Calculating AC monthly cost

S

Suspect

New Member
Hello,

I'm trying to calculate my monthly expenses for an AC unit. I live in a cold area, so there will mostly be cold dry air coming in through the intake. Is there a way to determine how long an AC will run given the temperature of the air coming in and the amount of lights/plants?

Let's use this example...

24 600W lights = 14,400W
256 plants in 5-galon containers
Outdoor temperature of 41 degrees F or 5 degrees C

Thanks for the help!
 
K

KryptoBud

Well-Known Member
yeah its easy, take your last bill before turning on your ac. Lets say it was $500 for example, then run your ac for a month. When you get your next bill you'll notice its more money lets say $700. subtract bill #1 from bill #2 or $700-$500=$200.
There are other ways of estimating cost like the size of the area being cooled, the size of air conditioner being used (wattage?) possibly the cost of electricity little details like that. Plant count and container size not that important. Let me ask you a question,How much gas will my car need for me to get to the supermarket and back? You follow?
 
B

bryan oconner

Well-Known Member
only 2 ways to know how much accurately . one wait for your bill lol . second take the total number of watts and times it by your kilowatt hours and times it by 12 hours. and for your ac example it is a 2000 watts and it only runs average 6 hours a day so that's .16/x2000 watts =320 bucks per 24 hours but divide that by 4 = 80 bucks . so your total bill 24/6 and ac average will be 1300 bucks a month running lights 12/12 and ac 6 hours a day. and don't for get to add fans and other items I guess it be 1500 a month depending on your kilowatt per hour here in mi its .16
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Suspect said:
Hello,

I'm trying to calculate my monthly expenses for an AC unit. I live in a cold area, so there will mostly be cold dry air coming in through the intake. Is there a way to determine how long an AC will run given the temperature of the air coming in and the amount of lights/plants?

Let's use this example...

24 600W lights = 14,400W
256 plants in 5-galon containers
Outdoor temperature of 41 degrees F or 5 degrees C

Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...
There are wattage ratings on the AC. Calculate total kilowatts used by the AC. Estimate cost by multiplying the hours run (1000 watts is 1 kilowatt) X the cost per KWH. It is listed on your bill.
 
Jimdamick

Jimdamick

Well-Known Member
Suspect said:
Hello,

I'm trying to calculate my monthly expenses for an AC unit. I live in a cold area, so there will mostly be cold dry air coming in through the intake. Is there a way to determine how long an AC will run given the temperature of the air coming in and the amount of lights/plants?

Let's use this example...

24 600W lights = 14,400W
256 plants in 5-galon containers
Outdoor temperature of 41 degrees F or 5 degrees C

Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...
It sounds like if you use an outside air intake you should be able to run your room for 8 months without a serious heat problem (at 5 C), and even then if you have an ambient indoor temp of say 70 degrees, you might get away with needing AC for only 2 months of the year.(where do you live ?)
Why run so many 600's, because when you add cost per fixture, bulbs, labor to install and maintain, it will be way more than using fewer 1000 watt fixtures, which will give you better results.
How big a room, because I have a large basement and wouldn't be able to fit that many plants, and would need a new electrical service to accommodate that load, which your power company might be interested about why you need it.. Anyway, you are going to spending a LOT of money on fixtures and material, so AC costs are part of it, if you want to grow that big. Good luck (you'll need it)
 
S

Suspect

New Member
Jimdamick said:
It sounds like if you use an outside air intake you should be able to run your room for 8 months without a serious heat problem (at 5 C), and even then if you have an ambient indoor temp of say 70 degrees, you might get away with needing AC for only 2 months of the year.(where do you live ?)
Why run so many 600's, because when you add cost per fixture, bulbs, labor to install and maintain, it will be way more than using fewer 1000 watt fixtures, which will give you better results.
How big a room, because I have a large basement and wouldn't be able to fit that many plants, and would need a new electrical service to accommodate that load, which your power company might be interested about why you need it.. Anyway, you are going to spending a LOT of money on fixtures and material, so AC costs are part of it, if you want to grow that big. Good luck (you'll need it)
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply!
I've read that using 24 600W lights as apposed to 16 1000W lights is more efficient. Maybe this is incorrect, but I've seen it several times.
The room size is 18' x 18' and I plan on having 8 4'x8' tables w/ wheels to move the tables around for access. Each table will hold 32 5-galon pots. I only expect to yield a maximum of 2 ounces per plant. Again, I read this is the most efficient way to get the most out of your room size.
 
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