400w HPS too much for SMALL home?

Discussion in 'Growing Marijuana Indoors' started by Synapse, Jul 11, 2007.

  1. Hello,

    I'll soon be creating my first grow closet in my small 2 bedroom home. My main concern is, of course, having the power company notice a sudden spike in power usage.

    It's a fairly small home, two medium sized bedrooms, a medium sized kitchen, and living room. I don't know the square footage but I'd guess around, I dunno, 900-1000 sq feet. I do not pay the electric bill to see how many kwh we usually use, nor do I have access to any past statements.

    ANYWAYS: A 400 watt HPS grow light w/ built in ballast really uses ~600 watts when you factor in the balast, etc. That's nearly 15 KWH per day. Now doing a quick google search of "average american household kwh" results in the U.S. DOE stating that the avg house uses 888 kwh per month. Just the grow light alone would use ~450 kwh per month.

    What do you guys think, too risky or no?

    EDIT: I'm aware that the light will not always be on 24/7 (or 18/6, whatever) however during some months it will, yeah? >_>
     
  2. you could probably replace the lights in your home with all low wattage cfls, do a little conservation and be fine. I mean a home computer usually uses the same amount of energy as the 400 hps. You should be fine, and with summer upon us hey it's nothing to see a major spike with all this heat (that is if your in the states).
     
  3. I agree with s0t7e2m3. Change all other household bulbs to CFL's and conserve energy elsewhere. Doing that might even LOWER your house bill while using the HPS. Otherwise, I don't think 400-500 extra watts will tip them off.
     
  4. Who told you about the BS power spike lie?
    Complete and total myth.

    The reason growers get busted from the power companies is for stealing power (hot-tap).

    I have a father and a brother who work for Cal-Edison/SDGE. Not only is it against the law for them to turn over personal information without a warrent/subpena, its just not practical. Thousands of devices and habbits cause tremendous usage spikes in millions of homes.

    My brother's outfit has helped bust hundreds of growers in San Diego. It is always because of power theft. This is how the urban mith got started about power spikes causing busts.

    Now if you get busted and the DA wants to pin-point the day you started growing, he can subpena your power usage from your electric company.

    Go ahead and run 5000W of grow lamps, or start baking cookies for your local Starbucks in your electric oven, no one will care as long as you pay the bill.
     
  5. According to the hydro magazine I got, it has a huuuggee power chart for all different power rates and watt systems, and a 400 at 12 cents (fuel and energy combined) is 19.78 a month running 12 on 12 off
     
  6. Ok thanks guys, I feel alot better now :wave:
     
  7. I know this is old but I thought I would help out a little bit:
     

    Attached Files:

  8. the problem is not that the power spikes, but WHEN. The company can technically see you switch from 18/6 to 12/12 but no company will notice a small personal house grow. Im talking big commercial grows.

    but think about it. say you bought a high performance computer with a 600w power supply. same shit. how does the company know? you'll be fine.
     
  9. You didnt read my post did you.
    COmputers use about 100-150Watts. Power supply ratings are RATINGS. not only do computers almost NEVER use the full rating, it takes a serious machine with several hard drives, CDroms, and incredible processing power (that is being used all the time!) and a big bad video card to even come close to using 300~ watts of power.
    And as to power spikes again I made plenty of references as to things in the house that use far more power than a 1000W light as far as power "spikes" however its DUTY CYCLE you need to watch. Ovens & A/C units dont run for 12 hours at a time. In fact if you listen to your oven it probably turns on and off several times per minute. A solid drain of 1800Watts for 30 seconds at a time could be an oven, but a solid drain of 1500Watts per 18 hours... couldnt be an oven... and if your A/C system is flipping on while that light is running thats an additional 1200-2500Watts coming and going every 20-40 minutes.
     
  10. A 1200 watt grow room would equal about a beasty home entertainment system, with multiple subwoofers powered by plate amps.
     
  11. dude, you say you don't see the power bill, or have access to previous bills. is this house rented? not a good idea to grow in a rented place, unless either your landlord is cool/or never ever comes around or inspects. just keep in mind he may never come around to check up, but if you have a problem he might be.
     
  12. I'm in a four bedroom apartment usinig a 600w HPS.
    GO CRAZY!
     
  13. Hey Synapse I live in a house almost exactly as you described. I have 2 250w HPS lights running and it adds about $40 to my bill including my fan. Ive had no problems with the electricity bill getting out of hand. Like some have stated above, the electric company doesnt give a f*ck about what your doing as long as you pay. Hope that clears up any worries. Have fun growing.
     
  14. foreskin hit it on the head. STEALING electricity leads to investigations. Pay your bill on time, no delinquencies and most times the last time human eyes see your actual bill is when it gets put in the envelope to go to your house.
     
  15. I've been running a 400watt HPS in a small 2-bdrm house with no problems. Like others have said, it consumes about as much power as an extra computer. Change your regular household lights to CFL's and it'll only cost you around $20 extra per month, which the power company won't care about.
     
  16. The way i see it is that most(if not all) electrical companies are million dollar corporations who LOVE making money. If you start using more electricity they will make MORE MONEY...as long as yo pay your bill. So i say go ahead and pick up that 400 watter and grow some fine herb...hell use it to pay for the damn bill if money ever gets tight!:smoke:
     

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