooms. Which is a good thing because anytime we have electrical storms here in Colorado the power boxes seem to always get hit by lightning. Guess they are not grounded very well (lol). Can't even begin to count how many times the power has went out and the solar and wind power have saved my plants.


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## NightTrain (Jan 10, 2007)

great thread, thanks guys, some real good info! hey Vote, bghydro is pretty damn good site! cheers fellas


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## A Good Keen Man (Jan 12, 2007)

Hi there ya all. Just a quickie thought, appears that your calcs takes into consideration the burner (bulb or tube) only, there are losses with the control gear as well, abt 5%. (that is the heat you feel coming off the box) I'm talking about a HPS setup, though same is true of fluros too, though to a lesser extent. Generally, there are higher losses in older control gear (more total watts) and less light from old burners. (things don't grow as well or happen as fast.) Cheers . .


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## mogie (Jan 13, 2007)

Vote solar and wind power very cool.


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Jan 13, 2007)

A Good Keen Man said:


> Hi there ya all. Just a quickie thought, appears that your calcs takes into consideration the burner (bulb or tube) only, there are losses with the control gear as well, abt 5%. (that is the heat you feel coming off the box) I'm talking about a HPS setup, though same is true of fluros too, though to a lesser extent. Generally, there are higher losses in older control gear (more total watts) and less light from old burners. (things don't grow as well or happen as fast.) Cheers . .


Yes I just did the bulb sizes to keep it simpe for everyone. But the math is solid. All you would need to do is add 5% to _*Your Lights*_ total for a little leway. You could also use the _*Your Setup*_ cells to get totals for your pumps, fans, or anything else that has a steady draw and is on a timed schedual. Add them to Your Lights totals and get a Compleat cost instaid of just lights. 

Anyways thanks for your input and I hope it was informitive.


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## babygro (Jan 22, 2007)

Ohms law is relatively straight forward and can be used to calculate an accurate figure of wattage useage from any light system, and this would probably have been a better way to go. To calculate total wattage used from a ballast HID system you need to use the amperage figure not the bulb wattage figure. To show you how your figures are inacurate, OHMS Law is Volts x Amperes = Watts, so if we know two of those figures we can calculate the third.

The real wattage of a 400w HID system is Volts x Amperes or 120 x 3.8 = 456watts for an average 400w system others would be -

250w 120 x 2.5 = 300w
400w 120 x 3.8 = 456w
600w 120 x 5.7 = 684w
1000w 120 x 9.5 = 1140


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## A Good Keen Man (Jan 22, 2007)

Sorry, didnt really mean for the subject to become pedantic, only to point out that there is greater amount of current used than that stated on a burner envelope.
However, for the record. I have a small (this one is abt 6 long ) clamp amp meter that I use on occasion. (any clamp ammeter will do, it dont have to be small) Place around either the active or neutral wire that supplies power to your growery, turn on all lights, pumps, blowers scrubbers etc., read off current.
Current X Volts = Watts divided by 1000 = Kilowatts X 1Hour = 1 Kilowatt hour
The Kilowatt Hour is the unit the utility company charges you for, I pay abt NZ$0.16 per kWh. 
Will try and include photo of meter if this forum allows. (and I can find out how)
Keep on growing everyone, weve just got to win this war . . .
More is better, much more is much better, most is best. (I know, cause I paid for it.)


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Jan 24, 2007)

Ok Baby Grow and Good Keen Man; its edited now with a Ohm's Law quick caculator and a Give or Take of 5% on totals. =) I just wanted to get some more opinions before I did an edit; I'm kinda lazy LOL.

If anyone else has an idea let me know Ill get around to it if I think it wont complicate things to much.

--------EDIT---------

OK well that sucked I FUCKED everything up and it took all day to get it solid, but its done.


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Jan 29, 2007)

Yo babygro I added your Ohms law breakdown to the original post check it out.


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## pinklemonmoosek2 (Feb 8, 2007)

I did some math for a 400 watt Hps bulb, like i didnt include the ballast. I came up with a total of 144 Kw/month... does that sound right??


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Feb 8, 2007)

Ya a 400W @ 10 hours a day is 144Kwh a month.


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## Bigbud (Feb 8, 2007)

I dont get an electric bill every month as I have a key and can see how much I am useing at any time of the day or night

Using electricity was a real worry for me as i didnt have a job when I first started out and didnt know how much a 400wer and 2 fans was going to use and from alot of reading it sounded like a lot

But I can now say that it wont even use a £10er a week and that is with the pc on 24/7....lights and fans on 18/6 and all the other household appliances that get used in the course of a week 

It works out at about just over £1.50ish a day with every thing included and will be even less when I switch to 12/12


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## AetvsDominvs (Feb 9, 2007)

Can someone help me to answer some questions about how the spreadsheet may relate to my specific situation? I spent a good deal of time with this tool, it's incredibly useful but I still ended up with a few unknowns for my specific situation...

I know there are some very knowledgeable and vastly more experienced folks than me on this board, could you please take a moment to give me your opinion whether I am being totally reckless?!?

I live in a college town in the US, small town, just the kind of place the police keep their eyes open for chances to pop college kids for growing and because of my proximity to the university I feel I need to be extra careful. To complicate matters more, the city government is also the power and water utility provider here, so it's no stretch of the imagination to feel that the power company and the police force keep tabs on anything suspicious happening on the 'grid'. I live in a small townhouse with spacious basement, excellent place for a setup and I have a landlord I haven't seen in 8 months.

After reading through all of the rate schedules on the city .gov page, and pulling all of my utility bills for the last year, it appears that _my_ BASELINE is about 1200kwh / month. 

My light setup will be 8 HO Fl's at 54 watts/ea (t: 648w) and two 600w HPS (t: 1200w) for a total of 1848w, and with a combined average daily on-time of 16hrs (20hrs for the T-5s and 12hrs for the HPS's) - adds up to 887kwh, round it up to 900 after the fans and stuff are in.

Thats a large increase: from 1200 to 2100 kwh / month. But my girlfriend moved out recently, and the utilities were in her name, so I recently changed service into my name, so this may be an ok time to ramp up an increase; as far as the power co is concerned, one resident moved out and a different resident moved in. I also have a LOT of computer equipment (5 PCs with 400w-550w power supplies) that all run all the time, I havent measured the PCs power usage but I'm sure I could reduce my 'Baseline' by half if I turn stuff off...

How would one know exactly WHAT constitutes a red flag for the power company?

Also, I wont be using the HPS lights for at least a month, until the first tomatoes are ready to bear fruit.

If that's true, I would really only be increasing my overall usage from 1200 to 1650kwh. Even that is a noticeable increase, right?

There is another thing I dont know: the spreadsheet shows that there is an additional charge for 100-130%, 131-200$, etc. Is that % of average baseline over the last year? I cant find anything about that on the city's website.

And another thing, there are 2 residential programs: "Energy Rate" and "Demand Rate" - the city's website says if you are using more than 1400kwh you should use the Demand Rate program, the base charge is higher but there isnt as much of a charge for higher demand - but I live in an apartment; I would hate to raise a red flag by asking for Demand Rate for my 2 bedroom apartment. Right? Besides asking my neighbors for a look at their power bills, is there any way I can know what their usage is?

So those are my quandaries. Any input would be great - sometimes I live in fantasy land in my head and need someone to say 'Dude, WTF are you doing!?!?' - Or 'You better flee for the border, bro'

Thanks in advance for helping me sort some of this out!

I attached the fee schedule from the city's website, BTW


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## Jbudzz (Feb 9, 2007)

yoo i was wondering if some people can help me out with growing tips with my plant growing indoor/how to start


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Feb 10, 2007)

First let me say that even 1200Kwh a month is ALOT of power. Here where I live a 3 bedroom house only gets 350Kwh.



AetvsDominvs said:


> My light setup will be 8 HO Fl's at 54 watts/ea (t: 648w) and two 600w HPS (t: 1200w) for a total of 1848w, and with a combined average daily on-time of 16hrs (20hrs for the T-5s and 12hrs for the HPS's) - adds up to 887kwh, round it up to 900 after the fans and stuff are in.


I got 259Kwh (T5s) and 432Kwh (HPS) totaling 691Kwh. Rounding up and down is done on the second page. DOWNLOAD THE FILE it has your setup input allready and isnt locked =)



AetvsDominvs said:


> That&#8217;s a large increase: from 1200 to 2100 kwh / month. But my girlfriend moved out recently, and the utilities were in her name, so I recently changed service into my name, so this may be an ok time to ramp up an increase; as far as the power co is concerned, one resident moved out and a different resident moved in. I also have a LOT of computer equipment (5 PCs with 400w-550w power supplies) that all run all the time, I haven&#8217;t measured the PCs power usage but I'm sure I could reduce my 'Baseline' by half if I turn stuff off...


Now your baseline isnt how much you use but how much you are alloted to use. Your power use should be easily under the 1200Kwh with as you said a little power conciousnes. Put 5w-10w CFLs in ALL fixtures you pay for, and turn on power saving mode on all the PCs you can.



AetvsDominvs said:


> How would one know exactly WHAT constitutes a red flag for the power company?
> 
> Also, I won&#8217;t be using the HPS lights for at least a month, until the first tomatoes are ready to bear fruit.
> 
> ...


Looking at your rate chart you dont have an additonal charge for overages; probably cause you are alloted so much allready. I also added another section so you may want to re download it.




AetvsDominvs said:


> And another thing, there are 2 residential programs: "Energy Rate" and "Demand Rate" - the city's website says if you are using more than 1400kwh you should use the Demand Rate program, the base charge is higher but there isn&#8217;t as much of a charge for higher demand - but I live in an apartment; I would hate to raise a red flag by asking for Demand Rate for my 2 bedroom apartment. Right? Besides asking my neighbors for a look at their power bills, is there any way I can know what their usage is?


Asking about power use with your neibors is kinda a bad idea. But if you just moved in you may be able to get away with it saying "You are concerned about running all your PCs all the time and how much they pay a month"; but not how much Kwh they use its to in depth of a question and may raise an eyebrow to you.

Well hope that helps
Stay High


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Feb 10, 2007)

Version 2.01 released!!!


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## AetvsDominvs (Feb 11, 2007)

Thanks a mil, 4:20 that helps a lot!


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## AetvsDominvs (Feb 14, 2007)

This is kind of handy too:

*Household Appliances:*

*Aquarium* = 50-1210 Watts
*Clock radio* = 10
*Coffee maker* = 900-1200
*Clothes washer* = 350-500
*Clothes dryer* = 1800-5000
*Dishwasher* = 1200-2400 (using the drying feature greatly increases energy consumption) 
*Dehumidifier* = 785
*Electric blanket *- Single/Double = 60 / 100
*Ceiling* *fan* = 65-175
*Window* *fan* = 55-250
*Furnace* = 750
*Whole house* = 240-750
*Hair dryer* = 1200-1875
*Heater* (portable) = 750-1500
*Clothes Iron* = 1000-1800
*Microwave oven* = 750-1100
*Personal Computer*:
CPU - awake / asleep = 120 / 30 or less
Monitor - awake / asleep = 150 / 30 or less
Laptop = 50
*Radio* (stereo) = 400
*Refrigerator* (frost-free, 16 cubic feet) = 725
*Television* (color):
19" = 110
27" = 113
36" = 133
53"-61" Projection = 170
Flat Screen = 120
*Toaster* = 800-1400
*Toaster Oven* = 1225
*VCR/DVD* = 17-21 /20-25
*Vacuum cleaner* = 1000-1440
*Water heater* (40 gallon) = 4500-5500
*Water pump* (deep well) = 250-1100
*Water bed* (w/ heater, no cover) = 120-380​Refrigerators, although turned "on" all the time, actually cycle on and off at a rate that depends on a number of factors. These factors include how well it is insulated, room temperature, freezer temperature, how often the door is opened, if the coils are clean, if it is defrosted regularly, and the condition of the door seals. To get an approximate figure for the number of hours that a refrigerator actually operates at its maximum wattage, divide the total time the refrigerator is plugged in by three.
If the wattage is not listed on the appliance, you can still estimate it by finding the current draw (in amperes) and multiplying that by the voltage used by the appliance. Most appliances in the United States use 120 volts. Larger appliances, such as clothes dryers and electric cooktops, use 240 volts. The amperes might be stamped on the unit in place of the wattage. If not, find a clamp-on ammeter&#8212;an electrician's tool that clamps around one of the two wires on the appliance &#8212; to measure the current flowing through it. You can obtain this type of ammeter in stores that sell electrical and electronic equipment. Take a reading while the device is running; this is the actual amount of current being used at that instant. 
Note: When measuring the current drawn by a motor, in the first second that the motor starts, the meter will show about three times the current than when it is running smoothly.
Also note that many appliances continue to draw a small amount of power when they are switched "off." These "phantom loads" occur in most appliances that use electricity, such as VCRs, televisions, stereos, computers, and kitchen appliances. Most phantom loads will increase the appliance's energy consumption a few watts per hour. These loads can be avoided by unplugging the appliance or using a power strip and using the switch on the power strip to cut all power to the appliance. 
Source: U.S. Department of Energy


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## RichardDawson (Feb 23, 2007)

Very ensightful, Thanks a bunch


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## AnOnion (Apr 29, 2007)

for those of you in the UK

Electricity Running Cost Calculator from UK Power



envirolite blue 125w 24/7 @15p/kW = 13.50 per month


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## babygro (Apr 29, 2007)

AnOnion said:


> envirolite blue 125w 24/7 @15p/kW = 13.50 per month


It's a useful site - thanks. 

Although a 125w Enviro doesn't pull 125w of electicity, it pulls about 90w of electricity so, a 125w Enviro used 24/7 @ 15p/Kw for a month would be £9.72


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## AnOnion (Apr 30, 2007)

even less likely anyone will notice that on the bill.... nice one Babygro


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## edsthreads (May 27, 2007)

Just thought I would input into this thread for any UK growers as a 'guide' to what sort of bills to expect - Hope it helps... obvioulsy bills will differ with equipment used & the leccy company you are with.. yadda yadda yadda.... 

I have the following set up:

1 x 400 HPS Lamp & Ballast (on 12 hours a day)
3 x Fans (9inch desk fans) (on 24/7)
1 x 110w FLuro (on 16 hours a day)
3 x Air Pumps (5w each) 1 is on 24/7, 1 feeds 15mins a day 6 times day & another on 24/7)
1 x Ionizer (domestic) on 12 hours a day (approx)

+ all my other domestic appliances such as washing machine, TV, Satt receiver, computer, fridge etc

I make sure I unplug any unused appliances completely from the mains until necessary to use to save a little extra juice

My daily bill is appprox £1.80/£2 ($3.60) about £12.60 a week or £50.40 a month & approx £100.80+ the entire grow. ($200 ish) 

I wonder if any growers in the UK or growers across the pond have similar running costs with the similar set up?


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## Psyko (Aug 15, 2007)

Hello,

I am french.

I do not speak English.I is useful itself of a translator on line 


2x200W 2700K Nurturelite separate ballast(real consumption included ballast: 322W)

Cultivable surface: : 160x80cm(80x80cm per lamps)(large reflector)

32 plants(one bud in coco-mix)

result: 320g(10g per plant)

320g : 322W = 0,99g/watt

Pics:














Bye


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## TYPE-X (Nov 4, 2007)

My two t-5s raised my bill 8.00 u.s. a month. i am a tight ass with the electricity use in my house. My stereo hurts me more than all the grow rooms.


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## that one guy (Nov 28, 2007)

wow your supper smart or supper stoned.. thanks this is what ie been looking for!


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## frostynsv (Feb 12, 2008)

about how many 400 w hps should i use for maximum yeald on 30 35 plants roughtly


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## DrWatson (Mar 2, 2008)

for maximum yeild on 30-35 plants...a lot


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## DrWatson (Mar 2, 2008)

I just started running a 1000w hps with mh bulb 20/4...hope it doesn't jack up the electric bill too much...since I started using it I stopped using the heat though, I rarely turn on other lights, and I unplugged everything unnecessary, great temps in the grow room... boy its been chilly in the house though. Came out of my room yesterday and my roommate was eatin cereal with a jacket and ear muffs on...what a pussy


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## LoudBlunts (Mar 2, 2008)

hahaha @ eating cereal with jacket and ear muffs....


kodak moments!!!


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## DrWatson (Mar 2, 2008)

yeah i had no idea growing would be so fun and consuming at the same time, I'm lovin it even though I had to go from sleeping in the buff to sleeping in sweatpants and a sweatshirt and seeing my roomy eat breakfast in his winter gear


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## infamouse21 (Mar 3, 2008)

so let me get this straight.

my bill says (over 1000 kwh at 0.06227) so is that an hour?

say we are running 3600watts. for 12 hours a day.
would it go like this?
3600 x 12hours = 43200 divided by 1000 = 43.2 kwh used
now 43.2 x 0.062270 = 2.690064$ day x 31 days = 83.391984$ month.
hmmm seems very cheap doesnt it?


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## bearo420 (Mar 11, 2008)

you rural people got it made. IM PAYING *15 *cents a kwh. im holding my bill right now. 1100 kwh last month. 

but are we telling the whole story here. 

theres a delivery charge

theres a sbc/rps charge.

theres a sales tax charge

actual electric is far less than what i pay, hell i spent 60 on the delivery charges alone untaxed
and my bill is 250 total to reference.


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## vitalious (Mar 28, 2008)

Can anyone take a guess at how many KW/h per DAY you can get away with without sending alarms ringing?

Lets say we have 6 1000watt lights going at 16 per day, thats 96 kw/h in a day.
thats about 5-6 bucks a day = $150 month.

Do you guys reckon that you can get away with 12 1000 watters?

I am planning to make a flowering room out of an entire basement.
Probably an area of 16'x12'.

I'm looking to dedicate about $500 of electric bills a month to growing only.

Is that the kind of figure that would raise eyebrows?
I live in Canada, Ontario by the way.


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## Juntistik (Apr 1, 2008)

12 1000 watters! !

gotta go back home and change my pants..

fuck...not again :/


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## hornedfrog2000 (May 2, 2008)

You're going to burn your house down.


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## miggzeh (May 6, 2008)

I worked out the total load of all my stuff at just under a Kwh which basically means a 400w 6-8 plant Hydro/Aero system breaks down per day @

400w HID 18/6 = $1.23 
300w Main pump 15on 15off (12hours) = 61c
10w Circulating pump 15on 15off (12hours) = 2c
10w Air pump 24/7 = 4c
120w extractor fan 18/6 = 38c
38w circulating fan 24/7 = 16c
38w intake fan 24/7 = 16c

So thats $2.60 per day to run it all add in wastage factors of appliances at about 15percent and you have $2.96 per day 6r $20.72 a week or $331.52 for a 16 week grow.

So 1oz covers electricity costs if you were ever to sell! nice!


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## miggzeh (May 6, 2008)

frostynsv said:


> about how many 400 w hps should i use for maximum yeald on 30 35 plants roughtly


They say 100w per plant as a guide, you can get away with 4-6 bushy plants under a 400w if you train them a bit.

personally I'd go with 600w, almost twice the light output for half the extra cost in running.


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## MajinGanja (May 17, 2008)

I have 4 very nice plants roughly 6 weeks into vegitation, I need to get some HID's when the time comes to 12/12. Will these work?
Amazon.com: 600W HPS Super Sun Systems (SSX Ballast - Hortilux Bulb): Home Improvement


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## toohigh55 (May 24, 2008)

so with the price of shit now days and we stoners ahem , look for ways to be cheap(frugle)has anyone had any luck growing with led lights


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## A Good Keen Man (May 25, 2008)

toohigh55 said:


> so with the price of shit now days and we stoners ahem , look for ways to be cheap(frugle)has anyone had any luck growing with led lights


I, also, am really interested in this topic. Please correct me if I am wrong, but, we do not seem to have had any feed-back from anyone that has grown that has used this means of lighting. If it can be utelised I do think that it will be the way to go. Even if techo does have to catch up . . . c'mon techo!!! Go you little beauty . . Anyway . . . please . . some feedback some daring sole (head?) out there.
Youse all have a good time out there . . . by order of George B. Yah hear that?


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## bearo420 (May 26, 2008)

maybe search doesnt show them but theres been a few led threads on here. Theres been a bunch on the internet. 

LEDS WILL NOT GROW SMOKABLE WEED. 

YES YOU CAN START A PLANT WITH THEM BUT SMOKING AN ENJOYABLE AMOUNT OF WEED WITH THEM IS NOT POSSIBLE AT THIS POINT IN TECHNOLOGY. LEDS ADVERTISING 100 REAL WATTS EACH IS THE POINT I THINK IT BECOMES FEASIBLE.
DONT WASTE YOUR BRAIN ON TECH THAT IS 15 YEARS IN THE MAKING TO COME OUT AT PRICES THAT MAKE IT REALLY 25 YEARS.


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## cryptrunner (May 27, 2008)

okay i was looking on here a couple of days ago cuz i was looking for light costs and it led me to this page. So i found a method and tryed using in and my ending prices were WAY off, so i dont kno who it was but he was wrong. but i did find another method that helped me so i thought id post it to help others. 


400 watts x 24 hours x 30.5 days = 292,800 Total Watt-hours
292,800 Wh / 1000 Wh = 293 kWh
293 kWh x 10¢/kWh = $29/mo.; $351/yr. 
I live in michigan and last months electric was 789 kwh and the bill was 84.44 so in my area its roughly 9.34 cents a kwh. Do the math problem ubove on a calulator so you do it right and then use ur watts and price to figure it out.


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## weedweed (Jun 3, 2008)

anybody heard of the 'eliminator" or some such product that u plug into your breaker box and it some how back feeds, or confuses the meter thereby reducing your bill? friend told me about this, don't know if it is bullshit and can't find any info online?


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## bearo420 (Jun 5, 2008)

weedweed said:


> anybody heard of the 'eliminator" or some such product that u plug into your breaker box and it some how back feeds, or confuses the meter thereby reducing your bill? friend told me about this, don't know if it is bullshit and can't find any info online?


 
its not confusing the meter or changing anything other than efficiency. ballasts waste energy in heat and other defects. Those boxes basically handle electricity better. So if a ballast took 1kw it may use 75% of that for you. Those add on boxes make it so its using 100%. so it takes less electric to run it cause its using all it can get and costs less in the end. But for 500-1000 that they cost ive never bothered to investigate firsthand and dont think the 5 bucks a month youll save is worth another device/ fire risk being plugged in.


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## acidserum (Jun 8, 2008)

too much expenses for no reason my girls are growiing on 45watt flourescent nd strong healthy , beautiful


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## yourname (Jul 7, 2008)

I need my amperage uprgraded in my house everytime i have a couple things on at one time the circuit breaker blows...do i call an electrician,or power company.....or both?


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## justinbars (Jul 7, 2008)

Has anyone use solar panels to help power their lights? They are pretty expensive but they would pay for themselves after a while.


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## gimmenobammerweed (Jul 18, 2008)

this chart reads: "$600 per 10 hours @ 2000w". that price has to be runniong 2000w per day per month right?


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## ponyboy (Jul 28, 2008)

first....awesome post. When i first started my indoor growing i looked in google for a wattage to $ conversion chart. It worked great and they gave you the monthly price if you ran the particular wattage you intended to use. My 1,500 watt equiv led set up costs me.......$24 a month. heehee. FYI i am a LED guru and love mine. ive tested everything out there and found my lights. 
Getting ready to germ trainwreck and bc godbud next week. Cant wait........


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Aug 1, 2008)

gimmenobammerweed said:


> this chart reads: "$600 per 10 hours @ 2000w". that price has to be runniong 2000w per day per month right?



That is incorrect the "600" is Kilowatt Hours used in One 30 day month.


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## captaincleanoff (Aug 2, 2008)

how much would a single 400w HPS light cost to run a month? Would there be a noticeable change in the power bill in a large household?


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Aug 2, 2008)

captaincleanoff said:


> how much would a single 400w HPS light cost to run a month? Would there be a noticeable change in the power bill in a large household?


It really depends on your baseline allotment and how much of that allotment is being used already. That being said your most effective method of keeping the impact down is by looking into saving energy elsewhere in your home. This can be easy in a large home, and much harder in a small one.

With a 400W light your looking at about a 150Kwh to 250Kwh additional per month so the first thing to do is see how close to your maximum Kwh allotment you are. If you can handle the extra usage in your allotment your all good, if not then you could be looking at going into the triple bonus round and getting a really off skew bill. this can be avoided by doing as suggested and save elsewhere.


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## yourname (Aug 4, 2008)

how hard is it to steal electric?


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Aug 5, 2008)

yourname said:


> how hard is it to steal electric?


Its the BEST WAY to go to jail.


