electricity consumption is huge to me starting another grow. have done plenty in past, some good strains. in well constructed cabinets. one thing i am a complete newb about is lighting my thoughts are not to use my 600 watt hps anymore and go with a 250 watt hps or the equivalent with cfl's but i also am mindful about flowering size anyone think they have the ultimate low electricity consumption grow offer me some advice. a whole grow with cfl's would be great, keep down heat big time and money lol thanks
Well, the most efficent are low pressure sodium lamps but they have size restictions, second is high pressure sodium lamps. They will end up being ~100 more lumens per wall then a CFL in the same area. HPS 150 lumens per watt. CFL 45-60 lumens per watt. keep in mind those are averages. there are always some exceptions to the rule. (according to wikipedia )
Cfls are great. But your power usage can be just as much if you use a shit load of bulbs. How big of space are we talking. Give some more info and I'd be glad to throw some ideas yer way.
was thinking a space of about 3 feet cube i appreciate the ideas so far, but the plan would be basically veg with the same lights (cfl's) 18 hours on then flower 12/12 with the same space and lighting ill do my clones separate smaller area with cfls too. anyone get around the timed lighting schedule so ts not obvious to electric co. ? btw thats more the reason than cost just so you guys know. lol anything else you can offer me wold be cool, thanks
anyone get around the timed lighting schedule so ts not obvious to electric co The electric company isn't worried about a 600W lamp. If you run it everyday for 18 hours it will increase your bill by 30 bucks. A small price to pay considering how much an abundance of light affects harvest. If it makes you feel better just start your growing "day" at 6:00pm-6:00am. That is what I do--not to hide the consumption--but to keep temps down while the light is on. Your other option is LED which runs with very low wattage. I bought some blue spectrum panels to play with in my mother room. I once touched it with a static charge and it lit up half the LED bulbs!!! But then you are spending several hundred dollars for LED to save a few quid on your electric bill.....not exactly a net gain
The way I look at it is this; Id rather shell out money to anyone but the power company in this operation, But I'd try to cut cost on power usage other than the grow's. Try converting all your home lighting to low wattage CFLs, and be mindful of you homes power usege (minus the grow) . Don't do 24/7 with the lights, only 18/6, And run your 600. Leave the computer off when not on it. Turn off and unplug things not in use.
we used to leave our two computers on 24/7, shutting them off when not on them saved us around 40 bucks a month, maybe more. I also switched the whole house to CFL and we are more power conscious, but my 2 400w bulbs still use up a lot of power on 12/12, thats the only reason I haven't stepped up to 1k watt bulbs.