Hey so I've done a few grows with 800W of light in the past and gotten pretty good results, however I now have a new apartment and was looking to make the switch to a larger grow space. With the space I have available I could fit quite a few lights but I dont want to push the energy bill to a suspicious level... I plan on using 2 4x8 flood tables and 4 1000W lights with two lights covering each table... not sure if it matters but i live in NY (not city) and do you think that running these 4000W of light for 12 hrs a day plus the electricity for a t5 or two in the veg room would be too noticeable? This is a 2BR apt with 1 guy living in it any input would be great thanks
rule of thumb is 1-1000k per room in house.... so a 3bdrm hosue could do 3 maybe 4 light(without be supicious) anymore then your taking chances... personally in an apartment your crazy....
What if i were to run two 1ks during daytime 12 hr and 2 1ks during nighttime 12 hr would that have any effect?
4000w all at the same time sounds verry risky. I do, however, like your idea of 2k during day and 2k at night to keep from running 4k all at once. That to me sounds more reasonable, and that's how I plan to go about it when I start growing big. Rumour has it that some utility companies have an automated system that searches for algorithms in energy usage that mimics growers' light cycles, ie 18/6, 12/12, so, you'd be ok on that front if they did do that in NYC. Also, have you considered light movers? You could run just 2 1k lights over the same space you would grow with 4 and save money on lights and energy.
If I were to get some sort of light mover and use only 2 1ks... How much more light would i be getting, I guess i dont really see how light movers can get the same yields as if the light were just permanently in one spot? But basically what I am hearing from everyone is 4k in a 2br apt is too risky... which i dont want... does anyone have any input on how i can maximize production in this 2 br space? i was hoping to get something to the order of 5-10lbs per harvest n i have like $4k to invest
THAT IS NO RUMOR. That is how some large growers got caught. A friend of mine had the ultility company show up (un announced) and they wanted to see why his consumption was "high". They walked away when he popped the door to the garage and they saw the CNC machine. The power companies would overlay the useage to a grow profile and if they matched and the power consumption was "high" they would forward that info to the LEO's who would overfly the structure with a FLIR. I saw the pictures of the "hotspots" throughout the house (grow areas) before they kicked in the doors. If you a small grower, I wouldn't worry, but I wouldn't brag about it either.
For your 12/12X2 setup here is an awesome home made relay you can build: http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-room-design-setup/507280-how-build-relay-flip-flop.html
I don't think 4000w built into 2 relayed rooms would be obvious. It can be made obvious, but that's entirely up to you. The relays cut your ballast numbers in half, and save a shit ton of cash. Premade boxes are roughly 3X that much.
Don't worry about the apartment factor i wouldnt be doing it if i didnt already have the plan only thing i really want to know is how much wattage i can get away with using on the grid... i dont really understand what these relay things are supposed to be doing... And I am pretty sure that I would get more bud from 4 600s than from just 2 1000s... maybe im wrong but from what ive read i thought 600s would be the better way to go...
I'd like to think that whole, power company monitoring the usage cycles based on hours is hog wash. I've been into salt water reef fish tanks that are hundreds of gallons and take a shit ton of light to light properly. Just go look at what people use on big tanks, us reef people run our lights 12/12 just like growers do. In the years I've been in the reef world I've never heard of anyone having the police come because of suspicious electricity usage. This may be true if you have a grow HOUSE but a few thousand watts, I doubt it.
4000watts of light = A GROW HOUSE Funny you should mention salt water. I equate my hydroponics hobby as about equal or more trouble then raising salt water tropicals. More rewarding IMO
Or 1 OK sized bedroom with 4, 1000W lights. 4,000 watts isn't going to adequately light a whole house.
OP says that is just the lighting. Figure another 10% just for cooling and that doesn't even include anything else. That is a lot of power consuption. I estimate about 6KW@hr.
OK everyone has sufficiently hated on the 4000W idea can we get past that and talk about how much wattage i can safely get away with in a 2br apt now? 4 600W good bad? more less?
I would find out how much the place is wired for and work backwards. You might have to add a breaker to get to the yields you expect to end up with.
Its already been said twice but i dont think your listening. The rule of thumb is 1000w PER BEDROOM. Thats it. Very simple math. 2bedroom x 1000w = 2000w You can pretty much get away with 2000w without drawing attention. Anything over 2000w is a risk. Your making this more complicated than it needs to be.
just to give my input here, i wouldnt recommend as some of the other users have said that 3000w of juice is too much. I personally think the only way you are going to get away with this is to run a 3 x 400w's in 1 room so 1200w and in another room if you still want to be greedy then get a generator and another 1000 or 2000 sip some petrol into it, it may be more in the run but it will save you getting caught. dont forget once your caught ... your caught and you cant turn back time. so watch out bro. anything more than this is starting to get risky, i live in the uk and its different law's here slightly and i imagine that the us law would strike down a lot more on a serious grow that your obviously planning. my 2 cents thats all.