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## yourname (Aug 6, 2008)

LOL i definately wouldn't go that route but with big op's they always run a line from the pole,i've seen 20 1000w lights if your that big you either steal power or get busted by the power company


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## The Martian (Aug 12, 2008)

Hi All
WHHHAAAA WHHAAAA WHHAAA. Calling ponyboy calling ponyboy!!!!!
You mean to tell me your flowering under LEDs?????
How about some piccys, and some details.
What type lights, type LEDs used, colours, ratio of colours, wattages, size of grow area.
It would be nice to find someone having results from LEDs.
I indend building one or two soon, for my next grow, to suppliment a 400 watt HID, using 3 watt LEDs, 40 or 50 or maybe 60 per lamp.
Up to now I've only seen disapointments, but the time is Now, or at least very very soon.
Thanks


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## yourname (Aug 12, 2008)

led's suck monkey balls


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## Connoisseur177 (Aug 13, 2008)

ok... the only reason u think LED suck is that you never seen enough in the same room...if u use as much wattage in LED as you do for other lights, u would retract ur statement... but thass a lil much for money for some ppl


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Aug 15, 2008)

Little off topic here guys.


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## smoke so thick (Aug 16, 2008)

I've been at this for a month now, I've been using about 125 ACTUAL watts of cfls for 18 hours a day along with a small desk fan, says it runs at .5A (amps I reckon) and last month my bill shot up $15. It really doesn't seem like it should have done that just because of the few lights I have and I thought I did the math right (according to the excel sheet I should have gone up .12kw, even if thats per hour of use it should have only been 71 extra kw a month and at $.12 per kwh that about $8.5, also got a window ac unit so that could account for more as well) 

Does that kind of increase for those kind of watts sound right? I ask because I'm thinking of upgrading to a HPS, especially if for the same amount of watts i get a more efficent light. So, if I went to a 125w hps would i still be using about the same per month? I was told it might even be more worth it to go up to 250w, but i live in a small apt, and the $15 increase brought me from $30 to $45 on electric so I'm cautious about throwing one of those in and risking going up to $60 in two months for suspicions sake


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## sb101 (Aug 17, 2008)

it's all automated from what i hear, just pay yer electric bill on time...

anybody know what electricity prices in the LA region are? just moved into a new apt and starting have 500w of light so like 600w or whatever after calculations (to hiiigh)

i also have this really small 5" or whatever heater that is 2200w, but i'm just using it as a fan right now so its gotta be using waaay less power than that, don't know how to figure out that without getting one of those meters (fun for sure, but a waste in my case)


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Aug 18, 2008)

smoke so thick said:


> I've been at this for a month now, I've been using about 125 ACTUAL watts of cfls for 18 hours a day along with a small desk fan, says it runs at .5A (amps I reckon) and last month my bill shot up $15. It really doesn't seem like it should have done that just because of the few lights I have and I thought I did the math right (according to the excel sheet I should have gone up .12kw, even if thats per hour of use it should have only been 71 extra kw a month and at $.12 per kwh that about $8.5, also got a window ac unit so that could account for more as well)


The correct number is 67.5 KWh with 125w x 18hrs x 30days. The AC probably added the rest as they are energy hogs.



smoke so thick said:


> Does that kind of increase for those kind of watts sound right? I ask because I'm thinking of upgrading to a HPS, especially if for the same amount of watts i get a more efficent light. So, if I went to a 125w hps would i still be using about the same per month? I was told it might even be more worth it to go up to 250w, but i live in a small apt, and the $15 increase brought me from $30 to $45 on electric so I'm cautious about throwing one of those in and risking going up to $60 in two months for suspicions sake


The main thing to watch out for is your cost the energy company could care less if you wanted to run a 1000W 24hrs a day as long as you pay the bill. Making sure that you stay below your baseline allotment is a big deal if you cant afford the extra cost.

Other than that all I can say is I wish I were you. $0.18 per KWh here and I always go over my allotment = $0.28 per KWh. But its still cheaper than buying and you never get a bunk bag.


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## yourname (Aug 20, 2008)

-=4:20=-Guy said:


> The correct number is 67.5 KWh with 125w x 18hrs x 30days. The AC probably added the rest as they are energy hogs.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Soo your saying that as long as you pay your electric bill on time the power company won't report you for having a spike in your total usage?


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Aug 22, 2008)

Not within reason they just want your cash. There are a million things that can contribute to a high electric bill.


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## Rincewind (Aug 22, 2008)

As utility rates keep climbing, doesn't it make sense to make the move to LED grow lights. In the RED and BLUE spectrum a 50W LED light at 1' above the canopy will equal a 400W HPS at 2' above the canopy.
Pay for 460W or 60W 12 to 18 hours a day. You don't have to change a bulb for 15 or more years.
Rincewind


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## Rincewind (Aug 22, 2008)

I did a cost benefit model of LEDs vs HPS based on average life of a bulb at 10,000 hours and with a cost of $50.00 each.
*Cost Model*
*LED*​*400W HPS*​Cost per kilowatt hour
 $ 0.12 ​ $ 0.12 ​Power Dissipated
60W​456W​Bulb Life in 1000 hours
100​10​Initial Cost
 $ 650.00 ​ $ 550.00 ​Total Electricity Cost over 100,000 hour use 
 $ 720.00 ​ $ 5,472.00 ​Total Cost of Bulbs over 100,000 hour use
 $ 0.00 ​ $ 500.00 ​Total Cost 100,000 hour use
 $ 1,370.00 ​ $ 6,522.00 ​


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## SYLER (Aug 29, 2008)

hI,

AFriend have the Grow Led´s ,and he say ist Bullshit !!

It´s in >The Flowering by Day 38 he have very very smal smal Buds,very small Budskiss-ass


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## bearo420 (Aug 29, 2008)

leds = lol

leds are the snakeoil of the 2000's . some day in the year 2300 someone will have to get respect for leds again, itll be tough. for now hahahahah. 

as much led watts as real bulb watts = lol again. ill bet its hotter in that room and with all those fixtures it takes twice as much room to fit it. 

led light penetration = non existent. a 1k will penetrate 3-4 feet for buds on the bottom of plant. how can you compare?

youll have one 1 inch bud on top of a 2 foot toothpick of a plant.

your better off just putting your money in the garbage and getting drunk. cause in the end you wont have any bud to smoke anyway and youll be drinking the sadness away with your high tech non existent buds.


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## 0849 (Sep 7, 2008)

why does no one ever bother with specs for 250w? i live in a fucking desert, and unless I want to move 600cfm in and out the space i grow in can't work with anything begger.. I'd love 2 1000w but its just not happening in in a 2x3.5 footprint.


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Sep 7, 2008)

OL ya I use a 250w for my veg. I just put a few on there just for a general referance, if you open the file you will find that you can enter your own setup.

And just cause Im nice. A 250w will use:

10hrs = 75KWh
12hrs = 90KWh
14hrs = 105KWh
16hrs = 120KWh
18hrs = 135KWh


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## 420Bitches (Sep 13, 2008)

Im not sure how much my power bill is (im in b.c) but i think its pretty cheap...how much will it cost me to run a 1000 watt mh on 18/6.....and(not at the same time) how much will it cost me to run a 1000 watt hps on 12/12???
thanks alot if anyone helps me out.
peace


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## corral hollow kid (Sep 14, 2008)

vitalious said:


> Do you guys reckon that you can get away with 12 1000 watters?
> 
> Is that the kind of figure that would raise eyebrows?
> I live in Canada, Ontario by the way.


 HOLY COW DUDE!!!

Might raise an eyebrow or 2 

Even in Canada!!!


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Sep 14, 2008)

Towlie Rocks


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## lotowork777 (Sep 25, 2008)

In the US it costs 600 per month to run 4800 watts and 1200 for about 9000 watts.


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## DIRTHAWKER (Sep 28, 2008)

How much would my electric bill go up if i had one 1000w hps? on 12/12?

my current bill here in SO CAL is about $100.00 a month.

Sorry im having trouble downloading the graph.


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Sep 28, 2008)

DIRTHAWKER said:


> How much would my electric bill go up if i had one 1000w hps? on 12/12?
> 
> my current bill here in SO CAL is about $100.00 a month.
> 
> Sorry im having trouble downloading the graph.


1000W for 12 hrs a day for 30 days will be an additional, in KWh not dollars, 360KWh.

So check your bill for your per KWh price and times that by 360.


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## Longtrailbrew (Sep 30, 2008)

i have fluro tubes but there colored. . . .would that be a problem?


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## budightman (Oct 2, 2008)

Can somebody please tell me what lighting I need for 2 to 4 plants. Btw, the plants are autoflowering, which means they skip veg stage altogther. Ne advice would be appreciated.


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## Hedgehunter (Oct 5, 2008)

Great thread peeps, Can I ask if this is correct for a 600w in the UK ?

Cheers
2.609 amps
230 volts
600watts
540 hours
£34pm* = £ Cost to run all such Items in house for 1 month*£


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Oct 5, 2008)

Sounds about right for a 600W veg.


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## nicknuggets (Oct 7, 2008)

total noob here-
what will the cost be if i use 4x 36w cfl?


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## mannyleec (Oct 9, 2008)

i got a 400w mh, when is the best time to use on plants and how far from plants plz.


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## havefungodumb (Oct 9, 2008)

let me correct you on that vitalious if you dont mind.. its 93kwh and they red flag your house and you could exspect a door getting kicked in..

thats 7 1000w running 12 hours a day, thats off the top of my head might be a bit more, but for sure not 13, wishes and dreams bro..

7 is insane as is... shit a few lights is enough for me..


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## TexasWild (Oct 15, 2008)

I have 21 23w CFLs (total of 438w(12blue 9red)) over 6 12" kids and 2 8" youngins and 1 6" dwarf (she got picked on as a baby). Kids and dwarf(i felt bad for her) are in 5 gallon buckets, youngins are in 2.5 quart pots all are with in 4" of light. I have exaust fan, light bulb fan and plant fan all are prob 80cfm. Temp day 75 - 80 at plant level and 85 - 90 at roof line, night time 60 - 70. Humidity is high (70% - 80%) tryin to fix but not sure how without dehumidifer which is to costly!

My Humble Questions to the WISE MAN!

1. Is that enought red to blue for flowering (vegged for 60 days)
2. Is that enought light at all (ok should have been #1)
3. How much power am i using (from reading your post I will have to look at my bill for kw cost and mulitply with used kw (hopefully you can tell me if i am correct and how much I used with light setup I also attached photos for you eyes) for cost) 
4. Ideas on lowering humidity (without spending more than 20 bucks)
5. Whats best way to switch to 12/12 (ie: over time slowly say 7 days or just do it in one day and should there be a dark period 24 or 48 dark)


--=== Any wisdom you make want to bistoe upon me would be give high karma and knowledge points. Any thing you give will be greatly appreciated! ===--

THANK YOU!!!


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## JarrettM (Oct 19, 2008)

does this work for US electric companies


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## floridacity2004 (Oct 29, 2008)

this is a good way but why not just buy a generator


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## homegrwn (Oct 29, 2008)

TexasWild said:


> I have 21 23w CFLs (total of 438w(12blue 9red)) over 6 12" kids and 2 8" youngins and 1 6" dwarf (she got picked on as a baby). Kids and dwarf(i felt bad for her) are in 5 gallon buckets, youngins are in 2.5 quart pots all are with in 4" of light. I have exaust fan, light bulb fan and plant fan all are prob 80cfm. Temp day 75 - 80 at plant level and 85 - 90 at roof line, night time 60 - 70. Humidity is high (70% - 80%) tryin to fix but not sure how without dehumidifer which is to costly!
> 
> My Humble Questions to the WISE MAN!
> 
> ...


 
you def. have enough to grow both stages not sure about the yield it will probly be 1/2 oz per but depends on height. Its def enough to grow both stages for sure..
i would slowly cut back to 12-12 maybe over a week. Its the right spectrum let us know how you flower and what kind of yield you have... its interesting i would like to know for personal i use cfl reasons....I would increase your exhaust at the ceiling to try to get a better humidity reading... humidity will also be affected by the watering process since some of the water will evaporate.. thats what i was told anyway maybe wrong... wally world aka wallmart has a cheap dehumidifier for single room use.. its like 40 bucks
kiss-ass


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## TexasWild (Oct 29, 2008)

I ended up getting a dehumidifier on Craigs List for 10 bucks but now have gotten the humidity down with air flow and temps! Had to put heater in because it was getting down to like high 30's and low 40's. Problem doesn't exits anymore! I added some co2 (yeast and sugar). Temps around 75 - 85 day and 60 - 70 at night so far! humidity around 40 - 50% even when watering. Thinking about putting my dehumidifier in for the last week or so to keep in the 20 - 30 range and not water either. I am 10 days into flowering and was curious about adding 2 150w HPS as my areas is 3x6. So that they will be extra dense! Any thoughts?


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Oct 30, 2008)

TexasWild; your additional usage will be around 230kwh on 16 hr and about 170kwh on 12hrs (per month)

Other than that we are a bit off subject here guys.


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## mistergixxerk3 (Oct 30, 2008)

i just use cfls, about 5 to 10 dollars added on to the electricity bill and with proper care and nutrients they are satisfactory size buds with lots of potency


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## Stevenson (Nov 1, 2008)

let save if i have 2 flowering room, 4x600w and some other stuff like fans and pumps, these 2 rooms are running 12/12, but flip-flop style!, and also i will have my veg room which has 3x 400 to keep the mothers and the clones, so how much Kwh is it in days?

so 600 x 4 = 2400w i will say 3000w total with fans and pumps 24 hours! (12/12 but 2 rooms, flip-flop)
400 x 3 = 1200w for 18 hours

so for the flowering room, thats 3000w x 24hrs = 72000
so is it 72kwh??

and the veg room, 1200w x 18hrs = 21600
which is 21.6kwh??

total for my op is 93kwh correct??
will there be a problem?? i am in ontario, not BC!!!!
Help guys!!


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Nov 2, 2008)

Stevenson said:


> so for the flowering room, thats 3000w x 24hrs = 72000
> so is it 72kwh??
> 
> and the veg room, 1200w x 18hrs = 21600
> ...


93KWh is correct *PER DAY*. 2800KWh is going to be the total *Per Month*.


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## Stevenson (Nov 2, 2008)

-=4:20=-Guy said:


> 93KWh is correct *PER DAY*. 2800KWh is going to be the total *Per Month*.


so will i get into trouble with such high consumption?
i was looking at my bills, i only have about 10-15kWh for the pass year!

so i upgrade my grow op to add 93kWh, is that too much for a regular house hold in Canada, i have people in BC they have 7-10 1000w light, how did you guys do that?

in Toronto, 1kWh is about 10cents, and 2800kwh is about $280 and my current bill is about $40, so will they notice this energy "jump" and kick my door??

please help guys!!!


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Nov 2, 2008)

Stevenson said:


> so will i get into trouble with such high consumption?
> i was looking at my bills, i only have about 10-15kWh for the pass year!
> 
> so i upgrade my grow op to add 93kWh, is that too much for a regular house hold in Canada, i have people in BC they have 7-10 1000w light, how did you guys do that?
> ...


I have no idea on the mans general practice in Canada but that is quite a jump indeed.

I hope you get some responses.


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## Stevenson (Nov 3, 2008)

thanks for the help buddy!
i saw your link, you got a pretty nice setup there!
i am wondering how many pound are you making with that setup?
i am aiming for 5 plants per pound, do you think its possible? how tall do i need to grow them?
i know its off topic but i can't PM, so i could only ask on here!
thanks again


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Nov 3, 2008)

Stevenson said:


> thanks for the help buddy!
> i saw your link, you got a pretty nice setup there!
> i am wondering how many pound are you making with that setup?
> i am aiming for 5 plants per pound, do you think its possible? how tall do i need to grow them?
> ...


That is my first run with my 1000w and my first run in hydro. So as of now I haven't a clue.


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## d2rod89 (Nov 4, 2008)

farmer.joe said:


> i looked it up, man! i need to switch electric company for 30 days 16h per day it will cost me £80.00 i think , if i have done it right.
> I havent got an electricity bill as it is a prepaid meter when the cash runs out it goes off. but i do know its more than double what i normally use.


does anybody know if electricity bills get paid like that in the states? that's pretty convenient and if u wouldnt hav to worry about landlords wit big noses....if ur in the states lemme know if it works like that where ur at....thats sweet


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## hardrockereverett (Nov 6, 2008)

so I;m lookin to start a little grow-op likely inside some storage bins. I understand the differences in the types of lights and am planning to use LST method of growing due to space issues. The only questions I have are:

1. For a set-up as small as the one I'm going to make, which bulbs and size would be most effective?

2. which type of bulb would be most cost effective but will still produce overall good results?


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## Consciousness420 (Nov 7, 2008)

a small setup like that dictates that you use cfls since air flow and space are going to be a problem, however, cfls (flourescents) are inefficient at producing light so they run more current through the bulb in order to output even a modest level of light (lumens).. so really you are better off getting a more efficient HID light and putting it in a larger space (with good air flow) cuz they get hot! BUT yield is much much better (so more worth your electricity bill increase). good luck


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## hardrockereverett (Nov 8, 2008)

Consciousness420 said:


> a small setup like that dictates that you use cfls since air flow and space are going to be a problem, however, cfls (flourescents) are inefficient at producing light so they run more current through the bulb in order to output even a modest level of light (lumens).. so really you are better off getting a more efficient HID light and putting it in a larger space (with good air flow) cuz they get hot! BUT yield is much much better (so more worth your electricity bill increase). good luck


I went to my local Canadian Tire yesterday and was looking at cfl bulbs. I plan to use some 5600K (for natural blue spectrum light) for my vegetative period which put out 1600 lumens each, and then a set of warm white (asuming they're in the 2400-3800k range for red spectrum light) cfls for the flowering period. Taking into account that there will be five or 6 of each, should this be enough light for the size of my space (each bin is 22"L- 15"W by 17"H, one bin will be stacked on op of the other)?


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Nov 8, 2008)

hardrockereverett said:


> I went to my local Canadian Tire yesterday and was looking at cfl bulbs. I plan to use some 5600K (for natural blue spectrum light) for my vegetative period which put out 1600 lumens each, and then a set of warm white (asuming they're in the 2400-3800k range for red spectrum light) cfls for the flowering period. Taking into account that there will be five or 6 of each, should this be enough light for the size of my space (each bin is 22"L- 15"W by 17"H, one bin will be stacked on op of the other)?


This is getting WAY of topic for this thread (Power Consumption / Light Cost), please start a new thread if you want to ask general op setup questions.


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## BigERE66 (Nov 12, 2008)

I originally thought that since my 400W HPS ballast is dual voltage that if i rewired it from 120V to 240V that i would reduce the operating cost, but now im not so sure.... does anyone know whether or not this is true?


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Nov 13, 2008)

BigERE66 said:


> I originally thought that since my 400W HPS ballast is dual voltage that if i rewired it from 120V to 240V that i would reduce the operating cost, but now im not so sure.... does anyone know whether or not this is true?


220v saves power when you are running really high loads, like 8 1000w. One 400w on 120v will only cost a few extra dollars a year.


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## Rick McNasty (Nov 16, 2008)

How do i lower energy consumption?


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## big lou (Nov 16, 2008)

3 x 600w for an average of 3months and 16hours per day.....i cant work it out ?


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Nov 16, 2008)

big lou said:


> 3 x 600w for an average of 3months and 16hours per day.....i cant work it out ?


864KWh per month @ 16 hour days.

648KWh per month @ 12 hour days.


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## bambam03 (Nov 17, 2008)

i have a flouresent ligt about 3'' from my baby plant will it burn the plant


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## Biggravy22 (Nov 18, 2008)

I don't know if it's been added or not. But depending on where you live you're going to see an increase in your delivery charge as well. It wont really set off the authorities, but it's just something to take into consideration when budgeting your costs.


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## dmoneysaver (Nov 19, 2008)

If it really concerns you try switching to led's


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## Maso (Nov 30, 2008)

quick question for anyone that can help.
I've calculated my power consumption to be about 3,500 kWh/month.
I live in a 2000 sq. ft. place, i dont know what that has to do with anything, its a 3 bedroom.
Is this enough to raise some eyebrows?


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## -=4:20=-Guy (Nov 30, 2008)

Maso said:


> quick question for anyone that can help.
> I've calculated my power consumption to be about 3,500 kWh/month.
> I live in a 2000 sq. ft. place, i dont know what that has to do with anything, its a 3 bedroom.
> Is this enough to raise some eyebrows?


Depends on what your baseline is really.

That will be a huge amount if you have a smaller or older home with a low baseline allotment, but not so much with a bigger or newer house or a house with a pool you can shutdown, or something of that sort.

One way to see how obvious it will be is pop open your breaker box and see how much juice you have coming in on your mains. 50A-100A is low for something like your talking. 150A-300A would be plausible with an empty/very unused house.


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## humboldthunnie (Dec 3, 2008)

i use a generator.......it runs 80 lights afraid of the electric bill being so public but it costs an average of 200.00 a day in diesal to run well worth it


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## Enigma (Dec 4, 2008)

Maso said:


> quick question for anyone that can help.
> I've calculated my power consumption to be about 3,500 kWh/month.
> I live in a 2000 sq. ft. place, i dont know what that has to do with anything, its a 3 bedroom.
> Is this enough to raise some eyebrows?


Usually 1kWh per bedroom per month is the "norm". Depending on the economic class of neighborhood you live in could be suspect.


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## Rincewind (Dec 8, 2008)

Greetings and salutations Enigma.
Yes it will raise eyebrows.
It's more than 3X the monthly average of 920kWh.
Stealth is the name of the game:
Don't be seen.
Don't be heard.
Don't be smelt and don't be measured in excess (on the meter).
Big brother is all eyes and ears (no brains though).
Go green and use LEDs.
I've had good results with 60W RED/BLUE units.
Rincewind


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## k00laidacidtests (Dec 10, 2008)

hey this was great thanks man


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## BudArmy (Dec 18, 2008)

So in order for us to stay below the radar we need to cut things in order to live a great lively hood of growth and burn? I have a family that I have to look after too, thus why I plan on moving green, however, do you believe that this site build would raise any eyebrows as to me running a cloner, veg site, and 3 budding sites, with 2 1000W HIDs a fan to pull through 2-3 cannisters? the sites are aero with a 369 (or 396) pump.


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## $that1dude$ (Dec 23, 2008)

whats up everyone! im still fairly new here but in was checkin things out and came across this thread...i thought to myself if you were only growing 3-5 plants with flouros could u get away with timing your lights to on at night that way your not using a whole lot during peak hours???


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## bunstinky (Dec 24, 2008)

Im living in spain and it is costing me 32 euros to run my gro room... Thats 44 dollars..

(400w) HPS


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## big lou (Dec 28, 2008)

is ther no simple or average answer.....like i cant get my head round it ?? if i left 2 HPS 600w bulbs on for 8 week growing and 8 week flowering wots it gonna cost give r take


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## Titan4jah (Dec 28, 2008)

humboldthunnie said:


> i use a generator.......it runs 80 lights afraid of the electric bill being so public but it costs an average of 200.00 a day in diesal to run well worth it


 

dam girl, gettin off out there.. lol 

must be a nice green house..

runnin 600, er 1000?


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## Titan4jah (Dec 28, 2008)

big lou said:


> is ther no simple or average answer.....like i cant get my head round it ?? if i left 2 HPS 600w bulbs on for 8 week growing and 8 week flowering wots it gonna cost give r take


 
its guna cost you 60-80 bucks a month bro.


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## dori4477 (Dec 29, 2008)

Wow is that how much its going to cost to run one light or multiple?


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## Titan4jah (Dec 29, 2008)

a 1000 watt light costs me lie 40 bucks a mounth dude, with another one its like 60 -80 bucks man.


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## wayne85 (Jan 1, 2009)

*iv got a 600w hps light and not yet used it can any1 say how much elec this light going to use per week in £s when i start growing*


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## winkdogg420 (Jan 3, 2009)

humboldthunnie said:


> i use a generator.......it runs 80 lights afraid of the electric bill being so public but it costs an average of 200.00 a day in diesal to run well worth it


wow thats alot of diesel i spend 400 a day to keep a dump truck running 12 hrs a day! That must be a serious grow!!!


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## UberGrowMeister (Jan 26, 2009)

Here is a comparison of L.E.D Vs H.I.D as I think this is within the scope of this thread on power and light consumption.
The link has some unnessassary speaking for the first min or so but then switches to time lapse.......This should put an end to the L.E.D mongerers!!!

Dont forget to look for cannabis time lapse while you're there too.. Heres the link........ http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_CtROw3uiVg


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## the128guy (Jan 31, 2009)

has anybody seen these


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## winkdogg420 (Jan 31, 2009)

has the cheapy version of this just gets the kw per hour then you do the math thats pretty neat with the dollar ammt!





the128guy said:


> has anybody seen these


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## the128guy (Jan 31, 2009)

winkdogg420 said:


> has the cheapy version of this just gets the kw per hour then you do the math thats pretty neat with the dollar ammt!


they have this one too... Now you can protect your valuable electronics and find out what they are actually costing you. Simply connect these appliances into the Kill A Watt PS, and it will assess how efficient they are while the built-in surge protection keeps them safe. Advanced features such as over current, over voltage, and no load detection provide clean, safe power to your expensive equipment.

