I went with a heavier extension cord running out of my timer, straight to the power strip. I think it's a 14 gauge and it's grounded. I agree about the little brown cords that you can get at walmart for cheap. They're just waiting to burn down a house. Also, try to only get a cord that's as long as you need. If you need to go 10 feet, but are using a 100 foot cord, that's a problem. Not a hazard as much (I think) but you loose power over that far of a distance. And if you are running bigger lights, you might not be getting all that you could. Stay safe everyone!
that is a good point. you will lose a bit of power if you have a really long cord and it will produce more heat than it would if it were short because of increased resistance. +rep if I could, but I already gave you some at some point and it won't let me do it again so soon... Sorry bro.
Just wanted to say big ups and +rep to you bro! I've done the outdoor thing a couple times now and have learned some really important things about growing through that. I loved the challenge of growing outdoors, cause its so much harder to put out a quality product outdoors, imo. You have to deal with external conditions that are often out of your control. There's no timers on your lights cause its the sun and it'll do anything it damn well pleases. There's no guarantee of a self sustaining watering system either. Can't tell you how big af a pain it is to water a plant 84 times on a 100 degree day when it hasn't rained in a month. That plant will drink the ocean at that point if you let it. Then there's the whole mess of diseases, infestations and mold to worry about. Not to mention there's not much you can do in the way of fans or filtering systems for CO2 or smells. So yea, the outdoor stuff was a challenge, but a great learning experience. Now I'm getting ready to take that knowledge and apply to indoor growing. This sticky was exactly what I was looking for, since I know most of what I need to know in terms of the actual growing part. Its the indoor setup itself that has always scared me off, as I'm sure it has many else. I've always envisioned indoor growing as something left to shadow dwellers with secret underground setups who are constantly paranoid of the man coming to get them. Though I'm sure a lot of that paranoia is warranted and necessary when growing on a very large scale, I'm just now realizing that growing indoors on a small scale for personal supply is a very real and feasible thing for a lot of people, including myself. So kudos to you sir for spurring my desire to get out of the rain and into the warm comfort of the indoors!
I know this question is a bit off the main topic, but you seem to know your stuff so I'm gonna ask anyway. I've been looking into it a bit and it seems that a metal halide bulb is the way to go for vegetation and HPS for flowering. Am I correct in assuming this? Also, can you point in me in the right direction as toward what kind of space and setup is ideal for a cycle of 2-3 continuously flowering mothers? How many clones should I have in vegetation cylces while the 2 or 3 mothers are flowering? Any help you could offer is greatly appreciated! Nothing in life has ever delighted me more than growing and all of the intricacies involved in it. I never get tired of learning new things about how to grow better.
I have a 8 gauge 240 volt wire I spliced and connected to the oven outlet and fed into another room to create a 240 outlet there... Works well but remember, if you live in a warm part of the country, heat increases the resistance in a wire which means its harder for current to flow through the wire thats trying to be drawn resulting in additional heat of the wire that conducts which could result in fire! Make sure to keep your eyes peeled especially if you are wiring yourself. And if you dont know, ask. Especially if you know nothing more than plugging things into outlets and having things turn on.
You are right about the light types, but I can' guide you any more than that when it comes to cloning, space arrangments, etc. lol. I'm really not very experienced, I just know electricity. I'd ask in the indoor section. I'm sure you could get some great pointers there.
Hey Sci-Fi! you said you have a 48v and .42amp cmf fan that would give you 20.2 watts, but you would have to divide that by 1000 because of the Kwh (Killowatts per hour) and that would give you 2.2Kwh so now you multiply that by the price per killowatt which I did 12 cents because of what 13ronin said so your fan uses up $26.40 a month. = )
just something you may want to mention in the guide, 13ronin: someone made a comment recently about plugging power strips into power strips, AKA daisy chaining, to increase available outlets. obviously this is very dangerous and not to be done, so you may want to mention that. also maybe just a little subsection about extension cords and the load they can handle. i know you already made a mention of them, but what some people dont realize is they need to find the shortest, fattest one for optimum performance from their lights.
