electric bills

[Pactivist]

I was gonna upgrade and add more light to my budding room, until I got my last electric bill that is. what I noticed is that since I moved, without adding any new equipment, my electric bill has doubled +. I know that this is due to the excessive rates charged by the stupid co-op that I am forced to be part of. we have no choice of electric providers or really anything else for that matter. So here is my question - How do the mid to large growers keep their electric bills down? I'm talking using 1000w or higher in a residence where people live? Any tips would be highly appreciated. peAce pacT

 

[mybeans420]

are you running 220? if not then converting everything to this current would help

 

[racketeer]

Mybeans, how would converting to 220 help? It's still going to draw the same amount of watts, just less amps.

 

[toofat]

change household bulbs

change household bulbs

You can get compact floro bulbs to replace your regular bulbs. 100 watts=27 watts. You can also get floros for outside. HD or Lowes carry them.

 

[racketeer]

And do like your daddy told your ass . . . "Boy why ain't choo turn dem damn lights off??!! You still in dat room?!"

 

[Flowerman]

Also keeping extra stuff turned off, like tv's, computers, lights off when you're not using them. And if you can, rooms that you use alot, switch the bulbs to fluorescents as already stated above. Also replacing old shit like refrigerators, will also make a big difference, even though they don't last like the old ones do. But I will say the old ones draw so much damn power, it is unreal. And keep everything on energysave that has that option. You should really be able to go up to about 2500W total without a problem if you follow the above.
>>> Also if you're not cloning, keep the lights from 18/6 or 20/4 for vegging. I know some people like to have their lights on 24 hours, and don't turn them down till flowering. By turning down the time, this will save you some as well.

 

[Pactivist]

Good Ideas so far

Good Ideas so far

I too was wondering about the 220 v thing, how does this help? You are right racketeer, gotta turn off all the shit I am not using, the kids and wife can go outside now, it's summer right? compact fluoro's are now on the agenda, good tip too fat, thanks. so is it better to try to reduce my electric usage, or to come up with some reason for using so much? what do you all do? I do not have that big of a grow, 30-40 in flower, 800w, and my usage is nuts. The rates are nuts too. Also, to add more fuel to the fire, my electric company sent me a letter asking about the excessive amount of kw my house is using compared to my neighbors, so I just told them that we were in the process of remodeling and were using lots of power tools . again thanks pacT

Thanks flowerman, you must have been posting at the same time as me, 2500 watts? wow I wish! You may be right, but I need to cut some of the other usage in my house and possibly redo all the wiring. I put my entire room on one 20 amp circuit, and I think this might be part of the problem. please help an electrically impaired hippie.

I guess that living among the Amish that my electrical usage would be high compared to them huh?

 

[nackeragua]

You can get compact floro bulbs to replace your regular bulbs. 100 watts=27 watts. You can also get floros for outside. HD or Lowes carry them.

i would not use cfl bulbs to try bring any buds to full flower. you will be very disappointed. cfl are fine for mothers and clones but you need the more powerful spectrum of light to bring them to flower that hps give.

 

[blazeoneup]

Mybeans, how would converting to 220 help? It's still going to draw the same amount of watts, just less amps.

Actually its drawing the exact same amps/watts, The difference is its splitting the amps between 2 hots is all, If your running 9 amps at 110 it will split it into 4.5 amps per hot at 220 still totals 9 amps no matter what...

volts x amps equals watts, 110x9=990w 220x4.5=990w the difference between 110 and 220 is there is 2 110 lines carrying the load in 220. If it was less amps it would be less overall watts which would be cheaper but its not less amps or less watts there for its not any cheaper....

My best advice to the thread started is that, You lower your house-hold usage as much as possible as stated previously by others change your incandescent bulbs for compact floro's. I wouldnt reccomend upping your wattage seeing you've been contacted and asked about your high usage with the 800 your currently using. So just lowering the house-hold usage as much as possible will be enough to prevent you from hearing from the electric company again...

 

[blazeoneup]

i would not use cfl bulbs to try bring any buds to full flower. you will be very disappointed. cfl are fine for mothers and clones but you need the more powerful spectrum of light to bring them to flower that hps give.

You mis-understood his statement. He ment change all the incandescent house-hold light bulbs for compact floro's not his HID lights. He ment house-hold bulbs like bathroom light lamps in bedroom ect...

 

[Jnugg]

The electric company contacted you about your extra usage as to your neighbors?!

WTF?!!!!

800w ain't shit man....I'd tell the electric company this..."What does it matter if I am using more electricity in my house as compared to my neighbors,Ipay on time everytime so what's wrong with me using more power then my neighbors?"