Check the quality of your power by monitoring Voltage, Line Frequency, Amperage, KWH, Current Leakage and more. Now youll know how much power your entire computer or home theater system is using. With the innovative Kill A Watt PS youll have peace of mind in more ways than one.


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## winkdogg420 (Feb 1, 2009)

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ plus i would have wires running all over the place just so i can see my meter!






the128guy said:


> they have this one too... Now you can protect your valuable electronics and find out what they are actually costing you. Simply connect these appliances into the Kill A Watt PS, and it will assess how efficient they are while the built-in surge protection keeps them safe. Advanced features such as over current, over voltage, and no load detection provide clean, safe power to your expensive equipment.
> 
> Check the quality of your power by monitoring Voltage, Line Frequency, Amperage, KWH, Current Leakage and more. Now youll know how much power your entire computer or home theater system is using. With the innovative Kill A Watt PS youll have peace of mind in more ways than one.


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## the128guy (Feb 2, 2009)

winkdogg420 said:


> $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ plus i would have wires running all over the place just so i can see my meter!


i think something like 85-95 bucks id just get the ez watt one and put a power surge onto that... wouldnt that be the same thing or no and i wonder how much that uses on electric to have pluged in


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## winkdogg420 (Feb 2, 2009)

prob only a few cents a day to run the meters themselves. i really want one of these things!


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## works909 (Feb 5, 2009)

11753 kwh in a 3 bedroom house with a garage. 10-1000 w..............what would you do?


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## winkdogg420 (Feb 5, 2009)

Solar panels charging huge batteries!


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## works909 (Feb 5, 2009)

winkdogg420 said:


> Solar panels charging huge batteries!


later thats the plan but for now....


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## winkdogg420 (Feb 5, 2009)

10 1000 watt hids need at least 5-15 amp breakers to them selves!


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## tlucas (Feb 10, 2009)

does anyone know how to delete my rollitup.org account. My boss found it and said the only way I can keep my job is if I get rid of it.


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## whitenugz (Feb 15, 2009)

What is the most cost effecient ballast to get for a 250w bulb? I plan to have bigger set ups in the future, like 2 years, but atm I am going to downgrade my 400w set up to a 250w smaller set up and I was wondering if 

IS IT BETTER OR MOST COST EFFECIENT TO BUY A MORE EXPENSIVE AND HIGHER WATT COMPATIBLE BALLAST HOOKED UP TO A SMALLER WATT BULB ( for example a 1000w ballast hooked up to a 250w bulb) OR keep it standard with a 250W BALLAST FOR A 250 BULB?


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## mojo420mojo (Feb 26, 2009)

i need your help i am running a room in so cal 4x1000 watt hps plus 3x100 watt inline fans plus 2x150 watt flerecence plus i need too keep the house at 72 f with ac will this cause a red flag! with the electric co. the bill will be paid on time i live in a four bedroom house not worring about the bill just the man


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## Titan4jah (Feb 27, 2009)

whitenugz said:


> what is the most cost effecient ballast to get for a 250w bulb? I plan to have bigger set ups in the future, like 2 years, but atm i am going to downgrade my 400w set up to a 250w smaller set up and i was wondering if
> 
> is it better or most cost effecient to buy a more expensive and higher watt compatible ballast hooked up to a smaller watt bulb ( for example a 1000w ballast hooked up to a 250w bulb) or keep it standard with a 250w ballast for a 250 bulb?


 

do not usen nething but a 1000watt ballast with a 1000 watt light or your in for some shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## amcgin02 (Mar 15, 2009)

Does anyone here have any good ideas on how to make a grow show up less or not at all on your power bill???


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## whitenugz (Mar 18, 2009)

amcgin02 said:


> Does anyone here have any good ideas on how to make a grow show up less or not at all on your power bill???


I waS Smoking last night and i thought just to install a 240v outlet where your set up is. If your water heater is runnin out of a 240v outlet then you gotta save some money. I'm currently not doing shit right now with my set up but i was thinking of doing that my next time around.

Any comments? thoughts? I have not researched this yet but I will one day. It would be better if YOU could help.


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## Sylus (Mar 21, 2009)

29 days and beautiful https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/172395-first-grow-unknown-breeds.html#post2226933


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## swiss210 (Mar 21, 2009)

i am thinking of getting this set up for flowering its only 4 plants what does everyone think will it work http://www.elights.com/sun900490.html


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## ku5626 (Mar 23, 2009)

Amazing! Really intresting.


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## greenpimp23 (Mar 23, 2009)

I dont think you guys got nuthing to worry bout i got a flawless 6 light operation and i plan to post pics soon anyone running more in a 2,000 sq.ft. house or do i got the biggest nuts here


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## Delusional (Mar 24, 2009)

good charts, I was looking for something like this. thanks.


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## John420 (Mar 24, 2009)

how much will 1 400 watt hps at 12/12 add to my power bill


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## SkatWill1227 (Mar 24, 2009)

my bill was 450$ just runnin a 600watt HPS 18 hours a day. IM PISSED!


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## bigbudbob (Mar 29, 2009)

John420 said:


> how much will 1 400 watt hps at 12/12 add to my ELECTRIC bill MONTHLY



I'd like to know the answer to this also .


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## Delusional (Mar 29, 2009)

Are you fucking kidding me?

Use the god damn chart you lazy piece of shit. How stupid can you possibly be? lol

It's like entering a thread that spends pages and pages of posts telling you how to grow pot and then coming in and asking "so uh....guys...can someone please tell me how to grow pot?"

/bitchslap


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## bigbudbob (Mar 29, 2009)

Delusional said:


> Are you fucking kidding me?
> 
> Use the god damn chart you lazy piece of shit. How stupid can you possibly be? lol
> 
> ...


Lol, your right, I was being pretty lazy (if you know what I mean ). I figured it out, thanks.


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## Delusional (Mar 29, 2009)

lol I hear ya there, take it easy


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## polishfalcon420 (Mar 31, 2009)

SkatWill1227 said:


> my bill was 450$ just runnin a 600watt HPS 18 hours a day. IM PISSED!


 are you serious? now Im scared to hook up my 1000 watter. the calculator says it should only cost me like $2 a day. why in the hell so much?


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## randk21 (Mar 31, 2009)

if my current bill is around $60, then all of a sudden the next month and thereafter it's $120... would that be a big problem..??


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## randk21 (Mar 31, 2009)

greenpimp23 said:


> I dont think you guys got nuthing to worry bout i got a flawless 6 light operation and i plan to post pics soon anyone running more in a 2,000 sq.ft. house or do i got the biggest nuts here



naada ting to worry lol cuz u have nothing else running in ur house.


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## wildyking07 (Apr 1, 2009)

http://rapidshare.com/files/216273886/watts_Calculater.exe


application to calculate wattage which i made with visual basic

i know its basic but im only 16 and don't have a clue what to do lol but it gets the job done  enjoy p.s message me if you know of ways to improve it


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## nasd90 (Apr 15, 2009)

If you must add them... Add them slowly.


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## mitch48093 (May 9, 2009)

thank you for all the info..........


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## cackpircings (May 19, 2009)

16... Have you even found out what that skin dangling between your legs is for?



wildyking07 said:


> http://rapidshare.com/files/216273886/watts_Calculater.exe
> 
> 
> application to calculate wattage which i made with visual basic
> ...


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## x4buried2alive0x (May 23, 2009)

Do they make light fixtures that can hold different blubs? For example using one fixture and switching blubs for the veg. and flowering stages as opposed to having two seperate areas with diff. lights?


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## doktordoris (May 30, 2009)

tlucas said:


> does anyone know how to delete my rollitup.org account. My boss found it and said the only way I can keep my job is if I get rid of it.



Is this post some kind of joke?

You will get sacked if you keep a membership of a website.

Id say sack me please, then Ill take you to the wrongful dismissal chaps and sue you for everything youve got.

Thankyou!


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## neno (Jun 2, 2009)

an old head always told me as long as you take some of that cash and make sure your bill is paid on time you have NOTHING to worry about...you gotta remeber guys...the light company are a company for profit first...people who raise supsesion doing other things like talking and not paying their bills are the ones who raise suspesion.


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## neno (Jun 2, 2009)

lmao im sure he would tell u to stop tokin to if you want to keep your job lmao...you gonna delete that too lol...how about just not letting that happen again...that works...or is he breathing over your neck right now lol


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## Lookintogetstarted (Jun 25, 2009)

I am new to this site and I need some advice. I want to get started growing my own supply. We have a local store that sells the equipment and I went there today and priced a few things. He is trying to sell me a Lumatek 1000 watt system that goes both MH and HPS which is what I want after exhaustive research on the matter. I have been to HTG's site to check their prices against his and was suprised to find that there was only a $90 difference. I was wondering if I couldn't go with a Digital Greenhouse system vs the Lumatek because the cost is $250 less. Also I was told by him that the 1000 watt system was the only way to go because it could only grow a 7'x5'x5' area. I wanted to go with a 600 watt system because it is cheaper and will use less electricity. What do you all think?


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## tate623 (Jun 26, 2009)

hello everyone first time to post but i found it kind of relevant so here goes.I bought something called a flipper off of e-bay a few weeks ago I run two 600 hps in seperate flower rooms I use one ballast and two hoods,one 120 volt timer the lights run 12/12 on 240 pulling 2.6 amps the flipper is a relay that switchs the power between lights and doesnt leave a up and down fluctuation cost 100 dollars runs on 120 or 240 and i get to keep my other ballast as a spare so in reality its like running 300 watts 24/7 iwent through my house and changed every thing to floros so ifeel comfertable with the power draw and get to harvest every 4 or 5 weeks.First post been reading this site for about a year got to say i love to read StinkBud and Natmoon and a couple of others im to high to remember right now.Hope this helped some one.


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## Phenom420 (Jun 27, 2009)

Fuckin A man! Thanks much!


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## T.R.E (Jul 6, 2009)

hey how do i start threads? i am very sorry i am aware this isnt the place to post this question, i just cant figure it out!


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## sazongoya101 (Jul 22, 2009)

have anybody thought using solar panels to a hps lights ?


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## robot1488 (Aug 3, 2009)

^^ Yes I saw a user that is using solar panels...can't remember the post though. I will eventually be investing into solar power. It can save you money regardless of your indoor hobbies


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## morphus657 (Aug 9, 2009)

Thanx for this i can really use it in finding what my bill will be


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## GOOGLEPIFF (Aug 29, 2009)

Kill a watt look sick


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## P. STONIE (Sep 3, 2009)

man how do you steal it?


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## Chronic x (Sep 6, 2009)

i need help!! ill be growing 3plants indoor closet and dont know how many CFL bulb i should use and watts?.


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## TwinTigerz (Sep 9, 2009)

I aint no genius when it comes to electrics and all that but if I had a computer server running 24/7 on a 500w Power supply unit and turned that off and started running a 400w HPS 24/7 would my electrics stay pretty much the same? or is there something im missing?.


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## Phenom420 (Sep 30, 2009)

Hey quick question, Im about sure I kno the answer already BUT.
Isn't say a HPS more efficient at 240V than 120V since it uses less amps¿

Thanks Much!

Im stoned fellers!


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## #1Raiderfan420 (Oct 5, 2009)

Phenom420 said:


> Hey quick question, Im about sure I kno the answer already BUT.
> Isn't say a HPS more efficient at 240V than 120V since it uses less amps¿
> 
> Thanks Much!
> ...


 
my balasts use 6 amp at 240v vs 9 at 110v..the electician that set up my electrical said it is more efficient


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## Phenom420 (Oct 5, 2009)

#1Raiderfan420 said:


> my balasts use 6 amp at 240v vs 9 at 110v..the electician that set up my electrical said it is more efficient


yeah I was thinking since amps was lower that it should cost less.
Thanks for the reply.


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## GoFish104 (Oct 7, 2009)

Phenom420 said:


> yeah I was thinking since amps was lower that it should cost less.
> Thanks for the reply.


 1 amp @240v=2amp @120v exactly the same amount of power. that's what you buy [email protected] would cost1/3 more to run then [email protected] jack


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## Phenom420 (Oct 7, 2009)

GoFish104 said:


> 1 amp @240v=2amp @120v exactly the same amount of power. that's what you buy [email protected] would cost1/3 more to run then [email protected] jack


thx, Welcome to RIU, nice first post was a answer rather than a question,what do ya kno


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## CrackerJax (Oct 17, 2009)




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## Phenom420 (Oct 17, 2009)

LOL, sup CJ
man I'm finally rolling on HPS!!!
What's sad is with 2x 1Kw HPS I'm using ALOT less power than before with all those CFLs I was using.

went from needing 35+amps service to 10 with the HPS total and another 10 with the CFLs Im using in veg, but Im about to add 2 more racks so Ill b up to 30 again BUT with 3 times as many plants.


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## hypashspa (Oct 21, 2009)

Im not sure about how possible some of the things you mention would be, but there is one setting that may interest you, if you havent seen it already


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## Phenom420 (Oct 21, 2009)

hypashspa said:


> Im not sure about how possible some of the things you mention would be, but there is one setting that may interest you, if you havent seen it already


Welcome to RIU
Doesn't sound like you know what your talking about.

It's very possible, in fact it's made to, and it is running in 240V in my setup as we speak


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## kronikush (Oct 21, 2009)

Check out my first grow = )


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## Phenom420 (Oct 21, 2009)

kronikush said:


> Check out my first grow = )


Welcome to RIU
Post a thread about it in the grow journal section, plp will read


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## georgecarlin (Oct 30, 2009)

Was wondering if someone can help me with my lights I want to put up a 400 watt light but am not sure if my closest is deep enough it is 18 in deep ten feet tall and five feet wide I was worried that the light mite be to close to the wall can I put up insulation and ventilation or do i have to scrap my idea and use something else


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## Phenom420 (Oct 30, 2009)

georgecarlin said:


> Was wondering if someone can help me with my lights I want to put up a 400 watt light but am not sure if my closest is deep enough it is 18 in deep ten feet tall and five feet wide I was worried that the light mite be to close to the wall can I put up insulation and ventilation or do i have to scrap my idea and use something else


Welcome to RIU
for help post a thread in the proper area and not in a thread that isn't related to your problem, that's gonna b your best bet for help.

Also in your info you need to include what reflector your gonna use

if you use say a 6" cool tube you can mount it on the celing and cool it with a inline van and vent it out of your closet to prevent heat build up.

I use 2x 1Kw HPSs and that's how I deal with it.


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## Phenom420 (Nov 6, 2009)

squihugdu said:


> Check the link in my last post. I don't know much about UV ozone generators so i can't say much on the subject.. i was hoping other people would be able to add to what i'd already collected.


Welcome to RIU
this thread isn't about UV, or ozone generators.

If you would read a bit you would notice that is 2x 1Kw HPSs in 6" cool tubes and a 6 inch inline fan.

Newbie read this thread before posting
https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/1079-before-you-post.html


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## mattisreal420 (Nov 6, 2009)

all i know is i run a single 1000w hps, and i go 12/12 from seed, i pay $0.88555 for a kilowatt hour (witch is 1000 watts) and i pay about $30 bucks a month just for that, witch isent too bad i guess, but just though i would share.
it is really easy to find out what u will pay, just look at ur electricity bill and see how much u pay for energy, most place i lived varied from 4 cents to 9 cents per KWH.
Hope this helps


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## Phenom420 (Nov 6, 2009)

mattisreal420 said:


> all i know is i run a single 1000w hps, and i go 12/12 from seed, i pay $0.88555 for a kilowatt hour (witch is 1000 watts) and i pay about $30 bucks a month just for that, witch isent too bad i guess, but just though i would share.
> it is really easy to find out what u will pay, just look at ur electricity bill and see how much u pay for energy, most place i lived varied from 4 cents to 9 cents per KWH.
> Hope this helps


its way hard to figure mine
got 2 HPSs and a always changing amount of CFLs

but now that i use a inline fan to suck cold air in from outside rather than my home hvac unit to cool the room my power bill should ok, so far its been below 250 a month and that was my last bill running no HPS and 140+cfls and central AC 24/7 non stop flower room and 24/0 room
at peak use 

just in small 26w cfls
390mAx140=54.6Amps (shit i thought it was 40 ish wow i was way over my load limit LOL)
and 8 of those 68w CFLs that were 1.13amps each

HPS is def the way to go
I use both mine at 240 and they use 9amps together


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## ansum1 (Nov 13, 2009)

confuessed!!! run a 600 on a dimerbal ballast 8 days on 50% 8 on 75% 6 weeks at 100% a system air intake an out take on tic over an 1 air pump an 1 stone in each tank how much electric!!!!!! help


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## Phenom420 (Nov 13, 2009)

ansum1 said:


> confuessed!!! run a 600 on a dimerbal ballast 8 days on 50% 8 on 75% 6 weeks at 100% a system air intake an out take on tic over an 1 air pump an 1 stone in each tank how much electric!!!!!! help


Welcome to RIU
why would you want to dim your light?
It's like saying I don't want alot of weed out of this plant, that's what your saying and doing.


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## kushgrower2050 (Dec 31, 2009)

I am about to get 2x1000w lights. Any idea how much these will cost me per month if I'm vegging my plants?


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## beecha (Jan 3, 2010)

light power info good do you have any estimates with fans,controllers and other electric devices


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## Pumert (Jan 6, 2010)

-=4:20=-Guy said:


> All you need to do is download the spreadsheet and enter a few bits of info.
> 
> *How it works
> 
> ...


So the chart at the very bottom is that the estimated monthly or annual cost?


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## xyla (Jan 18, 2010)

great find this will help me alot


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## tosmall (Feb 6, 2010)

well found this page. for me to run a 400w light 18 hours a day for veg it will cost me $50.00 bucks more a month. same light now on for 12 off 12 on / $20 to$25 bucks a month not to bad . thats in a room by 6H x 4L X 3W

http://www.northernlightswindsor.ca/faq.html#q9


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## Spinelli (Feb 12, 2010)

A small space heater runs at around 1500 watts......

Maybe that will give you an idea....


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## ganjaluvr (Feb 17, 2010)

That's what I run right now.. along with a few CFL bulbs that are used for all my side lighting needs.


I just added the 150watt HPS/MH kit about 2 weeks ago.. just wondering what I should expect to pay for adding the HPS kit.


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## one11 (Feb 18, 2010)

so, the whole formula thing confused me. im going to be running one 600w hps from a 120v outlet. Distance between these two points is 250ft approx. And power will be run through a 10/2 wiring. 

How much would this cost on an average energy bill in America? Thanks.


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## thepaan (Feb 19, 2010)

one11 said:


> so, the whole formula thing confused me. im going to be running one 600w hps from a 120v outlet. Distance between these two points is 250ft approx. And power will be run through a 10/2 wiring.
> 
> How much would this cost on an average energy bill in America? Thanks.


I'm pretty sure the distance from the electrical source provides negligible loss so you shouldn't count that in your cost estimate. Just use the chart above or find your kilowatt usage then multiply by the number of hours per month you plan on having it on then multiply again by the cost of a kilowatt hour for the area. That is your monthly cost. In the US it varies largely from state to state but about $.15 is average. For a 600W lamp .63 is the kilowatt use if the ballast is 95% efficient or .75 with one 80% efficient. If running for 14 hours a day you sould have the following.

.63 x (14hours x 30days) x $.15 = $39.69
.75 x (14hours x 30days) x $.15 = $47.25

Some places (like where I live) have a pretty good cost as long as your total use is low but the price is doubled or even tripled once you go over a certain amount. For example, my first 100kWh/month cost like $.045 then it doubles every 100kWh. For a cost model like this you have to break out each cost bracket starting from what you use normally (without the lights). Thats why the dude above said look at your electric bill to get an accurate idea of the cost.


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## one11 (Feb 19, 2010)

thepaan said:


> I'm pretty sure the distance from the electrical source provides negligible loss so you shouldn't count that in your cost estimate. Just use the chart above or find your kilowatt usage then multiply by the number of hours per month you plan on having it on then multiply again by the cost of a kilowatt hour for the area. That is your monthly cost. In the US it varies largely from state to state but about $.15 is average. For a 600W lamp .63 is the kilowatt use if the ballast is 95% efficient or .75 with one 80% efficient. If running for 14 hours a day you sould have the following.
> 
> .63 x (14hours x 30days) x $.15 = $39.69
> .75 x (14hours x 30days) x $.15 = $47.25
> ...


good news. my state has one of the lowest cost per kilowatt hour. .10 cents. 
And i did calculate it for vegging and it will be 34 dollars a month. not bad. but how would my ballast not be at 100% efficiency? and i NEED to know if i would be losing significant amount of energy/efficiency/or money due to the 250ft of wiring it has to travel to to the light and fans.


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## BIFPedro (Feb 24, 2010)

This is a pretty good thread. always usefull to know how much elec ur using


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## young geezer (Apr 1, 2010)

what if your bill goes up by lot more like $600 will they come knocking on your door?


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## Xan2 (Apr 1, 2010)

young geezer said:


> what if your bill goes up by lot more like $600 will they come knocking on your door?


LOL.... knock knock knock (open the door, we know you grow in there_


You won't be loosing power through wire. Otherwise Hydro company would lost significant amount of energy on their km's of wireing.


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## young geezer (Apr 1, 2010)

i have a friend that is growing and his bill went up by almost $600 and he was worried that people might know you are growing in the house.


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## DoWorkSon (Apr 11, 2010)

im subd on this one! alway good to know how much power u use! thanks


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## raiderman (May 12, 2010)

i runa 1000 and a 600 air cooled ina 3 bdroom trailor with a/c electric runs 86.00 a month


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## haze2 (Jun 21, 2010)

Subscribed late but this will be good for me. Thanks +rep


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## Agcat (Jul 5, 2010)

This has been very educational. Thank you very much Gentlemen. I appreciate the time you took to explain this subject so simply.


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## raiderman (Jul 6, 2010)

my brothers electric bill is around 500 dollars a month and he doesnt even gro.no one has ever said anything to him.lol.


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## rsharp (Jul 14, 2010)

well if im doin this right. last month i used 3641 kwh. thats cost me $244.46. if i divide this correctly that means im paying 6 cents per kwh... that isnt bad! ive did this to the past 3 mnths and it all says 0.06...


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## buraka415 (Jul 15, 2010)

hmm so 4000K and (2) 15" fans + (1) 6" fan, during bloom (12/12), and 1000 extra in a sep veg area (if i have cycles dialed in)(18/6), would be about, hmmm $1000 - $1100 a month? :/


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## 7thtoker (Jul 17, 2010)

no what the heck...


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## raiderman (Jul 17, 2010)

now with both my ac units runnin,plus 1,600 watts lights and the rest of the house my bill is 132.00 a month now for 3 bdroom trailor and ita 100 outside.


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## buraka415 (Jul 18, 2010)

well that's what mine is. just sayin


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## raiderman (Jul 18, 2010)

the math would be x .o6% than .6 %.i see wat yu mean tho.


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## GoldenGrass (Jul 20, 2010)

Will a 400 watt hps work for 8 plants?


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## ratmpunk (Aug 22, 2010)

ive been looking at this thread forever and still tryin to wrap my head around it. im staring at my power bill and it says the first 1000 kwh is just about 6 cents, and anything over is.07. but the in the next column its sayin the same shit but it says fuel charge. i have an electric stove, heater, everything is electric. i guess maybe hot water heater isnt but the column for this fuel cost is the same price almost as the energy cost. wtf? bottom line, im trying to see with 3-4 nice plants, either a soil or basic hydro setup, 400 hps running 18 for veg and 12 flower, whats my cost a month gonna go up? being as i alreadypay close to 400 a month in the summer, and average 1800 kwh a month. please let me know


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## Commander Rainbow Veins (Aug 23, 2010)

thank you for putting this up.


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## haze2 (Aug 26, 2010)

I have a super sweet room I just got done building. I am introducing some co2 1st off, tank and regulator only, EITHER 3 600 hps OR 2 600s and 1 1000. I have a 12,000 btu LG cooler brand new, 2 18" fans, 4 6" inline blowers, and then some timers and controllers some take a small amount of energy. Ill let you guys know what this costs me to run in about 4 weeks or less. Ill havbe no veg time so it will be based just off flowering. Haze


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## jalis (Aug 26, 2010)

running my room with 4x1000 watt on 24 hrs with an ac running 24/7 plus timers pumps fans ect..... cost me a lil over $700


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## barney barn (Aug 30, 2010)

*Operating Cost* - here is a good link, just plug in your cost per kilowatt, and hours per day.


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## okayimreloaded (Aug 31, 2010)

sweet did u come up with that formula yourself???


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## barney barn (Aug 31, 2010)

no bro, but i did find it very useful.


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## allnaturalgrow.com (Sep 1, 2010)

great info I used it and was able to come up with a pretty accurate cost 

thanks


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## ?!Â§4L!Â¿â Ã¸Kâ¬Â®.GÃ¸A (Sep 3, 2010)

hey man if ya can use 240 stead of 110 your power will be cut in half as in 110 ya use like 4.5 amps for a 1000 watt light but ya use 240 ya use like 2.3amps and your bill is by amps not watts gl and hope i helped ya


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## sweetsmell (Sep 7, 2010)

see my sig (should be a sticky )


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## wheezer (Sep 13, 2010)

oops wrong thread


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## newworldicon (Sep 16, 2010)

farmer.joe said:


> i looked it up, man! i need to switch electric company for 30 days 16h per day it will cost me &#163;80.00 i think , if i have done it right.
> I havent got an electricity bill as it is a prepaid meter when the cash runs out it goes off. but i do know its more than double what i normally use.


