Lights??

[rds_sk8er420]

not at all man not at all......hid is way more expensive....in price for lights and power bill.....you run say 250w hps, sure you get the better buds, BUT, you are running this ALOT, so if you were running a 250w hps all day everyday, just the one day of the 1 hps is 2 days of 6 cfls power usage...now you tell me that hid is better for your power bill....

and not every one has a large room readly available for growing a large amount of pot
never hear about someone growing ina cabnet with cfl's getting slammed by the po po.(and they check your power bill thats one way they catch hid users.)

 

[Racefan]

Yes floros are cheaper to run but if it takes 3 days worth of floro growth to equal 1 days hid growth, how can it stay cheaper in the long run?

This isn't worth argueing over. lol No matter what the numbers say people are going to believe what they want to believe anyway.

 

[delicato420]

It's all about what type of efficiency you are going for. Power or Plant growth.

 

[MadameCrash]

Okay... depending on the cost of electricity where you live...

My friend runs a 1000w HPS - his electricity bill went up $60 a month.

As far as the power company knows - his wife is into pottery and she needs to run a Kiln 12-18 hours a day... (yes the power company did ask him about the sudden rise in power usage.)

Peace
MC

 

[delicato420]

wow..thats weird. I've never heard of any power company ever doing that.

 

[RangerDanger]

Unless you live in a tiny apt., you can use up to a 1,000 watt HID without any worry about getting the utility suspicious. That's how much a standard electric space heater uses.
People are in many cases overly concerned about HID lights tipping off the cops. In the U.S. it's illegal for the cops to use infa-red technology without evidence to believe that there's an illegal grow operation going on inside.
Even if the cops see you carting in a 1,000-watt light system that's not enough evidence to obtain a search warrant, since it's not illegal to grow tomato's or anything else besides pot and opium poppies in your house.
I ran 800 watts HPS at my house for years, then 1 day I decieded to get serious and enlarged my growroom to 3,200 watts.
A few months later I got a call from a lady at SoCal Edison.
She said that there had been a recent large increase in my Kw usage and offered me a "free energy audit". That's when they send a person or 2 from the utility to inspect your property.
They have a legitimate reason for this. There could be a short in your system that could start a fire. Or maybe a neighbor has tapped into your lines and is stealing your elect., or maybe there's something wrong with their equip., etc.
Thinking fast I said "my sister just got divorced and her and my neice and nephews moved in 2 months ago and those darn kids never turn anything off."
"Yeah my kids are the same way" she said, thanked me and that was that.
There was someone in the same neighborhood that set up an illegal sweatshop in his garage (not zoned for commercial). He had 7 people running sewing machines 10 hours a day in his garage.
SoCalEd called and ran the same rap and the guy says "Do I pay my bill on time?"
"Yes".
"Then buzz off."
Bad move.
Because the utility can enter your home if they notice a huge increase in Kw usage. It's a public safety issue--you could have a short in your system that could cause a fire and burn down the entire block. If you refuse them entry than can come back with the cops and you again refuse them entry they can get a court order to enter or simply cut off your elect.
The elect Co. came by that guys house when he wasn't home and his kid let them in. They found the sweat shop and the guy got fined for code violations.

Lumen per lumen flo's cost more to operate than HID's. And lumen per lumen flo's cost just as much to purchase as HID's because you'd have to line the ceiling with them to equal the lumen output of an HID.
Don't take my word for it. The watts used and lumen output is printed on every bulb (or the packaging); check it out.

In addition, flo's have poor penetrating power. A foot away from flo's mean a huge energy drop-off for the plants, where a HID retains more of it's power.

So for the best buds and more of them for your buck, HID's are the way to go. Just don't go overboard.

 

[hazerblazer]

Bottom line...

Good garden nice buds....

Rule of growing
600 Watts of HPS minimum per a 4foot X 4foot garden.
HPS for flowering is better. Give you the yellow plants need while flowering. And since most of the time will be spent flowering anyway.
Dont be cheap on the bulb or bulbs. Get the best money can buy to get the jucy buds everyones lusting for.
Small or not enough watts will produce you buds as well, but you will lose on density and ofcoure weight. The taste and the high will be the same, but half the garden. So why not spend a little bit now and get back the rewards you are looking for after your first garden,,..

Note Air curculation and keeping the temperature of your garden dow to about 75-80 is if not firs after lights your second rule to get what you want without bugs.

Nice growing to everyone in the States and smoke the haze.....

 

[RooRman]

I feel for veg. it comes down to light coverage. If you only have a few plants, you can veg with flouros. just fine. However, you will need ALOT of flouros. to cover an area for a larger grow, at that point making them less effective than using a MH light.

For flowering, there is no contest...an HPS light of any wattage is miles ahead of all flourescent bulbs. A CFL will never come close to the bud formation produced by a HPS light.

In the end, it's all about what works for you.

 

[skinart82]

What if you're only doing one plant in a small place. I'm thinkin probably cfl's?

 

[Lord Jebus]

Ive rtied all 3 stages under many types of light. Now, I keep my mothers and do all cloning using CFL's and 4 foot fluro's. All vegging is done under MH and I use a combination of MH and HPS conversion bulbs during flowering. There are advantages and disadvantages to all types, MH HPS FLURO. Play around, see what works best for you within your budget. Just remember, more lummens = more production, hence HID's are the best for quantity, not always quality!