Would Solar or Wind power be possilbe?

[MushuHappiness]

Just in theory... If you built say.. A shack in your backyard and had it run on Solar/Wind power.. Could you effectively grow weed in that shack and not have to rely completely on power from your grid. Keep electrical cost down especially if growing over a long period of time? Use the solar/wind energy to power the lights during the day and run on the grid at night to keep energy costs down... Just a thought

[hitmanbob]

you could. if you have a shack in the middle of nowhere where noone is ever going to find it, you could buy a few solar panels and put them on the roof of your place, but the thing is, just the initial cost of the panels might outweigh the potential money to be had back

[MushuHappiness]

Well.. Lets say you were a white collar worker in the middleclass with a nice house, and a "stroage" shed in your back yard.. I imagine you could turn something like that into a nice little grow spot to grow for just yourelf and friends and dont plan on selling... Or would the smell of say 4 plants be that much that neighbors would notice or a cop rollin through the neighborhood with a dog notice... Or would that need a carbon filter or something...

Cuz really.. I've got a nice career and what not lined up and im only 21... I enjoy smoking weed, I just want to not have to worry about going out and buying weed all the time when I can grow it in my backyard in a storage shed, small... say 2-4 plants

Ps.. Im new to all this so i've probably got alot of naive dreams till i learn alot more than i do now :P

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by MushuHappiness

Well.. Lets say you were a white collar worker in the middleclass with a nice house, and a "stroage" shed in your back yard.. I imagine you could turn something like that into a nice little grow spot to grow for just yourelf and friends and dont plan on selling... Or would the smell of say 4 plants be that much that neighbors would notice or a cop rollin through the neighborhood with a dog notice... Or would that need a carbon filter or something...

Cuz really.. I've got a nice career and what not lined up and im only 21... I enjoy smoking weed, I just want to not have to worry about going out and buying weed all the time when I can grow it in my backyard in a storage shed, small... say 2-4 plants

Ps.. Im new to all this so i've probably got alot of naive dreams till i learn alot more than i do now :P

If you're running a major grow operation with hundreds of plants fed by power-hungry HPS lights, then worry about what the power company thinks of your electric bill. For a handful of plants for your own personal use, the power company isn't going to know if you have a grow-lamp running or if you just bought a new tank for exotic fish. More importantly, they won't care.

I had a conversation with my wife the other day where I ended up pointing out to her that the 20 25-watt light bulbs on our bathroom mirror used a total of 500 watts, which was a little bit more than twice the wattage used by the grow lights in my closet. Does anyone really imagine the power company would call the DEA if I left my bathroom lights on all day?

If you can't get over the paranoia on the electricity angle then start replacing the light-bulbs in your house with energy efficient compact fluorescents. Chances are you will more than offset any extra power usage from your grow.

[MushuHappiness]

Good Points.. I just see a bunch of people that post in the new growers forums are using these huge lights for only like 4-5 plants.. I would think you'd be able to use the little 100 watt lights and still be fine with your plants health and growth wise.. So that was where the solar question came from.. they make it seem like you need all this power... Yay for research planning