I too have pay as you go electricity with BG and it is the same cost per unit as if I had a bill come through the door. Shop around perhaps?


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## lenco12 (Sep 21, 2010)

Garden Knowm said:


> Hey mr. roast... is the indoor section your?
> 
> 
> AND
> ...


 Your post is a fantastic contribution to the site. It will eventually be moved into the FAQ section.....


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## annahasier (Sep 26, 2010)

check out induction grow lights. They are high lumens and low watts with excellent PAR values @ 300 naometers for veg and 700 nanometers for flower/bud. We've had excellent kush yields with less then 1/2 the consumption of the HPS grows. 

Also they produce very little heat and unlike LED they are a wideband distribution which means more light hits the lower branches so the plant does not have to stretch to get light. The buds are tighter. check out the youtube vid on indagro and if you want to see operational cost comparisions there are tabs on the bottom of their home page. peace


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## newworldicon (Sep 26, 2010)

annahasier said:


> check out induction grow lights. They are high lumens and low watts with excellent PAR values @ 300 naometers for veg and 700 nanometers for flower/bud. We've had excellent kush yields with less then 1/2 the consumption of the HPS grows.
> 
> Also they produce very little heat and unlike LED they are a wideband distribution which means more light hits the lower branches so the plant does not have to stretch to get light. The buds are tighter. check out the youtube vid on indagro and if you want to see
> operational cost comparisions there are tabs on the bottom of their home page. peace


Do you know of any actual grows for proof they can in fact flower well, the website only shows me pics of a trade fair and a few chicks in shorts, the video tells me info I could find on wiki....I have looked at these lights for a while now along with LED. I never really see evidence of nice fat colas.


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## beerslinger (Nov 19, 2010)

ganjaluvr said:


> That's what I run right now.. along with a few CFL bulbs that are used for all my side lighting needs.
> 
> 
> I just added the 150watt HPS/MH kit about 2 weeks ago.. just wondering what I should expect to pay for adding the HPS kit.


Well I was trying to find out why my bill went up so much, and here is what I found. I have a 150 watt Sun system HPS light combo. Ballast and light together. After doing the calculations I found out it actually is using 384 watts. If you look on the side it says 120 volts and 3.2 amps= 120 *3.2 = 384 watts ouch!! Thinking I should upgrade to a 400 watt digital ballast.

Also I was wondering if anybody knows what the average amps for a 2 light 4 foot T5 takes. I assume that the two bulbs take 108 watts + ballast.

Also for anybody running cfl's look on the side of the bulb to really figure out how many watts, I looked at my 42 watt & 23 watt. Here is the true watts.

42w= 120 volts * .61 amps =73 watts
23w= 120 volts * .38 amps =45.6 watts.

The biggest surprise was my 200 watt CFL it came out at 336 watts.
No wonder my bill jumped so much. 
I figured originally at about $30 for everything upon further investigation I found out it costing me about $70 and that doesn't include taxes, line loss and delivery charges.

After reading the thread I had to really show people how much these bulbs are costing.

Any input or thoughts are welcomed


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## zorodeltoro (Nov 22, 2010)

Hi everybody. I'm at my first grow so excuse my cfl's. Will upgrade next time. Had a decision that this first grow will be all about learning from mistakes. Till now I've been vegging with 14/10 lights. Dumb I know so when I realized that I' already flowering I just switched to 12/12 and well see what we'll get. Guess around 1/4 oz per plant with my current setup.

Some help needed:

1. In the attached pics is it a male ?
2. Will NPK 1.5-2-4 be ok for flowering ? I started vegging with NPK 3-1.5-3 and have Nitro burns all over. Just water for now.
3. I have 2 sq foot growing area with 4 plants and 10000 lumens mixed 6400k and 2700k.


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## SkankOutMassive (Nov 29, 2010)

nice post, very helpfull. Thanks


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## jesusofnaz (Dec 4, 2010)

thanks for this. hoping the saving outweigh the cost on this grow but I'm skeptical.


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## zorodeltoro (Dec 8, 2010)

View attachment 1312431View attachment 1312432View attachment 1312433View attachment 1312434


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## kerplunkett1 (Dec 11, 2010)

$35 bucks every month for a 1000w hps


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## kerplunkett1 (Dec 11, 2010)

zorodeltoro said:


> View attachment 1312431View attachment 1312432View attachment 1312433View attachment 1312434


 
ur lookin at 7-11 weeks man


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## Beno Brown (Dec 12, 2010)

How big of a jump energy wise causes a red flag to the utility company?


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## kerplunkett1 (Dec 12, 2010)

Beno Brown said:


> How big of a jump energy wise causes a red flag to the utility company?


yu would only cause a flag if yu were stealing electricity or running a commercial setup


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## Beno Brown (Dec 12, 2010)

kerplunkett1 said:


> yu would only cause a flag if yu were stealing electricity or running a commercial setup


So I shouldn't be concerned with what type of lights I use based on energy consumption? Is this due to high energy items like big screen LCD TVs becoming so prominent in homes?


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## whiteberries (Dec 13, 2010)

To find the cost to run one item:

1. Total up the watts per day for the item to get total watts/day.

2. Divide total watts/day by 1000 to get the total kilowatt hours (Kwh) per day.

3. Multiply the Kwh/day times the cost per Kwh* to get cost/day.

4. To find out the average cost per month, multiply the cost/day by 30. (Power company monthly billing cycles vary from 28-33 days)

If you want to find the cost of all items:

1. Total up all the watts per day for each item to get total watts/day.

2. Divide total watts/day by 1000 to get the total kilowatt hours (Kwh) per day.

3. Multiply the Kwh/day times the cost per Kwh to get your total cost/day.

4. To find out the average total cost per month, multiply the total cost/day by 30. (Power company monthly billing cycles vary from 28-33 days)

Example: 1 inexpensive regular-sized human heating pad = 50 watts, calculated at PG&Es standard rate, averaged:

50 x 24 hours/day = 1200 watts
1200 divided by 1000 = 1.2 Kwh
1.2 x 0.12 = $0.144/day
$0.144/day x 30 = $4.32/month

source: http://www.anapsid.org/electricitycost.html


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## Mel O'Cheddar (Jan 3, 2011)

kerplunkett1 said:


> yu would only cause a flag if yu were stealing electricity or running a commercial setup


I hope you're right, we're like a month from harvest and all of a sudden the bill has doubled! OUCH! $127.01! They can wait til next week when the check won't bounce.


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## Niko Bellick (Jan 3, 2011)

I am having trouble using the spread sheet you provided (im pc retarded) can anyone tell me how much of an increase running my 1000 watt hid would cost me? i pay 0.9 kwh. thank you!


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## KakKakKax (Jan 4, 2011)

Everyone touts the energy saving power of LED's, but does it compare?

There aren't many side by side comparisons out there so I did one between 3 LED panels and tested using PAR. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4I3bkkfBFE

This compares the strength of the Grow Panel Pro 300, Apache Tech 120 and the UFO 90 LED light arrays. The strength of the light in a plant's usable range is measured in PAR and tested at one foot using a quantum meter, which is explained here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosyn...


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## stevemartin (Jan 6, 2011)

Window Acs are the most efficent way of air conditioning .


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## djdestroyer (Jan 10, 2011)

I asked this in another thread but I think I should have asked here:

Is calculating your total energy consumption as simple as adding up all the watts per hour, converting it to kilowatts, then multiplying by your energy rate?

For example and hypothetically speaking, if you had 12 - 400 watt lights, plus about 2200 watts in other equipment (7000 watts total) running 24 hours a day, you would be at 7000 watts per hour or 7 kilowatts per hour, correct? An average rate of energy is 7 cents per kilowatt hour, multiplied by the 7 kilowatt hours, equals 49 cents an hour... 49 cents an hour multiplied by 24 hours in a day, and 30 days in a month, equals $352.80 for the month. Is this correct?


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## lotsOweed (Jan 12, 2011)

djdestroyer said:


> I asked this in another thread but I think I should have asked here:
> 
> Is calculating your total energy consumption as simple as adding up all the watts per hour, converting it to kilowatts, then multiplying by your energy rate?
> 
> For example and hypothetically speaking, if you had 12 - 400 watt lights, plus about 2200 watts in other equipment (7000 watts total) running 24 hours a day, you would be at 7000 watts per hour or 7 kilowatts per hour, correct? An average rate of energy is 7 cents per kilowatt hour, multiplied by the 7 kilowatt hours, equals 49 cents an hour... 49 cents an hour multiplied by 24 hours in a day, and 30 days in a month, equals $352.80 for the month. Is this correct?


Yes its that easy and yes thats correct


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## djdestroyer (Jan 14, 2011)

So what raises the 'red flag'? Someone mentioned above that only a commercial grow or stealing electricity will do it... but what constitutes a commercial grow? Does anyone have hard facts/information? (Links to warrants, cases, articles, etc.)


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## hornedfrog2000 (Jan 17, 2011)

IMO commercial would be like 10,000+ watts worth of lights. Even then it totally depends on the size of your house. If you have a 4,000 square foot house you could probably get away with running 10,000 watts. A house that big is going to have a massive AC, Heat, Water, multiple friges, tvs, all sorts of shit.


I don't think they can get a warrant just because you use a lot of electricity.


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## PIMP THA BUD (Jan 17, 2011)

if im living in cali & i get a 600W HPS system what will chances of me getting a power outage or breaking happening??? also, im not too good with this whole electricity thing but when i start doing 12/12 with a 600W about how much $$$ a month will i be looking at???


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## DocGreenThumb (Feb 10, 2011)

Okay I read a few pages. What I need to know are the peak hours where you can save a little bit of $. They charge a lower kwh rate on the off peak hours I believe it is. This also changes with season I believe. Can anyone tell me these times for summer and winter.


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## RawBudzski (Feb 10, 2011)

I think my bill rose.. around 200 bucks when the lights,fans,pumps came on


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## RawBudzski (Feb 10, 2011)

Hey Pimp, You HAVE to add in.. the FAN.  at LEAST 40. REALITY 60. i run 2x 600s. fan, air pump and such. im at 200+ more on my bill


PIMP THA BUD said:


> if im living in cali & i get a 600W HPS system what will chances of me getting a power outage or breaking happening??? also, im not too good with this whole electricity thing but when i start doing 12/12 with a 600W about how much $$$ a month will i be looking at???


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## RawBudzski (Feb 10, 2011)

depends on where you live. where I am here in cali I is a flat rate. all day and night 


DocGreenThumb said:


> Okay I read a few pages. What I need to know are the peak hours where you can save a little bit of $. They charge a lower kwh rate on the off peak hours I believe it is. This also changes with season I believe. Can anyone tell me these times for summer and winter.


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## DocGreenThumb (Feb 11, 2011)

Right I think it's during business hours here in summer(8-5pm) but not sure about winter.


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## Stalwart (Feb 12, 2011)

I suggest using a clip on ammeter to check everything. The bulbs will become more inefficient drawing more power this will indicate when to replace bulbs and those numbers you might collect around the house become real distinguishing the difference in keeping things at different levels of operation. The clip-on ammeter takes the mystery out of electricity draw.


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## chazbolin (Feb 14, 2011)

here's an inexpensive way of testing the actual connected load of whatever you have plugged in and it's measured in kw so you can easily compare it to what you should be paying the utility.
http://www.allegromedical.com/gift-ideas-c573/kill-a-watt-electricity-usage-monitor-kilowatt-hour-meter-p502910.html?engine=froogle&utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=feed&CS_003=9164468&CS_010=ff8080810ea9fb31010eaac05049022f&gdftrk=gdfV21244_a_7c477_a_7c2937_a_7c502910





Stalwart said:


> I suggest using a clip on ammeter to check everything. The bulbs will become more inefficient drawing more power this will indicate when to replace bulbs and those numbers you might collect around the house become real distinguishing the difference in keeping things at different levels of operation. The clip-on ammeter takes the mystery out of electricity draw.


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## aalina387 (Feb 16, 2011)

your post is fantastic.[FONT=&quot]The advent of LED grow lights for indoor plants has changed the way we garden[/FONT]


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## Michael J (Feb 24, 2011)

Just started a grow, so called the elect. CO. and told them I was going to start working out of my shop that has its own meter, can you save me any money?? Yes they replied, asked me a few questions and then sujested a plan, where I use it most from 10pm to 6am and save 6 too 8 cents a killawatt or something, but they have to use a special meter that lets them know what hours the watts are being used and such. hoping to save alot. MJ


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## adamic (Feb 26, 2011)

what brand of LED light did you buy? I bought four of the Kessils and every one of them has burnt up lamps within 4 months. I'm back to HID for now but looking for a better lower cost to operate alternative. 


aalina387 said:


> your post is fantastic.[FONT=&quot]The advent of LED grow lights for indoor plants has changed the way we garden[/FONT]


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## Serapis (Feb 27, 2011)

That is what tax payers are for 



ronicolman said:


> The yellow type you get on most streets and roads. I know they are sodium or something so that they are low-power consumption, and that they have light sensors to switch themselves on and off... but still must cost a bit to run just one streetlamp.


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## anewhydrogrower (Mar 1, 2011)

This is a GREAT tool, Kill A Watt, good price on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4460-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B000RGF29Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1298997041&sr=8-2


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## vic smush (Mar 24, 2011)

You never really have to worry about power consumption if your growing the legal limit.


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## Gdaddy (Apr 8, 2011)

What the fuck is going on? I keep reading on here about people spending like a couple hundred bucks more a month, some less than that even! My bill QUADRUPLED to $1200 from running a 1000w at 18/6 on off peak hours even! Am I missing something? How can there be such a huge difference from one place to another? I'm shitting my pants I've still got 2 more months before harvest. It will help a little now that I'm on 12 but I'm still looking at what 700 800 on top of my usual 250?


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## RIXUK (Apr 8, 2011)

Ive done some looking in to this and hps lights dont use as much electric as people think,well then what I thought.
http://www.mhi-inc.com/Converter/watt_calculator.htm
http://www.asknumbers.com/kwh-to-watts-hour.aspx
http://www.paystolivegreen.com/2008/09/energy-savings-calculator/ with costs
They should do you but I did find a real good one but i cant find it now.

Another thing I learned to,the less you use the more you pay,the more you use the more discount you get and lower costs.
Check your power supplier or meter and use the calculator and change company if you find it cheaper as you may well do so.


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## TDM (Apr 10, 2011)

If you can reduce costs by running lights during non, "peak" hours...say 9:00PM-9:00AM.
My normal electric bill is around $122.00, before I was running 18/6 and bill was $217-$227
I am running 24/7 now so I expect it to be around $300 or more.


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## Dominique Florian (Apr 14, 2011)

Hey guys, have been following this thread for a while now - you know there are lights that reduce electricity costings as well as maintenace costing, and still yield you maximum "crop" - No A/C needed to cool down your grow op and last twice as long as led grow lights and even longer compared to HPS / HID lighting set-ups ( 12 times longer)

I am talking about the Induction Bi spectrum grow light ; Super Grow light (also known as induction lamp) relies on the fundamental principles of electro magnetic Induction and gas discharge to create lights. No electrodes and no filament to be damaged, its life time is up to 100000hrs - HPS and HID lighting are high energy consumption, short lifetime, high level of brightness declines, while the super-light for plant is superior to LED lights for plant. Super light plants, mainly rely on electromagnetic induction and the basic principles of gas discharge with the main issue of red light 680 nm, and 450 nm blue light.

Compared to the HPS lights and the usual use of air conditioning to calm temperatures down, especially in the summer - this light could save you alot of money in the longterm, and further can prevent you from being caught -.- 
There is another article about the energy consumption compared by HPS and LED grow light... Definately worth googeling...


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## Shangeet (Apr 15, 2011)

*When to Turn Off Your Lights*

The cost effectiveness of when to turn off lights depends on the type of lights and the price of electricity. The type of light is important for several reasons. All types of lights have a nominal or rated operating life, which is the total number of hours that they will provide a specified level or amount of light. However, the operating life of all types of light bulbs is affected by how many times they are turned on and off. The more often they are switched on and off, the lower their operating life. The exact number of hours that switching lights on and off reduces the total operating life depends on the type of light and how many times it is switched on and off.

*Incandescent Lighting*

Incandescent lights (or bulbs) should be turned off whenever they are not needed. Nearly all types of incandescent light bulbs are fairly inexpensive to produce and are relatively inefficient. Only about 10%15% of the electricity that incandescent lights consume results in lightthe rest is turned into heat. Turning the light(s) off will keep a room cooler, an extra benefit in the summer. Therefore, the value of the energy saved by not having the lights on will be far greater than the cost of having to replace the bulb.
*Fluorescent Lighting*


The cost effectiveness of turning fluorescent lights off to conserve energy is a bit more complicated. For most areas of the United States, a general rule-of-thumb for when to turn off a fluorescent light is if you leave a room for more than 15 minutes, it is probably more cost effective to turn the light off. Or in other words, if you leave the room for only up to 15 minutes, it will generally be more cost effective to leave the light(s) on. In areas where electric rates are high and/or during peak demand periods, this period may be as low as 5 minutes. Fluorescent lights are more expensive to buy, and their operating life is more affected by the number of times they are switched on and off, relative to incandescent lights. Therefore, it is a cost trade-off between saving energy and money by turning a light off "frequently" and having to replace the bulbs "more" frequently. This is because the reduction in usable lamp life due to _frequent_ on/off switching will probably be greater than the benefit of extending the useful life of the bulb from reduced use. By frequent we mean turning the light off and on many times during the day.
It is a popularly held belief that fluorescent lights use a "lot" of energy to get started, and thus it is better not to turn them off for "short" periods. There is an increase in power demand when a light is switched on, and the exact amount of this increase depends on the type of ballast and lamp. The ballast provides an initial high voltage for starting the lamp and regulates the lamp current during operation. There are three basic types of ballasts: magnetic (of which there are energy-efficient and not so energy-efficient types), cathode-disconnect, and electronic. All types can operate two or more lamps simultaneously. There are three main methods that are used in a lamp's ballast to start the lamp: preheat, rapid-start, and instant-start.
In any case, the relatively higher "inrush" current required lasts for half a cycle, or 1/120th of a second. The amount of electricity consumed to supply the inrush current is equal to a few seconds or less of normal light operation. Turning off fluorescent lights for more than 5 seconds will save more energy than will be consumed in turning them back on again. Therefore, the real issue is the value of the electricity saved by turning the light off relative to the cost of relamping a fixture. This in turn determines the shortest cost-effective period for turning off a fluorescent light.
The value of the energy saved by turning a fluorescent light (or array of lights) off depends on several factors. The price an electric utility charges its customers depends on the customer "classes," which are typically residential, commercial, and industrial. There can be different rate schedules within each class. Some utilities may charge different rates for electricity consumption during different times of the day. It generally costs more for utilities to generate power during certain periods of high demand or consumption, called peaks. Some utilities can charge commercial and industrial customers more per kilowatt-hour (kWh) during peak periods than for consumption off-peak. Some utilities may also charge a base rate for a certain level of consumption and higher rates for increasing blocks of consumption. Often a utility adds miscellaneous service charges, a base charge, and/or taxes per billing period that could be averaged per kWh consumed, if these are not already factored into the rate.



*Energy Savings*

To calculate the exact value of energy savings by turning a light off, you need to first determine how much energy the light(s) consume when on. Every bulb has a Watt rating printed on it. For example, if the rating is 40 watts, and the bulb is on for one hour, it will consume 0.04 kWh, or if it is off for one hour, you will be saving 0.04 kWh. (Note that many fluorescent fixtures have two or more bulbs. Also, one switch may control several fixturesan "array." Add the savings for each fixture to determine the total energy savings.)
Then you need to find out what you are paying for electricity per kWh (in general and during peak periods). You will need to look over your electricity bills and see what the utility charges per kWh. Multiply the rate per kWh by the amount of electricity saved, and this will give you the value of the savings. Continuing with the example above, let us say that your electric rate is 10 cents per kWh. The value of the energy savings would then be 0.4 cents ($ 0.004). The value of the savings will increase the higher the watt rating of the bulb, the greater the number of bulbs controlled by a single switch, and the higher the rate per kWh.
The most cost-effective length of time that a light (or array of lights) can be turned off before the value of the savings exceeds the cost of having to replace bulbs (due to their shortened operating life) will depend on the type and model of bulb and ballast. The cost of replacing a bulb (or ballast) depends on the cost of the bulb and the cost of labor to do it.
Lighting manufacturers should be able to supply information on the duty cycle of their products. In general, the more energy-efficient a bulb/light is, the longer you can keep a light on before it is cost effective to turn it off.


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## GreenMONSTAH (Apr 29, 2011)

My power bill was insane from only a couple bulbs got this from the electric company if you cant see that percentage its 144% MORE then neighbors yikes!...


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## budXL (May 15, 2011)

GreenMONSTAH said:


> My power bill was insane from only a couple bulbs got this from the electric company if you cant see that percentage its 144% MORE then neighbors yikes!...View attachment 1576513


how many bulbs are you running ?


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## GreenMONSTAH (May 16, 2011)

2 1000w's and a 400w all on core & coil ballasts'.. id say half the cost is lighting the other half is in fans, air purifiers, and air conditioners and whatnot.


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## budXL (May 17, 2011)

had a talk with a man who works for my local power company, told him i was a welder who uses lots of power but dont care if bill is large... he said as long as you pay the worst that could happen is they send someone out to check your meter, they call you and tell you that you are using more power than most but he says they dont care at all as long as you pay. His exact words are, "we are a company like everyone else trying to make money, why would we get mad if you have to pay us more..." 

I am running 4 1000s and an led room for veg and lots of pumps and gadgets lol

we will see how high my bill gets this summer, was worried, not so much anymore....


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## GreenMONSTAH (May 18, 2011)

Im sayin i dont really get to worried anymore even though it will be my first summer with these lights hopefully i wont need two A/C units.A house in my city got caught with a serious grow op and the only reason they got caught was from the smell so that eases my concerns too


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## FriendlyTokez (May 30, 2011)

hey im new here but as far as i know LED lighting is the most fuel efficient. some ppl design their own LED lights, if you've been growing a while its easy to tell which type of light waves work the best. i know that blue light is not that great for people in general so that should be kept to a minimum. smell and heat traces are the two things that can get u. like if you are doing a closet grow dont use 1000w!


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## TaylorSunlightSolutions (Jun 22, 2011)

Hey guys, I work for http://www.SunLightSolutionsInc.com . LED Grow Lights are the preferred lights of people that want to save money on electricity. I won't preach about what's the best lighting (everyone has their own choice) but I can talk to my bosses that own the company into giving only Forum members here a major discount for LEDs if they need it. So Mods or whoever wants to set this up msg me. If not that's fine too.


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## oppeolighting (Jul 24, 2011)

This is Herry from Oppeo Lighting, one professional supplier of* induction lamp and LED lighting.* Both of these lights have their own advantage for different application, induction lamp mainly used for industrial and commercial, LED will be better used for residential or commercial which need small wattage. Welcome to visit www.oppeo.com or email [email protected]m ​​In a word, induction lamp and LED are really the 4th generation lighting source in 21st century. It is good* substitute of florescent lights, incandescent lights, high pressure lamp, metal halide lamp and energy saving light. *​


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## dirtdigger80 (Aug 3, 2011)

I'm all for saving power, but if LEDs were the way to go everyone would be doing it. The technology just isn't there yet. we're going to be stuck with high-pressure sodium for a while. Hell maybe in the future recent growth fucking lasers.


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## Anthony4201987 (Aug 4, 2011)

my 600 watt hps has only bought my bill up 100 bucks more than wat it normally is. hell its worth it 3months of high bills and be high for free or spend ur money which prob at the end of the year is double the amount of ur light bill total anyway if ur a real stoner anyway i know i am


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## pacfanx (Aug 4, 2011)

does anyone have any favorite 1000w hps? anypreference on the highoutput bulbs or the dual arc bulbs. I have been using sunmaster and have had good results. anyone use the solarmax bulbs?


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## medicolas (Aug 6, 2011)

dirtdigger80 said:


> I'm all for saving power, but if LEDs were the way to go everyone would be doing it. The technology just isn't there yet. we're going to be stuck with high-pressure sodium for a while. Hell maybe in the future recent growth fucking lasers.


I'm not an LEDer, but from what I understand the technology IS here. From most off what I have been able to find it looks like the current LED's will work fine if paired with a bulb to give radiation to the mix. as I said... I am not interested in LED's but I think it's viable now!


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## medicolas (Aug 6, 2011)

pacfanx said:


> does anyone have any favorite 1000w hps? anypreference on the highoutput bulbs or the dual arc bulbs. I have been using sunmaster and have had good results. anyone use the solarmax bulbs?


