hps power consumption

Discussion in 'Lighting' started by d0p35m0k3r, Sep 13, 2011.

  1. Hello, hello,

    I am torn here and need some advice.
    I was thinking that a 150w hps would be just right for me, but in researching I've come to find out that most of the popular brands in my price range can actually consume as much as 500w of juice! Well fuck me, I'd might as well get a 400w or even a 600w, right?? Plus when you get to the higher wattage ballast I see that a lot of them are compatable with both mh and hps bulbs, and that could come in handy.
    My question is are there any power efficient 150w lights worth the cheddar, or are they all gonna drink more than one might think cuz its looking that way to me!
    Does anyone know a formula I can apply and figure the actual power consumption of a light and ballast?
    Even some good advice on something > $150 would be good. A good diy would probably be best! ...ANYTHING, I'm dead in the water here!

    Cheers,
    -d0p3-
     
  2. Most popular is the 400w or 600w HPS, bulb, thats 400 or 600w per hour, plus a bit for starting the ballast, so whatever you get billed per Kw, kilowatt hour, then it will be a percentage of that, at this level of intensity growers are more concerned about the HEAT generated from the lamp and extracting it from there grow room ..
    So a 150w hps uses 150 watts per hour of use, get the right ballast at that level you should just use 150 watts per hour, now Lumens are another story, bottomline is if you want the BEST light for a given area on a bunch of plants HPS is the way to go.

    Rule of thumb is 100 watts per square foot of growing area

    good luck

    "V"
     
  3. The ballast uses some energy, especially at start-up, but it's something in the neighborhood of 10%, I think. When I was deciding which light to buy I was obsessed with this subject, too. It was hard to find the complete specs on ads. I just checked the specs on my 150W and it says 3.2 A @ 120V. According to Ohm's law, the formula is P = IV, so P = 3.2 x 120 = 384 W. What the f? Why didn't I see that when I first got it? Maybe that's just the power at start-up. I'm gonna email the company (HTG) and ask.

    There is one brand, HID hut, that sells a 150W remote digital ballast, which is way better than an enclosed magnetic ballast, but their reflector is crappy.

    You have more options with 250W or higher, and the MH/HPS switchable ballasts are definitely a handy thing. The higher wattages are slightly more efficient, but you have to go by the size of your grow room or cab. Get the highest wattage that you can cool. I definitely recommend an air cooled hood or a cool tube. There are some DIY cool tube threads on GC.
     
  4. Thanks for ur input guys. That problem exactly what is keeping me from using a 150w! I ordered one and got it all beat up with missing parts and a busted bulb so I'm getting a refund and that's probably for the best. I'm just too poor to have it shipped back right now! Lame, right? Oh well.. as of now I'm thinking 400w, still not sure tho. I've been reading a lot of flood light conversions and I might just go that route... I just dunno!!

    ...how frustrating,
    -d0p3-
     
  5. Flood lights? Do you mean CFLs? I don't think my lamp uses anywhere near 384W because it's not that much harder to cool than the 150W of CFLs that I had in the cabinet before I bought the HPS.

    I got a response from the company, and they said it should operate at 1.3 A at 120V. I had forgotten to mention that I got the 3.2 A number from the label on the light itself and they thought I had measured it with a meter, and they asked where I measured it. I replied back and I hope to hear from them tomorrow.

    I have a feeling that it uses a spike in power at start-up. The ballast has to supply the bulb with a very high voltage when it starts up, but that's only for less than a minute.

    I think you should go with the "tried and true" lights that growers have been using for years, if not decades. CFLs will grow a nice plant, but they don't yield as much as HPS (another thing that indicates that HPS is more efficient than CFL, lumens-per-watt-wise). CFLs are harder to deal with, and by the time you buy 150W worth of CFLs and the sockets and such, you're not really saving any money over HPS. But if you're growing just one plant and you religiously adjust the bulbs to give the plant optimum light, you can have good results (check out Kamel's CFL guide.) I'll update this thread with the response from the company.
     
  6. I mean flood light, ya know like a hps shop light sold at lowes or something like that. I've seen a lot of diy guides for converting those into grow lamps, saves a bundle too.
    I am actually vegging under cfls as we speak and they are doing good! I just want something stronger to flower with, but I do plan to experiment with a cfl flowering just to see how it goes. I look forward to ur follow up cuz a 150w would be so ideal for my cabnet!
     
  7. Oh, I get it. I have this light: HTG Supply - FLORALUX 150w HPS Mini Grow Light
    For the money it's a great deal. It can be semi-air cooled with the optional 4" flange and duct fan (which I highly recommend). The downside is that the ballast is enclosed, but at under $70 it still seems better than converting a flood light. The flood light won't be any more efficient than a grow light because it's the same technology in a different housing.