Thank you for starting this thread! We were discussing this very issue this evening. I said, "I bet I can find the answers in the GrassCity forums", and I did. It has answered my wattage and safety questions. Now I can proceed with confidence. + rep. Thank you to the other contributers in this thread for thier valuble input as well.
I'm looking into getting a new lighting system preferably a 600w or 400w e-ballast for a 3x3 space. I keep reading that e-ballast save electricity and save money with soft start technology, and it using less power. Does this mean that a 600w ballast uses 600w of power or that it produces 600w of power and uses less? I'm trying to figure the most economical set-up. I would like the 600w because i would like larger plants with heavy dense flowers, but $120+ a month for power is truly more than i feel comfortable paying, but will for a better final product. Also I have a plug that an old electic stove pluged in is there any way i can use that for my lights? the plug is nothing like i've seen before. Thanks for the help!
The cost of this light WILL NOT BE $120. To find out what you get charges per kWH look at YOUR bill. My electricity costs 3.7 cents a kWH. COST FOR VEG...18 Hrs X 600 Watts = 10.8 kWH's a day X 3.7 cents = 40 cents a day X 30 days a month = $12.00 NOT $120.00 Also, ballasts have efficiency ratings. You cannot get more then 600 watts of power off 600 watts of power. It actually takes MORE then 600 watts to run a 600 watt bulb. The ballast uses power, too. It is safe to say that 600 w ballast you have uses around 650-700 actual watts. Lighting doesn't really use THAT MUCH power. Look at the Water heater label in your house... its around 4,000 Watts isn't it?
DUDE I don't know how you are doing your math... but.... 48V x .42 Amp = 20.2 watts 20.2 Watts X 24 Hrs a day = 484.8 WAtts = .4848 kWHs a day X 30 days = 14.54 kWH's a month X 12 cents a kWH = $1.75 A MONTH to run this fan. ALSO------- 12 cents a kWH is VEERRRRY expensive. I pay only 3.7 cents per kWH in the NORTH WEST. USA I have 200 Watts of CFL, 250 watts of HPS ........ I live in a 2 bedroom apt....... my elecricity through the Winter (for whole house) was no more then $70 a month. My bill for March was $41.26. STOP BEING AFRAID!!!!!!!AND GROW!!!!!!! FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY!!!!!!! The only way you have to worry is if you are growing with multiple 1,000 Watters.... and an HVAC system. The largest fear factor should be the smell. I switched to budding and after 3 weeks the whole apartment RANKED OF WEED. invest in a carbon filter.... or if you are a broke student like me, Rig an "AIR NEUTRALIZER BUCKET"
For me it does we have i light going already and 5 people living in our house. because of my location i pay .41 a kWH. So thats 10.8 x .41 = $4.43 x 30 = $132. My power bill is regularly $250 a month, my one flatmate pays $80 a month for his 400w. My water heater is gas so it doesn't have a wattage. so when i calculate my 600 w light system i should do the math for like 650w to pay my share?
that's right. The info for actual used watts will be printed on the ballast. Damn bro .41 a Kwh? Ouch... Here in my neck of the woods it like .09...
Yeah it hurts and it makes me wonder if its worth while sometimes... then i spark up some home grown and i remember why its worth it But I'm still curious if i should get a 400 or 600 w for my 3x3 I'm going to go with a SOG but i want some quality dense nugs on some 3 ft plants so i'm thinking 600 for the penetration purposes. Does anyone agree or do you think a 400 would provide the similar results (obviously not the same but respectably close)
Speaking as someone who has a 400 watt system who really wishes he had gotten a 600 watter, I can say you should definitely go for the 600 watt system. The 400 works well but especially for a SOG a 600 watter would be nice. Still reasonable in terms of power draw but you get more bang for your buck.
could any one take a look at my post u all seem no ur stuff lol would be a big help cheers.. love this post.. keep it going
It would be helpful if you said what post also sci-fi i know what you mean that's why I'm looking more seriously into the 600 system but i was recently looking through a hydro farm catalog and came across a 400w e-ballast interchangeable system that produce more lumens but i gotta get the article for more info but i think its like 10,000 more lumens.