Just tell them you work on computers in your spare time and have 3 or 4 hooked up at one time,or you can tell them you bought a new jacuzzi or a heated pool....so many things you can say and I am suprised they contacted you about 800w!

How high is your power bill?What do you pay for the first KWH and every KWH after that and what are your fuel charges?

Where I am at I get my first KWH at $0.06 and every KWH after that costs $0.07...I believe my fuel charges are $45 a month.

Check your water heater...is it electric...set up a bit high?Turn it down to 120-130 degrees F....replace all house lights with compact Flouros (100w cfl produces 100w of light while only using 27w of electricity).....If your appliances (washer,dryer,refridgerator etc. etc.) have energy saving options the please use them.

 

[stretchpup]

I'm talking completely out my arse here, but I notice on my bill stub our power co's offer a "plan" to go on based on estimated usage or something. Instead of a monthly pill per kw hour I believe they average it and send the same flat bill monthly. I've never read it fully as I'm not interested with my small setup. It clams to save a few bucks though...

Not sure but worth looking into maybe...

 

[cobain420]

Personally I agree with blazeoneup.

If the electric company has already contacted you, for whatever reason then I wouldn't add any extra usage. In fact, I would be considering down-sizing the current setup.

I hate to discourage anyone from growing this fantastic plant, but don't want to see anyone end up behind bars either.

Good luck, let us know how you make out.

 

[Guest]

I run between 1000-4000 watts of lighting, depending on the time of year. Going to 220 will do nothing to cut you electricity bill.

The way I cut my bill is to go from 24/0 during veg to 18/6. Then I only go a maximum of 5-6 weeks in veg, and force flower in 12/12. The best way to save is to cut back on veg time, but you will cut back on yield also.

Remember, 1000 watts systems can veg 50 or more and finish 25+ decent plants, and yeild 2 lbs+ with the right strain. Tryin doing that with a smaller light.

 

[Maj.PotHead]

i would not use cfl bulbs to try bring any buds to full flower. you will be very disappointed. cfl are fine for mothers and clones but you need the more powerful spectrum of light to bring them to flower that hps give.

duder this thread was 3yr's old until you dug it up im surprised others havent noticed


05-30-2004 07:29 AM
Pactivist


Today 03:15 AM
nackeragua


and honestly dont dissss on CFL's theres many ppl here who have great yields usen them. pluss if you really read some of the replys it was suggested to replace the incandessent bulbs with cfl's .

heres a cfl grow from start to finish in a rubbermaid tub
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=31605 over 106,000 views over 1k in replys in under 1yr

 

[Guest]

As stated above and as I understand, 220 is more efficient than 120. Less energy is lost in the transmition of the 220 than the 120. This efficiency is why 220 will lower your bill. It won't be by much, but 220 will lower your bill. I promise as I have converted just over a year ago and have seen the slight drop.

My job, well I am also an electrical engineer at a coal burning power plant.

Don't tell me that 220 won't do anything. 220 is more efficient than 120 and therefore less energy is used.

 

[Guest]

It seems there is a difference in opinion about cost savings and voltage levels. I spoke to electricians and they told me it should save money, which makes no sence to me.

Then I just spoke to an advanced electrical engineer, who has built projects that would blow your mind, and he confirmed that electrical companies charge by the Kilowatt, so if you have 2 1000 watt bulbs, 1 on 110-120 and one on 220-240, the same amount of Kilowatts will be consumed, despite the voltage difference. The amps will be lower on the 220 system, which will allow more lights on the same size wire.

 

[Guest]

Ask your advanced electrical engineer about the energy lost in transmition. That is the real deal.

 

[Guest]

Well there is a thing called the Power Factor (PF), and if current lags the voltage, then some current is wasted. That wasted current will cost money. Apparently this can happen alot in home environments where certain appliance motors can cause current and voltage misalignment.

Maybe this is why you are seeing cost savings at 220v also? Most home appliances are not running on that 220v system, and the PF is more in unity.

 

[anikas88]

..most first time growers make alot mistakes with electricity either theyre too paranoid about adding a light or are too brazen and use up too much..like i was really parnoid about adding a 600 watt light for my first grow..my bill didnt go up that much like 5 or 6 dollars...now that i plan adding some big lights though i would do what other people suggest like replace all the bulbs in the house with low wattage cfls... turn down the water heater buy a few degrees...turn off all the lights not being used and unplug any appliances i dont need...wash clothes less often ( bigger loads instead of washing a few shirts every other day)...