I like my Digilux with my Lumateks.


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## brainwashed (Aug 9, 2011)

Power companies are not going to turn you in for a power spike! Whoever thinks that does not know why companies exist.....TO MAKE MONEY! They will NOT turn in a client that is paying them $800 a month, that would be dumb! So do not worry about your power bill being to high, just make sure its paid!


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## RawBudzski (Aug 9, 2011)

GOVERNMENT RUN ELECTRIC COMPANIES WILL, REGARDLESS IF YOU PAY.. Here in Cali ppl get Mostly Edison so its ok, but IF YOU GET POWER FROM A GOV. OWNED SOURCE, They do look into suspicious limits.


brainwashed said:


> Power companies are not going to turn you in for a power spike! Whoever thinks that does not know why companies exist.....TO MAKE MONEY! They will NOT turn in a client that is paying them $800 a month, that would be dumb! So do not worry about your power bill being to high, just make sure its paid!


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## weednublet (Aug 15, 2011)

I get my power from a local govt owned company. Once my system gets going I'll be jumping from about 500KWH to 1100KWH. Should I be worried?


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## machnak (Nov 1, 2011)

Here's a site to help calculate costs! Enjoy!

http://www.advancednutrients.com/conversion_tools/powercost_tool/powercost.html


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## grabriellemartin (Nov 4, 2011)

Thank you for sharing it's awesome and really helpful for everyone. I like this kind of post because a lot of us can attest to the effectiveness of this calculation. That way, I couldn't ask for more.


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## ProfessorPurp (Nov 8, 2011)

LEDS are here! I have first hand experience. Dense and oily bud. No way shape or form an LED salesman but it does work and saves you money. But to each his own.
happy indoor season


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## SFguy (Jan 2, 2012)

love that conversion calculator , pretty accurate, close to what im payin..


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## SomeGuyFromCali (Jan 5, 2012)

I am seriously wondering if anyone else on here has ever had their ballast go bad or had a bulb burn out and then experienced a major power spike? My bill just jumped from $115 to $450 and I made no changes to my room whatsoever!! 

I have been running a used 600 watt digital HPS for flowering my 4x5 room for about 6 months now with no significant increase in power.
Combined with my house lights and appliances I normally average approximately 600-700 Kwh per month ($115) and last month the meter shows I used over 1600 Kwh ($450)!!

Early last month I entered my room after about a week of not checking it to find my bulb was burned out and my ladies were drooping nearly to the floor.
I pulled out the spare bulb I had been given by the guy who sold me the used setup and was able to get it going again but now when I check my power meter at the pole I am using about 2 Kwh per hour with my 600 watt digital HPS, house lights, and appliances on. If I unplug the 600 watt digital it drops to less than 1 Kwh per hour so I am pretty certain it is the 600 watt HPS causing the spike.

I definitely cannot afford another huge bill. At this point I am wondering should I:
1) try to have the 600 watt HPS ballast that appears to be drawing far too much power repaired somewhere?
2) buy a new bulb and try that?
3) get a whole new setup? (ballast and bulb)

Does anyone know if running the HPS ballast with a burned out bulb for a week can damage the ballast?

For now I have my ladies under a single 100 watt CFL for now just to keep them alive while I figure out if the 600 watt HPS can be salvaged...
I appreciate any advice you guys have to offer!!


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## redmanokc (Jan 7, 2012)

awesome post!!!!


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## BaytoLA (Jan 29, 2012)

Maybe i am retarded but when itry to download the zip file it keeps saying there is an error. Any thoughts?


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## slim83 (Jan 30, 2012)

you dont need the spread sheet to figure usage (watts x hours used /1000) x price per kilowatt 
400watt x 18hrs a day x 30 days = 216000 / 1000 = 216 kw x price per kilowatt were i am it's .08 so 216 x .08 = $17 a month to run my 400 watt light 18hrs a day 
it's not exact but it will get you real close to usage i get my power bill every two months and it went up $40 for two months running my light 18 hrs a day


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## phillipchristian (Feb 11, 2012)

Very cool but maybe a little too time consuming for most people. If you are just looking to find out what your grow will cost you in electrical you can use a simple Electricity Cost Calculator online. All the information you will need to know is the Watts used by each piece of equipment which you can find in the manuel or on the equipment itself and what your electric company charges you per kilowatt hour which you can find on your electric bill. This is the one I use:

http://www.handymath.com/cgi-bin/electric.cgi?submit=Entry


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## smokeingdog (Feb 11, 2012)

every 1 worrying about how much power is being used it would be easyer if it went like this
250w-hps=£.$ per hour 
an so on for higher wattage lights like the 400w,650w.1000w
i used a 400w-hps an it was taking on average about £10.00 a week on an 18hr turn on an when it went in to 12/12 it was around £7.00-£8.00 a week,so when u add all that up over ur grow time from seed/clone to harvest it is a lot off money also the cost of the nutes some are more than others,so u need to work out how many plants 2 grow cause if r only growing 2 or 3 u may as well an go an get ur self a few oz cause it will cost u more in power than what u would get off the crop it self an if ur new 2 this game ur more than likely gonna get low quality weed till u get some experence on growing weed,ur main points are light the right p.h the right amount of nutes do not over warter an plenty of fresh air,an make sure the light is at the right height or ur just gonna get stretched plants that will give u about 3 grams of low quality weed.........happy growing


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## motul123 (Feb 13, 2012)

My 4X1000 watt lights on 18 hours a day cost me $200.00 a month extra


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## wysong (Feb 16, 2012)

vitalious said:


> Can anyone take a guess at how many KW/h per DAY you can get away with without sending alarms ringing?
> 
> Lets say we have 6 1000watt lights going at 16 per day, thats 96 kw/h in a day.
> thats about 5-6 bucks a day = $150 month.
> ...



this may be old , but that kind of consumption will get you noticed for sure
especially now with smart meters.
Even in a commercial location ,I'd think ya would get caught

also from ontario


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## dante76 (Feb 16, 2012)

Wow...i wish... i spend that on only 1 -1000W...Damn Southern Cal Edison!


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## punatang808 (Feb 18, 2012)

( Watt Usage * Hours/Day * Days/Mo. ) / 1000 = Kilowatt Hours used that month
Then multiply the Kilowatts you'll be using that month by your kWh cost and you'll now how much your set up will cost you. Much easier formula then all this mumbo jumbo IMO


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## richinweed (Mar 19, 2012)

TexasWild said:


> I ended up getting a dehumidifier on Craigs List for 10 bucks but now have gotten the humidity down with air flow and temps! Had to put heater in because it was getting down to like high 30's and low 40's. Problem doesn't exits anymore! I added some co2 (yeast and sugar). Temps around 75 - 85 day and 60 - 70 at night so far! humidity around 40 - 50% even when watering. Thinking about putting my dehumidifier in for the last week or so to keep in the 20 - 30 range and not water either. I am 10 days into flowering and was curious about adding 2 150w HPS as my areas is 3x6. So that they will be extra dense! Any thoughts?


...add the two hps's...you will never look back.............


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## richinweed (Mar 19, 2012)

wysong said:


> this may be old , but that kind of consumption will get you noticed for sure
> especially now with smart meters.
> Even in a commercial location ,I'd think ya would get caught
> 
> also from ontario


...wow ...sat hi to Bubba 4 me...


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## richinweed (Mar 19, 2012)

brainwashed said:


> Power companies are not going to turn you in for a power spike! Whoever thinks that does not know why companies exist.....TO MAKE MONEY! They will NOT turn in a client that is paying them $800 a month, that would be dumb! So do not worry about your power bill being to high, just make sure its paid!


if u live in a region were meter readers come about...hmmm= second income to power reader meter finks....thats how i believe most smell reports get to crime stoppers...fukkin rats.


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## NnthStTrls (Mar 19, 2012)

http://en.seedfinder.eu/growing/energy-costs-calculator/


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## patrickkawi37 (Apr 13, 2012)

motul123 said:


> My 4X1000 watt lights on 18 hours a day cost me $200.00 a month extra


Canada? Cause my bill with 4 and an ac adds 800 a month in Cali


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## milkchoca (Apr 25, 2012)

Not sure if this question has been answered or not....how do I avoid the spikes in my electrical bill? The jump in total consumption each month? I'm thinking of using a generator during certain hours along with knowing how much total wattage i'm using.


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## hammer21 (Apr 27, 2012)

Electric company came to my home a few years ago and was wondering why my usage jumped so much installed a reef tank that burned 2400 watts with lights and pumps asked them if they would like to come in to see it and they declined never seen them again but just that raised concerns to have them come out and snoop around.


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## NnthStTrls (Apr 27, 2012)

http://en.seedfinder.eu/growing/energy-costs-calculator/


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## DoctorSmoke (Apr 28, 2012)

milkchoca said:


> Not sure if this question has been answered or not....how do I avoid the spikes in my electrical bill? The jump in total consumption each month? I'm thinking of using a generator during certain hours along with knowing how much total wattage i'm using.


 when u mean spikes do u mean every time u grow? u can try being more consistent when growing, like having separate rooms for veggin and flowering.


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## HinduWiff (May 1, 2012)

is it true if you just pay your bill your straight?? unless its like 2k a month


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## ISLANDBOYOG (Jun 23, 2012)

i pay 1400 monthly bill and have no problem. I also explained my 800 gallon saltwater fish tank with calcium reactor, 4 x400 m/h, 1/4 h/p sump pump which returns my water from the refugium bac to the main tank,but not before it goes threw my 1 h/p chiller to keep my reef tank at optimum temp. and my quantine tank in my garage. if they dont like that one you can always go with the recording studio in your garage.


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## nasar (Jul 20, 2012)

Hi iv'e tried every where wanting to know average/maximum electric consumption in UK? as i want to use around 5 x 600 hps lights plus fans, ac etc. as i am a noob don't to arouse suspicions they will all be in a 2 bed terraced house.


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## nasar (Jul 21, 2012)

bump.......


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## doogey420 (Aug 1, 2012)

*POWER USAGE:
*[FONT=Futura Std Condensed Light,Futura Std Condensed Light][FONT=Futura Std Condensed Light,Futura Std Condensed Light]On average, a light system will increase your electricity cost from $8 to $20 per month&#8212;the exact amount depends on the size of the system and the number of hours operated. Make sure your grow room&#8217;s power circuit can handle the power draw. For safety reasons, do not exceed 75% of the rated ability of the fuse/breaker (for example: use no more than 15 amps on a 20 amp circuit). To calculate your cost, multiply the bulb wattage X hours of operation and divide by 1000. This figure is the number of kilowatt hours of electricity consumed. (Example: a 400 watt bulb running for 18 hours will use 7.2 kilowatt hours). Check your power bill for the cost of each kilowatt hour. Then multiply the number of kilowatt hours by the cost of a kilowatt hour (K/hr) to arrive at the cost per month to run the light in your area.
[/FONT][/FONT]


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## antimatt3r (Sep 4, 2012)

The kill a watt meters are awesome you know exactly how much a given device or appliance is costing you per day/week/month/year also how much current its drawing fantastic.

my bill is 475 for 2 months (summer) with 2000w HPS, ~150 watts of Flouros 2 inline fans and a window AC


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## demonsweat (Oct 14, 2012)

POWER USAGE

"It takes money to make money." If your a grower, you say this every month when the bill comes. Same goes for the cash you shell out for soil, nutes, equipment , even "helping hands". Our last power bill was $1600.


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## Imhereforthedope. (Oct 15, 2012)

that dude is a cop i know him


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## thatsmessedup (Oct 19, 2012)

I made a grow calculator if anyone want to use it https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/569662-cost-value-grow-mmj-calculator.html


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## D1G1TALD3ATH (Oct 30, 2012)

Nice write up thanks for the info.


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## doubletake (Nov 29, 2012)

Does any one know about the most 600 watters u can use on a regular house breaker box I'm in SoCal and rent so building a designated box is out of the question I've heard 4 is the most anybody else heard that?


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## better2beunknown (Dec 1, 2012)

Nice write up


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## hi2 (Dec 8, 2012)

here are some pics of my Warlock Grow week 5th of flower almost there! ya, mmmmm Good!


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## Truncheon (Dec 13, 2012)

doubletake said:


> Does any one know about the most 600 watters u can use on a regular house breaker box I'm in SoCal and rent so building a designated box is out of the question I've heard 4 is the most anybody else heard that?


Don't understand the question completely. If you mean the whole breaker box, that's 200 amps in most modern houses which if fully redirected to 110 volt use would support 20,000 watts. ((200 X 110)*0.9) Basically thirty-three 600 watters.

Your apartment probably has 60 to 100 amps though.

If what you mean is a typical lighting/receptacle circuit hooked to a single circuit breaker, that would be 15 amps. At 110 volts that would support 1485 watts, or basically two 600 watt bulbs.


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## Canibitual (Dec 31, 2012)

doubletake said:


> Does any one know about the most 600 watters u can use on a regular house breaker box I'm in SoCal and rent so building a designated box is out of the question I've heard 4 is the most anybody else heard that?


if you have a 200amp panel on your house, you have to look outside to see what size transformer your drawing from..., then you can do a "flip", with no more lights than the Transforer is... for instance... a 15Kw transformer is standard... so assuming that your house is the only house serviced by that transformer (and it's prob not) , you could do 15 1000w lights, at a time, or 30 lights total... or 25 600w lights on at a time, for a total of 50... you'd move to a 11hr flowering period to leave 1 hour off between the flip... to let the transformer cool....

at 1.5-1.7x the transformer you take the risk of it overheating on a hot day... at 1.8-2x the transformer will blow, the fire department and police will show up...

if your neighbors are on the same transformer, asume they may be using at least 35% of that transformer at all times... if you know they're growing... assume 75%

now if your trying to figure out how many lights can be on a standard 15a breaker.... I think Truncheon answered that...


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## OldGrowth420 (Jan 6, 2013)

This thread is great thanks


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## lykarckstar420 (Jan 13, 2013)

Started my Grow Dec13th. Last year for Dec - Feb my avg bill was $65.00. My projected bill for Jan 13' is $160.00 Thats running a 400W MH for 13 days 18/6 then a HPS 12/12 since. Running a 4" outake , 12"tower oscillator and 6"osc clip running all at least 22hrs a day ( when light is off I time the outake to go off for 15min every hour or two ) 
SUMMARY:
Bill goes up avg. $100 a month. this is for my area and elec cost. 
SO CAL ED.


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## Herb Man (Feb 20, 2013)

Vote 2 Legalize Marijuana said:


> I use solar and wind power...


I need a wind mill.


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## Herb Man (Feb 21, 2013)

lykarckstar420 said:


> Started my Grow Dec13th. Last year for Dec - Feb my avg bill was $65.00. My projected bill for Jan 13' is $160.00 Thats running a 400W MH for 13 days 18/6 then a HPS 12/12 since. Running a 4" outake , 12"tower oscillator and 6"osc clip running all at least 22hrs a day ( when light is off I time the outake to go off for 15min every hour or two )
> SUMMARY:
> Bill goes up avg. $100 a month. this is for my area and elec cost.
> SO CAL ED.


Got any pics?

Love to see them.

Come look at mine.

Link:
*https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journal-discussion/626709-herb-mans-first-grow-soil.html*


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## lykarckstar420 (Feb 21, 2013)

Herb Man said:


> Got any pics?
> 
> View attachment 2536209View attachment 2536211View attachment 2536216View attachment 2536217View attachment 2536218View attachment 2536219View attachment 2536220View attachment 2536222View attachment 2536223View attachment 2536224View attachment 2536225View attachment 2536226
> 
> ...


HEre are mine sir..what do you think


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## Nursemajor (Apr 10, 2013)

I learned when I moved in my first house why my parents were assholes about turning the lights off. I don't expect that that a 6" duct fan going 24/7 and my lights going 18/6 will dramatically increase my bill, as it will be only in a 4x4x6.5 tent, but I will replace all lightbulbs with cfl lights, and leave everything off, with the exception of my grow fans and lights.


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## Reloader (Apr 12, 2013)

I run a 400 m/h 24/7 in my veg clone room. I run constantly, 2 600's on a 12/12 with a 750 cfm fan/filter and another 400cfm fan intake and my bill went from about $90 to $160. Then I built a sauna out back with an electric heater and by bill jumped to about $190 per month, its all worth it though. I figure it only cost me about $20 to $25 a month to run a 400 mh 24/7, which is tottaly worth it, because for me a it does it all, vegges big plants, grows clones, houses my mother plants and I can put seedlings in the corner.


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## SunGro2000 (Apr 20, 2013)

DrWatson said:


> .....Came out of my room yesterday and my roommate was eatin cereal with a jacket and ear muffs on...what a pussy


Lol that's funny shit. Same here, except when I had a roomate I wasn't growing (security), but I was still cheap with the heat (im in the northern US, very cold here).


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## RiverSix (Apr 29, 2013)

Hey everyone, a question just popped in my head and I thought this was a good thread to ask in.

I have an LED light and it says "120vac 50/60Hz 125 watts 1.6A" on the and of the housing. That's great, except 1.6A at 120V is 192W, not 125. Likewise, 125W at 120V is 1.04A, not 1.6.  Am I missing something, or is the power consumption really _that_ underrated?

I may spring for a Kill-A-Watt EZ this week anyway. At least I can use it for other things.


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## Javadog (Apr 29, 2013)

I got one and while I have not used it much yet, a few experiments
showed that some things were using much less that I had thought.

A computer, even when not asleep will use much less that the high
power rating of the power supplies that gaming systems require.
(we all knew that those limits are to cover peaks, but the watts were
less than 100)

Let us know what you find with yours. I will post results if I ever
get around to it. My ballast has 60%, 80%, and 100% settings, 
and I want to see what is really going on.

Good luck,

JD


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## RainerRocks (Apr 30, 2013)

My electric company is Con-Ed NYC...My KW rates vary every month . So even if I run the LED panel the exact
amount of time every month my bill will be different every month .

How many of you have fix rates for your electric ?


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## blindbaby (May 1, 2013)

im runnin about 2200 watts. and it ads like 70. a mo, in my elec rate.


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## RiverSix (May 10, 2013)

RiverSix said:


> I may spring for a Kill-A-Watt EZ this week anyway. At least I can use it for other things.





Javadog said:


> I got one and while I have not used it much yet, a few experiments
> showed that some things were using much less that I had thought.
> 
> A computer, even when not asleep will use much less that the high
> ...


A week late, but I got the Kill A Watt. Kinda interesting and hopefully I can pay for it in power savings. Now for the results:

- The 125W LED light I mentioned pulls 130W.
- The 12W fan I am using only pulls 10W.
- Desktop PC, LCD monitor, speakers, printer, and surround unit burn up 140W just idling and about 12W when everything is shut off.
- An old 2004 laptop with a 1.8GHz Athlon idles around 30W and spikes to 60+ under load. Haven't tried my other two laptops.
- Old 50W HPS outdoor light draws about 40W initially and slowly levels off around 72W.
- A 4W LED lamp light actually draws about 5W.
- GE digital appliance timer draws 0.6W with no load.
- Analog version of that timer draws 0.7W.
- My under-bar minifridge runs around 85W.

You get the idea.


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## Javadog (May 10, 2013)

Great stuff. Thanks for taking the time. 

The fact that so many devices exceeded their ratings, even if my little, was surprising.

JD


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## RainerRocks (May 10, 2013)

What model Kill A Watt did you buy?



RiverSix said:


> A week late, but I got the Kill A Watt. Kinda interesting and hopefully I can pay for it in power savings. Now for the results:
> 
> - The 125W LED light I mentioned pulls 130W.
> - The 12W fan I am using only pulls 10W.
> ...


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## RiverSix (May 11, 2013)

The only one that any local stores carry is the EZ model (P4600), so that's what I got. I didn't want to pay the extra $12 for it, but I must admit that the built-in memory is handy.


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## scathatch (Jun 20, 2013)

if i were to have a lil 400watt grow closet and i shut every thing of thats around 400 added up no extra charge should be on the bill right? stupid question but im high


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## DONNYS (Jun 20, 2013)

scathatch said:


> if i were to have a lil 400watt grow closet and i shut every thing of thats around 400 added up no extra charge should be on the bill right? stupid question but im high


if u shut off 400 watts of stuff then no change in bill
what u pay per kilowatt hour ?


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## Stillbuzzin (Jun 20, 2013)

DONNYS said:


> if u shut off 400 watts of stuff then no change in bill
> what u pay per kilowatt hour ?


3 beers and a blunt..............


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## DONNYS (Jun 20, 2013)

Stillbuzzin said:


> 3 beers and a blunt..............


dont lie u use candles and a picture chuck norris to grow with


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## Stillbuzzin (Jun 20, 2013)

DONNYS said:


> dont lie u use candles and a picture chuck norris to grow with



You promised me you wouldnt tell . How you gonna act???????????????????


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## DONNYS (Jun 20, 2013)

Stillbuzzin said:


> You promised me you wouldnt tell . How you gonna act???????????????????


i use tin foil and the sun 
get on drunk thread lets stop jacking this one lol


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## scathatch (Jun 21, 2013)

not sure i take care of my pops lawn he pays the electronic so i just wanted to make sure he wouldnt be abe to tell


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## DONNYS (Jun 21, 2013)

scathatch said:


> not sure i take care of my pops lawn he pays the electronic so i just wanted to make sure he wouldnt be abe to tell


cut back in other areas change all lights in house to cfls


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## scathatch (Jun 21, 2013)

thats what i was thinkin. we got two big screen tvs two ps3s desktop that are always on so guessin all that goes off 90% of the time and just sit there smokin with my plants instead and wouldnt even notice on the bill


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## kiteflyer90 (Sep 20, 2013)

Hey guys, I just moved in an apartment and my bill is usally $40-$50.. If I use two 1000w what can I expect my bill to be? 
And is it to much where it looks suspicipus?


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## bondoman (Sep 20, 2013)

kiteflyer90 said:


> Hey guys, I just moved in an apartment and my bill is usally $40-$50.. If I use two 1000w what can I expect my bill to be?
> And is it to much where it looks suspicipus?


If you pay $.11 per kilowatt, it would be $73.92 a month doing 12/12 on top of your current bill.


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## GroErr (Oct 15, 2013)

bondoman said:


> If you pay $.11 per kilowatt, it would be $73.92 a month doing 12/12 on top of your current bill.


Besides the lights, consider your environmental controls like fans, inline intake/exhaust controls, this depends on the size of your grow and outside temps/environment but they can use as much power as your lights (or more in an extreme hot/cold outside environment). I went with LED's and they use less power overall than the rest of my environmental control devices. Buy low power consumption fans/exhaust/air conditioning etc.) or they'll jack up your power requirements considerably. I run a small 2'x4'x'5' cabinet and overall power usage is only about $50-$60/month over prior bills, certainly not enough to raise any flags but I'm also in an area that has variable cost hydro, lowest is at night so I run my lights during the night to further reduce the impact.


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## Baited breath (Oct 25, 2013)

Simple math. Stoners are generally not known for it. LOL. Why even bother to calculate it unless your running more than a few 1000 watt HIDs. Even that wont register with the power company as suspect. Im in Oz where we got fucked up the ass by the last Labour govt. who introduced the Carbon tax so power providers passed the slug on to the people. I pay around 21 cents per kilowatt. Running about 250 watt including all electricals doesnt do shit to my bill. Basically im paying an extra 6 cents per hour at 18 hrs a day for 30 days and 6 cents per hr for 60 days during the flowering cycle. You do the math. It aint even a blip on the radar. Remember hat a fridge uses at least 1500 watts Plasma TV at least 2000 etc. Youll get nabbed by the law for loose lips or nrighbours seeing lights at all hours or funky smells. Just plug an Airwick scented unit or 3 into the extension cord strip to hide the smel. Power consumption is not yr worry. Burning ya fucking house down through crappy wiring or electricals is.


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## JackHererSki (Jan 14, 2014)

8x23w Cfls = 184w + 12w fan =196w of power used per hr hence 196wh

196wh x 20hrs a day= 3920wh a day

3920wh = 3.92kwh

I pay $0.15 kWh 

3.92 x 0.15= .58 cents a day to run my single plant grow cabinet

Am I correct

Critical Jack Auto. 180w 20/4


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## colonuggs (Jan 22, 2014)

196/1000 x 20 x .15 = .588 or .59


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## SupraSPL (Jan 22, 2014)

RiverSix said:


> I have an LED light and it says "120vac 50/60Hz 125 watts 1.6A" on the and of the housing. That's great, except 1.6A at 120V is 192W, not 125. Likewise, 125W at 120V is 1.04A, not 1.6.  Am I missing something, or is the power consumption really _that_ underrated?


Electrical devices with AC-DC converters or electromagnetic motors often have a poor power factor unless corrected by a capacitor. Power factor is separate from AC DC conversion losses and will not affect your electric bill. Your meter calculates watts and ignores power factor but your wiring depends on the actual current which cannot ignore power factor. Luckily for us, digital ballasts are power factor corrected otherwise I would need a 220V line to run a pair of 600s.


