crazy power bill

dak1b

dak1b

Well-Known Member
My power bill is usually about $70. It Jumped up to $212!! so $142 extra.
My setup:
- 600W Mh for veg now in flower hps....does mh use more kwh then hps?
- booster fan running on max 240cfm
-oscillating fan on max
-floor fan on max
- floor fan intake on max

That was the heavy month for veg 18/6 cycle now on 12/12 flower. Power shud be less....I'm planning on turning down max settings by a notch ( 3 to 2 setting on fans except booster) and getting rid of intake fan and adding 16in wall mount oscillating fan.

Do I need a fan for intake or can I use passive? I have hole in wall 1ftx1ft (intake)

I'm hoping next month's bill will be $150 or less.
 
dak1b

dak1b

Well-Known Member
a mongo frog said:
pretty sure the neighbors hooked into your power and are now running a 1000 watt of their own. best thing to do is go buy them a dimmable ballast and tell them its not fair there running a 1000 watt and your running a 600.
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ya for real. I have a dimmable ballast. will this reduce cost?
 
G

Gramaday

Member
All good growers go thru this. When I started indoors I had a heart attack at my first 2 elec bills going from 180-390 then 490 when I done autos. I tried to cut down on pedestal fans and suction fans and use cfls etc but never really lowered the bills that much or was happy at grows soI've just bit the bullet and went back to my normal setup. A mate started 6 months months ago just using cfls and a small fan but he never gets anywhere near what my 600w yields so at the end of the day I see it as a trade off of electricity = money ,but so does weed and wouldn't you prefer your own strain grown at home by yourself instead of shit street weed that cost more then your power bills anyway. Good luck
 
dak1b

dak1b

Well-Known Member
Gramaday said:
All good growers go thru this. When I started indoors I had a heart attack at my first 2 elec bills going from 180-390 then 490 when I done autos. I tried to cut down on pedestal fans and suction fans and use cfls etc but never really lowered the bills that much or was happy at grows soI've just bit the bullet and went back to my normal setup. A mate started 6 months months ago just using cfls and a small fan but he never gets anywhere near what my 600w yields so at the end of the day I see it as a trade off of electricity = money ,but so does weed and wouldn't you prefer your own strain grown at home by yourself instead of shit street weed that cost more then your power bills anyway. Good luck
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agreed. its not the end of the world...i split my energy bill as well...will this bring any unwanted attention?
 
malicifice

malicifice

Well-Known Member
dak1b said:
agreed. its not the end of the world...i split my energy bill as well...will this bring any unwanted attention?
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I don't know who you have probably pg&e but no it wont get attention, this has been going on for years now. That is a really, really huge jump. o_O
 
dak1b

dak1b

Well-Known Member
malicifice said:
I don't know who you have probably pg&e but no it wont get attention, this has been going on for years now. That is a really, really huge jump. o_O
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ya pg&e....it hasn't going on for years...first month with double energy...
 
dak1b

dak1b

Well-Known Member
kwh is 0.22 and thats off peak hours. sigh California is so damn expensive!! so according to the formula...600w MH 18/6 is about $75/month.....would a booster fan, 2 floor fans and one oscillating fan on 24/7 on full blast add another $70?!
 
G

Gramaday

Member
I'm in Australia mate so I don't know the u.s rates etc. put it this way I've narrowed it down to $4.50-5.50 a day to run a 18 hr shift of my 600w ballast n light, a 500 cfm fan and 1 pedestal fan in my tent,the intake fan went a while back and my grows haven't suffered so I'm happy where my tent set up is at. We are constantly getting rises in costs on our bills here in aus so over last 18 months it's risen by 40-50% and only looks to get worse but I will still pay coz I'd never give my lady's up plus fk going back to street weed and all the shit attached to it. We get bills every 51-60 days,how is it charged in the u.s?
 
bravedave

bravedave

Well-Known Member
bigmanc said:
ouch i had 8 - 1000w hps be at 260$ a month...somethings up
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What he said. All you describe is probably less than or not much more than 1 1000w. Fans are nothing..even your 240 inline is probably taking less than 2 amps. I would compare usage ...then $$$. Are you possibly on a budget plan and this was the realignment month or something...I usually pay less or nothing on realignment month but that is of course because I was using less than budgeted. I can however imagine PG&E being a bit pricey having to deal with ...well...everything they have to deal with in that state.
 
dak1b

dak1b

Well-Known Member
Ya so $140 more a month for 1 600W 18/6 and 4 fans running (24/7) on full....i'm guessing my bill should go down a bit now that iam on 12/12
 
dak1b

dak1b

Well-Known Member
winter rates are 0.14 and summer rates are 0.22.......sigh.

last month I used 350 kwh this month it jumped to 730 kwh an icreaese of 380kwh...is this correct for running 1 600w 18/6 (24hrs first week) with 4 fans on full blast???
 
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tip top toker

tip top toker

Well-Known Member
Gramaday said:
All good growers go thru this. When I started indoors I had a heart attack at my first 2 elec bills going from 180-390 then 490 when I done autos. I tried to cut down on pedestal fans and suction fans and use cfls etc but never really lowered the bills that much or was happy at grows soI've just bit the bullet and went back to my normal setup. A mate started 6 months months ago just using cfls and a small fan but he never gets anywhere near what my 600w yields so at the end of the day I see it as a trade off of electricity = money ,but so does weed and wouldn't you prefer your own strain grown at home by yourself instead of shit street weed that cost more then your power bills anyway. Good luck
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Which is one of the big reasons why auto's are such a waste of money, very literally. you seem to have misused the term good growers :p Auto's need anywhere from 50-100% more electricity from the lights for a smaller yield and mediocre smoke compared to photos.
 
haight

haight

Well-Known Member
A 600w bulb should run you about 3-4 dollars a day running at 12 hours. The further you are from the source the more electric will be used by resistance in the wires.
 
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