why is my electric bill so high!?

[smc5w]

Last month my electric bill was around $120.... I added a 1000 watt hps with a digital ballast and now my bill is 300+

Is there anything I can do short off getting new light?

Thanks for any advice

 

[.breeze]

I mean what do you expect, you are running a 1,000 watt HPS for what I'm assuming is 24 hours or close to it a day

 

[jtrimbl3]

Switch all the bulbs in your house to cfl's. You go from 60 watts to 13. It's also cheaper to run your lights at night. Don't do 24/0. How many girls you got? Is your 1000 watts overkill?

 

[.breeze]

Switch all the bulbs in your house to cfl's. You go from 60 watts to 13. It's also cheaper to run your lights at night. Don't do 24/0. How many girls you got? Is your 1000 watts overkill?

If adding a 1000 watt increseased his bill by 180$ and he were to change let's say 8 60 watt's to 13 watt's he would save 376 watts which would kock his bill down by about 40-50$, and that's only if he was running all the 8 60 watt bulbs for as long as he does the HPS. I think the best bet is to consider if it's overkill like you said.

How many plants are growing, what stage are they in, ect.

 

[jpockets420]

wow thats a big jump. Before I started my current grow my bill was around $90/month. Only $45 is actual usage though, the rest is taxes and fees. With the 400w hps,filter/fan,an osilating fan a tall stand up fan and two ac's going my bill only went up to $110/month with about $65 being for usage. I only run my lights at night though, I never run both my ac's at the same time and I switched all my bulbs in the house to cfl's. I also started using my stove/oven less, taking shorter showers and turning my computer off at night. Just tweak some things around your house, if your running your light 24/7 I would switch it to 18/6 and you will see that bill drop drastically.

 

[mikmike]

change all your bulbs to cfl or led. make sure your a/c is set to about 78. Then if u have computers make sure they are off and if u have any plasma screens screen they pull average of 400 watts and lcd are average of 120 watt. just some info.

 

[jtrimbl3]

True dat. Also, don't forget that fans use up a lot too. And sleeping with the tv on.

 

[mikmike]

Oh a big thing that saved me energy is on water heaters they ALWAYS keep a high temp, i got a timer for mine and only have it heat the water during 5-8 pm that is when i bath, do laundry, and do dishes, saved me about 20 bucks my bill is about 110 and with 250 watt hid with fans took my bill to 134

 

[dbkick]

and depending on where you are depends on whether there are months of high usage (the summer here) and the power company goes to a tiered billing. So the 1000 watt light could have moved you into a higher price per kwh if they do tiered billing.

 

[mikmike]

get heat blocking curtains and put them up where most sun comes in your house/apt/condo so your a/c does not have to run to keep it cool. I can go on and on with ideas sorry if u do keep going. I have outside grill with side burner and what not and that saved me money as well because if u cook inside u heat up your house and a/c turns on. make sure to kkep your a/c air filters clean.

 

[CaptainCAVEMAN]

Put your 1000 watt light on a light mover and unplug the stuff you were running before you added the 1000.

 

[mikmike]

Yea on my bill if u go over certain amount of Kw they charge me double for what i go over. soo if i do 10 kw (i know bad number) they charge me .11 for each kw but if i do 23 they charge me .11 for the first 10 and teh the other 13 they charge me .22 Kw

 

[Ringsixty]

set your timer for off peak hours. this will help a bit. there are great advantages growing with 1000 watts lights and disadvantages too.
one being heat the other being a great big electric bill.
this the way it be.

 

[smc5w]

I have 10 plants, they are between 2 and 6 weeks into flower.. I also am running a window AC unit with 6 in exhaust fan.

I'm staying to think the light I added is no good..because $100+ for one light doesn't seem right

 

[IC3M4L3]

im in uk and i run a 600 watta hps on 12-12 nd a couple cfls n me veg box,,,i use about £5 a day if om on veg 18-6 i use couble that so thats a 600 id never buy a 1k for personal grow to much heat and electric
my advice do ure grows 12-12 from seed and save some money

 

[smc5w]

If I dim the ballast to 600 would it make a significant difference in electricity usage

 

[potpimp]

If you ran your light 24/7, that would be 720 hours for a month. Find out how much you are paying per KwH and do the math. The light could not be costing that much.

 

[zat]

I think environmentalists should be asking indoor growers how to save the planet/humanity! Look at all of this creative and easy information for how to save energy! I think pot is the answer to both saving the planet and world peace (ya never hear of two guys getting into a violent bar brawl when they're stoned)! Ok...now back on topic. No intention of hijacking a great thread. Just wanted to give some pats on the back.

 

[monkeybones]

every farmer has to pay for their resources, but the whole point is that what you get out is more valuable than what you put in. in this case i think the point is difficult to argue. with a 1000 watt HID you should be able to make your hydro bill in cash by selling hash from trimmings, never mind the bud

although it never hurts to be smart about things, and the advice coming in here is very good. i can't believe anyone would still use incandescent bulbs, since you can even get dimmable CFLs now, but i especially like and am going to use the water heater timer idea. that's brilliant.

 

[EROsain]

If I dim the ballast to 600 would it make a significant difference in electricity usage

find your areas Kw per hour cost , so what ever it is it is for 1000 watts an hour . so lets say its 1 dollar if you go to 600 w an hour it will be 60% of 1 dollar 60 cents ,