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## green217 (May 6, 2014)

I live in SE USA. I built a room with a 1000watt ballist, window unit ac, 440cfm fan, and little things such as electronic t-stat, fan, etc. My power bill went up about 60-80 dollars. Oh yeah there's a heater plugged in to the t-stat too. This is spring though so current outside temps are in my favor now. Oh yeah room is insulated room in a nonclimate controled building. Maybe this will help somebody with a similar setup a ballpark idea of the amount of money it will cost. That's running 18/6.


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## bigmanc (Jun 22, 2014)

3 bedroom home, 8 - 1000w lights 12/12, 2 - 400w lights 18/6, 6 - 8in inlines and my bill is 290ish a month, this is in Canada and i pay roughly .10 for power.


----------



## bigmanc (Jun 22, 2014)

3 bedroom home, 8 - 1000w lights 12/12, 2 - 400w lights 18/6, 6 - 8in inlines and my bill is 290ish a month, this is in Canada and i pay roughly .10 for power.


----------



## Hablamos (Jun 22, 2014)

3000w for 60 day cost me 200$. 14,70$ each KW or 4,71 ¢/kWh.

I consider myself damn lucky, compare to other who pay 40$-50$ per KW.


----------



## STLbudz (Jun 22, 2014)

I when i was running 2000 watts in my duplex in cali ,it was 240 a mth including regular house use


----------



## Javadog (Jun 23, 2014)

Southern California has atrocious power prices.


----------



## tokingtiger (Jul 29, 2014)

i was having a heat problem so i had to add more air conditioners and the meter was spinning like a top.. started off with some LED's from America that where just drop shipped from china.. now i buy direct and just got a 300 watt full spectrum for like 150 bucks.. prices are really coming down. my electric is no higher than any other 3 br 2 bath house. this is from China http://www.aliexpress.com/item/led-grow-light-300W-full-spectrum-high-quality-with-3years-warranty-dropshipping/706374330.html sale for next 2 days only $122. with free shipping... lol, do i need another?


----------



## bigbudheadshrimp (Sep 19, 2014)

$1,200/mo max - 10kw, 5ton AC. San Diego. avg $0.25/kw.


----------



## bigbudheadshrimp (Sep 20, 2014)

The truth:



bigbudheadshrimp said:


> $3,800/mo max - 11.8kw, 4.5ton AC, max $0.48 kw/h.


Fellow growers,

It's time to man up.

I've been exaggerating and lying. I want to apologize and hope many of you forgive and forget.

I don't want to cause anyone losses so I'm starting a new thread to offer my personal advice with what I hope are no lies or exaggerations. And if anyone has an opposing opinion I promise to respect you and hear it out. Hey we all might learn something new. Reason I came here in the first place.


----------



## TheBman24 (Sep 25, 2014)

-=4:20=-Guy said:


> All you need to do is download the spreadsheet and enter a few bits of info.
> 
> *How it works
> *
> ...


I need some input by someone with power consumption knowledge to talk about how.much is a suspicious increase in power and.anything like.that


----------



## green217 (Sep 25, 2014)

TheBman24 said:


> I need some input by someone with power consumption knowledge to talk about how.much is a suspicious increase in power and.anything like.that


Not sure what you r running, but I was concerned about this as well. I have a 1000w HID ballist, 440cfm inline fan, 500watt dehumidifier, fans, etc. my bill doubled and all has been well. Just pay your bill, don't try to steal the power this is more likely to get attention. Nothing abnormal about a rise in electrical bill, people get additions and remodels that end up pulling more power all the time.


----------



## TwistItUp (Oct 18, 2014)

How many people buy hot tubs with 1500 - 6000 watt heaters and get raided?


----------



## kupihea (Nov 15, 2014)

Wow, Thanks for this! From the land of very high kilowatt hour fame. Plenty sun too... so i put solar on the roof to offset.


----------



## KCJNUGS (Jan 14, 2015)

so I'm growing indoors with my sig and would like any advice on saving costs on electric bill. ill send pics of garden and lights


----------



## StellerKeller (Jan 20, 2015)

KCJNUGS said:


> so I'm growing indoors with my sig and would like any advice on saving costs on electric bill. ill send pics of garden and lightsView attachment 3331532 View attachment 3331532 View attachment 3331532 View attachment 3331532


I hate to be the one to break it to you, there's no pot there. Looks like a bunch of vegetables and other worthless plants. I think you might have gotten ripped off. Sorry.


----------



## Javadog (Jan 20, 2015)

Those aren't mutants?


----------



## REALSTYLES (Jan 26, 2015)

StellerKeller said:


> I hate to be the one to break it to you, there's no pot there. Looks like a bunch of vegetables and other worthless plants. I think you might have gotten ripped off. Sorry.


That's a vegetable garden and they look happy fool. And if you've heard the saying "If you can grow tomatoes you can grow pot"?


----------



## REALSTYLES (Jan 26, 2015)

KCJNUGS said:


> so I'm growing indoors with my sig and would like any advice on saving costs on electric bill. ill send pics of garden and lightsView attachment 3331532 View attachment 3331532 View attachment 3331532 View attachment 3331532


Knowing what wattage you're running and how long the light are on would help. Because there is plenty of electric cost calculators on google and also you need to know how much your kwh is.


----------



## StellerKeller (Jan 27, 2015)

REALSTYLES said:


> That's a vegetable garden and they look happy fool. And if you've heard the saying "If you can grow tomatoes you can grow pot"?


Who you calling fool, tool?


----------



## FromTheDepths (Feb 4, 2015)

your a dumb ass stellar that man is proud of his lil indoor garden and i would be aswell! now help him with his electric bill or get ready for class..


----------



## Javadog (Feb 16, 2015)

Toms are not as easy to grow as people think. :0)

Good luck!


----------



## Doer (Mar 10, 2015)

Hey....wait a minute....THAT IS NOT POT!!!!!

Get a rope! 

Seriously, if you want more effective lighting don't put it out in the middle of a dark room. Move into the corner, hang some mylar, where you can get some refracted light spread out. You are losing some much by just letting the dark drink it.


----------



## Doer (Mar 10, 2015)

Tomatos are a heavy water fruit. It is nothing like Ganja.

That said, 90% of all plants grow, mostly the same way.


----------



## Doer (Mar 10, 2015)

The next big help for electric bill is 220 v setup. It really makes a difference in the KwH.

Next is high powered LED. More efficient, but more costly.

Next is a gas fired, generator. Natural gas is cheaper than electricity.

Next is the new photovoltaic paint, (not yet invented but close)


----------



## Doer (Mar 10, 2015)

bigbudheadshrimp said:


> The truth:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Have you been a bad boy? OK. I forgive you.


----------



## Mr Roboto (Mar 31, 2015)

KCJNUGS said:


> so I'm growing indoors with my sig and would like any advice on saving costs on electric bill. ill send pics of garden and lightsView attachment 3331532 View attachment 3331532 View attachment 3331532 View attachment 3331532





StellerKeller said:


> I hate to be the one to break it to you, there's no pot there. Looks like a bunch of vegetables and other worthless plants. I think you might have gotten ripped off. Sorry.


Lol you beat me to it bro, I was gonna go with "are those freebies from the tude"!?


FromTheDepths said:


> your a dumb ass stellar that man is proud of his lil indoor garden and i would be aswell! now help him with his electric bill or get ready for class..


Dude I'm sure hes kidding, this is a stoner site homies lighten up


----------



## ULEN (Apr 23, 2015)

If your cost per kWh is averaging more than .15 per kWh. Visit my thread and perhaps we can see if we can help keep that cost down.

http://rollitup.org/t/solicit-solar-15-kwh.868589/


----------



## Ugolino23 (May 29, 2015)

Hi guys... I just create a little tool that would help you with all the calculations for indoor... and also calculate the electricity costs  check it out: http://bebbo.it/420


----------



## GrowKilo (Jun 3, 2015)

SYLER said:


> hI,
> 
> AFriend have the Grow Led´s ,and he say ist Bullshit !!
> 
> It´s in >The Flowering by Day 38 he have very very smal smal Buds,very small Budskiss-ass


similar experience here, but you need to have the right LED imho - which is CREE & Osram. I think then you can win


----------



## OneHitDone (Oct 16, 2015)

KCJNUGS said:


> so I'm growing indoors with my sig and would like any advice on saving costs on electric bill. ill send pics of garden and lightsView attachment 3331532 View attachment 3331532 View attachment 3331532 View attachment 3331532


What hps fixture is that and why is the lamp pointing down half way out of the reflector?


----------



## noysy (Oct 28, 2015)

Problem fixed guys..

 die 

I dont do or condone this, but you will enjoy your savings


----------



## ttystikk (Oct 28, 2015)

noysy said:


> Problem fixed guys..
> 
> View attachment 3531048 die
> 
> I dont do or condone this, but you will enjoy your savings


That's stealing power and will get you in more trouble than growing will.


----------



## ttystikk (Oct 28, 2015)

I read page one of this thread and then just read this page. Forgive me if it's been covered, but is anyone spending much time or effort investigating ways to reduce power consumption by the environmental control equipment? Am I the only one?!

I can cool a 10kW op with just 2 Tons, with all the tricks I've learned. Anyone else care to hear about it?


----------



## noysy (Oct 29, 2015)

ttystikk said:


> That's stealing power and will get you in more trouble than growing will.


hence this part:


> d*ont do or condone this,* but you will enjoy your savings


----------



## ttystikk (Oct 29, 2015)

noysy said:


> hence this part:


Yep, just being clear for the noobs that will follow.


----------



## ttystikk (Oct 29, 2015)

ttystikk said:


> Yep, just being clear for the noobs that will follow.


Sad that a post about stealing power gets more interest than mine that's merely about saving some.


----------



## cdgmoney250 (Nov 6, 2015)

ttystikk said:


> Sad that a post about stealing power gets more interest than mine that's merely about saving some.


I'm still curious as i'm sure others are...


----------



## ttystikk (Nov 6, 2015)

cdgmoney250 said:


> I'm still curious as i'm sure others are...


Glad to hear it! I use water chilling as an environmental control system. That means the chiller can sit at the end of a long pair of hoses and still be very effective. It also allows the same system to chill the nutrient reservoir of RDWC systems as handles the temperature and RH of the space. This means the HVAC system can be integrated and consolidated, and using water as the heat transfer fluid is much more efficient than air.

Having run chillers for years, today is momentous; I'm installing a dual circuit heat pump even now! It will have the same cooling circuit for all the above reasons but now, the unit will pump the heat into a hot side circuit I'll use to heat my home, dehumidify my growing spaces and much more. All this heat is mine, so I'm only paying to reclaim and move it. That's much less costly than burning more natural gas to create heat all over again. The combination allows for a very high level of environmental control over one's grow. And free cogenerated heat.

But wait- there's more! Next month I'll be installing a large array COB LED lighting system. The efficiency advantages of the new chips are well documented elsewhere on this site, suffice to say that it will pull 4800W = [email protected], and at 56% efficiency as built will deliver nearly double the light intensity of the next best HID choice.

And I'm just gettin' started!


----------



## OneHitDone (Nov 6, 2015)

ttystikk said:


> Glad to hear it! I use water chilling as an environmental control system. That means the chiller can sit at the end of a long pair of hoses and still be very effective. It also allows the same system to chill the nutrient reservoir of RDWC systems as handles the temperature and RH of the space. This means the HVAC system can be integrated and consolidated, and using water as the heat transfer fluid is much more efficient than air.
> 
> Having run chillers for years, today is momentous; I'm installing a dual circuit heat pump even now! It will have the same cooling circuit for all the above reasons but now, the unit will pump the heat into a hot side circuit I'll use to heat my home, dehumidify my growing spaces and much more. All this heat is mine, so I'm only paying to reclaim and move it. That's much less costly than burning more natural gas to create heat all over again. The combination allows for a very high level of environmental control over one's grow. And free cogenerated heat.
> 
> ...


What if you run into a situation in the winter where the cobs are not generating enough IR to get the canopy temps into the desired range?


----------



## ttystikk (Nov 6, 2015)

OneHitDone said:


> What if you run into a situation in the winter where the cobs are not generating enough IR to get the canopy temps into the desired range?


Remember the part about pulling the same watts? That means the same ultimate heat. The light turns into heat- and RH when it hits plants- so it's all the same. I'm going to have absolutely no problem keeping my home warm or my plants, either day or night.


----------



## Jose Luis Montemayor (Nov 9, 2015)

Hi Hows it goin? Are you guys spending a lot for power?, how high is your average light bill?


----------



## ttystikk (Nov 9, 2015)

Jose Luis Montemayor said:


> Hi Hows it goin? Are you guys spending a lot for power?, how high is your average light bill?


It's higher than I am.


----------



## VTMi'kmaq (Nov 9, 2015)

-=4:20=-Guy said:


> All you need to do is download the spreadsheet and enter a few bits of info.
> 
> *How it works
> *
> ...




-=4:20=-Guy, Dec 7, 2006
Damn they kicked the dust off this one didnt they? lol


----------



## ttystikk (Nov 9, 2015)

VTMi'kmaq said:


> -=4:20=-Guy, Dec 7, 2006
> Damn they kicked the dust off this one didnt they? lol


Some truths are unchanging.


----------



## Be kind (Jan 25, 2016)

How many light would it take to get your meter running at 27,845kwh?! I only have 6 hoods with 600w bulbs and 6 600ballasts with a professional breaker box put in and 240v plug ins hooked to breaker


----------



## ttystikk (Jan 25, 2016)

Be kind said:


> How many light would it take to get your meter running at 27,845kwh?! I only have 6 hoods with 600w bulbs and 6 600ballasts with a professional breaker box put in and 240v plug ins hooked to breaker


One thouie on a magnetic ballast is 1100W, or 26.4kW if it's on all day. X30 days is 800kW. Times 3.6 for your number of 600W lamps and there's your 25kWh. The rest is your fridge, lights and Xbox.


----------



## Be kind (Jan 25, 2016)

I own a shop with nothing in it but my grow and the power surged the last month of flowering the first 2 months were relatively low for some reason so now I am like wtf..but you have to be right


----------



## Reggie Mack (Mar 8, 2016)

We have time of use pricing in my part of Ontario... I run my lights from 7pm-7am. My 1K, 400W, 250W of T5HO's, and my 900Cfm exhaust and circulation fans cost me about $130/ month. Hydro is priced at something like:

On Peak: 18.6c /kW/hr
Mid Peak: 13c /kW/hr 
Low Peak: 9.3c /kW/hr

Ontario hydro sucks.... But even a new grower should be able to pull a lb./1K $2000-$4500 per light will cover pretty much startup and hydro. Covering costs every grow after should be 80-90% profit


----------



## thetr33man (Mar 8, 2016)

Reggie Mack said:


> We have time of use pricing in my part of Ontario... I run my lights from 7pm-7am. My 1K, 400W, 250W of T5HO's, and my 900Cfm exhaust and circulation fans cost me about $130/ month. Hydro is priced at something like:
> 
> On Peak: 18.6c /kW/hr
> Mid Peak: 13c /kW/hr
> ...


Your low peak is higher than my 24/7 price (at least until they shut down the coal power plants)... No wonder your country can afford free healthcare!!!


----------



## Reggie Mack (Mar 8, 2016)

thetr33man said:


> Your low peak is higher than my 24/7 price (at least until they shut down the coal power plants)... No wonder your country can afford free healthcare!!!


Ontario is about 50% higher than the rest of the country. And most of our hydro is privately owned our bullshit healthcare costs are gouged out of our taxes smh...


----------



## jester2trife (Apr 20, 2016)

NightTrain said:


> great thread, thanks guys, some real good info! hey Vote, bghydro is pretty damn good site! cheers fellas


I went to the actual store a few weeks ago. Priced up, but barely noticeable. Dudes who worked there were super cool. Store is not as big as you'd think, but yeah they had a little of everything.


----------



## Danielson999 (Apr 20, 2016)

After reading THIS article, I can't help but think how it would apply to growing marijuana. Can you imagine never having an electrical bill to pay? This is bigger than epic.


----------



## ttystikk (Apr 21, 2016)

Danielson999 said:


> After reading THIS article, I can't help but think how it would apply to growing marijuana. Can you imagine never having an electrical bill to pay? This is bigger than epic.


Dude, they're just expensive batteries. You still have to generate that power somehow.


----------



## Danielson999 (Apr 21, 2016)

ttystikk said:


> Dude, they're just expensive batteries. You still have to generate that power somehow.


LOL! Oh you were serious. Well, yeah, that is the entire concept. A self-sustaining power supply that can be completely off grid. Or...just some expensive batteries. Gotta love technology.


----------



## ttystikk (Apr 21, 2016)

Danielson999 said:


> LOL! Oh you were serious. Well, yeah, that is the entire concept. A self-sustaining power supply that can be completely off grid. Or...just some expensive batteries. Gotta love technology.


No, they're just batteries. Lithium ion, so good batteries but nonetheless they just store power, they don't produce any. 

Solar would be a good way to utilize them. Wind is an excellent supplement. Hydro is tricky, seems there's a stupid amount of regulations involved. I bet most of them are there because power companies don't like competition.


----------



## Evil-Mobo (May 19, 2016)

ttystikk said:


> I read page one of this thread and then just read this page. Forgive me if it's been covered, but is anyone spending much time or effort investigating ways to reduce power consumption by the environmental control equipment? Am I the only one?!
> 
> I can cool a 10kW op with just 2 Tons, with all the tricks I've learned. Anyone else care to hear about it?



Let's hear it!


----------



## ttystikk (May 19, 2016)

Evil-Mobo said:


> Let's hear it!


----------



## ttystikk (Jul 23, 2016)

Update; my chiller is working just fine throughout the summer, keeping things nice n cool here. 

Anyone else looking further than their lighting for some power savings?


----------



## goofy81 (Jul 26, 2016)

Wow,
Surprised how cheap everyones electricity is.
I think my city has one of the highest electricity rates in the world. Making my move to LED very justified.
Here are my rates copied and pasted.

First 10.9589 kWh usage per day 36.597 cents per kWh
Remaining usage per day 41.745 cents per kWh

Using 6-7kw worth ballast + lights + fans, usually comes in $3000- $3500 a quarter. 

All in Australian dollars which makes it about $2255 - $2632 USD


----------



## Javadog (Jul 26, 2016)

~ $600 / month USDs ....brother you actually beat Southern Cali, if not
by all that much. Wow! *Very* sorry to read that.


----------



## JasonKruger (Aug 8, 2016)

http://www.rapidtables.com/calc/electric/electricity-calculator.htm


----------



## ttystikk (Aug 8, 2016)

What's my power bill? 'About a pound'

Lol


----------



## OLD MOTHER SATIVA (Aug 15, 2016)

Reggie Mack said:


> We have time of use pricing in my part of Ontario... I run my lights from 7pm-7am. My 1K, 400W, 250W of T5HO's, and my 900Cfm exhaust and circulation fans cost me about $130/ month. Hydro is priced at something like:
> 
> On Peak: 18.6c /kW/hr
> Mid Peak: 13c /kW/hr
> ...



< ontario hydro has even more cost to add to that than the actual usage....d


----------



## CobKits (Aug 15, 2016)

ttystikk said:


> No, they're just batteries. Lithium ion, so good batteries but nonetheless they just store power, they don't produce any.
> 
> Solar would be a good way to utilize them. Wind is an excellent supplement. Hydro is tricky, seems there's a stupid amount of regulations involved. I bet most of them are there because power companies don't like competition.


ever see an li-ion fail? you wouldnt be worried about your house.... RIP neighborhood


----------



## ttystikk (Aug 15, 2016)

CobKits said:


> ever see an li-ion fail? you wouldnt be worried about your house.... RIP neighborhood


I know they can cause fires, but are they that explosive? Wouldn't a good power regulator prevent them from going Nova?

In any case, it's about generating power and being able to use it when you want. The best solution I saw was driving a water pump to lift water from a lower pond to one at higher altitude. When power was needed, water in the upper pond would drive a generator on the way to the lower one. This isn't a perfectly efficient power storage solution but it is stand alone and there's the potential for fishing.

Gotta have the right spot for this.


----------



## TacoMac (Aug 16, 2016)

Some of the rates I'm seeing on this thread are simply shocking. My current electrical rate is .076 cents per kwh.


----------



## Ecosunlite CREE LED (Aug 17, 2016)

Hey guys , we have one special offer for 500W actual power full cree led grow light . https://www.rollitup.org/t/500w-full-cree-led-special-price-offer.918148/


----------



## fearnoevil (Sep 3, 2016)

Ecosunlite CREE LED said:


> Hey guys , we have one special offer for 500W actual power full cree led grow light . https://www.rollitup.org/t/500w-full-cree-led-special-price-offer.918148/


Is this discontinued or something? Keep getting an "Error" message when I clik on the link from a couple of different posts I've run across this in.


----------



## ttystikk (Sep 3, 2016)

My summer top tier rate is 14.67 cents per kWh.


----------



## ruby fruit (Sep 6, 2016)

ttystikk said:


> My summer top tier rate is 14.67 cents per kWh.


ours is 32


----------



## ttystikk (Sep 6, 2016)

ruby fruit said:


> ours is 32


Ouch! Numbers like those are exactly why I'm on a quest for better efficiency.

COB LED would pay for itself very quickly at those electric rates, I strongly recommend you look into them at your earliest convenience.


----------



## TacoMac (Sep 6, 2016)

ttystikk said:


> Ouch! Numbers like those are exactly why I'm on a quest for better efficiency.
> 
> COB LED would pay for itself very quickly at those electric rates, I strongly recommend you look into them at your earliest convenience.


At 14 cents per KWH, HPS is still king from the overall cost standpoint. But at 32, it starts to go the other way. It's going to be another 10-20 years or so I think before LED gets refined enough and standardized enough to make the expense come down and put HPS out of business for good.


----------



## ttystikk (Sep 6, 2016)

TacoMac said:


> At 14 cents per KWH, HPS is still king from the overall cost standpoint. But at 32, it starts to go the other way. It's going to be another 10-20 years or so I think before LED gets refined enough and standardized enough to make the expense come down and put HPS out of business for good.


Being in the industry I can tell you that COB LED makes a strong value proposition right now, even at 5 cents a kWh; the ONLY time HPS is cheaper is at initial purchase. From that moment on, COB LED is better, more efficient, etc.

And HPS is the target of pending legislation and lots of rebate programs through utilities; if you install more efficient lighting, they'll subsidize your purchase, very often to the tune of hundreds of dollars per fixture.

Then there's the quality improvement, which for some odd reason never comes up when comparing HPS to COB LED; I'm not exaggerating at all when I say people can tell the difference from across the room. Frost, terps, density and gpw all improve with the move to COB LED.

But hey, what do I know?


----------



## TacoMac (Sep 6, 2016)

The problem though is that most growers grow for themselves on the cheap a few plants at a time. You simply can't justify 10 times the cost for a 3 or 4 plant grow for personal use.

That's my point.


----------



## ttystikk (Sep 6, 2016)

TacoMac said:


> The problem though is that most growers grow for themselves on the cheap a few plants at a time. You simply can't justify 10 times the cost for a 3 or 4 plant grow for personal use.
> 
> That's my point.


You need to bone up on the tech and quit spouting bullshit numbers. It isn't ten times the cost, it's only double- and that's coming down fast.


----------



## TacoMac (Sep 6, 2016)

ttystikk said:


> You need to bone up on the tech and quit spouting bullshit numbers. It isn't ten times the cost, it's only double- and that's coming down fast.


And it starts. Since you shelled out the money for it, it's the best so you get offended easily. How typical.

The average cob light that will replace a 600 watt HPS will run you in the neighborhood of 800 dollars for a good one. What's more, they have a life expectancy of 4 to 5 years for the most part. So by the time 8 or 10 years goes by, you've spent somewhere around 1600 to 2000 dollars on two cob lights while in that very same time spam you've spent around 120 to 200 dollars on bulbs for your HPS. So yes, it is 10 times the amount of investment.

Then of course the energy cost savings just isn't there. That same cob light will still suck up around 500 watts. 100 watts energy savings just isn't that much of a difference at all. In fact, in your case at 14 cents per KPH, the difference is only about 17%.

The cob would run you $37.80 per month on an 18 hour schedule, where the HPS would run $45.36. That's a total savings of only $7.56.

You simply would never, ever see any savings. Ever. You'd be outspending by far on replacing cob fixtures vs. HPS bulbs to the point your energy cost can't possibly ever make up the difference over the long haul.


----------



## ttystikk (Sep 6, 2016)

TacoMac said:


> And it starts. Since you shelled out the money for it, it's the best so you get offended easily. How typical.
> 
> The average cob light that will replace a 600 watt HPS will run you in the neighborhood of 800 dollars for a good one. What's more, they have a life expectancy of 4 to 5 years for the most part. So by the time 8 or 10 years goes by, you've spent somewhere around 1600 to 2000 dollars on two cob lights while in that very same time spam you've spent around 120 to 200 dollars on bulbs for your HPS. So yes, it is 10 times the amount of investment.
> 
> ...


COB LED lasts indefinitely, that is your first error.

