I'm a new grower and my parents are bitching about the electricity the 250w high pressured sodium bulb will be putting off. They say it's too much. I've tried explaining that's what the ballast is for, they won't listen. As long as I have a 250w hps ballast it should be fine right? If anyone has any knowledge about electricity and ballast let me know.
I'm not sure what you mean but a 250w HPS bulb and ballast uses about 280 watts combined. If you run it for 12 hours per day that equals just over 3 kilowatt hours. My electricity costs £0.14 per kWh so that's about 42 pence per day. How much do you pay for your electricity? And how many hours per day is your light on?
I also use a 250 watt light. My light bill only went up $17-20 a month including light, fans, timer, etc... Tell your parents to see how your bill changes after 1 month. If the jump in price is negligible, tell them to stop bitching. If not, then move out.
Average power supply of a PC is 500w. Turn your computer off more often and other electronics that sit on idle. You will probably not even see a raise in your bill.