Power consumption, Help PLEASE!

Hey noob here...totally paranoid about the police. I've heard different things about lights, that digital ballasts might help conserve energy, but then others say that's not right.

Before I spend a ton of money, any ideas on how to keep the bills low right from the start?

Thx:slide:

Yes!

1) Keep it to a small personal grow. Police just aren't interested in we who just grow for ourselves. It's a waste of time and resources to bother with us. And it's an embarrassing news story. So keep it to 2 to 4 plants and 1 light.
2) With 2 to 4 plants, you need no more than a single 250W HPS bulb/ballast. You could go even smaller on the electricity footprint if you use CFL's, but I've read they don't produce the same yield. It's a tradeoff you have to consider.
3) Start your seeds under a CFL or a single fluoro and go 18/6 with that light until you're ready to flower. They don't need as much light at the start. Keep veg down to a couple weeks.
4) Pick a strain that has a short flowering time. Oh and most importantly...

5) Tell no one. Your biggest threat is snitches.

Are you on smart metering yet? That could make a difference. But seriously, people worry too much about electricity usage. Unless you're starting a commercial operation, then all bets are off.
 
Yes!

1) Keep it to a small personal grow. Police just aren't interested in we who just grow for ourselves. It's a waste of time and resources to bother with us. And it's an embarrassing news story. So keep it to 2 to 4 plants and 1 light.
2) With 2 to 4 plants, you need no more than a single 250W HPS bulb/ballast. You could go even smaller on the electricity footprint if you use CFL's, but I've read they don't produce the same yield. It's a tradeoff you have to consider.
3) Start your seeds under a CFL or a single fluoro and go 18/6 with that light until you're ready to flower. They don't need as much light at the start. Keep veg down to a couple weeks.
4) Pick a strain that has a short flowering time. Oh and most importantly...

5) Tell no one. Your biggest threat is snitches.

Are you on smart metering yet? That could make a difference. But seriously, people worry too much about electricity usage. Unless you're starting a commercial operation, then all bets are off.

some very sound advice! :goodjob:
 
Yes!

1) Keep it to a small personal grow. Police just aren't interested in we who just grow for ourselves. It's a waste of time and resources to bother with us. And it's an embarrassing news story. So keep it to 2 to 4 plants and 1 light.
2) With 2 to 4 plants, you need no more than a single 250W HPS bulb/ballast. You could go even smaller on the electricity footprint if you use CFL's, but I've read they don't produce the same yield. It's a tradeoff you have to consider.
3) Start your seeds under a CFL or a single fluoro and go 18/6 with that light until you're ready to flower. They don't need as much light at the start. Keep veg down to a couple weeks.
4) Pick a strain that has a short flowering time. Oh and most importantly...

5) Tell no one. Your biggest threat is snitches.

Are you on smart metering yet? That could make a difference. But seriously, people worry too much about electricity usage. Unless you're starting a commercial operation, then all bets are off.

Smart metering? Not quite sure what that means.

Thanks for all the advice - sounds pretty reasonable to me. I'm a small time guy, so I guess I don't have to worry too much - unless I do something stupid, which is what I'm trying to avoid by asking so many questions. :popcorn:
 
Yah, what Hoggy said. If you've never heard of it then you probably don't have it. Which means right now they just get your total used electricity for the month. With smart metering, they get a break down of what time each day you used it.
 
if you got the kind of production going that requires more than 1kw, I'd recommend finding some light industrial space. Something somewhat isolated without neighbors - maybe an old autobody garage, fabrication facility, etc.

Nobody will bother you for power usage in a light industrial space.

I'd also reccomend trying a smaller SOG grow that produces smaller yields more often with less light requirements than growing individual big plants.
 
That's pretty scary having them ask about your power usage, but it may be harmless. I once had a huge water bill and they came and found a leak. Chances are they just want to make sure it's not something wasteful.

I use LEDs because I didn't like hundreds of dollars per month in power bills. My power bill was under $100 this month total. I'm just doing a small cabinet grow, so they work pretty good - don't know if they are good enough for you yet.

Here is my cabinet grow

Haight Solid State LED Grow Journal
 
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