Electric bill from tent to room question?

R

rmax

Well-Known Member
I've got a basement tent with one light/humidifier/dehumidifier/heater/fans and to keep my VPD in the zone the cost has been about $160.00 a month. This will get more expensive as Summer creeps in.

Has anyone upgraded a basement tent to a basement grow room - what was the savings on electric, if any? I don't have a garage. Marooned subterranean with chill and dampness seeping through the walls.
 
If you build a room, and insulate it, keep it sealed your heating costs would be less. Not sure how much less but prob a bit lower.
Because I can't run a heater in my tent (well I can but not in late flower no room) I end up heating the whole basement which costs an arm and a leg. I'm changing to an actual semi sealed room, with thermostats, dehumidifier, and a heater. I expect the heater will run less with the lights on and resume normal operation in the night cycle. Extraction fan will run only if the room exceeds 85-87° bringing cooler air in and exchanging it once in a while. I'm just in the early stages of figuring it all out. Tried making a 'ghetto furnace' but it didn't work out lol (oil filled rad in a metal box with a furnace filter on the front and an inline fan pulling air through). I didnt feel it was safe enough #1 and #2 it didn't heat the tent up much at all

In my tent, I just play with the extraction fan, sometimes its on speed 1, sometimes I run it off a repeat cycle timer on 3mins off 10-15mins to keep the heat up. This makes humidity rise though, which is ok in veg not so much in flower, but by then my lights are on 100% and making heat too.
 
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I'm running 3 rooms (800w light, ~400w light and 2 150w lights in mom tent) clone dome, 150w t5 'starter' light 2 dehumidifiers, one 1500w heater (winter only) plus normal house power and my bills around 200-230 a month.
 
Jjgrow420 said:
If you build a room, and insulate it, keep it sealed your heating costs would be less. Not sure how much less but prob a bit lower.
Because I can't run a heater in my tent (well I can but not in late flower no room) I end up heating the whole basement which costs an arm and a leg. I'm changing to an actual semi sealed room, with thermostats, dehumidifier, and a heater. I expect the heater will run less with the lights on and resume normal operation in the night cycle. Extraction fan will run only if the room exceeds 85-87° bringing cooler air in and exchanging it once in a while. I'm just in the early stages of figuring it all out. Tried making a 'ghetto furnace' but it didn't work out lol (oil filled rad in a metal box with a furnace filter on the front and an inline fan pulling air through). I didnt feel it was safe enough #1 and #2 it didn't heat the tent up much at all

In my tent, I just play with the extraction fan, sometimes its on speed 1, sometimes I run it off a repeat cycle timer on 3mins off 10-15mins to keep the heat up. This makes humidity rise though, which is ok in veg not so much in flower, but by then my lights are on 100% and making heat too.
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That's essentially my setup. I've got a large walk-in closet/small room within a large basement.
Summertime, I vent outside the room into the basement, wintertime I vent outside the tent into the room to conserve heat.
There's always some juggling between temp, humidity, and circulation to find a sweet spot.
 
Billy the Mountain said:
That's essentially my setup. I've got a large walk-in closet/small room within a large basement.
Summertime, I vent outside the room into the basement, wintertime I vent outside the tent into the room to conserve heat.
There's always some juggling between temp, humidity, and circulation to find a sweet spot.
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I agree totally with that. Every space has its own different variables you need to figure out.
Before when I ran hid I would vent into my veranda. Too much humidity build up. Windows fogging up dripping and freezing up in the winter. No bueno. Switched to LEDs and just like you do I vent into the same room in the winter. Summer I don't really grow (right now being an exception just getting things finished in a few more weeks. Late start last season)
 
Billy the Mountain said:
Why would you expect a difference in electrical consumption between a tent and room within the same basement?
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I'm looking for a shortcut. The work around is insulating the exposed concrete basement walls and floor then building an insulated room.

The way the setup is now the heater and dehumidifier run fairly constant.
 
rmax said:
I'm looking for a shortcut. The work around is insulating the exposed concrete basement walls and floor then building an insulated room.

The way the setup is now the heater and dehumidifier run fairly constant.
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The dehumidifier will run constantly most likely but that also helps bring the heat up
You've got the sameish situation and idea as me.
 
Jjgrow420 said:
The dehumidifier will run constantly most likely but that also helps bring the heat up
You've got the sameish situation and idea as me.
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Being subterranean the basement never drys out. The moisture transfers in from Earth. You're right a vapor barrier is mandatory.

In order to keep the tent warm wrapping it with second hand feather quilts might work.

Is humidity a problem for you above grade growers?
 
Jjgrow420 said:
I grow in the basement
In the winter it's drier than a nuns cunt
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You're right. Into March I had to run the humidifier. Then the spring rains came and dehumidifier since.

I'm considering turning off the heater. In this case the low temps will be around 71°F right now and with light on the temp will swing up to about 79°F.
Because of the lower temp RH will spike so the dehumidifier will still run constantly. But a savings on the heater.
 
rmax said:
You're right. Into March I had to run the humidifier. Then the spring rains came and dehumidifier since.

I'm considering turning off the heater. In this case the low temps will be around 71°F right now and with light on the temp will swing up to about 79°F.
Because of the lower temp RH will spike so the dehumidifier will still run constantly. But a savings on the heater.
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Instead of running a humidifier I just vent into the same room and use a dehumidifier to keep it around 45% raises the temps a bit, and humidity, but I wasn't getting shocked walking on the carpet with socks on this past winter. (Gets down to 20% sometimes lower ..)
 