    Here's a guy who actually measured the power consumption of 950W of HPS, (2x 400W + 1x 150W, and the consumption was 962W -- only 12W more than the nominal wattage. (His argument in this thread is that electronic ballasts are not that much more efficient than magnetic.)
    The Truth about magnetic ballasts power wastage! - 420 Magazine
     
  8. Figuring out your power consumption is easy. Take the watts if you want to be certain how much your whole rig uses get a Killawatt. You plut the killwatt into the wall your surge with everything plugged into it into the Killwat. On the LCD it will give you total wattage. Very usefull device..especially for finding out how much Vampire energy your electronics are using.

    Anyhow once you have that number look at your energy bill. Theres a price per kilowatt that your using. In Atlanta for myself its 11 cents per KW. Cheap.

    Then plug all of that into this.

    Costs Calculator

    So for myself 400w x 24 hours a day x 11 cents per KW is about 1 buck per day added to my energy bill.
     
  9. Thanks! I understand figuring the cost of running a device, but what I am really looking for is, example: "a 150w light actually consumes ____w, and this is how you get that number: ______"

    Fill in the blanks,
    -d0p3-
     

  10. Killawatt meter is the only way to figure it out. Its interesting to own it to. Be amazed at how much juice some stuff takes. Like Xbox 360 can be 100 watts or almost 400 depending on what your doing. You will also hate your DVR if you have one. DVRs are not low power devices, after your refrig, and water heater its turned out to be the most expensive thing to own. Fuckers run full juice 24/7. There trying to fix that though.

    [ame=http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1316017697&sr=8-3]Amazon.com: P3 International P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor: Home Improvement[/ame]
     
  11. I am so getting one of those! I would wear that bad boy out around the house! I've always wanted one of those and I didn't even realize it! I have a small recording studio in my spare bed room and would love to have something like that in there!

    Too bad I have to get the light first to find out. Guess that's what satisfaction guarantees are for!

    Thanks for the tip!
     
  12. That's a handy device to have. I did not know that DVRs use so much power. But it get's damn hot, so I shoulda figured it out by now!

    I got a response from the company. They were shocked that the light says 3.2A, and they're going to plug one into a Kill a Watt meter to see what it really uses. They said that if it really used 3.2 A it would be a puddle of melted copper in 3 hours, so they think it's an error.

    But I hunted around the web for some ballast specs, and I found a couple that have similar amperages. Here's one:
    http://www.lightbulbsurplus.com/media/data/150-HPS.pdf

    I think we need an electrical engineer to 'splain it to us. I really don't think my light uses 3.2 amps or I'd never be able to cool it in my tiny cab with the fans I'm using.

    BTW, Rhapsody, you must have the cheapest electric in the country! I pay double that.
     

  13. Yea man I suggest them to anyone even if your not growing. My whole entertainment system with it all off was sucking alot of power in sleep mode. I am at the point now that everything is hooked up to surge...cheap ones for stuff like the microwave and I physically shut them all off if I am not using it. I cut 30 bucks a month from my power bill simply doing that.

    DVRs are particularly bad as I said earlier. They use in excess of 100 watts off...24 hours a day 7 days a week.

    Another big thing is your hot water heater. When the temp dips even a degree usually they kick on and keep it constantly at whatever temp you set it at. Lower it to 125-130..which is plenty hot and youll see instant savings on your bill. Most peoples hot water heaters are jacked up to like 140-150 alot of times.

    In my quest to save to offset my old HPS light using 400watts I ended up with a cheaper bill with that on 24/7 then I did without.
     
  14. You're the man, Rhapsody! If I unplug my DVR, will I lose all of my recorded programming? And btw, that guy in the 420 mag thread that I linked to above used a similar device to the Kill a Watt.

    140 to 150 is like burn temperature water! Ours is about 130 and it's def. hot enough! (We can't control it, though. Live in an apartment and the building has a boiler for heat and water.)
     
  15. [quote name='"vashigopal"']
    Rhapsody, you must have the cheapest electric in the country! I pay double that.[/quote]

    Mine is about a penny cheaper :p
     
  16. I agree about the magnetic ballasts. That is why I went for a 1000 watt magnetic HPS instead of an electric. The costs turn to a few dollars difference and is not worth the difference...
     

  17. I fortunately live where energy is regulated so its cheap. Unregulated areas tend to be sky high.

    No you wont lose your programming but its a pain in the ass if you watch TV a fair amount most DVRs to include Tivos take like 4-5 mins alot of times to boot up. You will not be able to record obviously either.
     
  18. I sent another note to HTG and he said he didn't reply because he couldn't find my email. He said that when you turn it on the power consumption spikes for about 1 second. They have to put the highest amp draw on the label, so that's why the label says 3.2 A, but it's just for a second or so.

    Rhapsody -- I realized I can't unplug the dvr for the reasons you said -- takes 5 minutes to boot up, plus it won't record anything unless I put it on a timer (and add the 5 min boot time to each show), and I'm sure I'd screw that up. And I'd have to have a 7 day timer. In the winter it doubles as a space heater. Argh.
     
  19. I was wondering if you ever heard anything about that. I am actually waiting on the ups dude to drop off my new htg 150w hps and a roll of mylar sometime later today :)

    Yeah, I'm pretty pumped
     

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