Power Consumption / Light Cost

homegrwn

Well-Known Member
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!!!

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
 

TexasWild

Well-Known Member
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?
 

-=4:20=-Guy

Well-Known Member
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.
 

mistergixxerk3

Active Member
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
 

Stevenson

Active Member
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!!
 

-=4:20=-Guy

Well-Known Member
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!!
93KWh is correct PER DAY. 2800KWh is going to be the total Per Month.
 

Stevenson

Active Member
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!!!
 

-=4:20=-Guy

Well-Known Member
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!!!
I have no idea on the mans general practice in Canada but that is quite a jump indeed.

I hope you get some responses.
 

Stevenson

Active Member
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
 

-=4:20=-Guy

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

d2rod89

Well-Known Member
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
 

hardrockereverett

Active Member
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?
 

Consciousness420

Well-Known Member
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
 

hardrockereverett

Active Member
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)?
 

-=4:20=-Guy

Well-Known Member
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.
 

BigERE66

Active Member
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?
 

-=4:20=-Guy

Well-Known Member
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.
 
Top