Electric bill has me concerned

[ZEROorDIE]

Originally Posted by sfhaze

You should use LEDs, they really do work now. My favorite by far are the Haight Solid State LED lights. Check them out, replace those 1K lights with the PPF-800's it will solve the power bill issue. They generate a lot less heat, so savings on AC will be huge. Plus, no bulbs to replace every 6 months or so.

I run 4 of the PPF-400's (2 for veg (mothers and daughters)), and 2 for flower. My power bill is about $50 over normal, I get a bit less since my space is constrained but I'm sure those two lights could yield over half a pound per cycle.

yeah.... LEDs will only work if your trying a sog with small plants as it seriously lacks penetrating power. a 1000w hps will penetrate 4-5ft where as an LED fixture doesnt really penetrate past 1ft

so yeah if you wanna grow trees you need HIDs
if you wanna grow a whole bunch of 6" colas go LED

[sfhaze]

Originally Posted by ZEROorDIE

so yeah if you wanna grow trees you need HIDs
if you wanna grow a whole bunch of 6" colas go LED

That has been true in the past, but LEDs have continued to improve. The higher power LED fixtures work with normal 3 foot tall plants. Good enough for most indica's but if you want to grow 6 foot tall sativa's then hps is still the only solution

[omenman]

damm that suxs..i just checked my bill power here is 7.25 cents a kw...wow 20 cents a kw is mad expensive

[IshmarRodriguez]

That investigation thing just made my paranoia go up +1. lol

My bill has gone up a ton. On average 30KW/H per day. That's $5 extra a day to my electric company. My last bill was $300. Previous years bill was $170. This bill was $350. Previous years bill was $199. So a $150 increase in these two months going into summer.

Does anyone think this will flag anything, or if I pay on time its not enough to matter?

This is only for a 2 bedroom apartment. I'm running 1000w HPS & I was running about 400 watts in CFL's as well, but veg stage is now over and its just the one 1000w on 12/12. So hopefully next month won't be so bad! I also have a 420cfm vortex fan running 24/7, but don't know how many watts that uses.

[mustang671]

That's nothing I just got a 1300.00 dollar bill for one month running 1 1000 watt hps and one 600 watt MH that freaked me out Next stop generator.

[mustang671]

I'm not sure were you guys are at but here in ca. My last bill this month last year was 325.00 this month this year no kidding 1300.00 if you go over last years bill you get charged 4 times more per kil watt figure that out. I have to get a generator that's it. And as for led's dead issue they don't work even the top of the line most expensive ones you can buy will yield you crap very low THC very low weight bunk weed.

[MinniBratt]

try unplugging any thing you dont use on a everyday baisis...like toaster, phone charger, lamps you dont use everyday....Tv's you don't use everyday....Turn off light if your not in the room...
I know it wont make a HUGE difference but even if you don't have a phone charging on the charger it is still pulling watts....

just a suggestion...my husband is really anal about it...so he forced me to do it...lol

And if you qualify...see if they have a low-income discount program...like CARE

its worth a shot...the worst they can say is no you dont qualify...right?

[LabRat]

Like MinniBratt says. Don't do anything that uses power. You don't have to unplug everything, just don't use it. Except stuff that uses lots of juice on stand-by like sat tv boxes, plasma tvs, computers not hibernating etc. Take your clothes to the laundromat. Don't eat nothing that needs more than a quick nuke in the microwave. Shower at your buddy's house. Tell that fine thang that you think candlelight is way sexier. Scratch that! No fraternizing with fine thangs at the grow! No 50" plasma TV either. Forget the game or watch it at your buddy's house after your shower. :0)

You want to cut down your bill you best learn how to live like a monk 'cause that's the kind of devotion you're going to need to come out on top. Once you harvest don't just cut off power to everything. If you don't need to run all your lights for a while get that game on the tube, shower with a friend or two, keep that clothes dryer rollin' and put some pizzas in the oven.

You want to keep usage as even as possible then that becomes the new norm for your place and as long as the bill is paid they shouldn't bother with you.

More power to ya. Keep the faith.

[omenman]

good point...keep the power on...its could be another thing...shit if the power company calls stay you just got a indoor hottub and sauna and 3 desktops cpu...i cant see how 1300 for a bill that you use only one 1000..i was burning 3 1000s and 1 600 and 2 400s and my bills were from 200 to 300 a month..the key is pay on time everytime and no worries..

[Racefan]

If they call tell them your central ac went out and you've had to switch to window units.

[ziptie]

Originally Posted by Racefan

If they call tell them your central ac went out and you've had to switch to window units.

i told them that i got my wife a tanning bed

[CBP420]

Be very careful about that load, you are maxing out your wires in your house. Over time they will heat up and melt and start a fire. Just had it happen to me. Lost my whole grow.

[PitViper]

gat another HPS and burn candles!!! thats my motto...candles are so NICE

[TorturedSoul]

Along with MinniBratt's, LabRat's, and everyone else's suggestions...

I saw mention of using CFLs for vegging.

I didn't see (or must have missed it) anyone suggest that you immediately unscrew EVERY light (that isn't used for MJ growing) in your residence that isn't a CFL or LED, throw them away, and get CFL or LED replacements.

As a matter of fact, immediately is too late - do it yesterday.

As mentioned, trade off those 1kW lights for 600s. They are more efficient so you can net the same amount of lumens (using more fixtures) while using less electricity. And as they're more efficient, they produce less heat. So, less a/c usage.

And that's another thing... I like it in the mid 60s, but if I had power bills like that I'd learn to deal with temperatures that had me sweating while sitting naked and not moving. You need to keep your GR cool - for the rest of the residence (and the people in it), use fans (ceiling fans are great) instead.

And... If it is AT ALL possible, remove the heat from the GR instead of cooling it; IOW, try to vent that hot air outside. One of the reasons that air-cooled fixtures are great is that you can pull the heat from them out of your GR without picking up the smell of the GR in the process. It's a lot easier to put it outside if it just smells like air lol. Your plants won't care if it's ten degrees cooler because you've put a glass lens on the light, ran the ducting so that you're drawing air over them that came from somewhere else, and then sending that heated air somewhere else - or whether you're pushing the combined heat/smell into another part of your residence and then trying to single-handedly finance those new upgrades down at the power station by running your a/c nonstop.

But that second way seems like trying to bake bread in your oven while leaving the oven door open and then sticking an a/c unit in the window to cool off the kitchen. Me, I keep the oven door shut and turn the vent on so (most of) the heat that is coming off of the oven goes right outside.

BTW, thanks for the chuckle! (All I had running was...)

Worse comes to worse, rent the apartment beside yours, cut a couple of small holes in the wall between them, and run outlets from the second apartment into the first one. It'll cost you, but running lights like that you are probably still making some serious bones. Or just go rent a four- or five-bedroom house.

Originally Posted by ziptie

i told them that i got my wife a tanning bed

That was also worth a minor chuckle: I bet after the girl got off the phone with you she found herself wondering just how many hours every day your wife spent in that tanning bed lol.

[stonedinla]

great advice