I am sure atleast a few of you out there use a generator to grow indoors instead of hooking up to your electricity (maybe in a shed or something) and I had a few questions -How many watts if your generator -How many watts do you use for all your lights, fans, etc -How much gas do you use per day I'm just looking for some solutions that I can use to grow indoors without being hooked to my electricity. Thanks.
It may be cheaper. However, when your power company notices an unwarranted 1500watt increase for 12-16 hours straight a day, you might have legal issues to start worrying about.
1500 watts is a relatively small amount of increased use and would not even register as a blip on the power Co's radar. Even 3000-4000 is still not huge for a 3-4 bedroom house. Generators: Make noise , Produce heat and exhaust, Cost fair bit, require daily filling, require monthly oil changes (with constant use) Genny grows are possible, but unless you are living "off the grid" its generally more work and $$$ than its worth. If you are serious though I'd look into the Honda series of generators. I keep an Eu3000 as an emergency back-up. http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/...on=P2GG&modelname=EU3000IS&modelid=EU3000ISAN
Yeah, I already have a honda generator that is made to be super quiet and is all outfitted with rubber shit to reduce vibration. The venting, heat, etc isn't a problem I've got that under control. I will be checking my plants daily so filling will be no problem. I plan to have 2 400 watt lights (between 10 and 25 plants) just curious how much gas a day this will use.
Are you using a Honda EU1000? My experience has been that an EU1000 will burn about 1-2 gallons per 12 hour while the EU3000 will be 4-5 gallons for 12 hours.
Say 4.5 gallons a day x 7 days x 4 weeks x 4 months = ~500 gallons x ~$3.50/gallon = $1750. With about 2000 watts (don't want to fully load the generator plus fans and shit.) you could have 5 400watt lights with 5 plants per 400watts. 5 plants per light x 5 lights = 25 plants. Cost you 1/2 pounds (depending on the marijuana) to pay for the cost. Not bad. Siphoning 500 gallons in 4 months wouldn't be to hard if you want to go that route not for me though you could actually get that in one night. Pull up to a gas station that doesn't get a lot of traffic at night (kinda hard to find but). you steal someones truck for the night and get like a 100 gallon tank or however big in the back. The gas for the gas station is pumped into tanks and 70% of the where they pump the gas is usually right on the ground (no locks on it) near the actual pumps. Just pull up, pop off the cover unscrew the cap and drop down a tube and go to town. You'll need people on either sides of the street to watch for cars you might have to stop and few times while cars drive by but shouldn't take long. I'd rather just pay for the gas but idk.
Running only 2 - 400w lights is relatively inefficient use of a 3000watt generator. You'd be better served by either moving to a smaller genny or adding more lights. Potentially your EU3000 could power 2 - 1000 watt lights with plenty of juice to spare for fans. This could handily light 40 ft2 with 25-30 plants.
Power co isn't going to notice or care about a 1,500 watt increase as long as the bills are getting paid, especially if your power bill is on auto pay. There are too many reasons a power bill can go up. Hot tubs, air conditioners, floor heaters, electric ovens, etc.
Very true plus its not against the law to use 2000 extra watts every month. LIKE YOU SAID PAY YOUR BILL NO PROB.
I use 4x600w NFT. Recently my lecky company sent me an estimated bill. I went to my online billing and gave them the true reading. At first they came back and said the thought my reading was wrong, I confirmed it was correct. I waited 2 weeks and still no paper bill, or online bill? I called them and asked where my bill was? The woman said the bill was in the hands of another dept because of the unusual amount of electricity used, EEEEEEK. Freaked me out! It just so happens that I bought a hot tub a few months back and told them that it runs 24/7. I know for a fact that the spa runs at 40p (80cents) a day, very cheap! I use 3000w in my GR, 4x600w and pumps and fans. Anyway, I started to look at generators, a quick search landed me looking at this thread. Growing has become VERY popular here in the UK, 90% of all the puff in the uk has been home grown. There's no doubt in my mind that the Police have notified the energy companies to look out for extreme use of power. BTW, I live in a 3 bedroom detached cottage!
Pay your bill and the electricity company won´t give a stuff. The more you burn the better they like it, as long as you pay. Generators are one HELL of a price to run (specially here in Europe) - just pay the electric company.
Scotlander - That must have been fucking scarey. Do you grown your loft? I use a budbox in my loft which is 3x3x6 feet and have a 400w grow light. I suppose I've got nothing to worry about. My loft is an awkward shape, so the tallest I can have the grow room is 180cm and the widest 100cm. I wanted a grow room with that height and width, but then much longer/deeper but couldnt find anything on the market in the UK. Annoying to say the least. Whats your setup, if you don't mind me asking. If yours is in the loft, what do you do in the summer? There were two days this summer that absolutely murdered my plants 2 weeks from harvest. I was gutted to say the least. Do you have an extraction fan and an inlet fan? I've got a 125m extraction fan, but need a decent cheap'ish way of getting fresh air into the grow area. Got any tips?
what a terrible idea. not trying to bash you or anything. but im in louisiana and we have to use generators all the time bc of hurricanes.....gustav just passed and we had to use one. they use a lot of gas and make a lot of noise. people are going to be wondering why the hell your using a generator when you have electricity which will bring out snooping neighbors. even if your in the sticks that means the noise will be audible even further away because its so quite out there. plus the 500 dollars for the generator itself. the hundreds if not thousands of dollars your gonna have to pay it would be cheaper and a lot easier to use your regular electricity. even if you siphon gas you could get caught doing that then go to jail while your generator runs out of gas and your plants die.... like other people said the power company isnt going to care as long as your paying your bills
I don't find growing complicated, quite the contrary, growing is piss easy IMO! Why even leave a comment like that? TOSSER! Yes Glassy I grow in my attic, I still don't have my bill yet. I moved most of my stuff out, babies are being looked after by a fellow grower. I also have a good reason for growing, I HAVE MS!