2x 125w CFL Electricity (first time grow)

[SoCal420]

First time indoor grower looking for some advice.

im current using 2 40w T5 grow lights in my closet, i know i dont get the proper light with this and it seems to be killing my electricity bill... it jumped $80 in 1 month. was thinking of switching over to 125W CFL, using 6400k for veg and 2600k for flowering. anyone have any comments? will this lower my electricity bill? i dont want to run the HPS due to heat and electricity. any advice is welcomed! thank you!

 

[yuyo]

i have no experience with the t5 but i always thought it was easy on the electricity
that being said if it draws 2 x 40 =80 watts then i think it is safe to say that the 125 watt cfl will be even more
80 dollars seems like an awful lot. i run cfl and it is pretty easy on the electricity, i mean i am running way over 125 watts too
i haven't added them up in a while but it's around the 300 watt mark, actual wattage
in the end i say you should do well with cfl but i wonder if the t5 unit is not working properly
maybe a veteran will chime in for us
take care and good luck

 

[David Bowman]

I'm running over 500 watts in lights alone, not including fans and humidifier and at $0.07/kWatt that amounts to less than $15/month in electricity costs. Either your lights are severely malfunctioning or something else is cause that kiind of increase in your energy bill.

 

[Hosebomber]

T5 bulbs are 28 or 54 watts per bulb if four foot long. If you are running high output T5's they are 54. So a single 2 bulb fixture (which most are) would be 108 watts plus the driver inefficiency. So roughly 120 watts. Depending on what tier you are in you could pay as much as $.37 per Kw/h. If this is the case, it will cost ~$32 a month. This is per 2 bulb fixture alone. If you have any pumps fans heating or cooling in your grow area tack that on top.

As for the question, changing to 2 125 CFL bulbs will cost you double your current amount.

 

[jaysblitzed]

I am running 12 100w equiv cfls in my flower. 10 are 2700k @ 1750 lumens and 2 are 6500k @ 1600 lumens, which equal 1200w. My veg is 4 100w 6500K. My bill is only $100 more and that's not including my fans and other stuff.

 

[The303Stoner]

First time indoor grower looking for some advice.

im current using 2 40w T5 grow lights in my closet, i know i dont get the proper light with this and it seems to be killing my electricity bill... it jumped $80 in 1 month. was thinking of switching over to 125W CFL, using 6400k for veg and 2600k for flowering. anyone have any comments? will this lower my electricity bill? i dont want to run the HPS due to heat and electricity. any advice is welcomed! thank you!

its most likely a tier increase like hosebomber said read the bill do you also use electric for heat.