Hello, this past year I have harvested a few grows using two 400W HPS lamps. In the very near future I plan on adding two 600W HPS to the equation... total this is 2000W first of all I will most likely be living in a single BR apt and want to have two separate flowering rooms each with 1 400W and 1 600W so 1000W/room and their light schedules will be opposite one another i.e 9am - 9pm lights on room 1 9pm - 9am lightsd on room 2... is this going to be a noticeable amount of power usage? I anticipate that for a 1 br it will be, and was going to get a generator... if not let me know it will save me $1k I was looking at the Honda quiet gas powered generators... does anyone have any experience using these? also... the generator is rated at 2000W, which is exactly what I will be using for the lights... I know that it is exactly 2000W of light but will this work? The way I see it there will only ever be 1000W of light on at a time, so would that mean I could get away with a 1000W generator? These are questions I dont want to ask at Home Depot so I'm hoping someone here can save me the trouble... Thanks guys
Nice dude!!! This is kinda ironic because, Just recently I spent a few hours at my local gardening store putting together a new set up for myself. I asked a similar question cause Ill be running. 2 x 600 w digital HPS 1 x 400 w HPS digital in my bloom room and 6 40w T5- CFLs over my Veg room. The guys at the store basically told me not to worry at all about running 1800 w in my bloom room aswell as the 2x 50w intake and outake , 30 watt scrubber fan and the 2 pumps(800 gph and 250 gph) for my 4 x8 and 4 x 2 tables. The fact your running em back to back instead of all at once will spread your consumption out. I wouldnt worry at all.
Yea but don't you live in Canada? I live in the states... dunno how much that matters but I'm not trying to go to jail, how long have you been running that much power for and do you also live alone?
If your going to be living in an apt. were would you be keeping the generator, surely you can't keep it inside the place!!!
Ive been growing off and on for around 12 years. No you dont wanna use a generator in a apt. My current op is in a apartment. My very first hydro op was in a 2 bedroom apartment. I had a 4 x 8 32 hole table with 2 1000w HPS and 1 1000 watt MH. I did that for 2.5 years without a worry. I always look at regular household appliances and guage my theory based on the wattage. Example. I have a 16000 BTU air conditioner that would run me more power then all my T5s- Pumps-Fans and 0ne 400 and one 600 watt light combined. Small heaters , dryers , stoves , refridgerators even some PC's run high on power. I would not even bother with a generator. Do you pay power in your apartment? I do in my current place , but didnt in the apartment I listed above. LOL and just for your info , Pot aint legal in Canada atm . Its not even decriminalized at the moment. I can get in shit just like yall. Its just far more likely that without any kinda proof that Im involved in any kinda of sale of the drug, that I would end up getting a far lesser charge or sentence then the War on Drugs the States brings to the table. I really dont think that running a 1000 watts an hour at 24 hours a day is anything to worry about.
To answer your question about the generator, They have a rating of max. output. That is not what you can run constantly. Usually, the total constant power output is around 20% less than max power output. I have a Coleman 6500 watt and the constant maximum I can run is around 4500-5000 watts. So you will need to get a larger generator to accommodate 2000 watts constantly. Plus they are extremely LOUD and the gas tanks are only enough to run for usually 12 hrs. at 50% power and 6 hrs at 100% I just saw in another thread about a power inverter. That may be the way to go. Check it out.
Running 2000 watts of lighting (plus more for ventilation, right?) is too much for a 1BR. A generator is very loud and needs to run outside, you can't run it constantly in an apartment complex.
Or you can do it a much safer way. Buy an electric kiln: You can find them for less then a new Honda generator. Hook it up in the garage to the 220 breaker (dryer plug). Call the local power company to inspect your line for safe operation of this beast. My power company does it free (have to wait two weeks), but some will charge $120 for the service call. This thing take 5000 watts of juice to run (double in some cases). They will add the service remarks to your account. Your power consumption won't be a factor. I have seen this done at a few commercial grow ops and it is smooth. Glass blowing is another method. Buy some clay, create a few bongs, sell them on GrassCity, and make a million dollars while growing da kine weed.
I think that one is like $800. We got two for that price on Craigs list. They come in all sizes. I have seen them in action and it's the way to go.