Second error; thinking I'm married to the tech.

Third error; using blurple LED pricing.

Replacing HID once or twice a year costs 100-200 bucks EVERY year. No replacement cost for LED.

My 225W COB LED is a good replacement for a 600W HPS, so those numbers are wrong too.

You've totally forgotten to account for better efficiency, nevermind less HVAC cost.

Not only do you get higher gpw under COB LED, the quality is better, too. Did you account for that? Nooooo.

I'm not offended, you're just wrong.


----------



## Nugachino (Sep 22, 2016)

Heh. With the 300 odd bucks I spent on my lamp. I could've had a 4-600w hps. The thing is. I didn't want to have to deal with all that heat. And after reading about lifespans and efficiencies of led. I didn't care about the initial cost.

After all. I only wanted 1-2 plants at a time. I bought a 90w full spectrum horticulture light from Lighting Matters.


----------



## Weirdwolf (Oct 21, 2016)

How much watts x18 hours will power company's notice?


----------



## ttystikk (Oct 21, 2016)

Weirdwolf said:


> How much watts x18 hours will power company's notice?


All of them, unless you make your payments on time.


----------



## digging (Oct 28, 2016)

Who is making the best COB LED's ?

Do you have a link please ?

Thanks


----------



## redzi (Oct 31, 2016)

digging said:


> Who is making the best COB LED's ?
> 
> Do you have a link please ?
> 
> Thanks


For me its not about who makes the best ($1000 plus) but where you get the biggest bang for the buck, both in terms of lumens/watt and the light itself. I like my sativas so the cree cxb3590 6500K is for vegging, same maker but 3000K to 3500K for early flowering, and Lightimetunnel at Amazon for late flowering (about last 3 weeks). $89 gets you a 3 watt epistar X 100...so cheap I was able to put 4 inside a 2 by 4 foot area.


----------



## DemonTrich (Nov 16, 2016)

Cmh.


----------



## David Boggs (Dec 4, 2016)

what is the average cost a month to run 6 thousand wat lights.i am new to indoor and was just woundering how much the electric bill would run higher for 6 lights a month just a ruff guess??ky..


----------



## ttystikk (Dec 4, 2016)

David Boggs said:


> what is the average cost a month to run 6 thousand wat lights.i am new to indoor and was just woundering how much the electric bill would run higher for 6 lights a month just a ruff guess??ky..


They pull 1.1kW each if they're on magnetic ballasts, a bit less if they're digital. Multiply times hours, 12 for bloom, times 30 days in a month. So think about 400kW per light per month x 6 lights = 2400kW, PLUS pumps, fans and oh ya you'll need HVAC, which in summer can easily pull more power than the lights do!

Totally PIOOMA rough guesstimate and assuming power costs .10/kWh is gonna be about $500 a month.


----------



## Oliver_Wendell_Douglas (Dec 5, 2016)

ttystikk said:


> What's my power bill? 'About a pound'
> 
> Lol


Hahahaha I do that too not like I have the room to come close to what U might Produce
... cost I can move OZ's & QP's for and can I be on the so Cal Edision CARE Program PLEASE
Hahahaha


----------



## Poontanger (Dec 5, 2016)

There has been much dissucion, & will still be for a long time, on lighting, is there an overall descission on what is the most efficent, for $$ spent..............we all consider , our lighting program to be efficent, (well most of us).........are we all falling into the trap, that this new product, is nuts guts...........interesting.......me im not sure!!

Poon


----------



## Oliver_Wendell_Douglas (Dec 5, 2016)

Weirdwolf said:


> How much watts x18 hours will power company's notice?


That is an interest question for sure and I do wonder how many power companies notice from 6:30 pm to 6:30 am you are pulling 95% of your juice
Them Fancy Didgital meter's are lil detectives


----------



## Oliver_Wendell_Douglas (Dec 5, 2016)

It is nice to have predictability and summer has that 2 month period that really demands the power. I look at my Flower Power and know every 100w = at least 1kw a night - A/C (have 2 a Porto. D/Hose and a Window Unit) The A/C I use at night in summer might be used 50% of the night and it alone draws over 1kw and hour / (like 1800w = 1.8kw an hr is 21.6kw a night just for HPS lamps round it up and U R Safe) ... So that's one way you can get a predictable grip for the most part.


----------



## Oliver_Wendell_Douglas (Dec 5, 2016)

$20 Bucks Amazon


----------



## Morriston55 (Jan 1, 2017)

600hps/MH in an enclosed hood cost me $200 shipped. Apollo bulbs are $20 on amazon. Light, oscillating fans, and duct fan cost $30/month to run

LED's arent there yet with HPS sorry. Your not going to come close to yield and penetration with anything in the $200 range with COB

People that think HPS create a ton of heat have never tried an enclosed hood or cool tube, makes an incredible difference, my T5's get the tent hotter than my 600mH does. No a/c required for either. Only using a 6" 300cfm duct booster dialed down for extraction


----------



## Javadog (Jan 1, 2017)

Can't argue there....but the LEC315 might be in the middle of that gap now.


----------



## Participant (Jan 5, 2017)

how about even more: http://khon2.com/2016/12/16/hawaiian-electric-proposes-rate-increase-for-oahu-customers/


----------



## Javadog (Jan 5, 2017)

I knew that Sandy Eggo was bad....almost Hawaii bad at $0.32/kWh

The power company seems to get a kick out of telling me how much more
power I use than my neighbors too. "Smart" meters are not good....providing
the man with data...


----------



## ttystikk (Jan 5, 2017)

Participant said:


> View attachment 3869105
> 
> how about even more: http://khon2.com/2016/12/16/hawaiian-electric-proposes-rate-increase-for-oahu-customers/


At those prices, custom high efficiency LED builds will pay for themselves in no time at all in power savings alone, jeepers. Twice, cuz they can run so cool AC isn't necessary, even for larger spaces.

On the other hand, maybe you just veg inside, then toss them out in the year round 12/12 tropical sunlight to finish?


----------



## Participant (Jan 5, 2017)

ttystikk said:


> At those prices, custom high efficiency LED builds will pay for themselves in no time at all in power savings alone, jeepers. Twice, cuz they can run so cool AC isn't necessary, even for larger spaces.
> 
> On the other hand, maybe you just veg inside, then toss them out in the year round 12/12 tropical sunlight to finish?


flowering indoors with a shiny new 400w vero29 in a 3x3. I went a little overboard maybe. it's still 400w, plus fans, plus my 80w veg tent. about 600w for the whole shebang, right around $100 per month. A/C is out of the question. I'd get solar, except they won't allow hook up to the grid now (anymore) and must get 20-30k worth of batteries which would take forever to recoup. 

I am counting on it to pay off in a 3rd way, namely 2-3x higher g/pw yields than my old blurples. was getting less than 1/2g before.

have been told that outdoors, there are 3 short flower seasons and 1 long full grow season. I will veg one inside late may and put it out in late july, for science. More than 1 or 2 small plants is not workable with my location


----------



## ttystikk (Jan 5, 2017)

Participant said:


> flowering indoors with a shiny new 400w vero29 in a 3x3. I went a little overboard maybe. it's still 400w, plus fans, plus my 80w veg tent. about 600w for the whole shebang, right around $100 per month. A/C is out of the question. I'd get solar, except they won't allow hook up to the grid now (anymore) and must get 20-30k worth of batteries which would take forever to recoup.
> 
> I am counting on it to pay off in a 3rd way, namely 2-3x higher g/pw yields than my old blurples. was getting less than 1/2g before.
> 
> have been told that outdoors, there are 3 short flower seasons and 1 long full grow season. I will veg one inside late may and put it out in late july, for science. More than 1 or 2 small plants is not workable with my location


Are they fucking serious?! Power process are THAT high and they don't allow solar tied to their grid????

That's called monopolistic behavior. Amazing they get away with that shit here in America.


----------



## Corso312 (Jan 5, 2017)

ttystikk said:


> Are they fucking serious?! Power process are THAT high and they don't allow solar tied to their grid????
> 
> That's called monopolistic behavior. Amazing they get away with that shit here in America.




Fuck solar power, its surrounded by water. Wave farms would be amazing.


----------



## ttystikk (Jan 5, 2017)

Corso312 said:


> Fuck solar power, its surrounded by water. Wave farms would be amazing.


My point is that they'd pass laws against tying THAT to the grid, too. Because they LIKE being able to rip people off for a modern necessity.


----------



## Participant (Jan 6, 2017)

ttystikk said:


> My point is that they'd pass laws against tying THAT to the grid, too. Because they LIKE being able to rip people off for a modern necessity.


The state grants the monopoly, then profits from and protects it. HECO doesn't want too many people on the grid so they "capped" it, the cap has been reached. Even when it was allowed, it took months to get connected. Solar permits are down over 50% since the cap. No worries, the politicians are busy shaking down the solar guys and will raise the cap eventually... after they approve HECO's rate hike, no doubt.



Corso312 said:


> Fuck solar power, its surrounded by water. Wave farms would be amazing.


There are already unsightly wind farms on the north shore, so they decided to build a wind farm in the ocean not far from Waikiki. Wave farms would be awesome, There is a wave prototype somewhere, yet it's not ready for prime time. No worries, the wind companies have more money to kick back for now.


----------



## ttystikk (Jan 6, 2017)

Participant said:


> The state grants the monopoly, then profits from and protects it. HECO doesn't want too many people on the grid so they "capped" it, the cap has been reached. Even when it was allowed, it took months to get connected. Solar permits are down over 50% since the cap. No worries, the politicians are busy shaking down the solar guys and will raise the cap eventually... after they approve HECO's rate hike, no doubt.
> 
> 
> 
> There are already unsightly wind farms on the north shore, so they decided to build a wind farm in the ocean not far from Waikiki. Wave farms would be awesome, There is a wave prototype somewhere, yet it's not ready for prime time. No worries, the wind companies have more money to kick back for now.


Neighborhoods should band together and generate/distribute their own power.


----------



## Participant (Jan 6, 2017)

ttystikk said:


> Neighborhoods should band together and generate/distribute their own power.



what? voluntary cooperation to provide a needed product? the state can't have that. Coercion is the only tool the State uses.


----------



## thetr33man (Jan 16, 2017)

ttystikk said:


> Neighborhoods should band together and generate/distribute their own power.


Sanctuary cities could power the country by throwing all the illegals on treadmill generators for 12 hour shifts!!!


----------



## ttystikk (Jan 16, 2017)

thetr33man said:


> Sanctuary cities could power the country by throwing all the illegals on treadmill generators for 12 hour shifts!!!


You had to quote my post to say shit like that on MLK Day?! 

Why don't you get your own fat donut eating ass on that treadmill, I bet you could use the exercise, lardbutt!

@UncleBuck got another 'funny guy' for ya...


----------



## ttystikk (Jan 16, 2017)

Participant said:


> what? voluntary cooperation to provide a needed product? the state can't have that. Coercion is the only tool the State uses.


They haven't authorized drone strikes on American citizens... YET.


----------



## Javadog (Jan 17, 2017)

That did sort of come out of the blue.

No Rules Here Baby!


----------



## brimck325 (Jan 17, 2017)

ttystikk said:


> They haven't authorized drone strikes on American citizens... YET.


did obama pass something letting the military use force against civilians? kinda remember reading about it.


----------



## Javadog (Jan 17, 2017)

Well, every other bad idea maybe, but I am not remembering that one.

He insisted that he has the right to drone us without a trial....that is what
Rand Paul filibustered against....but Posse Comitatus still stands, for now.


----------



## Javadog (Jan 17, 2017)

Along with Power, how about the private production of defense?


----------



## ttystikk (Jan 17, 2017)

Javadog said:


> Along with Power, how about the private production of defense?


Da gubmint ain't gonna like that.


----------



## Magic Mike (Jan 17, 2017)

Pg&e sure likes their electricity @ .40 / kwh.

Now they are imposing a new "excessive usage tax" they call it, to take effect in March. estimated @ 10% increase. 

So .44 /kwh . I think Pg&e is the most expensive electricity in the world . Is anybody else paying .44 per kwh???


----------



## ttystikk (Jan 17, 2017)

Magic Mike said:


> Pg&e sure likes their electricity @ .40 / kwh.
> 
> Now they are imposing a new "excessive usage tax" they call it, to take effect in March. estimated @ 10% increase.
> 
> So .44 /kwh . I think Pg&e is the most expensive electricity in the world . Is anybody else paying .44 per kwh???


Hawaii.

With prices like those, you'll want to make a serious investment in LED tuned to achieve the highest efficiency possible; running lots of chips at 25% or less of their max rated output. This would be expensive on initial startup but would save you money for the entire time you use them, very likely paying for themselves in reduced power consumption costs several times over.

This also has the benefit of needing a lot less active cooling; in many facilities, they use more power to run the HVAC than they do for the lights themselves! Double win.


----------



## Magic Mike (Jan 17, 2017)

ttystikk said:


> Hawaii.
> 
> With prices like those, you'll want to make a serious investment in LED tuned to achieve the highest efficiency possible; running lots of chips at 25% or less of their max rated output. This would be expensive on initial startup but would save you money for the entire time you use them, very likely paying for themselves in reduced power consumption costs several times over.
> 
> This also has the benefit of needing a lot less active cooling; in many facilities, they use more power to run the HVAC than they do for the lights themselves! Double win.


Right now I am very much liking DE 1000's . I just haven't seen LED come close in bud size, density, and quality compared to a DE 1000. I do run a lot of air cooled 1000's mainly because of AC limits on my current set up. But, my next build will be warehouse preferably with all DE 1000's. I've also been playing with LEC 315 for supp lights.

I could be wrong, and I haven't been keeping up with the advancement in LED tech, but I was real impressed with a DE 1000 compared to an air cooled. I also think the glass in air cooled hoods is blocking out some light spectrums as bare bulbs seems to grow better overall product ime.

I should look into LED more though, I just outfitted my home with all LED in the recessed lighting, etc., and the savings is 85% less electricity and brighter rooms overall, seems much brighter, but I went from 2.1k to 5k.

Have you compared DE 1000's to LED's?


----------



## BM9AGS (Jan 21, 2017)

......waits for ttystiks massive led bud pics. Or even a simple 36oz plant would do


----------



## ttystikk (Jan 21, 2017)

BM9AGS said:


> ......waits for ttystiks massive led bud pics. Or even a simple 36oz plant would do


Lol. A ’simple’ 36 oz plant, huh?


----------



## BM9AGS (Jan 21, 2017)

ttystikk said:


> Lol. A ’simple’ 36 oz plant, huh?


Dime a dozen for you bro


----------



## ttystikk (Jan 21, 2017)

BM9AGS said:


> Dime a dozen for you bro


Lol my best is 32oz, sorry to disappoint.

This one pulled only 25 zips from a 5 gallon bucket;


----------



## BM9AGS (Jan 21, 2017)

ttystikk said:


> Lol my best is 32oz, sorry to disappoint.
> 
> This one pulled only 25 zips from a 5 gallon bucket;
> View attachment 3881879


Outta 5gal bucket. No sweat. Gotta figure out a way to send you some afghani seeds


----------



## 1brokebrother (Jan 24, 2017)

everyone knows utility rates are lower during off peak hours however did you also know you have to apply for these lower rates.?.. PG&E DOESN'T give them to you without a request...they're called ..TOU=Time of use... E6 or E7 rates..and if your grow is large enough they can offer you agricultrual rates too...call them directly and ask about TOU=Time of use... E6 or E7 rates..


----------



## mjinc (Jan 26, 2017)

Wow some of you you guys are paying a fortune for electricity. I guess I'm pretty l only pay about $0.06 KWh


----------



## Javadog (Jan 26, 2017)

LOL, where are you?


----------



## frica (Jan 26, 2017)

I've seen 23w CFLs for 3 dollar a piece.

A philips 13w (100w equiv) 5 dollar bulb can directly replace a 23w cfl, without diffuser it's directional which should be an advantage in most cases, and is quasi-omnidirectional with the diffuser on.

Here electricity is 0.18 dollar every kwh.
The CFL costs (10/1000*0.1 0.0018 dollars per hour more.

The difference in price between the 2 bulbs is about 2 dollars.
So after 1111 hours of being on the LED bulb and CFL bulb have become equally expensive.
After it the LED becomes increasingly cheaper relative to the CFL.

If you use the bulbs to veg, the LED bulb will be the cheaper after around 62 veg days.(18/6)
If you use the bulbs for both veg and flower, the LED will be cheaper after the first plant.

Even if the CFL bulb is free, the LED will be cheaper after 154 veg days (2770 hours), which should be around 5 veg cycles.
Which is only 5 months.

The philips bulb is really efficient though, with most current led bulbs the difference isn't as dramatic.

But it just shows that CFL isn't really cheap anymore.


----------



## ttystikk (Jan 26, 2017)

frica said:


> I've seen 23w CFLs for 3 dollar a piece.
> 
> A philips 13w (100w equiv) 5 dollar bulb can directly replace a 23w cfl, without diffuser it's directional which should be an advantage in most cases, and is quasi-omnidirectional with the diffuser on.
> 
> ...


Plug better growth performance and product quality due to better spectrum output into that equation and LED pays for itself on the first crop.


----------



## ResinLip (Jan 27, 2017)

Hi folks. Cool sticky thread. As a noob here, I would like to offer up a night time wattage video I just made. I have been growing for a while but just stepped up my game in terms of electronics. The Kill A Watt PS was a welcome device. I have my entire (admittedly small) operation plugged into it, including my S&B Volcano.

My night cycle is 85 watts 24x7x365 and 68watts when the exhaust fan kicks on.


----------



## Javadog (Jan 27, 2017)

Nice addition. I have an old KillaWatt but will look that unit up.

Thanks for sharing.

JD


----------



## ResinLip (Jan 27, 2017)

Javadog said:


> Nice addition. I have an old KillaWatt but will look that unit up.
> 
> Thanks for sharing.
> 
> JD


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004OG94VW


----------



## mjinc (Jan 31, 2017)

Javadog said:


> LOL, where are you?


Deepest darkest Africa. We do pay a few supplementary charges for large use access but it doesn't add a lot to the overall.


----------



## BushMaster15 (Feb 1, 2017)

mjinc said:


> Deepest darkest Africa. We do pay a few supplementary charges for large use access but it doesn't add a lot to the overall.


I'm going to have to move to Africa!


----------



## Javadog (Feb 1, 2017)

That is 20% of our costs....yeah, I'd like that part.


----------



## Juicin (Feb 24, 2017)

You can find it for 10c a KWH easy in the midwest all day

No tiering

Really the only reason not to move to cali if you're a grower and in the midwest is power


----------



## ttystikk (Feb 24, 2017)

Juicin said:


> You can find it for 10c a KWH easy in the midwest all day
> 
> No tiering
> 
> Really the only reason not to move to cali if you're a grower and in the midwest is power


So THAT'S why they're all moving to Colorado!


----------



## Juicin (Feb 24, 2017)

ttystikk said:


> So THAT'S why they're all moving to Colorado!


Yea I'm not sure why most midwesterners seem to pick colorado over cali

Been that way for at least a decade. Well over half of the stoners I know who've moved to medical/rec states have went to colorado.

Lots of people goin to school out there. I don't know a single person that went to cali for school


----------



## ttystikk (Feb 24, 2017)

Juicin said:


> Yea I'm not sure why most midwesterners seem to pick colorado over cali
> 
> Been that way for at least a decade. Well over half of the stoners I know who've moved to medical/rec states have went to colorado.
> 
> Lots of people goin to school out there. I don't know a single person that went to cali for school


Having seen both, California is definitely where they should go; Colorado is doing fine without them.


----------



## OLD MOTHER SATIVA (Mar 5, 2017)

Magic Mike said:


> Pg&e sure likes their electricity @ .40 / kwh.
> 
> Now they are imposing a new "excessive usage tax" they call it, to take effect in March. estimated @ 10% increase.
> 
> So .44 /kwh . I think Pg&e is the most expensive electricity in the world . Is anybody else paying .44 per kwh???


Second would be hydro one [ontario ]at 26c...


----------



## ttystikk (Mar 5, 2017)

OLD MOTHER SATIVA said:


> Second would be hydro one [ontario ]at 26c...


You want high power costs? Check out Hawaii!


----------



## ttystikk (Mar 5, 2017)

BushMaster15 said:


> I'm going to have to move to Africa!


I'm hearing good things about Capetown.


----------



## OLD MOTHER SATIVA (Mar 5, 2017)

ttystikk said:


> You want high power costs? Check out Hawaii!


if i lived in that heavenly place i'd worry not..the sun is your friend

and they do not have to worry about freezing to death


----------



## ttystikk (Mar 5, 2017)

OLD MOTHER SATIVA said:


> if i lived in that heavenly place i'd worry not..the sun is your friend
> 
> and they do not have to worry about freezing to death


... Still need light to veg; Gaslight timing and all.

Some drawback, lol


----------



## Pseudogrowx (Mar 12, 2017)

Please go check out my thread https://www.rollitup.org/t/warehouse-supplies.935870/


----------



## ttystikk (Mar 19, 2017)

ttystikk said:


> Lol my best is 32oz, sorry to disappoint.
> 
> This one pulled only 25 zips from a 5 gallon bucket;
> View attachment 3881879


Forgot to mention; I grew both of the above examples with just 900W.


----------



## Dogenzengi (May 2, 2017)

@Shortybeavers


----------



## ALong14U (May 8, 2017)

Juicin said:


> You can find it for 10c a KWH easy in the midwest all day
> 
> No tiering
> 
> Really the only reason not to move to cali if you're a grower and in the midwest is power


True statement. I pay .08 cents per kwh no tiering. Run 2000 watts in my flower room and 400 watts in veg with all fans and a 5000 btu ac. Plus I have my hot water waher dryer and swamp cooler in the living room. Just got my bill for 30 days. It's 130 dollars lol. Love it! 
Happy growing!


----------



## ALong14U (May 8, 2017)

OLD MOTHER SATIVA said:


> Second would be hydro one [ontario ]at 26c...


I pay .08 cents per kwh. Sorry to hear your troubles. I'm in the Midwest but have experience with pg&e from my travels. They are thieves! 
Happy growing!


----------



## TurboTokes (Jun 1, 2017)

Im also under hydro one but that 25c/kwh is our peak time rate. The mid peak is about 15c/kwh and the off peak about 9c/kwh. Offpeak happens to be during the nighttime 7pm-7am so I made the obvious choice to run the equipment at night.

Luckily the 12 hour period for off peak fits the flowering 12on/12off perfect. You have to eat a few hours of the mid peak rate in veg light hour cycles.

Best way to win is going for explosive growth in veg and stay in the sweet spot flowerring hours imo, ie if youre not doing this to make any money and just prefer your own flowers.


----------



## minhduyen_achau (Jul 15, 2017)




----------



## xtsho (Jul 19, 2017)

I'm lucky to be in Oregon where you can have four plants and the electricity is cheap.

Here's a chart of electrical costs. Sorry if it's already been posted. 
http://www.neo.ne.gov/statshtml/204.htm

I wouldn't be growing indoors if I lived in Hawaii.


----------



## ttystikk (Jul 19, 2017)

xtsho said:


> I'm lucky to be in Oregon where you can have four plants and the electricity is cheap.
> 
> Here's a chart of electrical costs. Sorry if it's already been posted.
> http://www.neo.ne.gov/statshtml/204.htm
> ...


And yet people do...


----------



## AZENTIVE (Jul 20, 2017)

The price of the electricity no doubt has a large impact on running costs, but the equipment you're using could also be using more electricity than it needs to.


----------



## ttystikk (Jul 20, 2017)

AZENTIVE said:


> The price of the electricity no doubt has a large impact on running costs, but the equipment you're using could also be using more electricity than it needs to.


Hence the entire LED lighting subforum here on RIU.

Check it out; there's a lot of really good, even world class horticultural lighting work being done here.


----------



## newgrow16 (Aug 27, 2017)

SoCal, tiered and over .44 kwh. According to my meter running two 400w lights at 75% for 18 hours cost $4.86 , very costly, hence no air and efficient lights.


----------



## HankReardon (Aug 29, 2017)

Remember there's always someone who has it worse. I live in Mass. in a small 3 bedroom house. I grow in an insulated basement with a 600w and 1k watt hps lights. This month my electric bill was $460. I need to switch over to cob led.


----------



## ttystikk (Aug 29, 2017)

HankReardon said:


> Remember there's always someone who has it worse. I live in Mass. in a small 3 bedroom house. I grow in an insulated basement with a 600w and 1k watt hps lights. This month my electric bill was $460. I need to switch over to cob led.


Lots of great choices here, including some that aren't COB LED.

Check out the LED and other lighting section.


