Hey guys, new to the forum but im just about to move into my new apartment which is 2 bed 2 bath, around 900sq ft in Southern california. planning on a 9' by 9' grow tent with 4-1000watt lights, is this gonna be a problem with the electricity company? meaning will they get suspicious? cause i've calculated itd be around $600 a month for electricity. or would it be better to stick with a 4-600 watt setup to be less unconscious?
18 plants inside that 9' by 9' tent. 2 questions i pose here is 4-600 watts enough, or should i go with 4-1000 watt and is this electric consumption going to set off alarms at my local Power company
I'd be more concerned with the possibility that you likely wont be able to run that much amperage on any single circuit in that apartment... especially if any of your circuits are shared with other parts of the apartment. Of course, if you have access to the electrical panel, etc. then you could probably make it work. ... but then theres the rest of the questions that go along with a grow that size. Heating/Cooling efficiently, etc.
How about you just take it slow instead of jumpin right in to X amount of lights/fans/etc. Apts only have so much amps they can handle... and starting off like you are... is a HUGE indication you're growing. IMO, start small, maybe 1 1000 light... or hell 2 600's or 2 400's.
Mhm. The #1 question is how much do you know about electricity? Even the 4 600's in an apartment probably poses a serious problem, long before your consumption gets to the point of being noticeable by johnny law.
my circuit breaker is in the apartment so i do have access to it. im purchasing a fully set up grow room (for a good amount of $$$) here it is: Complete Grow Kit | Hydroponic Grow Rooms | Complete Grow Room so basically i need those 2 questions answered. 1. 4-600 watt or 4-1000 watt? 2. is the electric company gonna alert authorities or any red flags?
Well either will work. The 1000w will definitly be better but at the end of the day if your in a small flat then yeh I'm pretty confident that this will raise alarms :\ sucks hey. And phalanx is on the money about the electricity usage.
And you have the electrical know-how to wire new circuits, etc? ----- I realize that you only want 2 specific questions answered. However, there are many vastly more experienced people here that are seeing GIANT red flags with your proposal thus far, and each additional detail provided shows you dont really know what youre getting into.
Yeh it'd be hard enough in a house let alone an apartment. Cops would be knocking on the door pretty quickly
agreed this is a newish venture for me, but im figuring if i dont have everything plugged into the same outlet/room and if i space it out around the apartment that this could help but you are correct, i am new
Umm... math? 1,000 watts = 1,000 watts 4x 600 watts = 2,400 watts Since when is 140% more 'not much more'? Youre also talking about doing 4x 1000w in one room in the initial post... that'd be 4,000watts Just because its on a different outlet doesnt mean its on a different circuit. I dont know how it is in Cali, but up here in new england it is not uncommon to find apartments wired on one circuit (major appliances etc notwithstanding)
And there's nothing wrong with not knowing what you're getting into. Gotta start somewhere. I'm far from a growing expert, just a measly noob myself, but electricity is something I have a pretty solid grasp on and CD is dead right. The risks of setting things up wrong is too great. Best case scenerio here is that you overload the circuit and it keeps popping tyerefore your grow fails. Worse case......are there kids that live in your apartment complex? No one likes to be responsible for making a child homeless or even potentially causing their death because you set up a fire hazard. IMO the ideal set up in your situation (or what we know of your situation) would be 2 600s in a 4x8'ish area and a separate 150-400w in a corner of the room for a veg chamber. Less potential weight per harvest but more harvests every year and less of a hazard
let me clarify, when i had mentioned the 4-600 not being much more, i was saying in compared to the general rule of 1000 watts per room in an apartment, and that 4-600 watt= 2400 watts isnt much more than 1000watts per room ( 2 bed room)= 2000 watts
^ I agree with Jmosley 100%. You absolutely should try growing on your own. Im new as well... but this is basic electricity we're talking about here. Not exactly cannabis-specific. We just want to make sure you're safe. by the way... "1000 watts per room" is not something Ive ever heard of, nor can I imagine its valid. Assuming you can effectively cool/supply electricity (safely), et... you can run many 1kw lights in a single room.
could you elaborate on the Veg chamber? if i have a tent 5'x9', would the veg chamber be in there with the other plants? or is the Veg chamber separate?