I would float lightweight metal track & stud framed rooms right off the ceiling/joists. Basically, build whatever sized box, lift it up, and screw it in. You can't just go framing a basement out with lumber afaik, or it could lift the house off the foundation walls. Anyway, Insulate it all up with rigid foam and install some kind of thinner paneling inside and out of whatever size room/partitions you make. . FRP/plastex on the inside if possible, maybe even glued right over the foam with a compatible adhesive to shave weight. Designed to be floating, as in it hangs an inch or so completely up off the floor, and also so attached in such a way you could take it down and install somewhere else someday if needed.. Will never rot out. Leave air gaps between the new room\s and any existing walls so it can still breath around it, and still allow the concrete to permeate. Then, just stuff or spray the small gaps down below/between the bottom track of the metal framed walls & concrete floor with more foam, so it can still expand and contract up and down.. like some basements do. Or, even frame a floating floor right into the hanging walls too, with the same studs going horizontal like joists (they do it in metal framed tiny homes for lofts/bed areas/etc, even though its cheap non load bearing drywall studs & should hold whatever sized grow up np), so your up off the floor a few more inches. Or, just slide a whole foam panel under, and put laminate flooring on top only in that section..

Something about trying to seal up a damp basement from the inside with whatever products doesn't sit well with me, but then again I never had one. Seems like it would cause more damage and cracks. Seems you would want to water proof it from the outside walls if anything, which involves excavating all around the house first. Right? Do you guys have radon gas in the ground in your areas, or need it to be mitigated? Basements are creepy to me. I wish i had one though, lol. Or a bunker..
 
The room you describe would be fine but the root cause is cold transferring through the concrete basement walls from the outside dirt.

As example, "In Minnesota at 6 to 8 feet underground the earth's temperature is always a stable 48-52F."

This means the dirt on the other side of the concrete basement wall, at the floor line averages 50F. Like keeping a box inside your 'fridge warm.

Run a heater in the basement and eventually the wall will warm then the dirt on the other side of the wall will warm and the dirt that surrounds that dirt will warm. This comes at a big electricity cost. But as soon as the heater is turned off within a day the surrounding cold from beyond will push back to make the floor line temp 50F. All the heating effort is gone.

The fix - insulate the basement walls. A vapor barrier is needed between the wall and insulation or risk mold.

So the choice is painful monthly electric bills or a big painful investment for medium to low electricity bills.

I want a magic work around when really I need a line to the neighbor's garage.
 
rmax said:
I'm looking for a shortcut. The work around is insulating the exposed concrete basement walls and floor then building an insulated room.

The way the setup is now the heater and dehumidifier run fairly constant.
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Switch back to old-school hps or cmf lights. If cold is the issue use the same power that makes your light make heat for ya. That at least keeps your heater off while your lights are on, (should reduce rh a well) open it up if it gets to hot. And insulate your tent with covers as mentioned above should hold it in at least a few hrs into the dark cycle. Wouldn't use down or anything that may shed or absorb moisture. Survival blankets are cheap and probably the best option
 
I dream of a room that never gets much colder than 50 (like a basement I guess, lol), and can be cooled off when its hot too. Or build a big fancy garage around all my grow trailers. I'm literally going to be digging a 7ft deep trench to lay in about 8-900 ft of black poly pipe as a geo thermal loop coil, so I can pump the stable ground temp just like your talking about back up into my outdoor rooms, to keep it above freezing with radiator in the winter. Possibly 2 trenches, about 50 ft long, with enough tubing for atleast 2-3 tons worth of heating/cooling, that only will take 100 watts to utilize. Gonna do it before I gravel the new driveway section I cleared that they'll be parked on. Hoping it will save me big time on heating costs!
 
Just switch back to hid a 630w cmh kills it in a 4x4 in cooler environments, just keep your pots elevated so the cold floor doesn’t cool the roots. Probably won’t even need the heater in the summer. The uv in the cmh also gonna help prevent mold/pm etc which in a basement is kind of a big deal.
 
Drop That Sound said:
I dream of a room that never gets much colder than 50 (like a basement I guess, lol), and can be cooled off when its hot too. Or build a big fancy garage around all my grow trailers. I'm literally going to be digging a 7ft deep trench to lay in about 8-900 ft of black poly pipe as a geo thermal loop coil, so I can pump the stable ground temp just like your talking about back up into my outdoor rooms, to keep it above freezing with radiator in the winter. Possibly 2 trenches, about 50 ft long, with enough tubing for atleast 2-3 tons worth of heating/cooling, that only will take 100 watts to utilize. Gonna do it before I gravel the new driveway section I cleared that they'll be parked on. Hoping it will save me big time on heating costs!
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make sure you take some pics when you do, id like to see that :weed:
 
Greengrouch said:
Just switch back to hid a 630w cmh kills it in a 4x4 in cooler environments, just keep your pots elevated so the cold floor doesn’t cool the roots. Probably won’t even need the heater in the summer. The uv in the cmh also gonna help prevent mold/pm etc which in a basement is kind of a big deal.
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A long time ago in Michigan my mentor was running HPS bulds in a unfinished basements room. Winter hit he hung 2 extra 1000watters and a second co2 tank cut a hole in the wall and had a 6" inline fan pulling in subzero air from outside. That was his best bloom while I was with him. Can't say this is a good idea but it was a good balance in that room
 
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