----------



## HankReardon (Aug 29, 2017)

I've been spending a lot of time on this forum for the last year. Never posted anything because I just don't have much to offer like advice or knowledge. I've only been growing for a little over a year. I'm on my third grow, hoping it's better than the first two. This has turned into an interesting hobby for me, the more I learn from people like you ttystikk, the more I realize how little I know. Thanks, I'll do some more reading on LEDs


----------



## ttystikk (Aug 29, 2017)

HankReardon said:


> I've been spending a lot of time on this forum for the last year. Never posted anything because I just don't have much to offer like advice or knowledge. I've only been growing for a little over a year. I'm on my third grow, hoping it's better than the first two. This has turned into an interesting hobby for me, the more I learn from people like you ttystikk, the more I realize how little I know. Thanks, I'll do some more reading on LEDs


I'd recommend you speak to @Stephenj37826 , @robincnn , @CobKits or @Rahz about complete fixtures or kits. All of them operate at a high level of technical expertise and ethics and I'm confident you'd be well taken care of by any of them.


----------



## HankReardon (Aug 29, 2017)

That is something I'm seriously considering, it just I won't have the funds until tax time. I have a 4x4x8 tent with the 600w on one side and the1kW on the other. Figured I'd start slow and replace one. Thanks for the advice, come Christmas I'll definitely get in touch with one of them. I'm excited to get a well made LED and end up saving some money at the same time.


----------



## ttystikk (Aug 29, 2017)

HankReardon said:


> That is something I'm seriously considering, it just I won't have the funds until tax time. I have a 4x4x8 tent with the 600w on one side and the1kW on the other. Figured I'd start slow and replace one. Thanks for the advice, come Christmas I'll definitely get in touch with one of them. I'm excited to get a well made LED and end up saving some money at the same time.


Between now and then you'll save enough money on your power bill to pay for the light upgrade. Something to consider, rigidly with the high electric costs you mentioned.

Another consideration is the 'invisible bonus', as I like to call it; power savings and yields can be easily quantified but the increased quality of your results under advanced LED is harder to measure, even if it's obvious to the user.

Call that incentive lol


----------



## Shawndeadhead (Nov 10, 2017)

So glad I'm on LED now, running lights I made with Bridgelux cobs and meanwell drivers. Running only 500w per 4x4 tent and I'm avg just over 2lb cured and dried per 4x4 tent.


----------



## Shawndeadhead (Nov 10, 2017)

Juicin said:


> You can find it for 10c a KWH easy in the midwest all day
> 
> No tiering
> 
> Really the only reason not to move to cali if you're a grower and in the midwest is power


Paying 11 cents here


----------



## Shawndeadhead (Nov 10, 2017)

HankReardon said:


> Remember there's always someone who has it worse. I live in Mass. in a small 3 bedroom house. I grow in an insulated basement with a 600w and 1k watt hps lights. This month my electric bill was $460. I need to switch over to cob led.


500w cob led I built run 500w per 4x4 tent pull 2 lb cured and dried that 500w.


----------



## green217 (Nov 10, 2017)

Shawndeadhead said:


> So glad I'm on LED now, running lights I made with Bridgelux cobs and meanwell drivers. Running only 500w per 4x4 tent and I'm avg just over 2lb cured and dried per 4x4 tent. View attachment 4041126 View attachment 4041127 View attachment 4041128 View attachment 4041129 View attachment 4041130


Thanks for sharing, I've known LED is where the future is just don't have that initial $ to build one. I know it'll pay for itself in less than a year easily. Last time i drew up an estimate the 3070's were the best looking, I know things have changed. 3590's were in last i peeped in on the threads. Seeing yours is going to make me look at other companies besides CREE and Vero. Your definitely killing it at 2lbs per 500w! Might have to set asside some tax return $ or something damn. And how hot are they? I run a aircooled SE 1000w HPS. so needless to say Heat is my worst enemy.


----------



## green217 (Nov 10, 2017)

HankReardon said:


> That is something I'm seriously considering, it just I won't have the funds until tax time. I have a 4x4x8 tent with the 600w on one side and the1kW on the other. Figured I'd start slow and replace one. Thanks for the advice, come Christmas I'll definitely get in touch with one of them. I'm excited to get a well made LED and end up saving some money at the same time.





HankReardon said:


> Remember there's always someone who has it worse. I live in Mass. in a small 3 bedroom house. I grow in an insulated basement with a 600w and 1k watt hps lights. This month my electric bill was $460. I need to switch over to cob led.


Damn dude i run the same lights and I'm in a much warmer climate, down here in the south east. You air cooling them babies? And I draw in the cool outside air when winter moves in, when i can. Just saying my light bill only gets in that range and a bit higher when i'm in the middle of the summer trying to cool that hot/humid outside air directly. This causes major electrical spikes, especially when you add in my heat making ass dehumidifier for late flowering. Hell I pretty much close up shop come June. It just gets ridiculous . I have low KH and hour service to though, maybe your local electrical company is a issue. Right now I only have my 600 going and the ac doesn't come on much if at all most days, my favorite time of the year to be a cannabis grower!


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## HydroRed (Nov 10, 2017)

Shawndeadhead said:


> 500w cob led I built run 500w per 4x4 tent pull 2 lb cured and dried that 500w.View attachment 4041134 View attachment 4041134 View attachment 4041135


 Im having doubts thats a 32+ oz or 1.9g/w 4x4 grow.


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## green217 (Nov 10, 2017)

HydroRed said:


> Im having doubts thats a 32+ oz or 1.9g/w 4x4 grow.


looks like the tent is bigger than a 4x4, maybe 4x8? but yeah I agree they seem exaggerated tbh. I've got a little schooling in electronics so I'll be doing a lot of research before I commit to a material order.


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## green217 (Nov 10, 2017)

HydroRed said:


> Im having doubts thats a 32+ oz or 1.9g/w 4x4 grow.


what do u run, and what kinda yields per watt are you averaging?


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## HydroRed (Nov 10, 2017)

green217 said:


> what do u run, and what kinda yields per watt are you averaging?


I run a little of everything between COBs in summer and MH/HPS in the other seasons but dont really bother counting g/w anymore.


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## green217 (Nov 10, 2017)

HydroRed said:


> I run a little of everything between COBs in summer and MH/HPS in the other seasons but dont really bother counting g/w anymore.


I run hps/mh, and i don't keep up with it myself..=


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## HydroRed (Nov 10, 2017)

green217 said:


> I run hps/mh, and i don't keep up with it myself..=


GPW doesn't seem a very accurate measurement in my opinion. I dont veg my plants so to compare my gpw at 1000W to someone else's grow with 1000W that veg's for 2 months then flowers for another 8 wks isnt comparable to my 8 weeks only of flower. If anything, total KWH used per grow would be more accurate than gpw. Just my .02 though.


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## a mongo frog (Nov 10, 2017)

HydroRed said:


> GPW doesn't seem a very accurate measurement in my opinion. I dont veg my plants so to compare my gpw at 1000W to someone else's grow with 1000W that veg's for 2 months then flowers for another 8 wks isnt comparable to my 8 weeks only of flower. If anything, total KWH used per grow would be more accurate than gpw. Just my .02 though.


Totally agree with you, but explain why KWH is more accurate, when comparing veg times and strain are never talked about when people are talking about GPW? 
GPW is the most bogus stat line ever talked about I believe. Thank god we are seeing less and less of it around here.


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## verticalgrow (Nov 10, 2017)

HydroRed said:


> Im having doubts thats a 32+ oz or 1.9g/w 4x4 grow.


hes running 25 plants in a 4 x 4 
Link = https://www.rollitup.org/t/500w-diy-led-4x4-organic-2-15-lb-grow.952567/#post-13882395


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## Shawndeadhead (Nov 10, 2017)

green217 said:


> looks like the tent is bigger than a 4x4, maybe 4x8? but yeah I agree they seem exaggerated tbh. I've got a little schooling in electronics so I'll be doing a lot of research before I commit to a material order.


Actually do your research us COB growers have been hitting 2 gpw for over a year now and no that is a 4x4 each 4x4 get 2 meanwell drivers at 250w each and 16 Vero cobs 
I run 25 plants in each 4x4 tent that's only 1.3 oz per plant. 
Let me see your flowers at week 4 here's mine


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## Shawndeadhead (Nov 10, 2017)

HydroRed said:


> GPW doesn't seem a very accurate measurement in my opinion. I dont veg my plants so to compare my gpw at 1000W to someone else's grow with 1000W that veg's for 2 months then flowers for another 8 wks isnt comparable to my 8 weeks only of flower. If anything, total KWH used per grow would be more accurate than gpw. Just my .02 though.


Gpw isn't accurate at all but it's what most people understand easier than explaining PAR n LuX. And my thread was just to keep it simple and show what you can do with very little power. And it's real easy to explain the total yield divided by the light output of just the light system, instead of like kwh.


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## Shawndeadhead (Nov 10, 2017)

Here's how bright only 500w of draw can be spread across 16 Vero cobs 1 cob per square ft


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## HydroRed (Nov 11, 2017)

I'll try to explain my thoughts on the whole gpw not seeming as accurate as kwh the best I can.
Example-
You have 2 growers both using exact same room, strain, plant count, equipment etc and both pay .10 per kwh:
(1) HPS @ 1000W
(1) 5000 btu A/C unit @ 500W

*Grower 1 veg's for 8 weeks (uses either seed or from rooted clone)*.
@ 18/6 thats 18hrs x 1000W = 18,000 watts per day. Divided by 1000 x 60 days veg time = 1080 total kwh used in 8 weeks veg time.
*Grower 1 flowers for 8 weeks.*
@ 12/12 thats 12hrs x 1000W = 12,000 watts per day. Divided by 1000 x 60 days flower time = 720 total kwh used in 8 weeks flower.
*Grower 1 uses A/C for 16 weeks total.*
It cycles for 20 minutes per hour when lights are on during veg so:
@ 6 hrs per day thats 6hrs x 500W = 3000 watts per day. Divided by 1000 x 60 days veg time = 180 total kwh used in 8 weeks veg.
It cycles for 20 minutes per hour when lights are on during flower so:
@ 4 hrs per day thats 4hrs x 500W = 2000 watts per day. Divided by 1000 x 60 days flower time = 120 total kwh used in 8 weeks veg.

*Grand total of 2100kwh used in 1 complete grow over 16 weeks. (totaling $210.00 for entire grow)*

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_
*Grower 2 doesn't veg (uses rooted clones).*

*Grower 2 flowers for 8 weeks.*
@ 12/12 thats 12hrs x 1000W = 12,000 watts per day. Divided by 1000 x 60 days flower time = 720 total kwh used in 8 weeks flower.
*Grower 2 uses A/C for 8 wks total.*
It cycles for 20 minutes per hour when lights are on during flower so:
@ 4 hrs per day thats 4hrs x 500W = 2000 watts per day. Divided by 1000 x 60 days flower time = 120 total kwh used in 8 weeks flower.
*
Grand total of 840 kwh used in 1 complete grow over 8 weeks. (totaling $84.00 for entire grow)*

I get why some would prefer to use gpw, but it just doesnt seem very accurate.
I also understand that there are a gazillion variables to this scenario, and that grower 1 will in fact yield some more than grower 2 per harvest
-but in twice as much time and almost 3 times the cost.
It does'nt seem like a fair assessment to compare the results or skill level from grower 1 and grower 2's same 1000W used?
Who would yield more over a 12 month period counting gram per watt USED or KWH?


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## Shawndeadhead (Nov 11, 2017)

Yeah you explained it perfectly no doubt. A long time ago I did a quick run through of all my power uses. 
Rounded up to nearest Dollar 
Checked draws with kill-a-watt 
My Flower 500w light costs $20 a month 
6" hyper fan 45w draw avg only turned up to 50% 24 hrs day $2 month 
4" inline exhaust 25w 24 hr day $2 month
Circ fan 25w 24 hr day $2 month
AC is a hard variable whole room AC not just in tent. I don't have to use it after mid Oct and won't use it till April. So 6.5 months I use a 750w ac
It's turned up to about 40% capacity and it draws less power when compressor isn't Running. So unknown but figure $15 to be fair
So spring summer $40 a month for flower tent only
$25 month fall and winter 
Not counting veg tent fans, light's, water pump for DIY aeroponics cloner.
Paying 11 cents per kwh this area


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## thetr33man (Nov 11, 2017)

Shawndeadhead said:


> Actually do your research us COB growers have been hitting 2 gpw for over a year now and no that is a 4x4 each 4x4 get 2 meanwell drivers at 250w each and 16 Vero cobs
> I run 25 plants in each 4x4 tent that's only 1.3 oz per plant.
> Let me see your flowers at week 4 here's mine View attachment 4041334 View attachment 4041335 View attachment 4041336 View attachment 4041338 View attachment 4041340 View attachment 4041334 View attachment 4041335 View attachment 4041336


What heatsinks are those?


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## Shawndeadhead (Nov 11, 2017)

thetr33man said:


> What heatsinks are those?


Company called Aavid thermoalloys 
http://www.futurelightingsolutions.com/en/Product.aspx?ProductID=HSSLSCALCL019NUVENTIXINC4038047&Catalog=FutureStore&IM=0


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## Shawndeadhead (Nov 11, 2017)

HydroRed said:


> I'll try to explain my thoughts on the whole gpw not seeming as accurate as kwh the best I can.
> Example-
> You have 2 growers both using exact same room, strain, plant count, equipment etc and both pay .10 per kwh:
> (1) HPS @ 1000W
> ...


Excellent work on that brother your and your exactly right my best runs under 1000w hps in a 4x4 was 1.65 lb usually avg just over 1.5 so Led really only brought me 8-10 oz more per run.
And I owe most of my success to 6 years doing this 
Nectar for the Gods nutrients and 
Photosynthesis plus


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## HydroRed (Nov 11, 2017)

Shawndeadhead said:


> Yeah you explained it perfectly no doubt. A long time ago I did a quick run through of all my power uses.
> Rounded up to nearest Dollar
> Checked draws with kill-a-watt
> My Flower 500w light costs $20 a month
> ...


You sound as bad as me haha. I'm somewhere around 13 cents per kwh where Im at in MI.


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## Shawndeadhead (Nov 11, 2017)

HydroRed said:


> You sound as bad as me haha. I'm somewhere around 13 cents per kwh where Im at in MI.


I'm just a little bit south of you but our laws aren't as friendly lol


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## fn217 (Dec 7, 2017)

Great tool. Thank you for the work.


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## ANC (Jan 4, 2018)

Gram per Watt still works, you just need to add all the Watts. Fans, timers, AC, humidifier, dehumidifier, CO2 controller etc... i.e. g/W used total was opposed to just GPW the light uses.
As noted climate control costs will be different.


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## brewbeer (Jan 10, 2018)

Grams per kilowatt hour would be a more accurate way to express growroom efficiency.


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## thumper60 (Jan 10, 2018)

Shawndeadhead said:


> Yeah you explained it perfectly no doubt. A long time ago I did a quick run through of all my power uses.
> Rounded up to nearest Dollar
> Checked draws with kill-a-watt
> My Flower 500w light costs $20 a month
> ...


don't for get about ya supply charge,double up


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## deep_rob (Jan 17, 2018)

HydroRed said:


> I'll try to explain my thoughts on the whole gpw not seeming as accurate as kwh the best I can.
> Example-
> You have 2 growers both using exact same room, strain, plant count, equipment etc and both pay .10 per kwh:
> (1) HPS @ 1000W
> ...


So, although the math checks out, this is only 1 part of yur overhead; its one of many things that u subtract from total market value of the product. and it;s incomplete without yeilds.. Say, in 16wks, if #1 pulls more in one run, than #2 w/ gets in w/ 2 runs, the profits could potentially outweigh the $42 difference ($84 x 2) and assuming all other costs are equal, then #1 is has a better margin than #2.. So power use of yur lights and A/C are only part of it..
. If i'm running strains i'm familiar w/, i'll have an idea of the "ounces per sqft" and "grams per m2" that i can get, so i rely on those figure when planning calendars and runs..
For comparisons, ive always tended to rely on Grams per watt per 30 day period. rather than total grams compared to total watts. Having a set mark, (ie 30 days) helps level the playing field and provides for more accurate data.. If I'm running a 6 week afghan and you're running a 12 week haze, it's not accurate to compare weights and watts, as your running yur lights twice as long and spending twice as much timee, energy and money as me, for often times, less yeild. For me the benchmark has always been 0.5 gpw per 30 days.. meaning a 60 day strain ran under a single 1k HID should pull a kilo, or 0.5gpw per 30days, regardless of veg time or number of plants.
Now with leds, cobs and cmh, things get cloudy. The distance between the bulb and yur tops is shortened, as are the watts and bulbs' intensity, so im not sure that comparing gpw's of HIDs vs LEDs would be accurate; i think there would be too many variables to account for..
If yur tryn to compare to someone else, then the easier way to tell who is more profitable would be, like how much it costs you total, to get whatever u got, and subtract that from how much u sold it for, Or in the case of personal growers, how much would the fair market value be. Using those figures to compare and contrast to whoever yur tryn to compare yields with would be more accurate, i think..


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## NeWcS (Dec 4, 2018)

This is awesome! Great tool.
Nice Excel skills too


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## shawnery (Dec 12, 2018)

In northern cali I spend around 500 just on my 1640 watts of light a month. Total cost for 2.5 pounds was 2500.00. That bill total is all due to energy costs here and I end up in the third tier of use as well so I get dinged.

I'd still rather grow my own organic as can be hydro then buying who knows what from who know who. Even at that price it's still much cheaper then buying it legal these days.


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## OneHitDone (Dec 12, 2018)

shawnery said:


> In northern cali I spend around 500 just on my 1640 watts of light a month. Total cost for 2.5 pounds was 2500.00. That bill total is all due to energy costs here and I end up in the third tier of use as well so I get dinged.
> 
> I'd still rather grow my own organic as can be hydro then buying who knows what from who know who. Even at that price it's still much cheaper then buying it legal these days.


I don't know what else you have running or what size home your in but there is no way in hell 1640W of grow power / lights is costing $500 a month by itself


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## shawnery (Dec 12, 2018)

OneHitDone said:


> I don't know what else you have running or what size home your in but there is no way in hell 1640W of grow power / lights is costing $500 a month by itself


I love it when people, and that includes everyone in this situation, assume they know what electricity costs others.

I've spoken to pge told them my wattage for 12 hours and the above number is on average CORRECT!

YES IT SUCKS!!

Check out the below link and you'll see why my rates are so high I'm at the highest rate surcharge when I use my grow room. My city has almost a 10% higher electricity rates in California and California has a 40% higher rate than anywhere else in the country on average.

https://www.pge.com/en_US/residential/rate-plans/rate-plan-options/tiered-base-plan/tiered-base-plan.page


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## OneHitDone (Dec 12, 2018)

shawnery said:


> I love it when people, and that includes everyone in this situation, assume they know what electricity costs others.
> 
> I've spoken to pge told them my wattage for 12 hours and the above number is on average CORRECT!
> 
> ...


Here bro, enter your $.50 per hour rate

https://www.hawthornegc.com/tools/power-usage-calculator


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## shawnery (Dec 12, 2018)

Go ahead and argue with pge because that's who bills me!

I know what I get charged and I know what watts I use. Ive had this same argument on another forum. 

I'll leave it at that.


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## HydroRed (Dec 12, 2018)

shawnery said:


> Go ahead and argue with pge because that's who bills me!
> 
> I know what I get charged and I know what watts I use. Ive had this same argument on another forum.
> 
> I'll leave it at that.


What do you pay per KWH where your at?


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## shawnery (Dec 12, 2018)

HydroRed said:


> What do you pay per KWH where your at?


.16 cents but they fuck us when we go over the allotted amount and I find my way to the highest tier. The tier is per day not per month!

I get that it makes no sense but when I talk to pge they tell me a number that fits with my monthy bill.


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## Javadog (Dec 12, 2018)

SDG&E loves to tell me how much more energy I use than my neighbors.

Fuck 'em! I can say that my costs are about $100 extra a month.


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## worldspawn (Jul 23, 2019)

Get yourself a smart plug and you'll find out exactly how much power your using per day. I have one by meross which shows current consumption as well logs historic usage. Its ~20 aud.

My flower lights use 17.28Kw (which actually works out to what i expect 480w x 3 x 12). You can assume a linear power consumption so per hour I am using 1.44Kw per hour.

My peak cost is (all AUD) 38c per hour and off peak is 19c (thank your 2 decades of successive energy policy fail Australia) so starting at 12PM and finishing at 12AM I've used 1hr of off peak and 11 of peak (i have solar power so my economics are more complex) so I'm spending $4.37 every day on flower lighting. I'm doing 10 weeks / 70 days so it will cost me $305.9 in electricity to get to harvest.

My energy retailer also likes to tell me "your using the same amount of energy as a family of 6!". I tell them "I do science" lol


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## Beantown_greentown (Jul 29, 2019)

My god. I figured it out for last year. My electric bill was thirty thousand for one year. And we gave away everything we didn’t smoke ourselves. And I didn’t really grow that much I had about 22 plants in flower . Ten or so 315 watt lamps , an air conditioner , ten or so fans water bubbling constantly. My bill went from about 350.00 a month to about 12 to 1500 a month. But it’s all for a good cause. Vets and patients who can’t afford to go to dispensaries. Fuck it. #moreweedlessgreed

20 x 20 room ten to fifteen lights in there. 315s KICK ASS . Veg room upstairs with 2 600 watt hps with one 315 in the middle. 
I guess it gets expensive to run all this shit. Ha true story when the electric company called they said Um sir your electric went up about 2004% from this time last year. My reply was 

YES ON 4 woooohoooooo that’s weed growing in my cellar not someone stealing electricity. Yes on four baby.


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## Wizard of Nozs (Jan 23, 2020)

Have you tried measuring out those lights with par meters and setting them up as to provide the most illumination with the least amount of electricity? I did this my self with a 15 plant operation and I was able to take down 2 of my 600 watters and keep the needed par. Needless to say, it saved me a ton of money. I ended up taking it down and just getting a nice sunny area for outdoor grows. That saved me even more. Now I have one plant I work on indoors to send in for contest and the outdoor area goes to the patients.


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## ilovetoskiatalta (Feb 5, 2020)

babygro said:


> Ohms law is relatively straight forward and can be used to calculate an accurate figure of wattage useage from any light system, and this would probably have been a better way to go. To calculate total wattage used from a ballast HID system you need to use the amperage figure not the bulb wattage figure. To show you how your figures are inacurate, OHMS Law is Volts x Amperes = Watts, so if we know two of those figures we can calculate the third.
> 
> The real wattage of a 400w HID system is Volts x Amperes or 120 x 3.8 = 456watts for an average 400w system others would be -
> 
> ...


Does that mean a phantom 315cmh running on 240v is 240 x 1.5 = 360watts?


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## getogrow (Feb 5, 2020)

ilovetoskiatalta said:


> Does that mean a phantom 315cmh running on 240v is 240 x 1.5 = 360watts?


yes, correct.


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## getogrow (Feb 5, 2020)

i suppose mine is cheap comparing you guys. i pay .11 cents a kilowatt/hour. 1k light x 12 hours = 1.32$ a day. (i included taxes an shit from my bill to get .11 cents. )


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## marosa (Feb 9, 2020)

Beantown_greentown said:


> My god. I figured it out for last year. My electric bill was thirty thousand for one year. And we gave away everything we didn’t smoke ourselves. And I didn’t really grow that much I had about 22 plants in flower . Ten or so 315 watt lamps , an air conditioner , ten or so fans water bubbling constantly. My bill went from about 350.00 a month to about 12 to 1500 a month. But it’s all for a good cause. Vets and patients who can’t afford to go to dispensaries. Fuck it. #moreweedlessgreed
> 
> 20 x 20 room ten to fifteen lights in there. 315s KICK ASS . Veg room upstairs with 2 600 watt hps with one 315 in the middle.
> I guess it gets expensive to run all this shit. Ha true story when the electric company called they said Um sir your electric went up about 2004% from this time last year. My reply was
> ...


dat escalated quickly.


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## ttystikk (Feb 9, 2020)

Beantown_greentown said:


> My god. I figured it out for last year. My electric bill was thirty thousand for one year. And we gave away everything we didn’t smoke ourselves. And I didn’t really grow that much I had about 22 plants in flower . Ten or so 315 watt lamps , an air conditioner , ten or so fans water bubbling constantly. My bill went from about 350.00 a month to about 12 to 1500 a month. But it’s all for a good cause. Vets and patients who can’t afford to go to dispensaries. Fuck it. #moreweedlessgreed
> 
> 20 x 20 room ten to fifteen lights in there. 315s KICK ASS . Veg room upstairs with 2 600 watt hps with one 315 in the middle.
> I guess it gets expensive to run all this shit. Ha true story when the electric company called they said Um sir your electric went up about 2004% from this time last year. My reply was
> ...


Did they have the cops come pay a visit or are things working out?


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## TheDifferenceX (Apr 2, 2020)

I run 600w LED + 150w HPS + 5 fans + window A/C and it raises my electricity by about $50/month. Without the A/C, about $20 more a month.


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## leblanca (May 14, 2020)

I run for about 1000W of fans, 2 X 1000W MH/HPS (in process to upgrade to LED) a 8000 btu AC for the root zone, so im about at 3600W and i pay 6.29c/kw/h, problem is in alberta we get so much administrative charge that is 50% of my bill, last month i was veggin 16h a day, my power bill for a month...


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